"It's gonna be okay...don't cry anymore. You look horrid when you cry." Key patted his bestfriend's back as she continued bawling her eyes out.

"I..I look horrid?" she widened her eyes

"No. I mean, you look beautiful as always..just less beautiful when you cry." he smiled

"I miss Jaejoong." she sniffed into a tissue before pulling out her handphone to look at her wallpaper in hope of seeing his face. But seeing the empty background only reminded her how Director Lee ordered his men to forcefully delete all her photos.

"I know. But..." Key swallowed, unsure if he should pop the question, "..would it be better if you two stopped seeing each other for the time being?"

"...what are you talking about?"

"There's no point continuing.. until you two stop coming into contact, he won't let the matter rest. I've never seen Director so angry. I heard that he intends to let them stay in Japan for a year."

"A year?"

"There are many guys after you.. and you're still young.. you know what I mean." Key sighed, "I'm not encouraging you to dump Jaejoong hyung, he's wonderful I know but I don't want to see you in this state anymore. If it's so stressful to date, just go back to being friends.. at least you needn't think about ways to hide or to lie to Director. Besides, dating is strictly prohibited..Director might just use that as a reason to terminate Jaejoong's contract."

"I...I can't! I can't leave him. I can't."

"Nobody said you have to leave him for good. Just take a break for the time being? Perhaps if you start spending time with other people, Director will forget about this matter and not be so harsh on you two. Your family is rich so it doesn't affect you, but what about Jaejoong? It wouldn't benefit him."

"I'll..think about it."

"Great! Let's go for dinner then. We've been in here long enough."

"Okay. Where do you want to go?"

"Shall we ask Jonghyun? The other members all have schedules so he's alone in the dorm.. let's ask him along."

"Ah..you rascal." she flicked his arm, he was always trying to help Jonghyun get close to her, "Didn't I tell you to hint to him that I'm not interested in relationships at the moment?"

"I don't need to hint to him, he knows. But he's crazy for you! You can choose not to like him back, but you can't stop him from liking you! That's so cruel. He's my pal after all."

"Fine.. I'm okay with being friends."

"Now you say so. The last time he tried to talk to you and you walked away, he was heartbroken for a whole week."

"I..I don't want to lead him on. We have nothing much in common anyway...I'm not suitable for him."

"Are you sure that's the reason? Or is it because you're afraid Jaejoong will be jealous?" he questioned, nobody understood her better than he did, "I know you love him, but that doesn't mean you can't make friends! You're an adult,  you have a social life, you can't let your life revolve around one person."

"Okay.. you don't have to be so angry. Ask him along then."

_____________________________

As Hana had expected, it was an awkward dinner. But what she did not expect was to bump into the members of 2PM.

"Hey guys." Taecyeon smiled at them

"Hey." Hana returned a weak smile while Key glared, knowing fully what he did to her some time back. Since the day he kissed her, he has been trying to call her but she never returned his calls.

"Having dinner?" Taecyeon was asking the obvious

"No we're having lunch." Key snapped, "How about you guys?"

"We just ended filming and came here for dinner too." Nichkhun could sense the rising tension, he turned to Taecyeon "Shall we go to our table now?"

"I was thinking of talking to Hana.. could I talk to you in private for awhile?"

"I don't think so, we're leaving. We have a movie to catch." Key interrupted

"Hana, are you okay with it?" Taecyeon looked at Hana

"Oh..kay.." she nodded

"I'm sorry." that was the first thing Taecyeon said once they found a quiet spot outside the restaurant

"It's alright. I've already forgotten about it."

"I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't thinking straight and I didn't mean to offend you. I guessed I ruined my chances then..but I hope you won't reject me because of that."

"Taecyeon... can we talk about this another day? Right now I am-"

"I saw the news about you and Jaejoong. I know you wouldn't want to be in a relationship so soon so it's okay. I can wait. I really like you."

"Why me? I mean..there are many girls out there. I'm sure you'd find someone who suits you better..I'm not the one for you."

"It's okay, I know you're still angry with me for kissing you. Time will prove that my feelings for you are true."

