Eun Suk’ s POV

The taxi behind us didn’t seem all that suspicious, there were plenty of them in our celebrity-laden neighborhood.

We passed that night like any other, in the living room of our dorm, watching videos of our dancing and JiHyun was composing covers for each of our singles for our next tour.

“Listen, wouldn’t it be cool if someone did Eun Suk’s Only One at a lower pitch and changed the dance a bit- so listen to this and I could cover Soori’s Illa Illa like this” and he began strumming and playing his cover without further ado.

Suddenly Soo Ri let out a loud scream.

“What? What?” Gongchan asked, jumping up.

“I thought… I thought I saw a girl at the window… just now” Soo Ri mumbled, terrified.

“What… are you sure? This neighborhood is pretty far out, and this house is even further out than most houses” Sky commented.

I felt myself tremble slightly and pressed myself closer to JiHyun, “Is the house haunted?”

JiHyun shook his head and said, “Nope, worse. I think that was a sasaeng fan.”

“What? Our fans wouldn’t do that. They’re not the crazy type!” Jaesun defended, but JiHyun shook his head and said, “I saw her too, she definitely had a camera with her.”

“What do we do?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Close all the windows. Kyuhyun, you call Doojoon. Chan Hee, call Tablo. I’ll call our manager and see what we can do.”

He moved to the next room to call the manager. I bit my lower lip and whispered softly to Gongchan my concern, “What if they find out that we all live together? That we share rooms?”

Gongchan just looked at me warily and for the first time I could ever remember, he didn’t try to reassure me. I suddenly felt very, very anxious.

“The manager’s coming” JiHyun announced, coming back from the other room, “In the meantime, let’s go to Sky and Eun Suk’s room on the second floor and stay there.”

“Shouldn’t we be separate… girls and boys?” Gongchan asked, and I knew he was thinking about what I’d told him just now.

“Yeah” JiHyun heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair, “I didn’t think we’d have this problem, living so far out. She must really be crazy.”

“It frightens me” Soori whispered. Soo Ri hugged her closely and said, “C’mon, let’s get under the covers upstairs.”

“Act natural” JiHyun instructed them, “Bring up a laptop or something.”

Chan Hee came back and said, “Tablo said to just ignore whatever happens and not to open the door. I called our manager and told him to come around back.”

She grabbed a couple blankets and the laptop and we headed upstairs.

Shim Jang followed us without a word, pulling up her hood to shield her face.

The boys stayed downstairs and JiHyun continued playing guitar and singing, though half-heartedly; his mind was obviously distracted.

Our manager came soon enough but Chan Hee ordered us to stay where we were and that she would be back in a few minutes.

When she did come back, she seemed distressed.

“What?” Shim Jang, who we all thought was sleeping got up, “What is it?”

Chan Hee hesitated and then said, “The media’s already here. Apparently, it’s big news that we all live in the same house.”

“What do we do?” Soo Ri asked.

“Nothing” Chan Hee answered, “Well, we could call the police but…”

“No, let’s not” Soori said quickly, and I knew she was thinking of the borderline violent interaction we’d seen between the fans and police at the airports and concerts.

Chan Hee sighed but said, “Agreed. Just… brace yourself… it might get a little loud tonight.”

Sure enough, within the hour, the pounding at the door and shouting outside was nearly unbearable. It was really overwhelming and frightening in a way but nobody said anything and the five of us just huddled together on the bed with Balam in the middle. He our faces softly and whined, uneasy with the loud knocking.

I had barely slept at all, and so when I woke up the next morning, I felt absolutely terrible. My mind wasn’t sure where the real shouting and pounding turned into nightmare and disturbed sleep.

The others were still asleep, though Soori was still very restless, twisting and in her sleep. I tried to soothe her by holding her hand and she slowly calmed down. Soo Ri and Shim Jang were both sleeping with Balam in the middle… and-wait… where’s Chan Hee?

I slipped out of the room quietly and noticing that the practice stage room was slightly ajar, entered. I was shocked to see Chan Hee sitting against the wall, staring out the window, tears falling from her eyes. The laptop was on, next to her on the floor.

