Jeno was always impulsive and maybe that was why he ended up driving away when he saw you and Jay kissing. It did things to him and even if you were never his, he felt like his world was spinning. So, he did what he knew best when faced with a situation he did not like— he ran away from it.

He stepped on the accelerator, not looking back, Jaemin holding onto his bucket hat filled with nachos for dear life.

Jaemin knew what Jeno was going through. He took one look at Jeno who could not drag his eyes away from Jay and his lawyer smooching on the side of the streets when he slid away slowly to get away from the frame.

Damn the paparazzis. He didn’t know what he’d do if they caught sight of his crazy pink hair in the image but Jaemin knew the nature of such photographers. In a few hours, it’d be all over the news with a zoom up of their lips and some snazzy title.

Now, they were in their rented Airbnb, Jaemin on the couch as Jeno paced back and forth in front of him. Jeno had thrown the keys on the table the moment they arrived and Jaemin made a mental note to find it, knowing with that bounce—it must have fallen somewhere on the floor. But would Jeno find it? Nope, it was Jaemin’s job.

He stared at Jeno, his friend removing his blazer and throwing it towards the side.

Jeno chewed on his bottom lip. Was he angry? Sad? Mad? He had no idea. He reached up to rub his eyes, closing them momentarily when the image of your face tilting towards Jay flashed through his mind. The way he had cupped your face with one hand, another bringing you towards him as his lips moved over yours, his face angled to the side to kiss you deeper—

Jeno clenched his fist when he realized one thing.

Jaemin was standing right beside you when he saw you.

He whipped his head around to confront Jaemin, demanding to know what Jaemin said to you. Jaemin knew about you, Jeno knew. Jaemin had seen your face before. It was impossible that he wouldn’t. Half the songs he produced were to you. About you. The lyrics that he had written for songs were written with you in mind.

Your face was no stranger to Na Jaemin.

“And why am I staring at her face while slamming the door?” Jaemin asked one day, Jeno trying to equalize one part of the song. They were going to add a door slam into the bridge, Jaemin very passionate about feeling the noise. Jeno’s laptop was open and a photo of you was pulled up, colorful and bold. “Is this the girlfriend?”

“Uh…” Jeno didn’t know what to say to that. It was the time he and you still talked like old friends who had feelings for one another. “Just… do your part.”

So, as he stood in front of his manager, assistant producer and now best friend, Jeno waited for the answer; Jaemin chewing on his nachos.

“What did you say to her?” Jeno asked again, unable to hide the impatience from his voice. Jaemin blinked, the memory of meeting you by the taco truck still fresh in his mind.

“I said hi,” he said simply. “and she said: I know you.”

“Me?”

“No, me.” Jaemin pointed at himself, dusting off his bucket hat and putting it back on his head. “She said I have a very nice smile.” He paused. “And we shared guac.”

Jeno waited for more but Jaemin didn’t seem like he would elaborate more on it, the male cracking his neck. “How is that pertinent to the story? What did she say about me?”

“Nothin’.”

“How could she say nothing?” Jeno asked. The thought that she said nothing regarding him was pissing him off more than he thought it would. Sure, it was a good thing because it meant she wouldn’t have said anything bad about him but it did mean that he did not cross her mind when she knew that Jaemin worked closely with him. Impossible.

“Yeah, nothin’.” Jaemin gave him a thumbs up. After watching Jeno glower at him for a good twenty seconds, he cleared his throat nervously. “Oh no. Okay, so… Our exchange was kind of cool.”

Jeno leaned forward eagerly. Jaemin began to act it out, his left hand lifting up and making a duck movement to show it was you.

“I know you! You’re Na Jaemin,” Jaemin mimicked, his other hand lifting up to mirror his left hand. His voice deepened. “If you know me, you would know me and Jeno are never apart.”

A pause and Jaemin gave Jeno a smile, lowering both of his hands.

“I waited for her to realize that you were probably somewhere near but she didn’t get it.” Jaemin nodded. “Probably the alcohol so I said—” He lifted his right hand. “Ask me where Jeno is!”

“Wait,” Jeno said, a hand in the air to stop him from talking. “You’re telling me that she didn’t even ask about me. You told her to ask about me.”

“Yeah. Then you came and then I pointed.” Jaemin sniffed. “Bro, we shared guac.”

“She hates avocado,” Jeno said suddenly, frowning. You hated avocado. At least, that was what he thought he knew. He remembered you telling him that you hated the how the taste lingered on your tongue and how grainy it could feel sometimes. You hated the string of the fiber. “Why is she eating guacamole if she hates avocado?”

