So, hey guys~ I promise that even if I do not update a fic for a year, eventually I will come back and try to complete it. Don't ever stop commenting okay? Your support is the motivation to keep going!

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The walk of shame was not something Ren was used to. In all honesty, he wouldn’t be feeling shame had Jonghyun not made him look bad. They were both responsible for what happened. So as he showered alone, he took a minute to think about what had played out. The manager didn’t live with them, so how had he known what they were up to? Someone must have snitched. The problem with that was that no one in the dorm cared- Right?

Ren sighed softly and shut the water off. The first nice thing about having shorter hair was that he was out of the shower faster, less to wash. After a quick towel dry and sliding into a sweater, he slid out of the dorm. The rest of the gang was still sleeping, but Ren needed to talk to someone. The walk was quick, that was the nice thing about having friends with in the same company. They were normally all put within the same few blocks apartment wise. Maybe Seungcheol wouldn’t be too busy yet, it was only seven thirty. Sitting down on the steps of a café, he pulled out his phone and typed in the familiar numbers.

Ring... Ring… Ring…

He was about to hang up, but a familiar husky voice came through.

“Rennie? What are you doing?”

Ren felt his lips quirk up a bit,

“I’m not Minki this time?”

There was a snort on the other end,

“You worked so hard to get me to call you your stage name, you want me to undo all the effort?”

Ren chuckled softly and then shook his head, despite the other not being able to see it.

“No, I would never. Listen, are you busy? I have to meet with the manager in a half hour but I just- I really need someone to talk to right now. Jonghyun and I are having problems.”

There was a shuffle on the other end, and no doubt Seungcheol was putting on pants.

“Give me a few minutes, are you at the café? That’s always where you call me from.”

Ren smiled fondly, loving that his old friend knew him so well still when it felt like his own band members had no clue. “I’m right where I always am, you better hurry.”

Their call ended with that, and Ren found himself resting his head against the cool railing. He hated this feeling of uncertainty in his gut. He could lose his job for this, without a doubt. Hopefully it wouldn’t be that extreme, this was the first time he’d been caught after all. He raised his head when he saw the familiar face of Seungcheol coming towards him, his hair messy but clearly styled for his upcoming debut.

“Yah, took you long enough to get here!”

There was Seungcheol’s bashful smile coming out,

“So rude to your hyung, aren’t you?”

He slid down next to Ren, and Ren wasted no time laying his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder. Seungcheol was quiet though, letting Ren just take a breath before speaking.

“Someone snitched on me and JR, the manager ran in and caught us in bed together. We don’t even live with him, so he got up out of bed at the crack of dawn to come over and tell us to stop. We have to be in his office in like, twenty minutes. I’m kind of scared, do you think they’ll kick me out of the company for this? I went into this because it was what my dad had always wanted to do, but I’ve made so many friends… It would be so hard and so shameful to go home because the manager caught me in bed with my… Boyfriend? Leader? I mean, I thought we were dating but he threw me under the bus last night, er, this morning. Flat out said I snuck into his bed… I miss when it was us.”

Seungcheol reached down and gently took Minki’s hand in his own. He gave it a gentle squeeze, “Minki, I… God, you’ve got yourself in a big mess didn’t you?”

Ren checked the phone time and made a small, pitiful sound.

“He wouldn’t even look at me Cheol, this morning. I know he was up, I heard his alarm when I got in the shower. I don’t even know how I’m going to fix this. What did you do when he who shall not be named left?”

Seungcheol sighed softly, “I let him go, because I knew he needed to go. He didn’t want to stay and have our debut pushed back further and further or maybe not even happen. I grew up with him and loved him as much as I love Junghan now, but you learn to move on. Maybe Jonghyun will realize his mistake. You need to get going, but let me know what happens after, okay? My phone is on.”

Ren stood up and brushed himself off, giving his good friend a small smile. “Thank you for getting up to talk to me, I needed it. I’ll let you know how it goes and if JR can manage to talk to me.”

He left Seungcheol on the steps then and made his way down the block to the practice building. He was right on time as he slid into the Manager’s office and sat next to his leader. The manager had fury written all over his face,

“Do you want to explain to me what I walked in on? I’m sure there is a very good reason as to why I should unsee what I saw last night. Are you dating? Do I need to find ways to cover up a scandal before it starts?”

JR looked down, not even glancing at Ren. He was respectful to his hyungs. Ren wanted to cry when JR didn’t even respond to the dating question.

“I can’t justify what we were doing, we were and didn’t want to go out to try and satisfy our urges. There are too many risks with that.”

Ren didn’t like the sudden look of happiness on their manager’s face.

“That’s it. Women. You just need women. You two can get closer to Hello Venus, wouldn’t that be great? There won’t be a scandal because the company announced it. That’s the solution to this.”

Jonghyun looked a bit uneasy, “You’re going to make us hook up with Hello Venus? Not that I’m against them, but how do we know if they’re okay with this? We may be friends, but I doubt anything more could come from that if we’re forced.”

Their manager just waved off the concern, “I can make it happen, and I’m not worried. You two need to stay apart though. Stages and variety shows, stay away from one another. Fans are very much so pleased with ‘Jron’ or ‘Jmin’. The fans go ecstatic over ‘Baekren’ so make them happy. Pick a ship and jump on it, so long as you two aren’t together. Got it?”

Ren wanted to cry and yell, but he knew he couldn’t. Their manager dismissed them with a wave, and he found himself hurrying out of the room as fast as his feet could carry him. It seemed like a fast walk was the fastest he could go at the moment, which made it very easy for a certain leader to catch up to him.

“Ren-“

“I don’t want to talk to you Jonghyun.”

JR grabbed Ren’s upper arm and pulled him into an empty office before shutting the door. He clicked the lock shut and leaned against the door.

“We need to talk.”

Ren felt his lips curl into a sneer, “Oh really? You don’t say.”

“Ren don’t be like this. We can’t get caught again, that was risky. We could have lost our jobs.”

“Do my feelings mean so little to you Jonghyun?”

JR’s brow raised at that, “What?”

Ren folded his arms over his chest, “You heard me. Do my feelings mean so little to you?”

“I don’t see how your feelings-“

Ren stomped his foot in frustration, “Dammit Jonghyun, I really ing liked you! I thought we might have a shot at this, you know? We would have the perfect set up, enough time together but also time apart if we needed it and there was no freaking rules keeping us apart until now. What is he gonna do, install cameras in the dorm to know we aren’t in each other’s bed? No. It’s just you. Do you not want me?”

Jonghyun swallowed a bit and he reached out to take Ren’s hands, “Minki, you had feelings for me?”

Ren took a breath, “Have. Not had, have. You practically admitted that back there that we aren’t dating.”

JR made a bit of a face, “It’s not that I don’t want you, it’s that we can’t. Please don’t be difficult.”

Ren shook his head at that and got closer to JR. He loved how JR’s eyes looked to his lips the closer he got. Leaning in, he whispered in Jonghyun’s ear. “My feelings are out there, you know how I feel. When you’re ready to talk to me again and not be a tool, you know where to find me.”

With a bit of oomph in his step, Ren slid past JR and into the hall without looking back. He was on a mission now. He needed to know: Who told the manager?