Ha Eun’s POV

My blood was boiling ever since I woke up this morning. Today is the day.

I, Jung Ha Eun, does not sit back and watch her best friend get used by a stupid jerk !@#$% that bastard.

I called Woojin and asked him – okay fine, I demanded that he take over my slots in the morning. I was going to go somewhere to find a certain someone to give him a lashing.

Mind you, I’m not the violent kind of girl who goes around bashing guys up, I was just gonna have a little chat with him.

So I decided to dress a little posh today so I could successfully enter his office.

And I didn’t tell Jiyeon about it. She’d stop me at all costs, I know.

She was mad protective over him and his band.

I took a deep breath as I walked toward the SM building. But to my surprise, there were a hoard of girls there already.

Wow. Seemed like the party began without me.

There were even reporters at the scene.

“What’s going on here?” I tapped a reporter on the shoulder. He turned around and stared at me, looking irritated.

“Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard of the news? Kai and Sulli are dating! We are waiting to get the latest scoop!” he explained, rolling his eyes and tossing his imaginary hair. God, what was wrong with this guy? How rude.

I decided to ignore him and ask one of the fans instead.

“Chogi, what’s happening?” I asked, trying to sound as sincere and confused as possible.

“Duh, have you been living under a rock, miss? We are protesting against the forbidden relationship between two idols!” she spat.

“Yah, how could you protest? We love Kai and Sulli and we just wish for their lifelong happiness,” another fan butted in, pushing the first one away. Both girls sneered menacingly at each other.

“Uh, thank you,” I bowed and made myself scarce after realizing the situation wasn’t all that great when some girls began baring their fangs at each other.

I realized I had no way to get into the building with this crowd amassed in front of the main entrance. I had to call someone.

Park Chanyeol.

After demanding that he come pick me up, I waited in the cold, far away from the crowd. My feet were freezing and I felt my nose falling off. I immediately touched my nose and heaved a sigh of relief when I realized it was still on my face.

“Hey.”

I heard a deep voice and someone tapping me on the shoulder.

“Hey,” I smiled and looked up at him.

“It’s freezing here, could we go inside?”

“S-sure.”

Chanyeol grabbed my hand gingerly and we slipped into the building through its back entrance with caution.

“So, are you here to see me, or what?” he grinned, opening his arms wide.

“Ew. No, I’m not gonna hug you. I’m here to see someone else,” I frowned, stepping away from him.

“Aww, Jiyeon?”

“Not her. Thanks for letting me in though, I’ll go about with my business now.” I smiled and patted him on his head.

“What in the world – ”

“Don’t breathe a word about this, and I promise the next time I come, I’ll come to see you,” I smiled in a creepy way. Okay, I really hated myself for doing this, but I had no choice. To see Mr. Popular and Oh-So-Scandalous, I had to act ahead of everyone else.  

No hard feelings, Chanyeol.

I found my target sooner than expected. He was loitering in the corridor leading to the pantry the same floor as the studio.

No prizes were given for guessing whom he was with.

The one and only girlfriend.

“Bastard.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to see me. I scoffed when his eyes widened.

“Your mouth’s agape, jerk. Too shocked to see me?”

“...”

For what seemed like an eternity, Sulli spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Oppa, who is she?” she pouted, tugging at his arm. I swore I wanted to puke.

“N-nothing, could you leave us alone please?” he asked. She frowned at me and slid her hand down his arm before leaving us alone.

“Gross. So that’s your type of girl now, eh?” I mocked, crossing my arms and leaning on one side.

“Look, I know it sounds dumb. But it’s for the best,” he muttered, scratching the back of his head.

“How so? By dating another girl in front of your ex after sending her a gazillion mixed signals?”

“What?!”

“Don’t deny it, you did. And you’re dating someone else. To spite her, perhaps?” I scowled (my ugliest, maybe).

Jongin did not reply me after that. Looked like I nailed the conversation.

Ha Eun 1 – 0 Jerk.

I gave my awesome self a high-five.

“It’s really for the best. Ha Eun, you can choose if you want to believe me, but I had good intentions for making this relationship public,” he sighed in a defeated manner.

