Ling's POV

Around midnight, the EXO members came back to the dorm. I sat on the couch and looked at them excitedly as they entered.

Sehun moved towards me and pulled me into a hug. "You're alright, thank god."

I blinked in his arms and looked at the others. "What's happening."

Suho sighed loudly. "There are pictures of you and us on the internet."

D.O looked at Suho angrily. "That's why we shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place."

Xiumin grabbed his collar. "What are you trying to say."

Kai held Xiumin back and pulled him off.

"Hyung, don't you see that this is going to hurt us more than her?" D.O continued.

Sehun rounded on him and held onto my hands from behind his back, shielding me from view. "D.O, we all agreed to let her stay here."

"No, you all agreed, I didn't."

Sehun took a step towards him but I pulled him back. He turned to look at me.

"Ling..."

"I'm going to a hotel tomorrow morning," I said to him.

"NO!" All of EXO except for D.O protested.

Sehun grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen counter where we sat down.

"If you leave, then it won't be fun around here." Sehun pouted at me.

Xiumin took off his jacket and joined us. "They will find you easier that way, it's best if you stay here."

D.O frowned and stomped up the stairs as Suho followed after calling his name.

Baekhyung let out a howl of frustration. "Why don't we all just live and be happy."

I smiled and looked at Xiumin, then at Sehun. "Tomorrow I'm going to go stay with Zhang-ge, I think that will be the best for everyone."

Xiumin stood abruptly. "Ling, stay where we can protect you."

I laughed. "How are you going to protect me?"

"He's the strongest member you know?" Lay sat directly opposite of me.

"Against the fans I mean." I glared at Lay.

Sehun patted my shoulder. "I'll bring you over there tomorrow."

"You stay here," I said to him. "EXO should have nothing to do with me."

Without another word, I went upstairs and locked myself in my room.

In the back of my mind, I knew something like this was going to happen eventually, but I also didn't want to leave so soon.

I messaged Zhang-ge for him to pick me up tomorrow and fell asleep on the bed.

-----♡
Sehun's POV

The next morning, everyone was gloomy. Xiumin woke up first as always and sat on the couch without saying anything. Ling emerged from the stairs with her suitcase and we all stood up to greet her.

She stopped in the living room and tipped her head at us. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

Xiumin scowled at D.O who smirked and crossed his arms.

I took the suitcase from her hand and motioned for her to sit down with us.

"What are your plans now?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I'll probably stay at the hospital with Luhan."

I nodded as Xiumin moved closer to her. "We'll see each other there, definitely."

She smiled weakly and stood. "I should go, Zhang-ge is meeting me at the intersection."

Suho reached for the door but stopped. He turned around and started at us.

"The reporters are here." He gasped.

"What? But they don't come here." Kai stood up to look outside the curtains. "Oh god, there's a lot of them."

Lay stood up, "I'll go out to see what's happening."

Chanyeol joined him and the two of them left. The door opened and a rush of sound entered the house.

I gripped Ling's hand tightly as she looked worriedly at the door. Xiumin muttered words of comfort and the other members stood anxiously around us.

Moments later, the two of them returned and shut the door behind them.

"The rumour is, that there is a girl living here," Chanyeol said quickly looking anxious.

Everyone turned to look at Ling, her face was pale and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Xiumin pulled her into a hug and her hair.

"It's my fault," she muttered into his shirt. "I shouldn't have come here."

Suho scratched his head thinking of things to say. "It's not, it's more our fault for letting you stay here."

At that moment, our manager stormed into the house and slammed the door behind him.

"Oh, wow, I didn't think it was true."

Xiumin and I moved in front of her to shield her. "Hyung-nim, please."

"The boss is planning on calling it as a scandal." He barked at us. "Xiumin was dating without consent from the company."

He pointed at Ling. "That is your girlfriend."

Xiumin blinked trying to process what had just happened and behind me, Ling squirmed uncomfortably.

It's okay Ling I'm here. I touch her hand behind my back.

"That's the story you all are going to go by, understand?"

We nodded and said nothing.

"That being said Xiumin, are you ready to be bashed by your fans?"

Ling uttered a quiet no from behind that only I could hear.

"Yes, Hyung-nim," He said with confidence.

"Good, then I want you to break up with her in public."

-----♡
Xiumin's POV

The thought of having a scandal was exhilarating for some reason. Breaking the rules with Ling by my side just seemed right somehow. I tried to hide my smile as I nodded to our manager's request.

"Good, then I want you to break up with her in public."

I stared at him blankly as he smirked at me. I felt the colour drain from my face as I imagined the scene. Ling and I at a park and yelling at each other about breaking up. I couldn't imagine it.

"Do I make myself clear?" He pressed with his smug expression.

Kai stepped in. "There's got to be another way."

Chen agreed. "Xiumin's image won't be good if he does that."

I smiled a little knowing that the members were on my side. Behind me, I felt Ling's worried stare on my back and hear the soft words that Sehun is whispering to her. I gripped my hand into a fist in jealousy. That should be me.

My manager frowned. "Well, let's go meet the big boss then."

Our heads jerked to look at him, we hardly ever meet him privately. EXO was such a large group that meetings with the boss were next to impossible.

D.O scoffed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Wow."

Our manager looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Baekhyung slapped his arm to shut him up and bowed his head.

"Let's go then, back door."

The 9 members and Ling headed for the back door that we hardly ever use. It was for emergency situations like this one where we had no control of the situation.

I sat next to our manager as we sped towards the agency. Ling sat in the back seat with Sehun's arms around her and Lay's soft voice calming her down. The EXO members tried to make her laugh in the car only to be shot down by our manager with an angry glare. Despite his discouragement, Baekhyung and Kai did not stop trying and eventually, Ling started to smile again. My heart lifted when she looked up to the front and made eye contact with me through the front view mirror. Her eyes were swollen from crying with guilt but her smile still lit up as though nothing had happened.

We weaved through to the basement of the building where reporters had no access to and eventually made our way to the top floor.

We stood in front of the Boss's office our heads sweating and feeling anxious. Sehun and Chen were with Ling at the very back of the line. When I looked over at her again, her face was full of determination. She smiled weakly before the door was swung open.

Our Boss, Kim Young Min sat on the couch in a dark suit reading today's paper.