With his first schedule of the day only beginning in the afternoon with a CF shoot, Minho should have been asleep at 7am in the morning, his alarm only set to ring three hours later. Yet, he found himself opening his eyes without the need to fight any traces of sleep away, as if he had slept for the longest time when it had actually only been about 5 hours of sleep. He probably would have got his full 8 hours of sleep if both he and Kibum had a little more self-restrain and didn't begin a second round of strenuous exercise, but of course, Minho wasn't complaining one bit. Perhaps it was because he was so drained from the night's activities that he had such a peaceful dreamless sleep, having knocked out completely immediately after Kibum and he had taken a quick shower. His dear boyfriend was particular about cleanliness and although it was on the verge of annoying, Minho found such a trait rather endearing especially when Kibum had to pout and aegyo his way to get an exhausted Minho into the bathroom.

Speaking of whom, a smile pulled on the corners of Minho's lips as he turned to his left and was greeted by Kibum's angelic sleeping face. Minho had to admit, he had a complete soft spot for a sound asleep Kibum. Because when he described Kibum as angelic, he really did mean angelic. There was something extremely beautiful about Kibum when he was sleeping. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was the only time Kibum couldn't put on any fronts and when he was the most defenceless. It was also probably the only moment Minho could fully appreciate his boyfriend's perfect features which included his pursed Cupid’s bow lips, his sharp nose, his fair baby smooth skin, eyelashes that fanned nicely over his high cheekbones, his attractive defined jawline and not forgetting his soft fluffy light blond hair. In Minho's eyes, his boyfriend practically glowed when he was asleep; the actor could almost see the halo above Kibum's head. And if Minho's pupils could change into any shape, it would be in the form of hearts now.

Minho let out a blissful sigh, grateful that he had found a love to keep now and forever. As he continued to adore Kibum, the actor reminded himself to never take his boyfriend for granted. Unable to take his eyes off his sleeping boyfriend, Minho made himself even more comfortable in bed as he fluffed up his pillow and lied on his side, aligning himself perfectly adjacent to Kibum so he had the best view of his boyfriend to admire him silently. Yet, the silence didn't last long because Minho's ears had picked up a faint ringing that he knew was coming from outside his room. It was then it occurred to him that in their haste to relocate to the bedroom, the both of them had left their phones in the living room. Recognising that it was his phone that was ringing, the actor quickly yet quietly slipped out of bed and made his way towards the living room. As if the incessant ringing was hurrying him, Minho was pressured to speed up his footsteps and soon picked up his phone that had been discarded on the couch.

Upon seeing the caller displayed on the screen, Minho frowned. “Manager hyung?”

Answering the call, Minho couldn't help but doubt if both Kibum and him had gotten his schedules wrong or maybe even forgot about an earlier schedule that had been arranged.

“Morning hyung, what's-”

“Choi Minho, what did I say about having your phone with you at all times?!” His manager was shouting and that wasn’t a good sign at all, “Do you know how long I've been trying to call you?”

Minho quickly pulled his phone away from his ear and realised that indeed, he had a list of notifications and alerts to look through. It was then he could sense the urgency of the issue, whatever it was.

“Get your down to the office. Now! I expect to see you in half an hour's time.”

That was all Minho had heard when he held his phone back to his ear before his manager hastily and angrily ended the call with him.

Staring at his phone, Minho was confused, having no clue what on earth would have caused his manager to be this anxious, but he had a strong feeling that it had to be a scandal of some sort. Minho had no time to think about it though. His first and foremost priority was to appear in his manager's eyes in under 30 minutes. So without waking Kibum up for fear of causing unnecessary worry to his boyfriend, Minho made a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen himself up, headed back to his room to change into a simple attire of a navy-red raglan tee and black track pants before he grabbed his car keys and left his apartment.

*

“This!”

Photos were scattered all over the table in front of him that separated Minho from his manager as Gyeongshik threw the photos rather dramatically to vent his anger.

“Care to explain what this is, Choi Minho?!”

Minho's lips parted in shock as he gathered the photos and looked through them one by one.

“This...” Minho stuttered to find an explanation, unable to say out loud that these photos had captured what happened between Yuri and him backstage the day before after his dance performance.

And boy oh boy did the photos look misleading from the angle the photographer had taken the photos. If Minho didn't know himself, he would think he was looking at photos of a couple embracing, being happily in love. It didn't help that the way Yuri held his collar and how Minho had his hands on her almost waist was overly suggestive. Minho couldn’t hold it against his manager for being this mad at him and demanding for an explanation.

“I want the truth, Minho.” His manager slammed his hand against the table top and raised his voice, “What the hell is going on between you and Kwon Yuri?!”

“Nothing, hyung! We're just friends!” Minho had never felt so wronged in his life.

“Ask yourself, Minho, with these photos, how is the media, let alone me, going to believe you?” Gyeongshik was still not convinced.

“Hyung, I'm not lying.” Minho firmly stood his ground. “We were just celebrating our performance. There’s really nothing more to it.”