“Relationship? Jongin, I don’t think this can be even considered a relationship! It’s just a stupid scandal, really,” I laughed dryly.

“It isn’t a scandal. It’s real.”

“Then why aren’t you acting the part?”

“...”

“Prove it to me.”

He was dumbfounded. Kim Jongin looked like a fox, which had been cornered by a pack of wolves.

“We can do this all day, you know. I’ve got all the time in the world,” I smirked, leaning against the wall.

“Um, random girl who knows Jongin, I hope you’d stop tormenting him.”

I turned to face the owner of the unfamiliar voice.

Uh wow, he looked like a more effeminate version of Kim Jongin.

“H-hyung. It’s nothing, don’t mind it,” Jongin acknowledged the boy.

“Who might you be?” I frowned.

“I’m Lee Taemin.”

“Ha Eun, this is Taemin, my best friend. He’s a dancer from SHINee. Taemin, this is Ha Eun, from my dance crew,” Jongin briefly introduced.

“Oh, so you know Jongin since... high school?”

“Correction, I knew him,” I spat. God, I didn’t know what this kid was up to, creating random scandals and spiting Jiyeon and all. What’s up with him?!

“Oh...” the Taemin guy sighed.

“Sorry, Taemin-ssi. Do you mind? We are in the midst of a very important conversation,” I sighed.

Before Jongin spoke, Taemin hushed him.

“Just tell her the truth, Jongin. You’re wasting time.”

“What truth?”

“No, Taemin hyung – ”

“This whole thing is a scam, Ha Eun-ssi. He’s just doing this because he thinks Jiyeon is better off with Oh Sehun.”

I stumbled a couple of steps back and inhaled.

Kim Jongin was a freaking barnacle head.

“You’re a barnacle head. You think you’re gonna make things better by sacrificing blablabla but you’re just making things worse, you idiot,” I reprimanded.

“You – you just don’t understand, Ha Eun. You really don’t, you have to see it for yourself,” he sighed and shook his head.

“I do understand how she feels better than you do, at least.”

“You don’t, and I need to go now.”

With that, he scrambled off. Great, he escaped my interrogation. Way to go, Jung Ha Eun. You couldn’t even retain your prey.

“Oh my God I can’t believe that!” Chanyeol exclaimed and appeared behind a pillar.

“What in the world, Park Chanyeol?! You were eavesdropping?!” I screamed.

“Not just Chanyeol, I did, too.” Baekhyun popped out behind Chanyeol.

“Omo, now everyone knows about this,” Taemin sighed and slammed his head against the wall (literally).

“Great.” I threw my arms up. Could this get any messier?

“Ah, didn’t see you there, Taemin-ah.” Baekhyun nodded and the three guys acknowledged one another.

“So... what’s your take on this? Since you’ve... heard everything and all,” I asked the boys.

“I say, this calls for Baekyeol intervention,” Chanyeol grins, rubbing his hands in satisfaction.

“Aigoo, Park Chanyeol!” Baekhyun smacked his head.

“What?! You should be glad we have a new purpose in life,” he smiled, folding his arms.

For a moment there, our ‘mission’ sounded really noble.

“I agree, actually. We need to do something about this before the damage gets irreversible,” Taemin suggested. He looked to me for approval.

“From what I can see, both of them still love each other. They just don’t know the love is mutual,” I nodded.

“It’s all miscommunication to me. They almost always happen to interpret each others’ actions as otherwise,” Baekhyun mumbled, tapping his chin.

“What do you say, guys. Shall we do something for them?” Chanyeol smiled, winking awkwardly.

“Stop that,” Baekhyun scolded, pinching his arm. Chanyeol yelped in pain.

“Sounds feasible. I’m in,” Taemin said. He reached his arm forward.

“Me too,” I said, reaching forward to place my palm above his.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun did the same.

“GO TEAM!!!!!” Baekhyun screeched like a cheerleader, taking Taemin and I aback.

“What?!”

“S-sorry, Ha Eun-ssi. He’s like that, a diva,” Chanyeol apologized.

