"Taemin-ah can you chop the onions? And roll up my sleeves for me will you?" Onew asked while cutting tomatoes.

"Sure hyung~" Taemin did as he was told and then grabbed a cutting board and a huge knife from the drawer.

"Uhh... You should probably pick something smaller Minnie, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Okay..." the younger pouted and when he finished chopping the onions he back-hugged Onew resting his chin on the older's shoulder.

"You smell funky Taemin-ah." the leader laughed and stirred the sauce in the pot.

Taemin only pressed himself flush against the older's back and smiled dreamily. "You, on the other hand smell great hyung... As always. And you're so cuddly and warm..." he swayed a little and nuzzled his nose into the other's neck.

Minho whistled and put a hand on his hip. "Gee so Kibum was telling the truth? I thought he was making fun of me."

Taemin unglued himself from Onew. "Truth about what?"

The other only snickered and put his hands up in defense. "I know nothing. You lovebirds keep doing whatever you were doing, I'm gone." he smiled and left the kitchen.

"W-we're not.. l-lovebirds!" Taemin shouted and Onew only smiled to himself blushing slightly and kept stirring the tomato sauce.

Suddenly the manager walked in with a stern expression on his face." Jinki can I talk to you for a second?" he asked and motioned to the older's room.

"Sure." he used a towel to wipe his hands and turned to the younger. "Minnie strain the pasta and cook the sauce for another 2 minutes. I'll be right back." he smiled and followed the manager.

They closed the door behind them and the older sighed deeply. "Look. I need this to stay between us, we don't need a scandal."

Onew nodded confused and a little scared of what was going to happen.

"You've probably heard about the rumors saying Taemin and Kai are dating right?"

The younger exhaled, relieved. "I have but there's really nothing to be worried about, they are just really good friends." he assured.

The manager shook his head. "Don't give me that, I've heard it hundreds of times already from Taemin."

"Because it's the truth." Onew furrowed his brows starting to get a little annoyed with the conversation.

"I understand that you have no idea what's happening then." he grabbed his briefcase and pulled out a white envelope handing it to the younger. "Go ahead. Take a look at what's inside."

Onew opened the envelope hesitantly and took out a batch of photos with Taemin and Kai on them. He looked through them briefly before he came across a photo where Taemin had his lips pressed against Kai's. Onew's stomach dropped, a terrible anxious feeling spreading through his veins.

"As you can see they are kissing, so no, they're not 'just really good friends'. The photos were taken by a sasaeng fan, the company already paid her not to release them on the internet. I'm showing you this because you are the leader and I need you to make sure Taemin doesn't do something so incredibly stupid in public ever again. This has to be last time it happened or you're going to get in serious trouble. Do you understand?"

Onew didn't respond, millions of thoughts running through his head. Was it really happening? Was Taemin really dating Kai? What was Onew to him then? What was that what they were doing for the past few weeks? Had he made it all up? Was it all just in his head?

"W-when were those photos taken? Maybe they are fabricated, maybe Taemin was somewhere else at that time, m-maybe we can prove that. T-this can't be him."

"He had no schedule at that moment. The pictures were taken three weeks ago on Sunday, 23rd."

Onew's heart clenched. Wasn't that when Taemin was supposedly in EXO's dorm playing video games?

"Look. I don't give a about what he does in his free time, he might be ing the kid for all I care as long as no one finds out. I need you to make sure of that. If something like this was to come to light that would be over for you guys. The public would eat you alive, your own fans would turn against you. We can't let that happen. You hear me?"

Onew felt like he might just throw up any second now, his face paled breaking out in cold sweat. "I understand." he breathed out.

When the manager left he went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face to stop the nausea he was feeling. He dried himself with a towel and went towards his room with an intention of just going to sleep when Taemin appeared.

"Oh, you done talking with the manager? Do you want to try the pasta? It came out really delicious!" he smiled and happily ate a spoonful.

"Not now Taemin..." he answered weakly.

"Why not? It's really good! Here." he said and put the spoon in front of the leader's face.

"I SAID NOT NOW TAEMIN!" he yelled making the younger flinch terrified. Then he stomped to his room and slammed the door behind him leaving the scared clueless maknae behind him.

Onew woke up a few hours later. He stayed in bed staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what was the right thing to do now. After half an hour he decided to go talk to the maknae to take care of the thing the manager entrusted to him. It was the priority at that moment. He promised himself to take care of it as a leader and not let his feelings affect the conversation but he knew it was impossible, especially with how close he was with the maknae. He lifted himself from the bed, his body heavy and tired and walked to the younger's room. He knocked on the door a few times and stepped inside when he heard a quiet "Come in." Taemin sprang out of bed as soon as he noticed Onew.

"H-hyung..." he stood a few meters from the older, anxiousness and confusion clearly visible on his face.

"We need to talk Taemin-ah. Sit on your bed." the leader said flatly making the younger's heart squeeze in pain. "I'm going to ask you something and I need you to answer truthfully okay? Just... tell me the truth."

Taemin nodded and Onew sighed. "Are you going out with Jongin?"

The younger's eyes widened in surprise, then he dropped his gaze to the floor, disappointed and hurt that his hyung believed the rumors. "I'm not... I thought you knew..."

Onew pressed his lips together and nodded. "I thought I asked you to tell me the truth. Why do you keep lying?"

"I'm not dating Jongin! And I'm not lying! Why are you being like this hyung?" he looked up at the older pleadingly.

"Really Taemin... I already know the truth so why can't you just confess to make it a little less painful for me? I'm... really disappointed in you." Onew said with a sad voice and the maknae teared up not being able to bear all the hurt anymore. "I thought you respected me enough not to try to make a fool out of me." he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Forget it." he threw the envelope with the pictures in the younger's direction and waited for him to open it.

Taemin pulled out the pictures with shaky hands and immediately noticed the one with the kiss. His lips parted, not believing what he was seeing. "H-hyung it isn't like that. I swear, please believe me. W-we're not together." he let the pictures drop to the floor as he was getting up to get closer to Onew. "It's not like that hyung. Please" he sobbed out.

The older smiled bitterly in disbelief, his heart clenching in pain. "Playing video games huh?" he looked away as his own eyes started to well up with tears. "I was... really wrong about you. ...I thought...we..." he inhaled shakily "....Just don't get caught next time." he turned around and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Hyung!" the younger begged crying. "Please... I'm not..." he sobbed, trying to catch his breath. "I'm not..."

Onew's lips trembled. "I really can't bear to look at you right now Taemin. Tell me when you're ready to have an honest conversation." he opened the door to leave but then he turned around and looked down on his hand. "This..." he took off the ring and placed it on a shelf. "...belongs to Jongin, not me." he mumbled and left, his heart shattering at the cries Taemin let out.

Yeah.. Sorry about the depressing chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it nevertheless :)

We're slowly nearing the end of the story, I guess 2-3 more chapters will do ^^ Thanks for reading <3