“Beats me. Why didn’t you call her?” Jaemin leaned back, asking the right question. Maybe, just maybe he expected you to reach out first. He had spoken to Doyoung, both of them keeping close contact over the years—Doyoung too, had taken your place in handling his tyrant parents while Jeno completely cut them out of his life.

“I thought it’d be weird, considering she has a boyfriend.”

“Don’t know who the boyfriend is, but she kissed Jay the Model.”

“Jay the Model kissed her,” Jeno snapped irritably, Jaemin quirking up an eyebrow.

“Last time I checked; those lips were hers so it works both ways.” Jaemin gave him another thumbs up, a habit he always had for when he wanted to leave a conversation. With that, Jaemin stood up and stalked out of the living room to call it a night.

Jeno’s phone lit up to see a notification from Johnny. It was a link along with a text message.

Johnny: Jay just took korea by a storm
Johnny: Feel bad for his lawyer, she might get fired

Jeno had partied with Jay a couple of times before. He had never really hated the guy until now. He was handsome, he was charming, and he was Johnny’s best friend. The duo had a knack of getting into scandals left and right but they had always been very honest in handling them.

While Jeno was particularly close to Johnny, he was favored by Matthew due to his nature of wanting to keep out of trouble.

Johnny: If you do meet up with him in korea
Johnny: punch him in the face for me
Johnny: ing jay doesn’t think before he does something

Jeno knew very well how the culture of dating was in Korea. It was bad enough that he kissed you in public but as he opened the article, he felt his blood boil.

Jay the Model, dating his lawyer?

Lawyer breaches NO-DATING-CLIENT rule. Jay the Model strikes again with another dating scandal!

Jeno did not know the nature of your relationship with Jay but he knew that if you had to be fired for his irresponsibility, Jeno wouldn’t hold back on socking him in the face.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The company representative was right in front of you, Jay smirking as he leaned back haughtily against the chair. You had one hell of a morning, almost being bombarded by reporters and gossip news writers the moment you left the building. ing Jay even had the audacity to show up on your doorstep, telling you that he’d drive you to work because you were both ‘in it together'.

Of course, we are in it together, you wanker! You had hissed at him, entering his car and trying to navigate with your eyes closed from the multiple flashes of nearby cameras. “You pulled me into it. Literally! With your lips against mine.”

“Say it like that and I’d think you actually enjoyed kissing me, Ms. Lawyer,” Jay mused, the car speeding towards your building. It didn’t take long for you to get yelled at by the head of your department, asking you what in the world were you thinking. And didn’t you say you had a stomachache? You lied?

You kept quiet, your head hanging low, Jay’s company representative entering the room.

Kim Junmyeon was a man not to be messed with, you all knew that. Jay, however, knew how uptight he was. As the head of the legal department in SM, Kim Junmyeon sighed when he saw Jay. Jay knew that the contract he had with SM was putting a strain on the company since he had gone the dangerous route.

“Are you going to let me go?” Jay asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you going to let me go or are you going to protect me from dating my lawyer and getting her fired?”

“Yoonoh,” Junmyeon began, Jay shaking his head.

“It’s Jay to you,” he corrected. He threw a hand over your shoulder and you shot him a glare, Jay slowly inching away at the venom in your gaze. “What is it going to be, Mr. Kim?”

“Yes. We are letting you go but once we do, you’re on your own.”

Music to Jay’s ears. Not like they didn’t leave him on his own for years and years, anyway. The audacity of the company to act like they had his back when they didn’t. You, on the other hand, could not feel happy for Jay.

Your work was on the line and the moment you left the room, you had whirled around, a finger against Jay’s chest with the male backed up against the wall when he beat you to it.

“I will sue you—”

“I may be selfish but I’m not stupid, Ms. Lawyer,” he said suddenly, a hand lifting up in the air to shake the phone in front of your face. “Lookie look.”

His phone had a photo of a girl. She had long hair just like you, her arms were around his waist and Jay smiled, leaning forward as if he expected a compliment but you did not get it.

“So?”

“So? She looks like you. I met her in the club that night and that how I got the idea. The photo has not a single speck of your face,” he said and you frowned. “You got a really short nose.”

“What?”

“I thought it through, Ms. Lawyer. Why do you think your hair had to be let go?” He smiled and glanced at the phone as if he was happy of how had thought it through but you were not convinced. Not at all. “I got it.”

“You got nothing.”

