She checked her Twitter and it was so bizarre to see her face in most of the tweets in her feed. Next she checked her Instagram. That one was worse, the number of negative posts outweighed the ones supporting them as a couple. Her friends , who already knew of course, had sent direct messages asking if she was okay and she responded to as many as she could. She had to walk away from her laptop before long. Her hands shook and she felt like she had swallowed a watermelon, was tight from fighting the urge to scream and cry. She poured a fresh cup of coffee and stood at the sink and gulped it quickly,without cream or sugar, not caring that she burnt her tongue on the scalding, bitter liquid. She set the empty mug in the sink and headed for the bathroom, her clothes were scattered on the floor before she even set foot on the cold tiles. She avoided the mirror and went to turn the water on and stepped in without waiting for the temperature to adjust. She turned her face up to the stinging spray and finally let her tears fall.

Hyesung was at ShinCom with the others, they were huddled around Eric’s laptop as they read the article and all the comments. Eric’s face was stiff, he looked even more like a statue than usual, even his body was tense and motionless. Jinnie stood behind him, his hand gripped the back of the chair so tightly that his knuckles were white. His face was pale and his eyes were red rimmed. He, along with the other members had been up late dealing with the Dispatch and their own managers. Wannie sat in a chair, his fingers tapped nervously on the desk as his eyes shot around the room, like the solution was written on the walls and all he had to do was find it. Minwoo had his phone out as he checked Instagram and deleted negative comments people had posted on his posts. Andy had a cup of coffee that he sipped nervously as he watched Eric’s eyes scan the comments and winced each time he muttered a curse word. Hyesung kept himself a bit away from the others. He was leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. One hand worried the soft fabric of his pants and the other pinched the bridge of his perfectly shaped nose tightly.

“Why can’t we have just a ing shred of privacy?” Andy whispered as he read a comment that said Hyesung shouldn’t be dating a foreigner. “We are still men, still people.” He finished his coffee and got up to refill the cup. He placed his hand on Hyesung’s shoulder as he passed, Hyesung merely smiled tensely and let him pass without a word.

“They act like she’s a gold digger…..just with him because he’s an idol.” Minwoo ground out angrily as he deleted a whole slew of comments with a tap of his finger. “They are saying horrible things about her without knowing a damn thing.” Jinnie snatched the phone from his hand and set it on the table, the clatter it made caused Hyesung’s eyes to snap open. He looked around warily.

“Because they think they own us.” Jinnie snapped, even though he felt bad for the words as soon as he said them. “They say they want to to be happy but all they are doing is creating drama for no reason.” He glanced at Hyesung, who had been silent since they opened the laptop.

“She’s not”, he whispered. “She isn’t with me for any reason other than she wants to be. She likes me for me. Sure, she started out as a fan but spending time with her, talking, sharing parts of our lives…..she sees me a person.” He looked at Wannie, the man still looked around the room. Wannie cleared his throat before he spoke.

“We did the best we could. We just have to wait and see what happens now. Has anyone checked on her yet?” He spoke quietly, his voice made the others stop their nervous actions and look at him.

Eric rubbed his hand across his face. “I sent her a text and told her to stay away from social media for the day. She didn’t answer. Maybe she is still asleep.”

At the mention of Celeste, the members shake off the tension and begin to move around. They order flowers and coffee and food to be sent to her place and get ready to head home and shower before their day really starts. Hyesung walked over to Eric and hugged him tight.

“Thank you Eric. It means a lot to me… to us that you have our back.” Eric patted his back and pulled away and looked into his eyes. “She means a lot to you, which means she means a lot to us too. We take care of our own.” He smiled and they walk out of the office together.

Still in the shower, Celeste sat on the floor. She had turned the water off and sat with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes were swollen from crying and she felt the beginning of a migraine. She sighed loudly and got out of the shower. She dried off and went to her room and woodenly changed into leggings and a heavy sweater. She felt cold, even with the heat on. She sat on the bed and slipped on heavy wool socks and her warmest slippers. She braided her hair messily and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. She saw the text from Eric and muttered. “It’s a little late for that, Mr. Mun.” She got up and went to the living room and closed her laptop without glancing at the screen. She went to the kitchen and debated a beer instead of more coffee. She pours another mug and put so much cream and sugar in it that it’s almost white and so sweet it makes her teeth hurt. She goes to the bookcase in her living room and pulled out a book at random and sat on the floor, her back against the bookcase and started to read. She didn’t pay attention to the words , her eyes jumped all over the page randomly. Suddenly there is a knock on the door and she froze.

“How did they find me? They didn’t use my name.” She set the book down slowly got up and went to the door. A peek through the peephole revealed a man in a green apron over a t-shirt and jeans.

“Who is it?” She called out loudly. She saw the man smile and reach down to pick up a vase full of pink tulips.

“Delivery for Miss Shea. Do I have the right address?” She opened the door and peeked around to make sure no one was in the hallway.

“Yes that’s me” The flowers are beautiful and she smiled at him and stuck her hand out to take them and her eyes jump to the card buried in the dewy blooms. She plucked it out with a hand that trembled.

“We take care of our own. Please try and have a good day” It is signed with six little star