Kim Yun Ri stared at her cousin who sat across the table worriedly, a half-eaten cheesecake sat between them solemnly. ‘Ki Bum…’ She started, but the boy across her remained unmoving. ‘Ki Bum ah…the cheesecake’s melting…’ She nudged the plate towards him, but Kim Ki Bum, aka Key, paid her no heed. Yun Ri let out a sigh but let him be. Silence reigned.

  ‘Ring ding dong ring ding dong…’ The familiar melody of Ring Ding Dong reverberated in the room. Hurriedly, Yun Ri took out her phone and stared at the screen almost dejectedly. ‘From: Jinki. Any progress with Ki Bum? He needs to be at KBS in 1 hour, manager hyung’s already asking about him.’ She looked up at the stoning boy in front of her again, sighed and wondered why she agreed to the impossible task of getting him back into the mood to work again. ‘He’ll be there.’ She replied. Setting her phone down, Yun Ri stood up and walked behind Ki Bum. ‘Let it all out, cry like you’ve never cried before and after that you have to go back to being Almighty Key of Shinee. You have 30 minutes,’ she said as she embraced him. As if on cue, a muffled wail was heard and for the next 30 minutes, that was all the sound there was in the room.

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  Back in the van, Lee Jinki, aka Onew stared at the message displayed on his phone with worry. He was not worried about Ki Bum not making it to their good bye stage on Music Bank. No, he was more worried that Ki Bum will not make it period, but all he could do now was pray that Yun Ri came through, because if she did not, Shinee could for all he knew, become a word of the past. ‘Hyung will be ok right?’ Tae Min’s voice asked from behind him. Mustering his brightest smile, Onew turned around to the maknae and said, ‘Of course! He’s with Yun Ri. If anyone can make him feel better, it’s her,’ sounding more sure that he actually was. Tae Min and Min Ho calmed down after hearing those words but all Jong Hyun could do was muster a bitter smile and sigh. All of this was his fault.

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Flashback

“Headlines: KIM JONG HYUN AND SHIN SE KYUNG ARE CONFIRMED TO BE DATING!”

  ‘Kim Jong Hyun, what the is this.’ The most unexpected person threw the tabloid newspaper towards him. The paper bounced of his body harmlessly and laid on the floor motionlessly as proof of his sin. The commotion drew a crowd in the small dorm that was Shinee’s house. Tae Min and Min Ho peeked out of their room nervously while Jinki who had opened the door for the girl stood frozen in the living room, unsure of what to do. Marching with hurried steps from the hallway, Shinee’s manager immediately moved between Jong Hyun and the offender protectively, ‘You can’t just barge in here and start yelling at people, this is private property!’ Kim Yun Ri gave him a death glare and proceeded to ignore him, ‘I’m waiting.’ ‘Yun Ri, I can explain,’ Jong Hyun replied as he pushed his manager aside. ‘You’d better, because Ki Bum is currently a ed mess in my room, incapable of eating, speaking or sleeping.’ Sighing, the lead singer of Shinee led the girl to his room and began telling a tale that he knew would end badly.

  ‘Lee Soo Man found out that Ki Bum and I were together,’ he started. Yun Ri nodded, ‘and?’ ‘Apparently paparazzi took a photo of us kissing outside our condominium and was threatening to send it to the press.’ ‘You’d think that a man who asks straight guys to perform fanservice would be more than happy for this go viral…’ Yun Ri muttered. Jong Hyun shot her a bitter smile and continued, ‘He had paid the man a huge sum of money to keep his mouth shut, but wind of this still got out and some anti-homoual groups are talking about taking action against Shinee for being inappropriate role models... He told me to do something about this situation or he’ll be forced to disband us.’ ‘And this,’ she motioned to the headlines on the paper, ‘was your solution?’ Jong Hyun nodded slowly. ‘And Lee Soo Man was ok with this?’ Jong Hyun nodded again, ‘Him, the manager and I talked about it and decided that if I was openly dating, then the rumors will be passed off, better for us to lose some fans than our entire reputation.’ Yun Ri snickered, ‘Because there wouldn’t be tens and thousands of fangirls going crazy over the fact that Jongkey is real.’ Jong Hyun smiled grimly at her comment. Sighing, Yun Ri asked, ‘I take it you didn’t tell the other members?’ Jong Hyun shook his head, ‘They told me not to tell them to make it more believable.’ ‘Not even Ki Bum?’ ‘You think he would have let me do this!?’ Jong Hyun raised his voice. Yun Ri stared at him, deadpanned, ‘No, but at least he wouldn’t be devastated over the fact that his BOYFRIEND is two-timing him with a GIRL. Hell you didn’t even break up with him; he just wakes up and sees this on the newspaper. Kim Jong Hyun, what do you want him to think?’ ‘Nothing…’ Jong Hyun muttered guiltily. ‘Does Shin Se Kyung know?’ Jong Hyun shook his head again. ‘What!? So she thinks you really love her?’ He nodded. Yun Ri opened , closed it and opened again, ‘Let me get this thing straight. First, Shin Se Kyung doesn’t know that you’re gay, is in love with Ki Bum and is using her to suppress rumors about you and my cousin. Second, no one in Shinee knows that you’re dating Shin Se Kyung because of SM’s orders. Third, Ki Bum doesn’t know that you’re not really in love with Shin Se Kyung. Fourth, YOU’VE BEEN TWO TIMING KI BUM AND SHIN SE KYUNG FOR THE PAST ING MONTH!?’ All Jong Hyun could do was nod at her words. Yun Ri resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall as she saw Jong Hyun confirm all her accusations. After 3 seconds of silence, she finally spoke, ‘I hope you know what you’re doing, cause I don’t.’ With that she left the room.

