[Kris' POV]

                Meeting Ren may just be the miracle of my life. And I swore to myself that I would do anything to protect her. It wasn't going to be easy, but I believed it would work.

                As I gathered my head, I felt the warm sun shine through the window. My lower half was covered by the thin blanket, while Ren laid over me with her hand lying listlessly on my chest. Her perfectly curved, S-line bodice was outlined by the rest of the blanket. She moaned softly into my chest as I gently her jet black hair out of her face.

                "Hey, beautiful," I whispered.

                "Hmmm," she mumbled, softly. Her slender fingers formed into a weak fist and dug into my skin softly. She must've been exhausted. Although I have seen her train to no end, last night must've taken the life out of her.

                "Baby girl...I gotta go," I said.

                "Hmmm? Already?" she asked, tiredly.

                "Yeah, I gotta catch the train back to Seoul," I said. "Yours leaves an hour later."

                "What time is it?" Ren asked, finally opening her eyes completely.

                "Almost noon," I said. "You hungry?"

                "Not really."

                "All right, well...I wish we could stay but, I got a schedule and President Kim wants to see us."

                "President Kim? Is it that serious?"

                I sighed helplessly. "I've wanted to tell you but we've been too busy for the past month. He actually called me when I got back to Seoul. He tried to find a reason to get me to let you go, but the best he could do was tell me to keep it quiet."

                Ren's face dropped. "So whaddya think it is this time?"

                "Word's probably gotten out," I said, admittedly. "There is no way we can keep this secret for much longer. But trust me, we will get through this. You are all that matters to me."

                "There's a fine line between us and our members," said Ren. "We can't abandon them."

                "And we won't!" I insisted. "Ren, do you trust me?"

                "Of course I do!"

*

                *Wo eu-reu-rong, eu-reu-rong, eu-reu-rong ni! Wo eu-reu-rong, eu-reu-rong, eu-reu-rong--*

                "Yeoboseyo?"

                "Hyung! Are you close?" asked Suho. His voice sounded panicky over the speaker. I could also hear screaming in the background.

                "I am, why?" I asked.

                "There's a problem. You gotta come in through the back," said Suho.

                "Fangirls?" I asked.

                "No, worse! Sasaengs; the rumour's out! Kim sajang-nim wants to confirm it with you two first but it's gonna be dirty," said Suho.

                "All right, all right, I'll be there in two minutes."

                Hastily hanging up, I speed-dialled Ren.

                The number you have dialled in currently unavailable--

                "," I hissed, under my breath. "Ahjeosshi, could you please drop me off at the back of the building?"

                I had forgotten that there would be no reception on our phones that far out into the country. Ren would still be on the train at this time. But I had to warn her somehow. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. I searched through my contacts and dialled the first one I saw was appropriate.

                "Yeoboseyo?" the young voice piped. "Kris Oppa?"

                "Hyoim-sshi! Are you at home?" I asked.

                "We are. We're waiting for Unnie to get home. Did everything go well?"

                "Hyoim-sshi, I think the word just got out," I said. "Ren's on her way back, but wherever she is, she's probably got no reception. There are sasaengs outside the building and President Kim's waiting for both of us."

                "Oh, no," gasped Hyoim. "Unnie! Did the word just get out?"

                Little did I know, the other Crescere members were searching up the rumours.

                "Yeah, it did," I heard Jaekyung say. "They're just rumours, but the comments are pretty bad."

                "All right, look, I'm gonna try get in without being seen. I need you guys to try and keep calling Ren to get a hold of her. And tell her to be careful."

                "OK, we will," said Hyoim. "You be careful too, Oppa!"

*

[no-one's POV; Crescere's dorm]

                "Ren Unnie's still not picking up," said Ruby. "Shouldn't we be there too?"

                "How? There's a mob of sasaengs ready to pound her!" said Kimi. "You want us to die too?"

                "We're supposed to help protect Ren Unnie. Sometimes it involves dying with her," said Jaekyung.

                "But this has nothing to do with us," said Kimi. "Why should we get hated because they're dating?"

                "If you don't stop complaining, I'm gonna start hating you myself!" Jaekyung exclaimed.  "She's our leader! We have to help her! Stop being so selfish!"

                "What's selfish?" asked Kimi. "It's their problem! She knows how to handle herself! And you know she doesn't care about the sasaengs! Unnie! Panicking like this is just gonna make everything a bigger deal than it already is!"

                "Are you gonna be a baby all day and night?" asked Jaekyung, getting frustrated. "How narrow-minded can you get? What more can we do as a group if we lose Ren Unnie? We'll never be the same again! Or do you think you can do a better job at it than she can?"

                "I never said that!" Kimi screeched.  "I'm just--!"

                "STOP IT!" Ruby screamed.  "This isn't going to help Ren Unnie!"

                Jaekyung and Kimi realised they were arguing over the wrong thing. Backing off from each other, they both picked up their phones again.

                "Manager Oppa just texted me," said Saerom. "She texted him and she's heading to HQ by taxi."

                "So she'll be OK, yeah?" asked Hyoim. "I'll call Kris Oppa."

*

[Kris' POV]

                Hiding in the practice studio with the members still kept me on my toes. I paced unsteadily up and down, avoiding facing myself in the mirror.

                "I should be down there," I said. "She's gonna get mobbed."

                "Hyung, security's already down there," said Chanyeol. "She'll be fine. She's a strong woman."

                "Still," I said.  "I promised her I'd protect her. Damn it! I hoped this day never came."

                "Calm down, we'll be fine," said Luhan.

                Finally, stopping dead in my track, I turned and looked at the members. They all looked at me as if I was about to burst out with anger.

                "All right, I'm fine," I said, dropping to the floor. "I'm just...I'm scared for her."

                "We get it," said Chanyeol. "But hey...she said 'yes', didn't she?"

                I had almost forgotten about that. And I completely forgot to tell the members. Everything had been so unstable since I set foot in the building that I forgot to confirm the news.

                "Yeah, she did," I piped up, smiling.

                "WAAAAH! YEAH! We have a sister-in-law!"

                The all started jumping up and down and grabbing and pulling me in different directions. Everyone, except Tao. I caught eyes with him as Kai and Sehun grabbed me from both sides. Tao just sat there and forced a small smile once he noticed I was looking at him.

                "Kris-sshi!" our manager called from the door.

                I turned around with a worried expression. The members went silent.

                "Kim sajang-nim wants you in his office; now."

                I sighed exasperatedly. I was hoping on waiting till Ren arrived, but I could see President Kim had other ideas.