• TVXQ - Rumor

Taemin opened his eyes the next day to have his hyungs examining his face. Seriously scared, he bolted up and out of his bed.

“W-what do you guys want?” He asked whie rubbing his eyes, still half asleep.

Not saying a word, Minho held a magazine's summarized article out for him to see. In bold red letters it read “F(X) AND SHINee MAKNAES DATE? TAESTAL?! Below were pictures snapped of the two during their ‘date’ to the amusement park. Well, so much for being able to blend in! Taemin thought to himself.

“You did not tell us you had a girlfriend!” Key pouted at him.
“All grown up and having a girlfriend? Well, welcome to the club!” Jonghyun ruffled his hair.
“Can’t believe you have a girlfriend before me!” Onew exclaimed while nibbling on a piece of chicken.

Minho was the only one who stayed silent, reading the article on the magazine. Taemin looked up at his hyungs, not knowing how to explain or even where to start. Just as he opened his mouth, about to tell them, he also realized that explaining the truth to his hyungs would also mean exposing Krystal’s secret. Not wanting to abuse her trust, Taemin just kept silent as his hyungs continued to congratulate him.

“I know, let’s invite her to dinner tonight!” Key beamed
Nods and sound of appreciation came from the rest of SHINee....except for one: Taemin.
“No, hyung! It’s okay!” He had quickly responded, but unfortunately for him, he was outnumbered...

So it was with frustration and a little distress that Taemin took out his cellphone from the pair of jeans he wore from the day before and extremely slow speed that he dialed Krystal’s number. Each ring on the other side of the line increased Taemin’s nervousness. Little did he know that a similar situation was being played not far away....

“Oh my gosh! You guy’s are adoooorable!” Luna screeched at the pictures.
Victoria, with her broken korean, also remarked, “I can’t believe you were teasing me about Nichkhun! Not when you are also dating!”

They were all looking at the computer screen with the headlines of today's news on Naver, staring at the pics someone had managed to capture. Krystal had came into the room to investigate, which was when the members grabbed and pulled her over to see for herself.

She thought with an inaudible sigh, How could this get any worse?

Amber simply looked at Krystal with a teasing grin on her face. Sulli, on the other hand, just stood there looking on with big round eyes.
“So you.....like him? You guys are dating?” Sulli asked, clearly not affected by the ongoing joyous mood in the dorm.
“No no, you know me. We're just friends.” Krystal clarified to her members. They were all close to SHINee, as well. So they could understand.
“Since when do just friends go out on a date. And since when did you become such good friends with Taemin?” Luna quickly retorted while Victoria nodded vigorously in agreement.Okay, so maybe they didn't really understand.

Krystal turned her head towards the remaining two members, with her eyes pleading for help, but they too waited for her to give them a proper explaination.

“Well, I...wanted to talk to him...” Krystal started saying slowly, her fingers running through her hair.
Then she was interrupted by Amber. “What can you tell him and not us?” She had a good point, but for some reason, Krystal couldn't imagine telling them. Not now since she has started to recuperate. She was afraid that if she were to tell anyone else, she could internally break down. And these rumors that would lead to big gossip weren't helping her.

Just when Krystal was at lost for words and unsure how to answer, her phone rang the familiar tune of their song's chorus, NU ABO.
Saved by the bell, Krystal thought in her head as the Nananananana part stopped when she answered the phone. It was from their manager.
 

Even though in different dorms, the two unfortunate people who were mistaken by their members to be dating each other, were both engulfed by their hyungs or unnies. f(x) had to go to SHINee's dorm. Both of the maknaes sat on the couch. They grew uncomfortable and uneasy of their members' stream of questions which were shot at them like fireworks.

“Are you two honestly dating?”
“How long has it been already?!”
“Did you guys kiss yet?!!”

Before they had time to answer either of the questions though, the managers for SHINee and f(x) also came in and joined them. But they were much less enthusiastic to the idea of the maknaes dating...

“Taemin and Krystal, the Boss wants to see you.” The normally-joyous SHINee manager said this in a very serious tone.

Taemin and Krystal glanced at each other before following the adults out of the apartment. They darted one last look back at their wide-eyed members' faces before closing the door behind them.

The ride all the way to the SM headquarters had never been this slow or this quiet. Krystal tapped her foot in impatience, while Taemin just looked out the window, pretending to admire the scenery that he had passed countless times before.

The managers did not make it any better. No reprimandments, no lectures at all. Just pure silence. That was even more scary, because that wasn’t typical of the gossiping managers...

Once they arrived at SM Entertainment's main building/headquarters, the two of them got out of the car and were immediately surrounded by reporters and flashing cameras.

“Are you two really dating?”
“Are you worried what fans will think about this?”
Questions were thrown at them, much like how the members had asked them. Except it was much less friendly and much more frightening. The reporters looked like animals from a zoo fighting for one piece of meat.

Helped by bodyguards, Taemin and Krystal finally entered the building safe. Krystal fixed her hair, glad to be out of that mob attack. For now. They really did not know how the coming hour would turn out to be.

Both of their heartbeats were wild when the Boss came and opened his door for them. They cringed at his never-smiling face and entered the dark office. He was a busy man, so the SM artists and groups rarely met with him. The door had no label on it, but everyone knew who the office belonged to. They glanced at each other again before going inside and having the door shut behind them. There was a saying that once you entered the Dark Room, you would never come out...