“I got it,” he repeated, typing something on his screen and pressing send before showing it to me. “My friend, Sungchan, is a reporter.” He paused. “Actually, he’s my cousin.” His voice lowered down an octave when he looked around as if to check for anyone who could hear him. “Shh…”

You watched as the dots of his screen appeared, his alleged cousin who was a reporter sending him a thumbs up when multiple notifications appeared from the top. It seemed like his cousin had been waiting for the green light to release the article and Jay glanced at his phone.

Jay the Model’s girlfriend makes a statement!

Lawyer was at home. Girlfriend was simply a look-alike. Has the public gone mad?

Gossip Articles got it all wrong. Jay the Model sets things straight—once and for all!

“Boom. Done. See?”

“You have people everywhere,” you found yourself saying, taking out your phone to glance to see that Soompi had jumped on the train.

“Now, I got you. Now, imagine if we started dating,” he said brightly, Jay the Model flicking your forehead before he pocketed his phone. “Now, drinks?”

“I am not going to be seen with you. Not anymore.”

“Don’t be salty. I solved your problems!”

“You are a problem!” you fired back to him but Jay jogged up to you, his pesky little self grabbing your elbow when you realized that he had pulled you away from the elevator. You tried to step on his shoes but he side-stepped you, the male showing you the window when you gasped.

Reporters, all crowded in front of the building. You could see vans parked right at the parking lot and your jaw kept hanging, Jay giving out a sigh.

“You’re right. No drinks—”

“Drinks,” you cut through, nodding. You had no way to get to the parking lot with that many reporters. You would be bombarded with questions and you hated dealing with such things. Jay was your only shield. He simply did not care. “Get me out of here and we’ll go for drinks.”

He chuckled, eying you carefully before grabbing your wrist and dragging you towards the elevator.

“You need to stop being so uptight. Everything will be alright,” Jay told you as you leaned against the side of the elevator, your legs trembling. This was the first time you have ever seen your name on the news—you had no idea how to deal with it. Jay, on the other hand, was a pro.

He watched you with a small smile on his face, taking in how the color had drained from your lips and it seemed like you were anxious with what was to come. It was always funny to him; how non-celebrities were so scared of bad press. But if it was one thing Jay knew, it was that everything would blow over.

That is how he had directed you to the front of the building, a hand held above your face to shield you from the flashes of cameras when he cleared his throat to make a statement.

“I am not dating my lawyer,” Jay began and you squinted at the people in front of you. “That was my girlfriend, who is now my ex because she thinks I am not standing up for her.”

“Are you still with your girlfriend now?” a reporter asked and he shook his head.

“I will never forgive the media for ruining a perfectly good relationship for me. You should be ashamed of yourself! Spreading misinformation and profiting off someone’s personal life that should not be on a platform in the first place,” Jay said you could see a few of them lower their microphones. “She is now my ex and the media is to blame.”

“People are speculating that you did it to cut ties from your company,” another person said and Jay scoffed, a hand going around your shoulders casually.

“I have my lawyer for that. She was supposed to handle that mess for me and she has nothing to do with my dating life.” He paused. “And what is it to the public who I date? Go and report something that matters. People are dying.”

A gulp from the reporters.

“Now, excuse me while I bring my lawyer for celebratory drinks,” he said, waving a hand before pushing me gently through the crowd when someone yelled from the side.

“Is there anything you want to say to SM?”

Jay stopped, turning to the source of the voice before staring straight at the camera.

He smiled and nodded.

“SM, this is for you.”

With that, he put up a middle finger.

Damn.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You found yourself sitting in front of Nakamoto Yuta with a glass of expensive whiskey that Jay had paid for you. Knock yourself out, he said. He was high on the adrenaline of being a free man. Yuta too, despite having called Jay a wack-head, had taken a liking to him. You did not blame him, Jay was very likable.

“I didn’t expect you to bring me back to NAKA club,” you said to Jay, the model clinking glasses with you. “I expected somewhere else.”

“Why? This is where it started and where it will end. You get the drinks, I get the girls.” He lifted up his own glass and downed it. “I’m a free man, baby!”

“How many times will we have to hear that tonight?” Yuta asked, wiping the glass cleanly. His eyes bounced from Jay to you before he began thinking to himself that he was happy for you. It seemed like you finally found a friend to hang out with. Someone who wasn’t like Doyoung. Someone who seemed to be able to bring you for adventures if you ever needed it.

With that, he poured you another glass of whiskey and told you it was on the house when Jay hopped off the stool.

“I see a friend, be right back.” He patted your shoulder and you nodded, waving a hand. Yuta smiled at you and told you what he was thinking. He told you that you needed someone like Jay in yourself.

“I’ve been