Disclaimer: Not own much of anything. 

***

“Care to explain what the hell is this?”

Soojung could tell that by the way CEO Kim seethed the question out to her, the man who runs the biggest agency in the entire South Korea was currently really mad at her. Everyone in the company were scared of him even when he was on his best mood, so having to be on the receiving end of his anger state was so terrifying she cowered to sink in to the plushed sofa she was sitting on, her head hung low wishing that the ground would swallowed her down instead of being here. She still didn’t know what she had done wrong, when her manager an iPad to her and showed her what was written there.

''[Confirmed] Kang Minhyuk and Krystal Jung are officially dating for almost 2 months."

“It’s been going on for a while and my phone hadn’t stop ringing ever since,” CEO Kim said with an icy tone that could make Jessica’s ‘ice princess’ attitude felt like a summer breeze, “Now tell me the truth, Krystal, is it true? And don’t even think to lie to me, because if I found out later that it was true, I swear to God—“ he massaged his forehead while breathing in a very deep, frustrated sigh. He stared coldly at the questioned girl, who could only blanched at the screen, while her sister, Jessica, who sat right beside her, patted her sister’s back and sneaking a glance or two at him.

And just like that, he knew. Great.

“Why none of you could ever learn from other’s mistake?!!!” And the almighty CEO Kim finally lost it. His voice boomed throughout his entire office it startled the three other occupants in the room. “After Yoona, Sooyoung, Sulli, and now you? Really??!! Who’s next, huh? Is it you, Jessica?!”

CEO Kim then turned to the manager, “And you! I thought I told you to keep an eye on each of your members! And you failed every single time! What did you do all this time, huh??”

“Jwesong hamnida, sajang-nim...” the manager bent his body forward in a deep bow, his voice quivered while he kept his head down. CEO Kim had a reputation as a harsh person even before he took the position from Lee Soo Man, but he held so much power in the company that no one dared to came across him.  

“Sorry?!” CEO Kim snarled, “Your sorry had no use to me! Do you know that there are some pictures of the two of them scattered around the web by now? I had to use all my publicists, resources, and PI (private investigators) to get them all down!” He turned again to the sisters as his original victims, “You’re lucky they didn’t caught your faces on camera so no one actually believed it. For God’s sake!” He slammed his hands on the wooden table in front of him until it shook while standing into his own two feet, making the girls felt even smaller over his towering figure, the veins on his face hardened looking like they’re going to popped out soon, a sign of how angry he was right now. Soojung couldn’t even lift her head to look at him in the eye, let alone to say something to defend herself; she was too scared less of him.

She knew that this could be the end of her carreer, her relationships and basically, her life. Her fans would leave her. Minhyuk’s fans would be her haters. At least, that was what happen to her bestfriend, Sulli. And the SM town family... Gosh! What would they say if they’ve heard about it?

After a few minutes yelling at the young girl to no avail, CEO Kim finally deduced that he needed to take matters into his own hand. Out of all the scandals that he had faced before, Krystal was too young to make a decision for her own good. The SNSD girls were old enough to know the implications of their acts, so when they decided to go public about their dating news, he trusted them enough that they could handle the situation so it wouldn’t damage their reputation both as a group and personally. He tried to do the same when Sulli’s scandal breakout very unexpectedly—but he had his lesson now that age does matter when it comes to this. He couldn’t let that happen to Krystal; or else, that group would be ruined for life.

So he took a loud, deep, heavy sigh before he approached her. The girls shared some questioning glances at each other and finally looked up at him when they saw that his hand were ing up in front of her face, asking for something.

With an authoritative tone, CEO Kim said, “Give me your phone. I’m going to put your phone on hold and delete any possible evidences of your dating scandal, and you’re not allowed to contact him in anyways at least until this rumour fade out.”

Soojung’s jaw dropped in shock. Her lips was trying to say something to object his order, but her voice wouldn’t come out at all.