"Yah, you jerk!"

"Jonghyun?" Hana gasped

"If you didn't just admit it yourself, I wouldn't have guessed that you are such a person!"

"What do you mean by that?!" Taecyeon went face to face with Jonghyun

"What do I mean? You know what I mean!"

"It's no big deal! She has already forgiven me so who are you to question me? Why are you making such a big fuss anyway? Isn't it also because you like her? If you can like her, why can't I?"

The two of them got into a tussle and started fighting, leaving Hana helpless. She tried to pull them apart but to no avail. Only when the Key and the other boys came out did they manage to separate the two.

"There's no need to fight! How old are you guys!" Chansung stood between them

"He started it!" Taecyeon yelled, "He's mad! I can't be bothered with him!"

"Neither do I! Get out of my sight!" Jonghyun yelled back, restrained by Key
 
"Are you okay?" Nichkhun walked over to Hana to check on her

"Yeah.. I am." she nodded, thought there was a voice in her head screaming NO.  

Why did she get herself into this mess?

________________________________

"Very good. I like this headline." Director Lee put down the papers, obviously pleased.

"...why? Isn't it a bad thing?" his assistant was puzzled, what was so good about "2PM MEMBERS SEEN FIGHTING WITH SHINEE MEMBERS OVER SINGER HANA"?

"Absolutely not. This is sensational. The press will focus on this for the next three days at least. Then they will forget all about that rascal Jaejoong. Besides, we can use this news to our advantage if we insist that our boys aren't in the wrong. The boys from 2PM are."

His assistant scratched his head, unable to see the logic behind this. SHINee members seen fighting was definitely negative publicity, shouldn't he be disciplining them? But everyone in the company knew that Jaejoong was a thorn in Director's flesh. Every small mistake he made irritated him. Hana, on the other hand, never once received any form of punishment. His favouritism was too obvious.

"Mr Lee, Jonghyun's here."

"Great. Summon him."

Jonghyun entered the room alone, prepared for any punishment he was about to receive.

"Might you explain to me exactly why did you start a fight with Ok Taecyeon?"

"It's just a quarrell..nothing important."

"You should know that the tone you are using now is not the tone that someone who has just made a mistake should use. Unless you explain yourself, I can't allow you to continue with activities."

"I'm willing to accept any punishment you wish to mete out."

"No use playing dumb. The whole world knows that it is about Hana. If you keep quiet, I cannot account to the public and people will just be speculating about her. I'm sure you do not want that to happen."

"It's a misunderstanding. I thought he was making fun of Hana so I wanted to stop him. But it turns out that they were just playing."

"Very funny Mr Kim. Let me tell you what happened." a sinister glint appeared in his eyes, "He tried to make a pass at Hana and you, the valiant knight in shining armour saved her."

"That's not what happened. You can't frame Ok Taecyeon like that." as much as he disliked Taecyeon, this was something that could potentially hurt his career.

"That is what happened. If you dare speak a word otherwise, the one who's going down won't be Taecyeon, it would be you." he laughed mirthlessly, "And before you tell me you want to uphold justice even if it means sacrificing yourself, you should remember that SHINee isn't only made up of you. There are the four of them as well."

"You won't succeed, there are eyewitnesses. They will tell you that nothing of that sort happened."

"My dear boy, the eyewitnesses are the paparazzi. Did you really think that they would write a boring story about how it is all an misunderstanding? One phone call from me and BAM! You'll see the story all over the headlines tomorrow."

"And what makes you think JIP Entertainment wouldn't do the same? They can easily say that I was the one who assaulted Taecyeon who was innocent."

"Simple. Because Hana is my artiste. The focus of this is not you or Taecyeon, it's her. The size of her fanclub is bigger than the two of you added together. Everyone loves her, you know that. Her image is so pure, so angelic....who could be so evil as to want to hurt her? Ok Taecyeon."

"You...you are despicable."

"Say whatever you like. This is the real world. Grow up."

