The following morning, Nari was awoken by the constant ringing of her phone. When she finally got up, there were numerous phone calls from her sister, the 2D1N members and even JooHyuk. When she stepped out of her room, the other girls were already gathered.

When they saw her, they averted their eyes, avoiding eye contact. With them, sat their Manager, whose face was red as an apple. The atmosphere was tense and she stood there, waiting for someone to approach her.

At last, her Manager got up slowly, clutching his phone in his hand so tightly that the whites of his knuckles were clearly represented. He walked up to her and showed her his phone screen. Nari held the phone in her hands to get a better view and saw the headline of an article stating, “Company Love: CNBLUE’s JongHyun in a relationship with YongKi’s Nari?”

Nari’s eyes went wide. She scrolled down and saw pictures of the two of them from when they were in the studio practicing the guitar solo and another one from when he drove her home.

Her manager cleared his throat, expecting an explanation. Before she could respond to him, her phone rang; it was JongHyun.

“Nari-ah,” he said as soon as the call connected. “Just listen. This will all blow over soon. The CEO organized this to avert attention from the threat about you and JooHyuk-hyung. Please don’t be mad.”

Nari didn’t know what to say. “Oppa, what do I do?” Nari sounded hopeless, on the verge of tears.

“Nothing. Do nothing. There are probably press reporters surrounding your apartment. Just stay inside for now.” JongHyun knew this wasn’t going to be easy for her and as much as he wanted to comfort her, he knew the thought was useless.

“Did JooHyuk-oppa call you?” Nari asked, curious.

Just by the mere mention of his name made JongHyun furious. “What?” he asked, tensing his jaw.

“Do you think he knows about all this?”

“Of course, he does. Everyone knows by now.” JongHyun couldn’t believe how much more concerned she was over JooHyuk than she was over him. He, himself, was involved in the scandal, so why wouldn’t she ask how he was doing?

After Nari hung up the phone, she sat down and explained what had happened in the CEO’s office the day before to her Manager and her friends. When she was finished, everyone looked less tense, and when their Manager left the apartment, Nari sat at the table, staring at her phone.

When her phone suddenly lit up in front of her, she hesitated to answer it, as she noticed that it was JooHyuk calling.

“Nari-ah, please tell me this is some sort of joke!” JooHyuk yelled at her through the phone. Just by his rough tone alone, Nari’s eyes began to water.

“I didn’t know the CEO was going to do this, okay?” Nari said, trying to defend herself. She could hear JooHyuk’s heavy breathing on the other end of the call. She waited patiently for him to talk, and when he did, it came in a whisper.

“Just tell me one thing, do you have any feelings, any whatsoever, towards that guy?”

“None, none whatsoever,” she answered, instantly.

“Okay, then I’ll be fine with that. Don’t go anywhere for now; there are probably cameras everywhere just waiting for you.”

Nari smiled to herself, as she heard how concerned he seemed about her.

“Okay, Oppa. Thank you.” With that, she hung up and returned to her thoughts.

It wasn’t long before there was another shoot for 2D1N. As soon as the cameras rolled, TaeHyun offered Nari congratulations to the news of her and JongHyun’s ‘relationship’. Nari thanked him and put on the best fake smile she could. After the PD announced their next location and the cameras dropped, Nari’s face fell. Everyone on 2D1N knew the article was fake, so when JooHyuk stopped Nari in her tracks and pulled her into a hug, no one thought anything of it. Nari placed her arms around his waist as he placed his head on top of hers. She breathed him in, basking in the scent of his smooth cologne. She loved that smell and, although she sometimes about it, she didn’t know what she’d do if she could no longer enjoy the scent.

As JooHyuk moved to release her, Nari tugged at his shirt.

“Just a little longer, please.”

“Okay, whatever you need.”

After another minute, they separated and prepared themselves for the cameras.