“Sajang-nim...” It’s Jessica who came to her rescue after all, “I don’t think—“

“—don’t try to defend her, Jessica,” he turned to tounge-lashed the older girl, “You’re in no position to talk back to me. Besides, I knew that you’ve been dating that young CEO for a while. Don’t you ever think that I have eyes and ears everywhere, huh?!” After he was sure that Jessica won’t say anything else again, he shifted back his target on Krystal, “I’m going to talk to CEO Han about this so he would talk to your so-called-boyfriend. He might try to call you, though, so I think it would be best if I took your phone out, just in case. Now, give it to me,” he said in curt tone.

Soojung looking for help at her sister and her manager panicky, she couldn’t give away her phone just like that. All of her precious memories with him were there, and she didn’t keep any copies of it anywhere else. Minhyuk oppa probably had some in his phone, but still... It’s understandable if she couldn’t meet him for a while, he was busy anyway, but taking her phone could only meant that she couldn’t even received a text from him! It was ridiculous, not to mention, totally unfair. None of her unnies had ever get this kind of punishment even when they were proven to be dating, so why, why suddenly her??

“Sajang-nim, please...” she finally found her voice back and plead, “I promised I won’t pick up his call, or even texting with him, but please... don’t take my phone out. I still need the phone to call my family, my members, and manager oppa, besides...” she paused, if I’m not going to see him for a long time, I’d need those pictures to cheer me up...

“Then what would you do if another scandal break out, huh? You do know that his band is very popular, right? Their fans might be not as crazy as BigBang’s or EXO’s, but still, why do you think Seohyun wouldn’t take any chance with Yonghwa even when a lot of people had supported them? Why do you think Yoona chose Lee Seung Gi instead of Lee Jonghyun? Don’t you understand, Krystal?”

To be honest, she knew it all too well. No matter how many people would love them to be together, there would always be others who would hate against them. She was there when Seohyun unnie cried her eyes out at ‘I Got A Boy’ promotions last year when CNBLUE were also promoting their new album at the same time. Seeing how Yonghwa oppa still trying to get in touch with her despite her being all cold to him, had make Seohyun unnie regretting her own decision to refuse him all those years ago. She really felt guilty because she knew she had hurt him—and hurting herself in the process—so there was an unavoidable, palpable, awkward vibe everytime they’d met. Soojung was also there when Yoona unnie caught in between Lee Seung Gi oppa and Lee Jonghyun oppa, before she finally decided to settle with Lee Seung Gi because he was a safer option, not to mention that the older man had practically confessed his feelings on national television every chance he got. Minhyuk oppa said that Jonghyun oppa had been handling it well when the news spread out, saying that he had known it all along, but still, no one would brought her up in front of him.

“I promise, I won’t contact him in anyway as you said, sajang-nim... at least until this rumour stopped...”

CEO Kim stared hard at her to see the sincerity in her eyes. He then looked at her manager and Jessica as he once again scolded them, “And both of you have to keep an eye on her! Don’t even think on helping her out, if I ever found out that she contacted him even once, I’ll take both of your phone forever,” he pointed at Jessica then turned to f(x)’s manager, “and I’ll fire you as a manager. Am I clear?!”

“Arashimnida, sajang-nim...” the three bowed obediently. They didn’t dare to speak anymore since it was rare to have some mercy from the CEO when he was this angry. The three of them scurried out of his office once he sushed them out, feeling absolutely relieved that they could came out pretty much alive from that.

But the real torture immediately began for Jung Soojung once she came out of the CEO’s office. Rumours had been proven to be spread like wildfire when she met with the SM’s staffs who was asking her about it. Her f(x) members had been waiting worriedly downstairs and started to bombarded her with questions once she emerged from the lift.

“Soojung-ah... gwenchana? Is the rumour true?” Victoria eomma asked her, while on the other hand, Sulli wrapped her arms around Soojung, comforting her without even asking anything. Soojung didn’t answer them, she was too overwhelmed with how the day turned out. She was just having a really great time with her boyfriend the day before, and now she couldn’t even call him. Her eyes looked absolutely empty as she walked passed her members, unintentionally ignoring them.

She could distinctly heard her manager said that he would explain everything to them later. Sica unnie was busy talking to her phone—looked like even the SNSD members had known. By the end of the day, she was sure that every single person in the SM entertainment had all heard about the rumours.

