"Here you go" Chaerin sing-songed as she dropped a magazine on my desk.

"Ugh. What now, Chae!" I exclaimed. I stopped typing and reached for the magazine.

Lee Hyukjae's life story by a wannabe foodie?! Find out here!

"What the hell is this?"

Chaerin's arms were crossed over her blue blouse. "You tell me, Hae."

I flipped through the magaine infuriated, could someone really have spilled the beans on the portfolio? and from who? I had nothing to gain from exploiting myself. 

"Food Photographer, Lee Donghae stalks Michellin-star chef Lee Hyukjae for an epic disaster. His portfolio of lies which will be published by Enrich Magazine, secret recipes and all!" 

"This can't be! Who the hell would leak this?"

Chaerin slammed her fist on the table angrily. I, myself was in total disbelief. I hadn't a single clue as to who could do this. This threw off our entire project. The date would have to be postponed and I would have to re-do the entire portfolio. There wasn't a way around it. I leaned back in my chair completely shocked. A scandal was one thing we could handle. If any news came out about Lee Hyukjae, but now as the writer I was completely mixed in the chaos. Enrich Magazine didn't need this at such a sensitive time, this was a multi-million dollar deal with the potential of skyrocketing us into a billion-dollar industry. If I was shell-shocked, Chaerin was worse. Her position as an editor derived from the successes of Enrich. Neither of us would survive the backlash, and at this point we weren't sure if Enrich Magazine would either. 

A scandal of this size would derail the company and all of the employees. No one would be able to find work above a D-grade paygrade. I'd go back to being a worthless food photographer, more than likely unable to find another job within my career choice. No one would support me with being labeled as a stalker. No one would ever work with me again. I felt like screaming, how could my name be slandered like this? I didn't have any enemies that I knew of.

"Do you think Yuri could've done this?" 

A million thoughts ran through my head. Yuri. She was the most likely suspect in a list of...no one. In fact, she was the only one who matched up with all the criteria. From purposely involving herself in the portfolio, limiting my time with Hyukjae into a scheduled visit to her rocky acquaintanceship with Chaerin. It made perfect sense....but at the same time it didn't. Why would she sabotage herself? As media has always said, bad publicity is still publicity. It would directly affect her position and her relationship with Hyukjae. He would be livid and there was no way he'd allow her to go unharmed. There were just too many cons to our reasoning. Yuri had more to lose than gain. If she really wanted to get back at me or Chaerin, she'd make it personal. Not some wicked scandal affecting our partnership. Yuri was more level-headed than that and without a doubt, professional regardless of how unecessarily involved she seemed. 

"I doubt it. Yuri would lose her job and name too if she threw Hyukjae under the bus. She has just as much to lose as us." I replied, my head throbbing with the onset of a migraine. We didn't have enough power to mitigate this issue. Chaerin knew a ton of people, but would they help a dying magazine? Unlikely. Their names could get slandered too without a suspect. 

"This is bad. This is ing worse than bad! This is catastrophic! What the am I gonna do?" She paced across the floor like a wild animal. Her eyes darting across the room. Her hands balled into fists.

"We have to contact Hyukjae and Yuri, Chae. I'm sure they've re-"

At that moment, the office phone began blaring in its usual ringtone. I reached over to pick it up, not recognizing the number and Chaerin rushed forward, grabbing the phone from me and slamming it back down to hang up. 

"Don't pick up the phone!" She exclaimed. "It's probably the press. we're in over our heads with this." She looked out my window, barely registering the amount of people gathering below us. I glanced as well, tears filling in my eyes. This was worse than we could've imagined. The door swung up, a sweaty Dara rushed in, her blazer hung messily on her shoulders and her shirt was untucked. 

"We have every media and news outlet right outside the building. It's a literal storm!" 

"Keep them tame, Dara. We're taking the back entrance." 

"Got it boss!" Dara darted off with a few other colleagues to handle the chaos below us. 

"Ok. Ok." Chaerin chanted to herself. "There's nothing in the newspaper about Hyukjae's book right?" 

I grabbed the magazine again, skimming through the pages worth of bull. "No it doesn't." 

She exhaled, slightly relieved at the circumstance. "So we still stand a chance." 

I frowned, not understanding where she was going with this. What chance did we have? Our magazine's reputation was down the ter and I, was first on the chopping block. Good news where exactly?

"Hyukjae's book. That will save his reputation and ours." 

"It's being released in two months, Chae. I don't see exactly where you're going with this. How is a book going to magically save everything?" 