Gyeongshik narrowed his eyes at Minho, as if he could read the actor's mind and see through him just by doing that. After a moment of silence, he let out a breath defeatedly and shook his head regretfully at the situation.

“Even if I believe you, do you think the media or your fans will let this go easily?”

“It's the truth, it's what they have to believe.” There was nothing left for Minho to say and so, he focused on finding out what the current situation was, “Hyung, have the photos been released?”

“They will be... in the afternoon's entertainment news.” Gyeongshik explained. “The news agency needed to get a statement from us and Yuri's side first.”

Understanding that his company had a standard statement it would release to respond to such 'scandals' which went along the lines of 'they're just friends/it was only a friendly gesture/we have nothing to hide', Minho was more curious about how Yuri's management would handle the situation. “How are things over at Yuri noona’s side?”

“That's something you don't have to worry about, they actually like the publicity.” Gyeongshik sighed, showing that he couldn’t understand why Yuri’s management were happy with the news. “Let's just say, they like the idea of the media coupling the both of you together.”

“Why?” Minho himself couldn’t understand why Yuri’s company had no qualms with such a scandal breaking out.

“They believe that negative publicity is still publicity. It'll give the both of you more exposure to the public.” Gyeongshik relayed the message he got from Yuri’s company to Minho, “But our company... We rather not have this sort of news. You know how we want you to focus on your career, Minho. Relationships shouldn't be your concern right now. I believe you know how to deal with this?”

With the thought of Kibum coming into his mind, Minho swallowed nervously as discreetly as he could and quickly placed on an earnest front, nodding to assure his manager, “I understand, don't worry hyung, I'm not involved with Yuri in any way that would be a concern to you.”

Minho wasn’t lying, he just didn’t admit the whole truth to his manager.

“Good. I'll trust you on this.” Gyeongshik nodded, smiling faintly at his artiste. “For now, get home, take a shower and change into something more appealing. I can't have you looking this unkempt at your shooting later.”

Minho nodded and placed the photos back onto Gyeongshik’s desk. “I’ll see you later, hyung.”

And with that, Minho followed his manager’s instructions and left the company to make his way back home. His main concern now was to announce the bad news to Kibum and talk to him about it.

* 

“Kibum?” Minho was surprised to see his boyfriend sitting on the couch in the living room when he returned to his apartment, “It’s still early, why are you awake?”

Upon hearing the actor’s voice, Kibum looked up to reveal an annoyed frown that marred his face and picked up Minho’s phone from the table, “This woke me up. It’s been ringing nonstop, and I bet it’ll start ringing again any moment now.”

It was then Minho realised he hadn’t brought his phone with him and as he walked to join Kibum on the couch, he apologised, “Sorry baby, I was in a rush and-”

“I saw the notifications on your phone.” Kibum interrupted, wanting his boyfriend to go straight to the point, “Why was Gyeongshik hyung looking for you so urgently? What happened? Does it have something to do with Yuri noona?”

Minho creased his eyebrows. “How did you know?”

“She’s the one who has been calling you nonstop.” Kibum explained as he passed the phone to Minho, “You should call her back.”

“Maybe later.” Minho took his phone from Kibum but wasn’t interested in calling Yuri, he was more concerned about discussing the issue with his boyfriend, “Listen Kibum, I don’t know how it happened but Yuri noona and I were caught on camera backstage yesterday and the photos… well, they look suggestive enough for reporters to believe that we have a relationship going on.”

Kibum raised an eyebrow. “What were the two of you doing?”    

“Err, we were, well, in a hug of some sort?” Minho himself didn’t exactly know how to describe their position to Kibum.

“Let me see the photos.” Kibum held his hand palm up in front of Minho, somewhat expecting the actor to magically make the photos appear in an instant.

“I don’t have them…” Minho admitted, feeling more nervous by the second, “But you’ll see them in the entertainment news later in the afternoon.”

“What?!” Kibum widened his eyes in disbelief, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I wish I could say I am.”

“Choi Minho, why isn’t your company doing anything to stop the photos from being published?” Kibum did nothing to hide his agitation, “I mean, doesn’t your company hate such news from breaking out?”

“They do, Kibummie. But if they did that, it would raise more suspicions.”

“So what? You’re telling me you have to go along with it? Let the news be published, and then what, Minho? Deny that you’re in a relationship with her and keep answering that you’re just friends whenever you’re asked about it?”

“That’s how it is, Kibum… I can’t do anything about it.”

“Do you know how much trouble it’ll bring once the news is out?”

“I know, bummie, that’s why I wanted to talk to you-”

Both Minho and Kibum didn’t have the chance to say anything else because a ringtone, the very same one that woke both Minho and Kibum up, had interrupted their heated conversation at that very moment.

With Minho looking at his phone, Kibum let out a breath and stood up from the couch, “Please just answer it and settle whatever you need to with her, it’s driving me nuts. I need to open the fridge and cool myself down anyway.”

