All five jumped in their chairs when Miranda straightened up, she cleared before speaking, all eyes were on her.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s best to ignore it for now.” She picks up her fork and pushed her food around.

“Umm, imo?” Sulli gulped as she looks at the older girl.

“Hmm?” Miranda looks up towards her

“What about the things they wrote in the article. It’s very vulgar! I bet an obsessive sick 2PM fan is behind all this, who in the world would ever think about posting something like this! They are saying that unnie threw herself at Nichkhun-oppa! They even used the “W” word!” Sulli says heatedly.

“Who the hell do they think they are?!” Krystal was seething in her chair.

Miranda had to keep their voices down, “Guys, calm down. We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention.” She moved her eyes towards the door, making sure nobody was listening.

Miranda closed her eyes and sighs; this is one of the reasons why she hates the popularity that comes with their line of work. She looks at Victoria.

“You two are prepared for when these things happen. Yes?” she waits and nods when Victoria nods.

She sighs, “You better talk about this with him and decide what you want to happen next. Either way it’s going to be difficult for you both.”

A photograph of Victoria and Nichkhun had just been posted online with a very crude caption. It had only been uploaded a few hours ago but it already had over a thousand views and with that comments from the readers, some can make you cringe. The photo looks like it was taken without the pair’s knowledge. It was taken outside a coffee shop just us Nichkhun was helping Victoria into his car, they met right after her movie filming late one night and decided to stop for coffee on the way to her apartment a few weeks ago. The photo was innocent enough but the caption was the exact opposite.

Amber tries to lighten the mood, “Imo is right, we have to be calm about this, and the photo does not suggest anything about unnie dating oppa. If you look at it, it’s just two people getting coffee. Everyone knows that unnie is friends with Nichkhun-oppa and the rest of 2PM.”

Luna nods in agreement, “Yeah, everyone can vouch for their friendship and besides there is nothing wrong with oppa giving unnie a ride.” Her face fell, “Although how are we going to explain the fact that this was taken late at night, what excuse can we use to explain why oppa was with unnie?”

Miranda shook her head, “Let us not worry about that. As long as we don’t indulge these people by reacting rashly towards this post, they have nothing else to prove. They are grasping for news, if we don’t give-in, they have no choice but to give up.”

Victoria was just listening to them, she was suddenly terrified of what all of this would entail. Her manager knows of her relationship to Nichkhun and just warned her to be careful. The company had lifted their dating ban following Sulli’s incident, they figured if the girl didn’t have the need to keep her relationship secret they could have been able to handle that situation better.

One other reason why the two decided to keep their relationship under wraps was because of Nichkhun’s group. 2PM has just been able to get back in the scene following their hiatus after the accident he was involved in years ago. The group had voiced that they are more than okay with their relationship and that Nichkhun’s previous relationship did not harm the group activities at all, but Victoria didn’t want anything to overshadow their comeback so Nichkhun reluctantly agreed.

The room was jarred with Victoria’s phone going off. Her manager was calling. She stared at the phone trying to decide what to say. She knows her manager is going to go through a lot, he is responsible in keeping her away from these kinds of issues, the company is going to have a go at him just for this.

Victoria got startled when Miranda reached and grabbed her phone. The older woman gave the group a look, asking them to keep quiet.

“Hello this is Miranda.” She listens.

“No she is in the washroom right now, I can take a message.” She pauses.

“What about it?” her voice cool.

“Yes, we’ve seen it. I will ask again, what about it?”

“Did you read it yourself?” a pause, “And did you see the photo?”

“What does it tell you?”

“So, why are we having this conversation right now?”

Miranda shakes her head, her voice still unbelievably cool and calm.

“Jae, you are not ignorant of the real score between the two. You and I both now these people are grasping at straws. As-” she stopped, interrupted. Miranda’s face was an utter calm. She tries again,

“As long as no one retaliates with their provocation, there is nothing to worry about.”

“No, she is already busy enough!” Her patience wearing thin, Miranda’s eyes were already narrowing to slits. She stops to take a calming breath.

All five eyes are glued to her, they are aware of how Miranda is when she is being goaded to an argument.

“Is he with you right now?” she asks cooly, “Give him the phone.” She commands. She takes a deep breath before continuing.

The girls let out a gasp at the next thing she said.

“Good evening, Mr. Lee.” Miranda greeted SME’s CEO, cool as a cucumber.

“Don’t you think you have more than enough on your plate, to start demanding for an explanation for something as petty as a jealous fan’s rant?” her brows went up but her voice quiet.

She listens for a while, “I understand your concern, but you don’t need to worry. Has she ever caused you any problems before?”

“No? Well then what is all the fuss? Don’t forget who she is Mr. Lee. She is still a client apart from being your artist. TriuM Entertainment is still a valuable client, is it not? I thought we already had come to an agreement when it comes to the girls.”

The girls calmed down for a bit. TriuM Entertainment is basically Miranda and Victoria is also part owner, albeit in a smaller scale, and Miranda will always take their side, always.

Miranda was not finished, “Let us not forget what happened the last time, how poorly your people handled the situation, I hope that doesn’t happen again. Your company is already on thin ice with all the scandals; let us not make this another one. I would expect that your people are going to do their job well this time. As I was telling Jae earlier, this is nothing to fuss about, that photo they have does not prove anything and again, it’s a fan’s rant. I hope I am making myself clear.”

“Of course not Mr. Lee, you are still in authority when it comes to the dealings of your artists in the professional sense, but you know this is already outside of our control. I would suggest we let the kids figure this out.”

“Of course, a decision is going to be made and they will let you know. We are not going to say anything because there is nothing to say about that awful immature post. A normal person could see it’s nothing to lose sleep about.”

“Thank you, yes you too. Have a good night. Goodbye.”

Miranda calmly hangs up. She looks up to see five pairs of wide eyes trained on her. She smiles,

“Girls, breathe.”

In sync, the girls took deep breaths.

“Waah! Imo, DEABAK!” Luna exclaimed, she was fanning her face with her hand.

Amber laughs in disbelief, she started talking in English.

“Oh my gosh! I have never, I have never been in a situation like this before. Imo, you are simply amazing!” she snickered. “The best!”

Miranda chuckles, “I told you girls I have your backs. Do you believe me now?! Nobody is allowed to hurt you guys, not while I’m around.” She smiles widely.

“Thank you, unnie.” Victoria says quietly. She was hugging a beaming Krystal, she smiles when Miranda winked at her and laughs.

“I have always wanted to tell off your CEO for the longest time. They have not been taking care of you girls. They have been always crappy when it comes to handling these kinds of situations.” but she sobers, she fixes her gaze at Victoria.

“But this is not going to get any better, you know that. Now somebody opened Pandora’s Box. Whatever you two decide will impact your careers, let us all pray that it’ll be an easy storm to ride out.” She sighs as she looks around the table, suddenly serious.

“I want you girls to know, that whatever happens to anyone of you, you don’t need to worry because I will help you fix anything, that’s what I am here for. I want you girls not to be too afraid to face the ugly world out there. Know that there are people who will stand by you and still love you after all of it, so I want you to fight back because you have all the support you need.” At the last statement she turned to Sulli first and then the rest of them. Sulli stood up and kneeled by Miranda’s chair and engulfed the older girl in a