Suddenly, the most hideous thought crossed my mind. Gay. I wasn't publicly out. I was proud of myself, of my uality but I wasn't entirely confident. Chaerin knew and my closest friends, but society didn't. Bile filled in my mouth, the sour taste of kimchi and last night's dinner floated in my mouth and I lurched over, vomiting into the garbage can beside my desk. Chaerin rushed to my side, rubbing my back and cooing into my ear.

"Its okay, Hae. It's okay. I wouldn't have put you on this project, if I didn't trust in your ability. We'll get through this." 

Tears spilled from my eyes unwillingly and I cried out, chunks of food blowing from my lips. 

"W-wh-what i-if th-they fi-nd o-out?"

She continued to rub my back, handing me a tissue from the box atop my desk. I wiped my mouth, tossing the tissue into the trail of vomit and she passed me another, to wipe my eyes. I sobbed, my breath coming out in spurts. 

"Hae, they won't find out. We can formally announce the portfolio and explain ourselves, we can Hyukjae to join in too. It'll be squashed in no time."

"B-but the-ey sa-said I wa-was a st-stalker." 

"Hae, honey. You're not. This isn't my first scandal, we'll get through this. These people will reach for anything they think is noteworthy. We will find out who caused this hiccup and handle it. Now come on, we have to get to Hyukjae first. Let the janitor clean this up, we have our own mess."

Chaerin helped me out of my seat. My legs trembled and I shivered violently. I couldn't speak, the words caught in my throat and I sobbed to myself. I wasn't ready to unveil who I was to the world just yet and as far as Hyukjae...I didn't want to involve him in it either. I couldn't have them glaring at me, whispering behind my back and to my face. I didn't have the guts to endure that pain and I never wanted to. But the article.....everyone would believe it. You could write that the sky was pink before and everyone would listen. Media had a way of changing someone's point of view into what ever they wanted to; that was the naivety of the world and I was going to suffer for it.

As we walked towards the staircase and opened the door, a hooded figure came racing through and pulled us back into the office, locking the door. Chaerin pulled me behind her, guarding me. Neither of us were sure of who it could be or rather if I were in any danger. This wasn't exactly a world of happiness, the world become more and more ravaged by greed and hatred. 

"It's me, Hyukjae." He pulled down his black hooded sweatshirt and unveiled his face.

"Hyukjae! Why the hell would you scare us like that, we were just about to head to your restaurant. How did you make it inside?" Chaerin asked, I remained silent.

"Barely. There's every news outlet waiting like lions for the prey! What exactly happened? I didn't read the article, but the headline was wild enough." Hyukjae ran his fingers through his hair, one hand trained on his hip as he too began pacing. 

Chaerin moved from in front of me, reaching for the magazine again and tossing it towards Hyukjae who caught it.

"Page 10" She said and he quickly flipped through it. I watched as his eyes scanned through the pages, flipping page after page. Each one churning in my gut as the words flew off the page and danced in the air.

Stalker

Lover

Gay

After several minutes of silence, he spoke. "Honestly I don't know what to make of this. I just can't believe anyone could be so wicked. No wonder Yuri was angry, this could tarnish Le Petit's reputation, especially with the opening coming after the remodeling."

I stared helplessly at the floor, I didn't know what to say.

"We'll have to publicly announce the portfolio and provide information on it. And Hyukjae-" Chaerin paused, being very careful with her words. 

"Yeah?"

"We'll have to announce your book. It's the only way to re-direct the publicity, I'm certain Yuri would agree."

Hyukjae's face paled. "The book is undergoing editing, but a formal release. That's-that's months away. I'm not sure about throwing my book in the mix of all of this."

"It works both ways, Hyukjae. We both have to sacrifice something, or our reputation will be done for as well and we have just as much riding on this partnership."

Hyukjae frowned and glanced at me. My eyes were still downward, but I could feel the sympathy radiating off of his. 

"You have a lot to lose too, don't you Donghae?" 

The question was laced and I could tell it was a direct statement about my uality. Suddenly I felt microscopic. I felt so tiny I could float away or vanish into the cracks of concrete, like bacteria or a dust particle. I gnawed on my lower lip. I felt hands reaching for my shoulder and frightened, I stumbled backwards.

"Donghae, are you okay?" Hyukjae was gazing at me, his face filled with concern.

"I-I'm not." I whispered and was pulled into a warm hug. 

"I'm sorry, Donghae. Scandals can be vicious, but there's no truth in it. You and I both know that, don't allow these people to knock you down." 

Almost instantly, the tears poured from my eyes. I didn't want to be so emotional, but this could've been career ending whether or not things were fixed. The only option was for...Hyukjae to come forth as straight. 

With Yuri.