And the person who had made her life impossibly miserable wasn’t from the SM town family; it was Kang Minhyuk himself. He’d been calling her endlessly despite the obvious that she won’t answer any of it. She didn’t reject it though; she’s just sitting lifelessly on her bed, staring blankly at his name on her phone screen. She found some comfort that he cared about her that much, but it’s also killing her inside that she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t even give him any explanation about why she had to do this.

She could only hope that he would forgive her after this.

Once the phone stop ringing, she waited for a while then check for the voicemail straight away. She’s been doing this all day, locking herself in her room waiting and ignoring his call, thus torturing herself to hear his soothing voice through voicemail. That didn’t count as violating her CEO’s ultimatum, right?

“Jungie-yah... please talk to me... just this once. I need to know that you’re alright and I want to hear it from you, oh? Neomu neomu bogoshippeo, please answer my next call, okay?”

“Jungie-yah, how long are you going to be like this?”

“I’ve heard everything from CEO Han, no need to worry, Jungie-yah. Just answer me this one time, and I won’t bother you again.”

And the circle went on and on and on... until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Mianhe, oppa...”

The tears that had been gathered at the edge of her eyelids, had finally streamed down on her face. She had tried to held it in all day, putting up a strong face in front of everyone, but she knew she wasn’t that strong in the first place. The silent tears slowly turned into a sob, and the sobs then turned into a cry, and she cried her heart out while clutching the phone to her ear.

“Jungie-yah, are you sleeping yet?”

“I bet you must be tired right now. I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay? Maybe you’ll feel better after a good night sleep. Dream of me, oh? Goodnight...”

“Mianhe, oppa...” she cried to herself, “I’m really really sorry...”

***

The next morning, Soojung woke up to the sound of her sister calling her softly. Jessica her baby sister’s hair with extra care, gently revealing the swollen eyes that she was trying to hide.

Whimpering, Soojung opened her heavy eyes, “Unnie... did you come home last night?”

“Oh. Don’t you realize I was sleeping next to you?”

“No...” Soojung replied weakly. She must be so tired she didn’t hear a thing. Sica unnie had started practicing for SNSD’s come back this year, so she expected her sister to be extremely busy for the next few months. She closed her eyes once again since she’s still very much sleepy, while Jessica continued to her hair in silence.

Once she was sure that Soojung had fallen asleep again, Jessica started to talk to herself, “Mianhe, Soojung-ah... I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you last night...” She heaved a sigh when she remembered how she couldn’t do anything to protect her sister yesterday; not from the media, not from the harsh words of their CEO, not even from herself. She felt even more guilty on how she reacted the night before when she was practically fuming at her sister when she found out that she was dating a boy and how she couldn’t be there to comfort her last night...; if she knew that the next day everything would turned down hill like this, she probably would let her sister to absorb as much happiness as she could get from said boyfriend. Maybe then Soojung wouldn’t be this sad...

She remembered how happy Soojung was as she talked animatedly about how they ended up together; even after so much scolding and yelling from her own sister. Just then she realized that something had change in her sister, some positive aura radiating from the way she acted, her face practically glowed everytime his name was mentioned. She should’ve known, Jessica thought, she should’ve notice this little changes before. Now that she had seen the contrast difference before and after the rumour, she wished there’s something that she could do to bring that Soojung back.

Jessica placed a quick peck on Soojung’s forehead since she needed to get ready for another day of practice for her new album when the door bell’s ringed. She immediately went downstairs to see who it was and surprised herself when she saw Kang Minhyuk stood in front of the door.

Looked like someone didn’t get much sleep either last night.

“Noona...” the young boy attempted a smile as soon as he saw her. Holding a bouquet of flowers, he didn’t waste time to ask her,  “Can I—“

“—she’s sleeping, Minhyuk-ah...”

“Oh.”

And the smile vanished in an instant and Jessica couldn’t help but pity him. But she couldn’t do anything to help the poor boy, if CEO Kim’s threat was true, there must be some of his PI’s who had been following him—or rather, watching over her house day and night—just to see if the sisters kept their promises.

“You can’t come here, Minhyuk-ah...” Jessica said softly, she couldn’t be angry at him since she knew he must be hurting as much as her sister did right now. She couldn’t possibly beaten the already bruised and battered puppy like him, she was too much of a softie to do something like that.