Amused by his boyfriend’s method to literally cool down, Minho almost broke into a smile but the serious look on Kibum’s face had stopped him. And so, as Kibum left the living room for the kitchen, Minho took in a breath and finally answered the call.

“Hey noona, sorry I missed so many of your calls.” Minho took the initiative to speak once the call got through, “I didn’t have my phone with me.”

“Oh. It’s okay, I was just worried about you… How are things over at your side?” Minho could almost see Yuri biting her bottom lip nervously.

“It’s fine, we have nothing to hide anyway.” Minho relaxed into the sofa and stared at the ceiling as he waited for Yuri to continue.

“That’s true…” Yuri agreed before sighing aloud and said, “Minho, I’m sorry that this happened… I should have held my excitement back and-”

“It’s okay, noona.” Minho assured Yuri, “I understand, you don’t have to apologise. What’s done is done. The news will die down sooner or later. We just have to deal with it well for the time being.”

“Did you get into any trouble with your company?”

“I got called into the office, but don’t worry, I’ve clarified things with my manager.” Minho answered before he continued to ask, “How about you, noona?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about how my company thinks of it so I’m almost completely unaffected by it...”

“That’s good, noona.” Minho replied, “We just have to be more careful now... I guess we should stay away from each other for now. As long as we don’t get caught again, we’ll be fine.”

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching him, Minho rolled his head to the side and upon spotting Kibum returning with two mugs in his hands, the actor quickly spoke into the phone again before Yuri could reply him.

“Hey noona, I have to go. Text me if anything urgent crops up alright?”

“Okay… Minho-”

“Bye noona.”

With that, Minho ended the call just as Kibum joined him back on the sofa.

Passing one mug to Minho, Kibum made himself comfortable beside his boyfriend and asked rather expressionlessly after he had sipped his own mug of coffee, “So? Care to update me with what’s going on right now?”

“Her company’s happy to deal with such news so she just called to check if I’m alright.” Minho explained before he had a taste of the much needed coffee.

“You’re not going to be fine once the news is released.” If it wasn’t obvious enough, Kibum was not looking forward to the scandal breaking out at all.

Minho sighed, “Stuff like this always happens in this industry, and now it’s just my turn to deal with it, Kibum.”

“Aren’t you worried at all?”

“I am… but not for myself.” Minho answered as he looked into Kibum’s eyes, “I’m worried about you, Kibummie.”

“I think you must be confused or something… here I am worrying about you, but now you’re telling me you’re worried about me? Have you lost your mind?” Kibum questioned, unable to figure out what his boyfriend was thinking.

Placing his mug onto the coffee table, Minho shook his head and then took the mug from Kibum’s hand to do the same before he rested his hands on Kibum’s shoulders and said, “I know I can handle this, Kibum… I’m used to being judged by the public but I need you to trust me no matter what speculations is going to be made. It’s impossible for us to ignore it all and I’m afraid you may be hurt if you come across the stuff netizens may say about Yuri and I… Kibum, you need to be prepared for all of the rubbish that is about to happen.”

“You said it yourself, Minho, it’s rubbish… so why should I worry myself about this?” Kibum shook his head as he reached out to squeeze Minho’s face, “I’m definitely not going to be affected by it as much as you are going to be… you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I can handle this.” Minho reassured Kibum with a smile, “I have nothing to hide… except my relationship with you of course.”

Kibum rolled his eyes, “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that now that the news of you and Yuri together is going to be exposed.”

“Am I supposed to be happy about this?” Minho pondered out loud.

Kibum shrugged, “I don’t even want to talk about this anymore, I just want to get back to bed and catch a little more sleep to fully recharge myself for the day ahead.”

Minho’s eyes lit up with mischief. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Minho, stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.” Kibum let out a sigh and pushed Minho away to get up from the sofa, “I really need the sleep.”

“Hey, I wasn’t thinking any indecent thoughts...” Minho defended himself as he left the sofa as well and followed behind Kibum.

“Did I say you were?”

And as Kibum turned back to smirk at Minho, the actor realised he needed to brush up his act in front of Kibum. It was becoming too easy for his boyfriend to see through him… and that wasn’t going to help Minho one bit if he ever wanted to surprise Kibum in the near future. How ironic it was that acting was his profession. So before he joined Kibum back in bed for a quick power nap (god knows they needed it for what was about to come later), Minho made a mental note to put his acting skills to use around Kibum when it was necessary.

Author's Note: trouble is brewing, and it ain't going to be easy for anyone. alrighty! i hope the story doesn't seem too draggy, in fact, i hope to finish this within 25 chapters. it's getting a little too long. but yupp! i hope you guys enjoyed the update! i've been working on it on my journeys to and fro school so there was lots of editing to be done, which explains the super long wait. sorry that i'm always keeping you guys waiting but i hope it's worth it? and yes, thank you for subscribing, commenting and reading this story! it gives me a whole lot of motivation to continue writing knowing that there are people actually reading this. love you wonderful readers truck loads! have a good week ahead dear readers! ^^