Kai’s pov

“Okay, let’s go one more time and we’ll take a break,” said choreographer and we danced again. “Good job, everyone. Have a rest for now.”

“Yes,” we said and I went to drink a water.

“Jongin?” called me our manager.

“Yes?”

“Can you come with me?”

“Ehm, yeah, sure.”

I went out of the practise room and followed the staff member. “Where are we going?”

“CEO wants to see you,” he said.

“CEO?” I mumbled. “Why would he…?”

 

“You can go in, I have some other things I need to take care of,” he said and walked away.

I knocked and went in. CEO was standing, looking out of the window.

“I was told you wanted to see me.”

He was quiet. I was getting nervous. Why was I there? Did I do anything wrong? By chance… does he know…? He walked to his table, took out the envelope and threw it on the table. I went closer, took the envelope and looked inside. I froze. There were pictures of me and Jae Min on our dates. I sat down on the chair as I was losing the strength in legs.

When I thought that it couldn’t be any worse, CEO put another envelope and I took it. I was looking at the photos one by one. My fingers were trembling and my heart was beating fast.

“Now I want an explanation.”

I gulped. I had no idea what to tell. True? I was scared to say the truth. But it seemed like there was no other choice.

“Who is that girl?” he asked before I said anything.

“She…,” I took a deep breath, “she is my girlfriend,” I almost whispered.

“Girlfriend, huh? Are you kidding me right now? Do you know what will happen when these photos get out? And by the way, isn’t she the one that was in coma and an idol visited her?  Does that mean you’re that idol?”

I shivered. He knew everything.

“Answer me! Is it that girl or not?”

“Yes, it’s her.”

He cursed quietly. I was angry as well. Seeing photos of us together was something I was expecting to get out sooner or later, because reporters were like stalkers. But when I saw photos of Jae Min with that guy from the hospital, I wanted to tear those photos.

I clenched my fists and teeth.

“We will have to give a statement. We’ll say that you broke up already and that it was nothing serious.”

“What? No! I can’t do that. I can’t lie. I don’t want to.”

“You won’t lie… Because you’ll really break up with her.” 

“I can’t—“

“You have to! She’s two-timing and you’re still going to protect her?”

“She’s not! This is just a misunderstanding. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

He banged his fists on the table and looked into my eyes.

“I’m not going to protect someone who is cheating on my artist. And on top of that, if people find out you were that idol, it will just put a fuel into fire. You will break up with her and no article with these photos will be published. So go and finish your relationship right now. Go.”

“I won’t—“

“GO!”

I gritted my teeth and walked to the door.

“And one more thing. I don’t want you to meet her ever again. Just call her or text her that it’s over. No need for explanation. You can go now.”

I squeezed the doorknob with my trembling fingers, opened the door and left the room. I was lifelessly walking down the corridor, ignoring curious stares.

“Jongin, where are you going?” asked someone behind me and stopped me from entering an elevator. I turned back to face Suho.

“I was just…” I didn’t know what to say. Where was I going? What did I want to do?

“Let’s go back to practice room. Others are waiting for us. We need to practice more…” We walked to the practice room but Suho stopped me before I could open the door. “Kai, are you okay? What did CEO want to talk to you about?”

I entered the practice room without answering.

“Oh, you’re here? We were about to start,” said Baekhyun and stood up from the floor.

“Yeah, let’s go. We’ll go few more times.”

“Jongin, go to your position.”

They were all ready to start but I couldn’t move.

“I… I have something to tell you.”

“Can we talk about it once we’ll be at home? We need to do this—“

“I can’t!” I almost shouted, looking at the floor.

“Jongin? Are you okay? Did something happen?”

 I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt hand on my shoulder. “What is it?” asked Suho.

I looked at them and got all the courage I had to tell them what I wanted to.

“I have… I have a girlfriend.”

They were quiet for a moment. “Wow, finally.”

I looked at them surprised.

“It was a bit obvious, you know? Your sudden day trips and all those times when you went out to get some fresh air…”

So they knew…?

“But we waited for you to tell us. Since it’s your personal life.”

 “And anyway… shouldn’t you be happy?” asked Chanyeol.

I sighed. “I was… Until now. CEO has a photos of us together from some stupid reporters. They want to publish it.”

“Oh, well… that’s not very good.”

“And who is she?”

“Do we know her?”

“No. She’s not famous.”

“Is she… a fan?” asked Baekhyun and I looked at him confused. “Well, you know, it’s not the best idea to go out with a fan…”

“She is but not one of those crazy ones…”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know… Those photos will be published no matter what I do…”

“What did CEO told you?”

I was quiet before I answered. “He wants me to break up with her.”

I could feel the pressure in the room. I knew that there would be a situation like this but… it came sooner than I expected.

“Jongin, we’ll be always by your side, no matter what. You have to decide what to do.”

I felt hands patting my back. I was thankful to them but it still didn’t took away the pressure I felt.

 

I took some tranquilizers to calm down. I was worried and stressed out from the whole situation. I was lying on bed, thinking about the solution of the situation I was in. I was constantly checking the phone if I didn’t get a message. I wanted to call Jae Min, but I was scared. What would I tell her? That everything’s okay even though it wasn’t? Or that I’m breaking up with her because I have to? I sighed angrily and almost threw the phone to the wall but someone knocked on the door and stopped me from this stupid