“It’s alright, I just didn’t expect that. You can call me Ha Eun,” I smiled. Chanyeol turned bright pink and blinked at me with his humongous eyes. I looked away and cleared my throat.

“Back to the issue at hand, shall we keep this from everyone else for the moment?” Baekhyun raised his hand and asked.

“Of course. The secret’s safe with us,” Taemin smiled.

“Deal.”

Kai’s POV

Today totally . And I didn’t see how it could get any better.

Especially after Ha Eun’s confrontation. This whole façade just tired me out.

“Oppa, what did that girl talk to you about?”

. That was the person I wanted to see the least.

“Hey Sulli,” I forced a smile. She linked her arm around mine possessively.

“What did you talk about?” she looked up to me with enlarged eyes. I cringed.

“Nothing much, just official business.”

“And you couldn’t tell your girlfriend about it?”

No, just no. I unlinked my arm from hers.

“Just to get this straight, Choi Sulli. This is all an act. I don’t have to report to you my whereabouts and whom I meet and the like. So do you, I don’t expect you to be accountable for your actions,” I sighed.

“...”

I looked straight at her. She was pouting.

“I was just getting into the mood, oppa,” she whined, re-linking her arm around mine.

“Kai, Sulli, you ready? The press wishes to meet and interview you right now,” Director Kang appeared at the doorway to usher us out.

I heaved a loud sigh. Just endure it, Jongin. It will only get better.

To my despair, the situation got worse with the press. When the doors opened, the protests of the crowd were far more audible. The flash from the cameras from all directions was blinding and reporters were throwing us questions mercilessly.

“One question at a time, please,” Director Kang shouted as he ushered everyone into the conference room.

Sulli and I sat at the long table. I helped myself to the bottled water before me. Better to prepare myself to answer a hoard of questions.

“Kai-ssi, when did you begin dating Sulli-ssi?”

“Sulli-ssi, have you thought of the consequences of dating a newbie like Kai?”

“Choi Sulli! Return Kai to us!”

“Who first confessed to who?”

“Kai-ssi, what are your bandmates’ takes on your relationship?”

As previously rehearsed in the last meeting with the Chairman, our responses were well coordinated and the entire Q and A went smoothly.

But lying sure was tiring.

“Thank you for your time. Please direct any other pressing questions you have to the Management. We appreciate that you give our artistes personal space and privacy they deserve,” Director Kang announced, bringing us out of the room.

The reporters got up from their seats and rushed behind us, throwing us even more questions.

Meanwhile, I felt Sulli’s grip around my arm tighten.

I closed my eyes and chanted in my head,

Don’t look back.

My chanting seemed to gradually drown out the noise from the commotion and everything went back to normal. A great calmness overtook me.

“Hey, Jiyeon ah!”

I heard Director Kang say.

What?

The calmness dissipated quickly as I opened my eyes and turned back.

There she stood, with her back against the light.

Although I could only see her silhouette, I recognized her right away.

“Jinsoo ya,” she called and walked toward us.

“Congratulations, Sulli-ssi,” she said, shaking Sulli’s hand.

“Thank you, Jiyeon-ssi. We are a match made in heaven, aren’t we?”

I facepalmed. She did not have to say that.

Jiyeon turned to me and smiled, but there was something different about her gaze.

Those beautiful eyes sparkled - with sorrow. 

HELLO EVERYONE! It's been nearly five months! :) I'm really sorry about the delay, I've been busy with work and college applications. I hope everyone still remembers this story! x.x Now that everything's finalized, I finally have the time to sit down and write this chapter, which wasn't easy to write at all. I with confrontational dialogue x.x Anyone has any tips? 

And thank you to so many readers who have subscribed although this story appears to be on hiatus all the time. I guess I'll be freer to update right now! :) 

And now, for comment replies.

@Divinee Thank you for your opinion :) And no worries, I'd love to receive more feedback about which OTPs you guys support and all. Since it's all undecided and messy at the moment. I'm sorry for updating soooo late!

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AND OF COURSE, EXO HAS FINALLY CAME BACK!!!!!!! :) I kinda like Peter Pan! :)