Minhyuk could only lower his eyes down and mumbled something like, “I know.”

There was a long silence after that before Jessica finally pointed to the flowers he had brought, “Is that for Soojung? I could give it to her for you if you want to.”

“Nde?” Minhyuk looked up to see the sincerity in Jessica’s eyes, and was convinced when the older girl smiled at him, “Oh. Please,” he bowed and let her took the flowers from his grasp.

“Oh, yeoppo da... Soojung must be feeling better when she saw this. Did you arrange it yourself?”

“Oh,” he replied awkwardly, “but noona... could you please tell me that she’s alright? I mean, she’s not skipping meal or losing sleep, right? How’s her ankle?”

Jessica smiled wider at how concerned he seemed to be; looked like Soojung got herself a pretty good boyfriend. Ahh... how lucky.

“I’m her sister, Minhyuk-ah... I’ll make sure she won’t do anything like that. And the doctor said her ankle is fine. It’s a good excuse tho, so she could get herself some rest between all this mess. Don’t worry, okay? She would be alright if you just be more patient and don’t stirred up another rumour.”

Minhyuk bit his lips in a flat line and bowed his head again in embarrassment; CEO Han and his hyungs had told him the exact same thing, but he wouldn’t listen. Call him selfish, call him reckless, he knew he should’ve listen to them. Hearing the words from Jessica made him remember his own sister at home; Sica noona must be pretty worried about his Soojung, too. Probably more.

“I’m really sorry, noona, for troubling you,” Minhyuk bent his head down again in a deep bow, “I’ve bought something for you too,” he took out a box from a paper bag that he was holding, while Jessica eyeing the box curiously, “It’s nothing much, but maybe you could share it with Soojung to light up her mood...”

“Omo! Is it chocolate?” Jessica eyes widen as soon as she saw the brand of the box, “Oh, it’s my favourite, too! Aigoo... Minhyuk-ah how did you know—wait, don’t answer that—it’s Donghae oppa, isn’t it?” She eyed the boy suspiciously.

Minhyuk couldn’t help but grinned sheepishly, “It’s that obvious, isn’t it?”

“Tsk, eyyy... Are you trying to bribe me with this?”

The grin on his face widen, “Is it working?”

“No,” Jessica cut him off curtly, “But I’m still going to take it. Tell Donghae oppa that it took a whole lot more than a box of chocolate to bribe me. Aiishh... he’s still didn’t get it...”

Minhyuk smiled the first genuine smile he had had since yesterday, finding out another similarity between Soojung and Jessica who whined a lot even if it’s obvious that they liked it. Eventhough he missed Soojung a lot, well this probably should do.

Before he took his leave, Minhyuk decided to say something to Jessica to show her how thankful he was, “Noona.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

Jessica smiled, “No problem.”

“I have an older sister just like you, you know? She nagged me a lot and could be a bit too overprotective sometimes—just like you—but that’s how I know how thankful Soojung must be to have a sister like you. And that’s why I know she would be alright because you’ll take care of her just like how my sister would take care of me. So, I couldn’t thank you enough for this—“

“—don’t make me cry, Minhyuk-ah... Just go and take care of yourself, okay?”

Minhyuk didn’t say anything more and bowed to her once again before he get in to the car and drove away. Leaving Jessica’s eyes glistening with tears, feeling even more guilty for him and her sister.

***

Just as the doctor said, the swelling on her ankle had subsided after a few days. Soojung spent those few days by locking herself in her room, fiddling with her phone, looking at his pictures, waiting for his call, and crying herself to sleep. She missed him so much it hurts; now that she couldn’t make any kind of contact with him, she realized what a lonely life her life had been before she met him. She wasn’t the type of girl who would mingle around; the only person she would talk to all day probably her sister, and she was okay with that. But after she met him, she knew now how nice it was to constantly have someone to talk to, knowing that someone would miss you if he didn’t hear a word from you, to have something that you’re looking forward to after a long day of work.