  Outside, the members of Shinee and their manager, who were listening to the conversation quickly scrambled away from the door as Yun Ri walked out. She stared at the other 3 members, ‘You heard?’ They nodded. ‘Do me a favor,’ she said while glaring at Shinee’s manager, ‘Kill this guy for me. Some manager he is…’ and proceeded to leave the house. But before she could step out of the door, she felt someone pull her back. It was Jinki. ‘Yun Ri, take care of Ki Bum please? We need him.’ Yun Ri nodded with a reassuring smile, ‘I would even if you didn’t tell me to. He’s family.’ With that she left the house and Shinee’s manager who was facing the wrath of 3 very pissed off idols.

Flashback ends

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  It was 30 minutes till rehearsal for Shinee’s goodbye stage started and Shinee was still one member short. ‘Jinki, where is Ki Bum?’ Shinee’s new manager demanded. ‘He should be here soon…’ Jinki replied and just as he said that, the doors to their waiting room burst open, with Yun Ri and a puffy-eyed Ki Bum in tow, ‘Kim Yun Ri and Kim Ki Bum reporting for duty sir!!’ The manager, or better known as Lee Young Soo, Lee Soo Man’s youngest son, nodded and motioned for Ki Bum to be taken away for hair and make up. He turned back to Yun Ri who did not move from her spot, ‘You may take your leave now.’ The girl in front of him raised an eye brow, ‘So you’re the new manager.’ Young Soo nodded, ‘And you’re Ki Bum sshi’s cousin.’ Yun Ri nodded and said, ‘I won’t stick around, but you better take care of them or else…’ ‘Or else what?’ Yong Soo asked with a smirk on his face. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to know.’ The door slammed in her wake.

  Performance that day was absolute hell. Tae Min who was so worried about his hyung missed a line, Jong Hyun could barely look at the camera and Ki Bum was fake smiles all over. Shawols around the world cried for their fans whilst antis of Jongkyung took this opportunity to bash Shin Se Kyung further. In the corner of his mind, Jong Hyun wondered if he was doing the right thing. He was using a girl’s love for him and hurting his beloved. He knew that Yun Ri had told Ki Bum that he was only dating Se Kyung to cover up their relationship, but he also knew that despite so, Ki Bum was still hurt, and who could blame him? Not only do they have to stop Jongkey fanservice, Ki Bum has to let his boyfriend openly cheat on him with a GIRL. Watch him kiss her, call her, text her, do all the things Jong Hyun used to do to him with a girl and his IDEAL type at that. The lead singer of Shinee sighed in his seat in the shotgun, normally he would be happy to get the front seat but today he knew he was there because the other members are alienating him. The car was unusually silent as tension hung in the air. Ki Bum’s make up was removed, showing signs of his fatigue whilst Tae Min fidgeted in his seat worriedly. Jinki tried his best to lighten the mood only to be met with Min Ho’s glare. Suddenly, Jong Hyun’s phone rang and immediately, everyone sat up straight in their seat.

  ‘Jagiya…no I’m fine. Yea, I’ll call you later ok? No, I’m just tired. You too. Right, good night, love you,’ Jong Hyun spoke into the phone as softly as he could, but the silence in the car made his every word stand out, especially the last two words. Ki Bum bit his lip hard as he heard Jong Hyun’s short exchange with Se Kyung. Tae Min who sat beside him put his arms around his shoulders comfortingly. Through the rearview mirror, Jong Hyun saw the scene but could do nothing but sigh. How does he tell Ki Bum that he doesn’t mean a single word he says to Se Kyung. How does he tell Ki Bum that he only loves him and no one else? Honestly, life couldn’t get worse than this…Silence continued to hang in the air, until Young Soo decided to break the news to the 5 boys, ‘I have …good news, I guess, for you guys. You’re going to Taiwan to promote your album and meet your fans there after your last goodbye stage. So you can get away from all these drama for a while.’ Not waiting for their replies, the son of Lee Soo Man the radio, in his head, one though repeated itself, ‘Dad, I hope you know what you’re doing, because I sure don’t.’