"unnie!! what is this? what is this on our official page?" Namjoo yelled as she showed chorong her phone both of them burst into tears as they stared at the phone

someone had hacked into Apink's official page and had posted those pictures. Chorong gave the phone to Naeun, she broke down at what she saw

It was the picture she took with taemin and Taesun but taesun was blurred out, only her face and taemin's face could be seen and it was captioned "Die B***h"

***************************************************

*5 days before the incident*

"oppa I'll head back through the back door after changing .. bye I'll see you in the morning" she yelled and closed the door behind her. she heard him reply but she couldn't figure out what he said after she had closed the door.

The locker room was originally  an extra room but Taesun had lockers built in. She sighed as she opened her locker and placed her phone in it, she stretched her arms over her head and yawned ...her phone buzzed

"unnie are you almost done work?..its getting late"

yuju rolled her eyes as she read her sister's message. she knew where the conversation was heading.

"wow!! you're so worried about me, I'm touched, I'm crying" yuju replied and her sister replied right away

"just bring food when you're coming, Im craving for some midnight snack"

yuju shook her head " Shin Soo Ah!!! you should have just gotten to the point without pretending to be worried" about me" she replied 

"whatever, just bring food!!"  yuju read her sister's last message and put her phone down, finally removing her apron. she suddenly noticed that her hair was down the whole time, her hair was almost neck length after cutting it short for christmas, she forgot when she took off the hairband. Her eyes immediately searched everywhere.. soo-ah's hairband... her sister would kill her, she had warned her the day before not to touch her hair band..but the elastic burgundy hair band was too pretty to be left alone i'm so dead  she whispered to herself biting her lip as she approached the door to the kitchen, quickly until the view right before her made her squat and cover in surprise.

She shook her head in disbelief no it can't be  she thought as she stood up again to take another look at Taemin who was standing in the kitchen and talking to his brother before going back into hiding. Taemin is here? why?..how?..was that why taesun oppa was trying to get me to leave early?.

Her face lit up, she had not seen him since April and couldn't wait to talk to him. He looked even better than how how he did in April, winter is definitely his month. She stomped her feel in excitement, the only thing stopping her from barging  into that kitchen there and then was  her hair, for some reasons she felt better when her hair is tied up, she definitely had to be in a ponytail in order to see him. She peeped again and whew!!  they had left the kitchen but she had to be sure they weren't coming back in a whim. She opened the door glancing left and right, leaving it opened she took one step at a time, she wasn't standing upright but bent as she took every step, her eyes searching everywhere for the elastic burgundy hair band until she saw it on the counter, right by the sink...ever gently,without making any sound, she tiptoed to the counter table, picked it up and sprinted out of the kitchen.

 whew!! that was close  -- she leaned on her locker and closed her eyes as she took deep breaths to regain her sanity. she opened her eyes after a few seconds, turned to her locker and started changing her clothes. She changed out of her uniform into a black skinny jeans and a white oversized fluffy sweater, she looked at her messy bun in the mirror  attached to the locker and nodded with satisfaction.

She walked to the door, waited a bit.... catching her breath she stood on her toes and peeped through the overhead glass with one hand on the door knob...but slowly her hand fell from the door knob, her eyes widened as she slowly turned and dropped into a squat,  her eyes lost focus then gradually became dim with tears.

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she remained in the same position. She knew this day would come but she had always pushed the thought aside...she believed time could change things but she was wrong all along...she was never going to be the one, he had told her before but she thought he would come to love her as she loved him..............but it was all lie. She bit her lips and wept silently.

She sighed as she wiped her tears, she couldn't wait to get out of there as she hurriedly  re-applied her makeup, picked up her purse and quietly opened the door. The cold wind blew right into her face,  she turned away from it but it attacked her from every direction...it pierced her bones as she shivered, her legs were fixed in the same position, unable to move as the wind became fiercer, she folded her hands on her chest as she shivered..... She had forgotten her jacket in the locker room but she wasn't going back there, never!!!!.  The cold wind had brought down her messy bun,  She shivered not only from the cold but from what she saw in there. The thought of it almost knocked her off her feet but she took few steps back and leaned against the door to regain her balance....the only thing that warmed her face were her tears as the picture of taemin feeding naeun strawberries, and giving her a back hug flashed in her brain.

***************************************************

*The day of the incident*

Shinee got into their van as they too were escorted out of the music awards.  everyone was alone with their  thoughts before Jonghyun broke the silence

"what's going on?" he asked, turning back as he faced Taemin, who was desperately fiddling with his phone. He had been trying to reach Naeun to no avail.

Taemin shook his head in response "I don't know"

"what do you mean you don't know?" Key stepped in,  staring into Taemin's soul, he had never been more serious..."check your phone and look what's trending, then answer me" he continued, his eyes still fixed on taemin

Taemin looked at his phone and sighed, his eyes turned red as he bit his lips fiercely. He threw his phone on his lap and continued to look outside the window.