Without speaking, I took the laptop where many Internet windows were open, I scrolled through them, fearful.

THE TRUTH ABOUT UNIVERSE: L1GHT HITS FANS & JIN’S DIRTY FAMILY BACKGROUND

UNIVERSE SCANDAL: ALL MEMBERS LIVE IN SAME HOUSE. ACCUSED OF ION RING.

UNIVERSE FINALLY SLIPS UP: JUNG FAMILY HAS PAID FOR GRADES AND SURGERY

BREAKING NEWS: 1VS, THE FAMOUS KPOP GROUP, IS DISCOVERED TO LIVE IN ONE HOUSE. SUSPECTED OF ION.

Tears blurring my vision, I angrily clicked on the exit button of each window. What? ion? WHAT!? We worked so hard to be treated like this? Like we’re ing animals?

I almost screamed, I was so angry, but then I saw Chan Hee… she was still looking out the window. Fittingly, it was raining outside, the downpour casting a gloomy morning light into the room.

What do I say to her? I… My fists clenched. There’s nothing I can say. I can’t justify it even to myself.

“There you are” our manager entered the room, the other three girls behind him. Chan Hee quickly looked away to wipe her tears and I had to blink back my own.

“We’re lucky. The rain chased away the fans and media” the manager told us.

“Yeah, real lucky” I said bitterly.

“Everyone has decided to meet at SM Entertainment. Come on, the boys are already waiting” the manager directed us.

Chan Hee’s POV

“It was our fault” the YG President sighed, “We should never have let you guys live together. We were too shortsighted.”

“We can’t tell the media that” the SM President replied, “It would heighten the suspicion of them being involved in this ridiculous ion ring story they made up.”

He hesitated and then said, “And hurt our stocks.”

“Wait”, I said, standing up without really thinking about it, “Am I hearing right? You’re going to deny that you allowed us to live together?”

There was silence.

No. ing. Way.

“What?” I snarled, “Better one group goes down than your companies?”

“Chan Hee, calm down-” the JYP President started to say, but I fired back, “How am I supposed to remain calm when all you guys are planning to do is push all the responsibility onto us?”

“No, I’m saying, let’s think about this together” the JYP President responded, “I say Universe should further invest themselves into their activities, make it look like this whole thing is nothing, pretend like they’re above it all.”

“No” the YG President answered, “That will only lose them fans and sponsors. They should just take a break, as if they were repenting-”

“For what!?” Kyuhyun asked angrily, “What the hell are we repenting for?”

“I said, as if. Just let it cool over and then come back” the YG President said, barely acknowledging Kyuhyun’s outburst.

“As if?” Soo Ri said, though she was trembling slightly in fear of disobeying these three powerful and authoritative men, she couldn’t help but voice the truth that I knew was yelling inside of us in all of us, “Why do we want to look as those we are repenting when we’ve done nothing wrong? Why even send that kind of image?”

“Don’t be childish” the YG President responded, “Everything about this industry is image. If you give the image of repenting, it’ll blow over faster and you can get to your musical activities than if you resist. You can’t win against your own image, you can only progress it in a certain direction. That’s the danger of a scandal. You can’t go back. Just accept it and make the best of it.”

“What if we held a court case against the sasaeng fan?” the SM President suggested, “It will clear Universe’s name at least.”

“Is that your way of solving everything?” the JYP President shot at him, “A court case?”

“It’s better than just ignoring this huge problem!” the SM President’s voice rose.

“What about a distraction? Something that answers the question but doesn’t meet it directly?” JiHyun asked in a quiet, thoughtful voice.

“What are you proposing?” the YG President asked.

“People have been speculating about me and Shin Se Kyung. We actually do not have a relationship, but I happen to know that she is in need of publicity… and if I’m dating, it refutes the theory of ion while providing the media something to talk about” JiHyun offered.

My fists clenched at the idea of JiHyun, my JiHyun dating someone else, even if it was just for looks. But my teeth clenched as well, it was the best solution we had so far and I wasn’t going to be a fool and deny it just because of my feelings.