Minhyuk oppa sure was so busy right now since he would make a come back with his band by the next month, but Soojung had to give him some credit for his persistence to try to reach out for her. He’d still managed to call her every morning, every night and everytime he had some break. Jessica told her that he even made an attempt to came by to her house, bearing gifts and flowers to bribe his way in, but Soojung was glad that Jessica didn’t budge. She didn’t want to be a burden for her sister and her manager just because of her selfishness. She was feeling guilty enough for dragging them into this in the first place.

Today was the first day she joined her members for the GDA rehearsals in SM town studio. They were practicing along with the other groups: Shineee, EXO, even SNSD and Super Junior were there to teach the maknaes their dance moves for the special performance. Everyone was trying to look nonchalant as she set her feet to the practice room for the first time after the rumours break out, but she knew that they were curious about her current situation. She tried to ignore all the glances they threw at her the entire time. However, the atmosphere was too awkward to be left unnoticed. During break, Soojung decided to sit on the corner of the mirrored room all alone; her mind and heart was too tired to give a damn anymore.

A while later, she could feel someone plopped down beside her. She took a quick glance to see who was it; it’s Heechul oppa. His phone attached to his ear, talking comfortably with whoever it was on the other line. He smiled knowingly at her, Soojung crinkled her forehead at that, when she realized who was it he was talking to.

“...Oh. She’s here with me right now. Do you want to talk to her?”

Heechul his phone in front of her face so she could see the name on the screen. Her eyes was glistening in an instant as she heard that familiar voice throughout the phone, loud enough for both of them to hear.

“Jungie-yah? Are you there? It’s me.”

Of course she knew whose voice is it. She would’ve recognize that voice anywhere. She could’ve just take the phone and say ‘hi’ to him, it was so easy... yet, she turned her head away from the phone.  

Be strong, Jung Soojung. Be strong, she chanted the words in her head like a spell, willing the tears not to fall down her face.

“Minhyuk-ah... she didn’t want to talk to you...” she heard Heechul oppa told him, “Well... she didn’t look sick at least, yeah... I think her leg was fine, her dance earlier was flawless as usual... Ne... I’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry... bye...”

“Geez...” Heechul talked to himself once he ended the call, “He’s such a nagging boyfriend. You must find it really annoying, right Soojung-ah?”

A small smile tore from her pouty face, Heechul relieved that the girl didn’t lost herself completely in sadness.

“I know, right? He’s always been like that even before we’re dating...”

“Eyy... look at you. You really like him, don’t you?” Heechul teased, earning a slight blush on her cheeks, “He’s really worried about you, you know? He’s been calling me everyday to check up on you, like aiiishh... jinjja... if he’s not Kang Minhyuk, I’d probably had had him on my black list. How dare he?!”

Soojung chuckled at his attempt to joke around; he might be grumbling like an old grandpa right now, but she knew he was just trying to cheer her up. And it was working. Knowing that Minhyuk oppa still checking up on her even through someone else, had warmed her heart a little bit.

“Then... how about him, oppa?” Soojung asked her sunbae, “Is he doing alright?”

“Well, CEO Han was pretty upset at him for sure, but he’s not as strict as our CEO anyway, so...” he rolled his eyes at the mention of CEO Kim, it was a common knowledge that most people wasn’t very fond of their current boss at all, “Don’t worry about him, though, he’s a man. He should handle this situation really well. I just couldn’t believe that both of you could hide it from everyone for months, you even lied to my face! Remember New Year’s eve? Wah... I should’ve known... I should’ve known...”

Soojung then told him the whole story. Heechul oppa might be one of the best (or worst?) gossiper ever, but he’s also a good listener and advicer. He had seen a lot of his fellow idols with dating scandals and how they handle it. Besides, Minhyuk oppa had become close with him; so it was probably better if she came out clean with him.  

In the middle of their conversation, somehow Soojung had a glimpse of Donghae oppa walking towards her. What had had caught her attention was that Suho oppa and Kai were trailing right behind him. Soojung stared in horror as the trio came closer, she really thought that she couldn’t handle them right now.

Donghae oppa confidently joined her to sit on the floor with Suho oppa following right next to him. Kai preferred to stand still with his back leaning on the mirrored wall, acting like he-didn’t-want-to-be-there-but-since-the-hyungs-asked-him-to so he didn’t have a choice.