"you're have nothing to say?" the firmness in key's voice sent shivers down his spine. 

"what do you want me to say hyung?...that we went on a date and our picture was taken and uploaded? and that because of that our lives are ruined? or that Naeun may never be able to sing again?...what exactly do you want me to say that we don't already know?!!!" Taemin was breathing heavily,  his fingers shook at intervals as he desperately blinked back tears biting his lips. "yes I should have been more careful...I know!!..she 's going through a hard time because of me, she always does!!..but what can I do?, I'm only human!!"

"The only thing I want to hear from you is that you will protect her and stand by her no matter what happens ..and that you have a way out..thats all" Key replied, his gaze softened as he saw Taemin's weak side for the first time. It was the first time since their debut, he might have cried but definitely in secret, none of the members had ever seen him cry  and he still wasn't crying just extremely emotional and agitated. They all gazed at him as he buried his face in his palms.

"Hyung" he said as he raised his head turning to key......"I'm so sorry for yelling..I was just frustrated"

"Its okay..you know we are always here to help right...you don't have to go through this alone" Key replied

"Have you tried calling her?" Minho asked still staring at the picture on his phone

"she's unavailable" Taemin answered

the car was quiet again

********************************************************

Naeun had turned off her phone after seeing the pictures posted online, she knew she was going to receive threatening calls and mesages. Her head hurt from crying. she dragged her feet as they walked to their dorm. Eunji's hand patted her back, she looked at her and gave a faint smile.  Everyone went straight to their room when they got into the dorm. Their manager had recieved a call from the ceo and had left ..Naeun knew what was coming the next day. She sighed as she changed into her nightgown.

"Hayoung-ah" naeun called out in the dark room. she had tried to sleep but every part of her body was hurting, she was tired of rolling around in bed.

"are you sleeping?" she continued

"no I'm not" Hayoung replied

there was silence again....

"was this what you were referring to when you asked if I would be okay that night?" Naeun finally spoke out

Hayoung sat up in her bed.."so you weren't sleeping that night?..I knew that you di..." she stopped and she listened closely, she could hear Naeun's little sniffs "unnie" she came down from her bed immediately and sat beside Naeun. "unnie stop crying" Hayoung said, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back her tears.

"I should have ran when he pulled me into that room..I should have ran away without looking back..I shouldn't have hugged him..I was so silly"

"unnie" Hayoung's tears were already flowing freely

"it's over hayoung-ah, we're over... APINK is over....I'm so sorry for causing this problem..ottoke"  she broke down, sobbing loudly.

Hayoung pulled her into a warm embrace, she  cried not because APINK might go their separate ways but because of the reason behind it...the hateful comments aimed at Naeun and the group..she shook her head in frustration.

********************************************************

Naeun remained in bed the next day, reluctant to do anything and waiting anxiously for their manager. She had woken up with Hayoung by her side, they both fell asleep in her bed after crying the night before.....she sighed. Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered her phone, she had turned it off yesterday after the incident. she reached under her pillow and turned it on. She wanted to call him but at the same time she had nothing to say to him at this point...she didn't want to talk about the incident.

As she scrolled through her phone her eyes filled with fresh tears..she threw the phone on the bed and buried her head in her pillow as she wept silently. She finally raised her head and was wiping her tears when her phone rang.

"eomma"  she said weakly

"uh Naeun-ah, how are you?..did the music show go well?...when are you coming home..well Christmas is over but you're coming for new year's right?

Naeun cried even more.. "eomma!!!...Sae eun told me everything this morning!! she told me about your gallery and how you were taken home by security!!..why aren't you telling me anything?" she dropped her phone and buried her face in her pillow...but tears wouldn't come out......her eyes stung as she closed them forcefully, every fiber in her body hurts and tears were not enough to express the pain instead she could only grind her head against her pillow in frustration.

"Naeun-ah...Naeun-ah..are you still there?"

she could hear her mom call out from the phone, she laid on her side and picked it up

"I'm here"

"Naeun-ah.. I didn't want to you be worried thats why..but Son sae eun, that silly girl had to...don't stress yourself, it will soon be over, people will forget about it and its not like you did anything wrong"

"I don't know mom....I don't know why you're so calm but this is bigger than you think it is...I mean look at your gallery, you worked so hard to build it and now ..now it's ruined.......I'm so sorry mom" the tears found a way to her eyes again

"why are you crying?.. Naeun-ah, I know you're having a hard time but it will soon be over, okay?...and if you can't handle it anymore you know you can always come home right?..we have missed you so much over the years, I'm almost getting used to not having my baby around"

The girls entered into the room, Naeun saw their feet and turned to face the wall.