“Any objections?” the YG President asked. All the other members of 1VS slowly shook their heads. Then, JiHyun looked directly at me, “Chan Hee? You’re the other leader of this group. You should call the shots as well.” But in his eyes I read his concern for me. He was asking if I could live with this personally.

No, it’s not okay, Ji Hyun, you stupid fool.

“I… I’m good with it” I answered.

“Then it’s settled. And, to prevent the problem of living together, I suggest we all pretend as though that was just the boys’ house and the girls were visiting as they search for their own house. They can stay with another group for some time. Or you can announce a break, which would force us all to go home individually” JiHyun offered. 

The Presidents considered this and finally the SM President said, “Just to show the media that you were not living together, the boys go home and the girls will stay with f(x) for a few days. Then, all idols go on holiday break for two weeks at which time you will all go home, understood?”

Eun Suk seemed to hesitate but then silently agreed with a nod, and everyone else was also completely fine with this plan.

“In the meantime, stay away from the Internet and television” the JYP President advised, “It’s… not worth it to see it.”

Too late, I thought bitterly, as we exited to our van.

“Stop it” a hand slammed down my laptop.

I looked up, stony-faced, at Eun Suk who’d slapped down my laptop.

“You want to torture yourself? Fine. But don’t do it in front of me, where it hurts me too” she said.

“They called you an unlovable child with no family” I whispered hoarsely, unable to stop myself from telling her the things that bothered me most, “They called Soori a plastic doll whose entire life has been paid for… They don’t even know Soori…how sweet and earnest and hard-working she is” I felt the tears bubble up inside of me, “They don’t even know how you, us, how…? How can people be so mean?”

“They’re not entirely wrong, you know” Eun Suk managed an ironic smile, “I am an unlovable child with no family. But I’m come to terms with it long ago, and they can’t hurt me with foolish things like that. Although…”suddenly her eyes narrowed, “they can’t have come across that information legally…”

“It’s just…just so wrong” I protested, “You may have come to terms with it, but they don’t know that. All they want to do… is hurt us.”

Eun Suk was quiet for a moment and then she reached over and pulled me into her arms, “It’s okay, Chan Hee, it’s okay.” She softly patted my hair, and being there, safe in her arms, I let myself really feel all the vulnerability and sorrow I’d been holding in and just bawled.

She kept murmuring “shhh” in my ear and rubbing my back until finally, exhausted and drained, I ran out of tears.

“Here, Krystal and Luna gave us some of their extra clothing to change into” Soori entered the room, carrying two sets of pajamas.

“Thanks” Eun Suk said, letting me go to take the clothes.

Soori turned to leave again, but I grabbed her arm. Startled, she looked down at me uneasily, “Unni?”

“Soori, you’re beautiful and genuine” I told her fiercely, “And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Soori looked uncomfortably at Eun Suk and Eun Suk must have told her to humor me because Soori knelt down and hugged me and responded, “Thanks, Chan Hee. I will. I will remember that.”

Suddenly, my phone rang. Eun Suk looked at it and handed it to me, saying, “It’s LuHan. I’ll be in the kitchen, helping the other girls with dinner if you need me.”

Soori’s POV

Despite the terrible reason for being here, I had to admit it was nice being with another girl group and just hanging out for a bit. It’d been so long since we’d really interacted with another other group. Sure, there were those brief nights when we’d hang out with Beast or Epik High, lately Big Bang, Exo, and SNSD as well, but making dinner together, chatting, laughing, all these things were just so nice. Especially with my sister, Krystal.

“You’ve gotten much better with cooking” Krystal commented as I stewed the beef broth and added in a few ingredients, “How’s Jaesun? Is he any better? Or is he still over-boiling water and setting curtains on fire?”

I grinned, “Still the same Jaesun. We’ve bought six sets of curtains now- very friendly with the owner of the fabrics and home supply store in the city.”

“So what happened?” Sulli asked us as she started taking out dishes and silverware, “Why are you girls here? Not that I mind”, she added quickly, “Just curious.”