“So,” Donghae oppa nudged her with his elbow, “You and Minhyuk, huh? Can’t say that I didn’t see it coming, though.”

Well, Donghae oppa was nothing like Heechul oppa, that’s for sure. He was not a conversationalist, but he’s a kind person. They’ve become quite close since her sister had been dating him a few years ago, and eventhough they’ve broke up, Donghae oppa still acted like she was his sister-in-law. Soojung was just not very sure if his intention was solely because he was close with the maknae couple, or because the boys behind him had asked him to.

She decided to ignore them then.

“Minhyuk oppa must’ve told you, right?” Soojung asked him, which was replied by a slight nod from Donghae, “Thanks for the chocolate, tho. I had some fun teasing Sica unnie that day, she was grumbling all day, you know?”

Donghae chuckled as he imagined how Jessica must reacted for that. Their relationship didn’t last for long, but he had known her for half of his life. And both of them was mature enough to understand that she needed something more than him to make it work. His eyes wandered around the studio and caught sight of her, practicing her dance, when their eyes met. He gave a small smile to her, but Jessica darted her eyes away, indicating she’s still pretty much irritated at him. Donghae chuckled at her antics.

Soojung saw this little interaction then nudged him back, “Oppa, as much as I like you as my brother-in-law, but you need to move on. She already did, you know?”

Donghae turned his eyes to look at Soojung and ruffled her hair, “Ara... she’s with that CEO, right?”

“Yah, oppa! Don’t mess with my hair!” Soojung glared at him, pushing his hand away from her head.

“I was just wondering how does it feel like. Now I know why uri Minhyukkie loves to do it very much,” he then sneaked his hand to repeat the action playfully.  

“Yaaahhh...” Soojung backed away from him, whining some more, and making the boys around her laugh.

Once he was content playing with her hair, Donghae said again, “You should’ve told me, anyway.”

“He’s right,” Heechul chimed in, “You should’ve at least told your sister. Or me. We might’ve help.”

“Shireo,” Soojung pouted stubbornly, “It’s more likely you’d tease me endlessly rather then helping.”

Kai sneered, unexpectedly drawing everyone’s attention from Soojung to him, “But you did a crappy job on hiding it.”

“What do you mean, Kim Jongin?” Suho asked him, curious.

Kai kept his eyes fixed on Soojung’s, “I saw them kissing in a parking lot.”

“Whaatt?!”

Soojung narrowed her eyes at him, while everyone’s still pretty much shocked with what Kai just said.

“I mean, if they keep on doing that in a regular basis, I bet that someone would caught them much sooner rather than later. So I’m not that surprised when it did.”

Soojung pulled herself up into a standing position, her eyes shooting deathly glares to the boy who had broken her heart once, “What are you trying to say, Kim Jongin? Are you saying that you’re the one who tipped them about the rumour?”

Insulted, Kai pushed his body away from the mirrored wall, “And why would I do that?”

The girl just scoffed, “I don’t know, maybe you hate me so much you don’t like it to see me happy?”

“Tch...” Kai scoffed back, “Seriously, Jung Soojung? Is this really you? Just so you know, I’d never hate you. If anything, you must be the one who hate me so much so you accused me of something so low like that.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“What did I do?! I didn’t do anything! For God’s sake, I didn’t say anything to anyone until now!”

His voice boomed through out the whole studio that everyone stop and stared at the two. Suho stood up to calm him down, while Heechul and Donghae pushed Soojung to the back to protect her. Jessica and the other f(x) members came into view to see what happened, their eyes filled with worry.

What he said next had stunned her even more, “I would never do anything to hurt you, Soojung-ah... I care about you too much to do something like that.”

And with that, he left the room in a deafening silence.

***

A/N: Another drama, I guess. So sorry for the long wait tho, at least it wasn't 2 months wait like the last one ;p

Btw the rumour on twitter was really happened, Idk if any of you have heard of it before. You can searched it on twitter and see the rest of it. But to be honest, I'm falling behind with my original timeline, I wish I could update faster than this, but looked like I'm still pretty much exhausted with 1 job, I really don't know how did I survive with 2 jobs >.<