A nightmare. After all they'd been through this was their reward? Life was unfair. It was over. They had been caught.

Wendy was having a panic attack while looking at the pictures. The first three low quality pictures showed Irene and her clad in black, masks and hoodies on, walking down the street hand in hand. These weren't the problem, really, it was like two friends went for a walk. And they always held hands, even on stage.

The real problem was the last picture. It was them again, but this time kissing. Wendy could tell when this picture was taken. It was that time they had decided to go on a date at the movies a while ago.

"I can't believe you kissed in public. What were you thinking?" Joy was as scared as the couple. Wendy turned the phone off and threw it on the couch. "What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. The pictures have over fifty thousand retweets on Twitter and it's been less than six hours since they were posted," Irene sat surprisingly calm next to her. There was no heat in her voice, as if her heart beat so steadily and that worried Wendy. She frowned at her behaviour, "How are you so calm about this?"

"What's done is done. There's no point in panicking," Irene's words seemed to calm Wendy down just a tiny bit, because she was right. But then again these pictures might have just ruined their whole career. That definetly was a reason to panic.

"Joohyun, do you understand that the future of Red Velvet is based on how people will react to these pictures?"

Irene didn't respond. Her eyes were as stationary as the silhouette of the coffee table, which was where they rested. Joy tensed at Wendy's words, "Don't say it like that..."

"It's the truth," Wendy slumped her shoulders, "I'm sorry."

Yeri for the first time that day looked away from her phone, "Why are you sorry?"

"Because," Wendy took a deep breath, "Our relationship might bring your career to an end. We practiced for so many years and since 2014 we've been doing great as a group. This shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry for being so careless."

"It's not like that, Seungwan," Seulgi mumbled.

"Hey, stop it," Joy stood up, fire in her eyes, "I don't care if my career is over. All I care about is you two. And if you're happy, I'm happy too. Don't you dare let the netizens ruin this beautiful relationship of yours, you hear me? I've never seen a couple so in love before and I don't want this relationship to come to an end because of four stupid photos," she finished out of breath. All girls were left speechless, staring at her. Wendy and Irene were deeply touched by her words.

Seulgi was the first one to break the silence, "I agree. Your happiness is more important than our career." Yeri nodded, feeling the same way. Wendy was getting emotional by their words. These four girls in front of her were not just her best friends. They were her family. Were it not for them there would be no relief, no emotional morphine. They were her safety and love, an anchor she held onto. They always gave warmth, consistent love and patience. That was why she loved them so, why her nature trusted them before her mind. Wendy would easily call them her family and this dorm her home.

"Thank you. It means a lot," Irene said in a soft voice with eyes full of affection.

"We'll go through this together. We are a team," the maknae added. Wendy smiled and felt relief wash over her body. They would face this together. Red Velvet were a team.

"The manager will be here soon. What are you going to tell him?" Joy's voice snapped Wendy out of her thoughts. The manager. She almost forgot about him. Great, another reason to panic.

"The truth." Irene answered before she could open .

"Really?"

"Someone took a picture of us kissing. I think it's pretty obvious that we're together," the leader explained. That was Red Velvet's leader; always a realist. She always tried to see things as they were and not as she would like them to be.

"There's no reason to hide it. Unnie is right, you should tell the truth," Yeri agreed.

Wendy nodded and turned to the younger one, the most experienced when it came to technology, "Have you seen any comments? What did people say about the pics?"

Yeri looked away, "It's still very early in the morning. I've only seen a few..." she sounded hesitant.

"What did they say?"

"I think it's better if you don't see the comments," Joy said.

"If you don't tell me, I'm going to search for them myself," Wendy was stubborn and very curious at the same time.

Yeri sighed and unlocked her phone, "You sure?" Wendy nodded and the maknae hesitantly continued, "ing lesbians. Disgusting. Worst group. Wendy doesn't deserve-"

"Enough." Irene stopped her.

"Finish the sentence." Wendy ordered.

"Wendy doesn't deserve a goddess like Irene. They should break up-"

"I said enough!" Irene slammed her hand on the coffee table and the room fell silent. "We are not going to read the comments," the leader stood up and walked towards her room. "Seungwan. Come with me. Now."

The girls shivered. They could feel the tension and hear the intensity in her tone. Wendy quickly stood up and followed her, not wanting keep the angry leader waiting. That would lead to no good. Also, the elephant in the room was becoming suffocating.

Wendy walked into the room and Irene closed the door with a loud bang, "Sit," she ordered and Wendy obeyed.

"Dispatch found us," Irene started, while pacing around, arms folded in front of her chest. Wendy held her breath, her eyes on the floor. "They spread the news like wildfire. Fans are leaving comments. Some are good. Some are bad," the leader continued, "We knew that most fans wouldn't like the idea of us dating, that's why we have kept it a secret for so long. Korea isn't accepting when it comes to same relationships. This is going to be bad. The comments will hurt."

Then she stopped in front of main vocalist, "But you know what? I don't care what people say."

At that, Wendy raised her head, "What?"

"I don't care what people say. Their mean comments won't make me love you any less. Please, don't let them affect you."

Wendy let her head fall forward, "I'm trying," she mumbled. Suddenly she felt hands touch her face, making her look up. "Seungwan," the leader started, "We've been together for so many years. We won't let a few bad comments ruin this,"

"They're not just a few..."

"Seungwan."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Wendy sighed, "I'll try harder."

Irene didn't seem pleased by her response and continued, "Listen," she placed herself on Wendy's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck. Wendy smiled and held her close. She loved having her in her arms. "If they're going to hang you for loving me, they'd best be tying two nooses to that tree. What we have done, we did together, and if our love is a capital offence; I'm ready."

Wendy stared for a second before smiling, "That was so cheesy," she laughed. Irene rolled her eyes but smiled too, "Got that from you,"

"My turn," Wendy smiled, "To kill you and me, there would only ever have to be one bullet," she finished with a short laugh.

"Oh my god," Irene laughed, "Okay, you win," Wendy chuckled and pecked Irene's lips, "Thank you," she mumbled against her lips. Irene frowned, "For what?"

"For making me feel better."

Irene grinned and pl