“A sasaeng fan realized we were all living in one dorm”, Shim Jang explained shortly, “And the media totally blew it out of proportion.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what they do” Luna rolled her eyes, “It’s dumb, but what are you going to do?”

Eun Suk looked intensely at Luna as she said these last words, but said nothing.

“At least they didn’t find out that we room together” I said, trying to comfort Shim Jang. She seems even more upset than the rest of us about this…

“Yeah, great” Shim Jang said curtly, and I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. It made me feel uneasy- something had changed with Shim Jang…

Suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath from Krystal, “You guys room together? Wait… does that mean… my boyfriend Kyuhyun is rooming with one of you!?”

We all froze, except Eun Suk, who lied to perfection and said casually, “No, he rooms with Sky.”

But Soo Ri’s blush was spreading faster than wildfire and she blurted, “I swear it’s not like that! We’re like… siblings!”

“WHAT!?” Krystal screeched.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. “Krystal Unni!” I shouted, trying to calm her down, “It’s really not like that! If it was really a problem, don’t you think I would tell you?”

“You obviously didn’t!” Krystal screeched back at me, and though her voice was strong and aggressive, I could see the confusion and hurt in her eyes and trembling lips.

I tried to reach for her but she pushed my arm away and backed up.

“That’s messed up…” Luna retorted, standing next to Krystal, “You didn’t even tell her… or ask her if that was okay?”

“Because there was nothing to ask about. Soo Ri and Kyuhyun aren’t ever like that” Shim Jang stated stoutly, rolling her eyes, “They’re so not like that it didn’t even cross our minds to ask permission. Ask permission for what? Being within a five foot radius of each other? Geez. Overreaction.”

“Shim Jang, that’s a little harsh”, I said, starting to feel upset. Krystal was my sister, after all. She might act tough, but out of the four of us, she was the most sensitive, the most easily hurt. And the bonds between our co-ed Universe were so different, so unexplainable, even among idol groups.

“You’ve never had a boyfriend, have you?” Sulli asked arrogantly, protecting Krystal, “I can tell.”

Shim Jang flushed but stood her ground, angrily retorting, “Maybe in that time I practiced dancing and that’s why I crushed you.”

“What the is wrong with you?” Luna, who was always so calm and warm, suddenly became icy cold, her eyes narrowed.

“Stop!” Soo Ri shouted, clutching her head, “Stop, please! I’m sorry!”

I ran over to help her sit down, Soo Ri always got these terrible migraines when she was overly stressed.

But everyone else was still shouting. Victoria was trying to break it all up but failing. Suddenly, Eun Suk slammed Krystal and Luna down onto the couch and pushed Shim Jang into a room and shut it, holding it locked and shouted, “You’re not getting out of there until you calm the down and get your senses back!”

Krystal stood there, looking angry for just a split second more before she suddenly just looked so… sad. Like all her energy had been drained away. She entered another room, her group mates following after her to comfort her, leaving just me, Soo Ri, and Eun Suk, who was struggling against the door Shim Jang was pounding on.

“I’m so sorry” Soo Ri whispered.

“It’s not your fault” I told her softly, and took her hand in mine. But when Shim Jang finally calmed down a few minutes later, I couldn’t help but glance at Krystal’s door and feel like in some way, I had really betrayed her.

JiHyun’s POV

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

There was a long minute that seemed to stretch on endlessly, like some vast ocean-

“JiHyun-sshi? What are you doing here?” Shin Se Kyung quickly smoothed her hair back.

 “I’m sorry I came here so abruptly, without notice…” I bowed slightly to her.

“No, no, come in” Se Kyung opened the door, “What’s up, though?”

I hesitated.

No, you have nothing to lose personally and everything to protect in Universe.

I boldly plunged forward, “Se Kyung-ah. Let’s start a relationship.”

Kyuhyun’s POV

The media ate it up and JiHyun was miserable.

Only now could I sincerely appreciate what an amazing actor he was- from the pictures in the media, the way he presented himself in front of the Presidents, even the behavior he showed towards Se Kyung-sshi, they made him seem normal, happy even.

But he wasn’t.

But I couldn’t tell him to stop either, because that really was the only thing distracting the media from fully playing up the “living together” business.