__________________________________________

'Singer Hana has declined to comment on this matter, causing fans to express concern that the rumours of 2PM's Ok Taecyeon making indecent advances towards her are true.
A close friend of Hana has confirmed these rumours and says that he once kissed her without her consent. This is said to have happened in her residence.

 Members of her fanclub have already started a boycotting movement against 2PM. Major TV stations have also cancelled Ok Taecyeon's scheduled appearances due to viewers' requests. A representative of JBS TV has stated that it would be inappropriate for him to appear on national television now in lieu of these rumours. He is expected to be excluded from the upcoming N-Net Asian Music Awards as well.

JIP Entertainment has maintained that these rumours are untrue and will work towards proving Ok Taecyeon's innocence.'

"Oh my god..." Hana was shell-shocked, the matter has spiralled out of control! "When did I ever decline to comment?! And who is this mysterious close friend of mine?! You? You? Or you?!"

"Not me!" Key, Ga-In and Park Bom all shook their heads.

"I feel sorry for him." Ga-In gulped, "Kwon is in the same company as him, perhaps I should send him my regards."

"He's just a pawn in Director Lee's game...how innocent." Park Bom shook her head

"Someone's trying to do me in. First it was the photos of me and Jaejoong, now it's that kissing incident. I don't get it. I never told anyone except for Jaejoong, you guys and Rain. Rain couldn't have said it."

"Well, I did mention it in passing..." Key blurted

"TO?"

"Relax, I told Taeyeon, Yoona and Sica to warn them from him. They are not that kind of people."

"True..they will never do that."

"Maybe Jaejoong hyung accidentally blurted it out. You know his temper..he tends to get abit hot-headed sometimes. Maybe he was ranting about killing Taecyeon and someone heard him. He's so loud anyway."

"True..that sounds very possible. That idiot boy. But whatever it is...I must help Taecyeon."
_________________________

Somewhere far away in another part of Korea, the boys of DBSK have caught up on the news of Jonghyun and Taecyeon fighting. Jaejoong was still blissfully unaware that Hana now suspects him of spilling the beans.

"I knew something like that would happen someday." Junsu shook his head and sighed

"Like real. You predicted that Jonghyun and Taecyeon would fight?" Yoochun sneered

"No. I mean, a fight will break out one day between her suitors."

"I always expected Jaejoong hyung to be the first given how jealous he is." Changmin nodded in agreement with himself.

"Seems like the younger ones have more spunk in them. I'm proud of Jonghyun." Yoochun read through the newspapers again, "but seriously, Director Lee is too harsh. Ok Taecyeon has a bright future. And really, apart from being quite cocky, he's quite a decent guy."

"Typical of Director." Yunho sighed deeply, "He's just a young man."

"True. Besides, when it comes to making obscene advances to Hana, nobody will beat Jaejoong hyung." Changmin analysed

"Can you imagine the amount of hate Jaejoong will get from her fanboys. I still remember how they burnt photos of him and pasted death threats all over our dorms last week because of the photos."

"You make it sound like I'm so worthless! I have fangirls too! My fanclub size is still bigger than hers!" Jaejoong retorted, "It's just that fanboys are more dangerous because they are stronger, okay?"

"OUR fanclub size you mean. I think my aunty fans make up 99% of the population." Yoochun laughed dryly

"Quit squabbling. Didn't anyone read the last line?" Yunho put the papers on the table

"What?" the members put their heads together to read the line

'A representative of AB Entertainment has stated that Hana has been extremely distressed over this incident and is now resting at home. Netizens have also speculated this incident was staged to distract the media from her relationship with Youngwoong Jaejoong of TVXQ. She will not be making any public appearances with regards to this matter.'

"As if. I bet she didn't choose to stay at home, they are just confining her so that she won't expose their lies."

"I know right. But what if she's really distressed? I did hear from Heechul that she has been rather emotional lately. The last he saw her she was crying her eyes out in the dance studio." Yunho looked at Jaejoong

"Too bad we can't call her."

"How about this.... let's sneak out!" Changmin cackled, "Let's sneak out of this prison. I've got a plan."