Key’s POV

       I didn’t have time to call my driver to pick me up, so I just drove to the salon myself. My phone rang, and I glanced at it. I sighed as I picked it up.

       “Yobosaeyo?” I already knew who it was. Manager hyung.

       “KIBUM!” A voice raged. I winced. Our manager was actually very nice. He didn’t get angry often. “Where are you?”

       “I’m on my way, Manager hyung.” I muttered.

       “You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago!”

       “I know... mianhe. I got caught up in… something. I’ll be there in five minutes.” I pushed the gas a bit harder.

       The phone line dropped. He had hung up on me. I was shocked, and a bit angry. I gritted my teeth in frustration and threw my cell phone on the seat next to me. I had always been bad about my temper, and I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. What could I do now? I had to tell Manager hyung about her, but I couldn’t. I had to make sure everything would be alright first.

       “Argh!” I pounded my fist on the wheel and heaved a sigh of anger. The car swerved slightly, but I just gripped the wheel tighter. I could feel my ear twitching.

       Deep breaths. In, out, in, out. I concentrated on calming down, but it didn’t do much.

       Suddenly, an image of Sunny flashed in my mind. I imagined her laughing, her smiling, her gazing at me. I imagined the smell of her hair, the feel of her skin, the touch of her lips.

       My grip loosened and the car slowed. I blinked a couple times and I could already feel myself calming down. I smiled a bit. Oh, the power of love.

       I turned left as my phone rang again. Manager hyung. I didn’t bother picking up the phone. I received two angry text messages immediately following the call as I pulled up to the salon, which I ignored.

       I pulled my car keys out of the ignition and jerked the car door open. I stepped out into the fresh air and breathed in the cold scent as it stung the tip of my nose. I shoved the car door and locked it quickly, before hurrying to the door.

       I pushed the salon door open, seeing everybody already there inside. Some people looked up, including manager hyung.  

       “Annyeonghasaeyo, sorry I’m late.” I said, bowing a bit lower than usual. I still spoke formally, as there were many people I didn’t recognize.

       “Hyung!” Taeminnie came up to me, his hair done and changed clothing. I supposed today he wasn’t wearing any makeup. Taemin’s face was fresh, young. He was lucky. “I’m done already!” He said proudly, almost like a little kid. “You’re late.” He added, matter of factly.

       “You look great, Taemin-ah.” I smiled, praising him. This made him beam, and I glanced around. “I know.” I added also with a sigh. I didn’t have to be reminded again.

       A noona rushed over to me and brought me to a chair. Manager hyung and Jjong were across the room. Were they both ignoring me? It seemed everyone else was just busy.

       “You’re late,” The stylist noona said. I was about to open my mouth and say for the billionth time I knew, but she continued. “So, I won’t be able to do much before you have to leave. Everybody else is almost finished.” She quickly whipped out some products and I continued to put in my earphones. I listened to music as she did her thing. Several minutes later, I heard a voice behind me.

       “Kibum.” Manager hyung was behind me.

       “Ne?” I took out my earbuds and tried to smile the best I could.

       “Is there something you need to tell me?” He was calmer now. He had a worried look about his face, and his voice was much gentler, but still stern. I glanced over at Onew, who was looking also, with a questioning expression. He shook his head, meaning no one had told him about my relationship.

       Looking back at Manager hyung, he was still staring at me, almost glaring now.

       “No.” I said quietly. He lingered for a moment, deciding whether or not to say anything. He then sighed, nodded slightly and went back.

       I groaned silently to myself and mentally punched myself. I forgot about the earbuds still dangling from the edge of the chair as my mind was flooded with worries.

~~~

       We ended up leaving fifteen minutes later than we were supposed to. Because of me, I know. Manager hyung was pretty upset and Jjong was still ignoring me. The stylist noona hadn’t done as much as she normally could but at least I was presentable. I was in a hat to cover my imperfect hair, which made me frown. My hair was actually quite important to me, which kind of reinforced the vain image of that a lot of people had of me, the diva Key.

       I brushed a single strand to its rightful place and pulled the rim down a bit further. I caught Minho’s eye as we were walking to the van and he smiled a bit, but I could tell he was worried for me. I was about to smile back, but he broke the gaze just as Taemin emerged from the salon. His expression softened and he grinned widely as he walked off to Taemin. I felt awkward, unsure of whether I should sigh or laugh or smile. I just pulled the van door open and got in, brushing off what had happened. I supposed I needed to get used to it, but the thought of a homo relationship within the band, within my best friends was kind of weird and unusual. I was still unsure what to do, whether or not I was supposed to know, whether or not I should accept or reject the thought.

       The fresh problem tugged at my mind as everybody loaded into the van. Onew and Taemin sat in the back, as they normally did, as did manager and driver hyung in the front. However, instead of Jjong sitting in the middle with me, he went to the back, forcing Minho to sit up in the middle. Sitting with Minho wasn’t the problem, it was that Jjong was trying to avoid me to that stage.

       I glanced back at him with a worried expression. He held my gaze steadily, unlike when he normally avoided my eyes. It set me off a bit, and I turned around again. My ear twitched. I really didn’t get this anymore.

       What should I do? What could I do? My current predicament, made up of many separate problems, really set my mood off.

       I sighed, a bit too loudly, and I caught Minho glancing away from the window to me out of the corner of my eye.

       The car ride was silent, unlike our normal car rides when we would either converse about our day or something else, or when we would sing along a bit too loudly to the songs on the radio. But not today. It seemed everyone was in the own little troubled world.

       The instinct to run my fingers through my hair caused my fingers to itch, but I resisted the temptation, not wanting to mess up my hair. Instead I just fixed it a bit, and I touched my own cheek lightly in thought. I thought about manager hyung, Jjong, Taemin and Minho, and Sunny. I thought about my worries and delights. I thought and decided, argued and stressed.

       It was a long car ride. 

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Hey guys... sorry for disappearing!

I've just not been able to get anything written down. It's not that I'm overly busy, I just have a humongous writers block and I get distracted and bleh.

So yeah, sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy the chapter nonetheless, it's a longer one to make up for not writing sooner. (not length wise, but I wrote meatier paragraphs. :D) <3

*Made it to 60 subs and 7800 views~*

p.s. Jonghyun hasn't confessed yet, but he will soon. ^^

Merry Christmas everybody~