Not that they aren’t totally blowing that out of proportion, I thought, as I threw yet another newspaper that had a headline about “ion” on it behind me. People still pointed and whispered at me, moreso now than before, but those whispers were significantly darker than before. Some antifan had come to our house and screamed accusations and profanities at Gongchan the other day- only the combined strength of JiHyun, Chan Hee, Soori, Soo Ri, Jaesun, and Gongchan himself held me and Sky back from beating the crap out of that little boy.

I shoved my hands deep in my pockets and slouched into my jacket, covering my face.

Would that winter would come quickly, and with winter… forgetting, not feeling… escaping from whatever I’m in now.

We packed our bags to leave for winter break the following day.

I was staring morosely out our window, deeply depressed.

Behind me, I knew Sky was holding back a sigh and trying to muster all the optimism he had in him for me.

“Hey” he poked his shoulder, his voice as cheerful as he could manage, “Its break. Smile, we’ll be free a little.”

Before I could reply, JiHyun came up to us, “Have a good holiday, guys. Try not to think about… this mess. We’ll deal with it when we get back. In the meantime, think about music and family and all that good stuff.”

And he was gone.

There was silence as it hit me how empty this house suddenly felt. More than half our members were gone. And that wasn't the only people I truly cared for that was threating to leave me.

“Krystal’s mad at me” I finally mumbled, still looking out the window. I couldn't look at Sky, the guilt of what I was saying was making me feel more embarassed than I'd felt in a long time.

“For what?” he asked thoughtfully, “It seems we all need support now, not more blame.”

I sighed, unconsciously running a hand through my hair,  and said, “No, it really was my fault. I was so… so inconsiderate. Just think about it, Sky. The worst thing a guy can do to his girlfriend.”

“Um… cheat on her?” he asked, confused about where this was going.

“And if your girlfriend was rooming with another boy without ever asking or even telling you, wouldn’t you be angry?” I responded shamefully.

“What?”, he said, still puzzled, “I don’t get- oh. You’re talking about Soo Ri. Rooming with her.”

“I messed up, Sky. I’ve messed up big time” I told him, shaking his head, trying to clear my head- I always knew what to do, always. But now- with Krystal... what do I do?

“Just tell her that Soo Ri doesn’t mean anything to you. Just explain it” Sky told me, as though he could read my thoughts, “She’ll understand, Kyuhyun. She has to. She’s a musician too.”

I was quiet, thinking about that, wondering if anyone, anyone could really understand the bonds that Universe members had formed with each other. I loved Soo Ri, I did. It wasn't the same kind of burning desire to be with her as I had with Krystal, it was just- Soo Ri got me, she understood me like no one else. I felt no obligation to her, but I was mesmerized by her all the same. Her kindness, her inner glow... But I didn't want to be with her in that way. That would just not feel right...

(Sky's POV: Kyuhyun was silent for a long time and I wondered if he was just pondering what I’d said or if was quietly telling me that I was an idiot. Probably the latter.)

“We’re leaving!” Gongchan and Jaesun bounded down with their suitcases, “We’ll be back in two weeks, so don’t miss us too much!”

“Yeah”, I said, and I meant to say “Be careful”, but the words died in my throat when I saw how relieved and happy they were to go home. They were bursting with happiness, despite the circumstances I knew they couldn’t stop thinking about.

Jaesun blew us kisses as he spiraled out the door and Gongchan waggled his eyebrows at us before leaving.

“That leaves just us” Sky commented

"Well, it always seems to be that way.” I responded.

Sky started to speak, paused, cleared his throat... and started again “H-hey, Kyuhyun, listen. I’ve got a train to catch- but well, both our parents always see each other anyways- café and restaurant, right? So I’ll see you a lot over break… and you can always call me and…” His voice trailed off and he looked away, clearing his throat again.

For once, I was at a loss for words. I hesitatntly patted Sky's arm and thanked him, but still, it was with a heavy heart that I watched him walk away from our dorm.

a/n: thank you to all the comments and support and love. it is very appreciated. (: i wish all of you the loveliest of days!