Two days had passed since Soohyun met up with Jayne. He felt so relieved at Jayne understanding him being a KPop idol. He looked forward to seeing his relationship with her blossom. It was early Wednesday morning. Soohyun didn’t know what today held in store for him and the rest of the U-Kiss members, but he was ready to face whatever the day contained. He had just woken up a few minutes prior when his cell phone rang. He looked at his caller-id on his cell phone and saw his manager’s name show up.

                “Yeboseyo (Hello)?” Soohyun answered as he sat up in his bed.

                “Annyeong (Hi), Soohyun. We need to talk. I’ll be at your apartment in half an hour. Get ready and meet me outside. Don’t worry about the others. It’s just you I want to speak with.” His manager said as Soohyun’s heart started to pound nervously.

                “Sure thing. I’ll get ready right now.” Soohyun said and hung up the phone. He went to the bathroom in his room and brushed his teeth. Thoughts were swimming in his head over why his manager would want to speak to him directly. Could it be something pertaining to the band? He sounded very serious over the phone. Soohyun noticed he was starting to daydream and quickly finished brushing his teeth. He washed his face to help him wake up and feel refreshed. Next, he applied deodorant and walked to the closet in his bedroom to find some clothes to change into. He quickly changed and walked to Hoon and Dongho’s bedroom to see if they were awake.

                “Hey, Hoon. Didn’t think you’d be awake this early. Manager called me a few minutes ago and said he wants to talk to me. I have no clue what it’s pertaining to or how long I’m going to be. But, he only wants to speak to me, so I guess you guys can just relax until we’re done.” Soohyun said to Hoon.

                “Is everything okay?” Hoon asked looking up at Soohyun with concern in his voice. He was lying in bed playing with his phone while Dongho was asleep, lying motionless in his bed.

                “I don’t know. I hope so. I guess I’ll find out in a few minutes.” Soohyun said as Hoon nodded. Soohyun closed the bedroom door behind him and made sure he had everything before heading out the door. A few minutes later, he was waiting outside of the apartment building. His manager’s car pulled up and Soohyun got in.

                “Have you had breakfast, yet?” His manager asked as Soohyun shook his head. “Did you want to grab something before we head to the office?”

                “Um…sure. Thank you.” Soohyun said as the manager drove through a fast-food restaurant and grabbed breakfast for the two of them. Twenty minutes later they pulled up to NH Media studio and walked to the elevator. Once inside, the manager pressed the button that would take them to the floor of his office. The elevator dinged at the correct floor, opening its doors. The manager and Soohyun walked to the office. The manager handed some of their breakfast to Soohyun to have a hand free to unlock the door. As soon as the door was unlocked, he motioned for Soohyun to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk. Soohyun obeyed and placed their breakfast on the desk. The manager closed and locked the door behind him, making Soohyun wonder what was going on.

                “I guess you’re wondering why I brought you here.” His manager said after he took a seat in his office chair.

                “That would be a big understatement.” Soohyun said as his manager chuckled.

                “I’m sorry. I probably have you scared, huh?” The manager said as he scooted his chair up to the desk.

                “Depends…should I be?” Soohyun asked as his manager shrugged.

                “You tell me…” His manager opened up the side drawer to his desk and pulled out a manila envelope. He placed it in front of Soohyun. “Look inside.” Soohyun looked at his manager and then glanced down at the envelope. He flipped it over and opened the metal tabs that sealed it. Once it was opened, he pried it apart and saw some photos inside. Curious, Soohyun reached in and pulled them out. As soon as his eyes glanced at the pictures, his face became as white as a ghost.

                “Soohyun, are you okay?” His manager asked, noticing the change.

                “W-where…h-how…” Soohyun stuttered. “Who gave you these photos?” Soohyun managed to say.

                “Paparazzi. Who else? What’s going on, Soohyun? Tell me. I’m not going to be mad.” His manager said softly as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini fridge behind him. He twisted open the cap and gave it to Soohyun. Soohyun gulped a few sips down and sat the bottle down on the desk. He kept glancing at the photos and then up again at his manager.

                “I….I…” Soohyun stuttered as he tried to speak. The words were not coming out of his mouth. Everything was jumbled.

                “Soohyun, relax. I just want to know the answers to a few questions. You’re not in trouble. The dating ban was lifted last year for you guys, remember?” His manager said as Soohyun nodded slightly. His thought process was clouded in a thick fog. “Who is she? How do you know her? Are you dating her?” His manager asked softly.

                “She’s a girl that I have feelings for. We bumped into each other at a coffee shop two months ago. We’re not dating, yet. I haven’t been able to ask her out, yet, because of how busy our schedule has been.” Soohyun said as he fought back feelings of nausea.

                “So, you’re not dating…” His manager pried. Soohyun shook his head. “So, how come you were kissing her?”

                “I like her…a lot. I want her to be my girlfriend. To be honest, she didn’t even know we were U-Kiss until a few days ago. She’s from the US and has only lived here a few months.” Soohyun said as his manager raised his eyebrow.

                “I see…so, she knows now that you are a member of U-Kiss?” His manager said as Soohyun nodded. “How did she take that news?”

                “Well, unfortunately she saw our music video, ‘Believe’ on MNet before I was able to tell her who we were. She spoke to Eli about it and he explained everything to her. She’s okay with everything now. She understands where we’re coming from.” Soohyun said as his manager took a sip of his coffee.

                “So, she knows who Eli is, too? Do the other members know about her?” He asked as Soohyun shook his head.

                “No, just Eli for now. I think Eli told her about the other members when he had to explain who U-Kiss was, but she’s only met Eli so far.” Soohyun said as he took another sip of water.

                “Do you think she’s aware of what it would mean for her to be in a relationship with you? Obviously the paparazzi have taken their first step in this. Have you thought about what the fans’ reaction will be? Your schedule and when you guys will be touring in the near future?” His manager asked in all seriousness.

                “Yes, she is very aware of all of those things.” Soohyun replied. Silence filled the room.

                “Soohyun, where may I ask were these pictures taken?” His manager asked after a few minutes, picking up the photos and studying the content.

                “I took her to the Smokey Grill on Monday. She just found out Sunday that we were U-Kiss. I decided to take her to that restaurant because they cater to American-style food. I figured it would be a way to make her feel more at home while I gave my reasons for not revealing that I was a member of U-Kiss to her sooner.” Soohyun said as the manager absorbed the information.

                “Ah, I see. Well, I have to assume you had a lot on your mind. Unfortunately, you should have known that area is crawling with paparazzi. Now we have this to worry about…” His manager said as he put the photos back on the desk. He rubbed his forehead and sighed out loud.

                “I had no clue this was going to happen. I was so caught up in the moment, I didn’t even think about the possibility of this happening. I was so careful up until that moment. I can’t begin to apologize.” Soohyun said, hanging his head.

                “Soohyun, don’t put so much blame on yourself. It was an honest mistake. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. You’re 25 years old. You can’t stay single forever. Unfortunately, given your situation, it’s not going to be so easy to just date whomever you want. We have the proof right here.” His manager said, pointing to the photos.

                “Are you saying I can’t date her?” Soohyun asked meekly.

                “Of course not. What I am saying is that you need to be careful about how you go about doing so. Do you have any idea the lengths I am going to have to go through to get the paparazzi off our backs now that this has come to light?” The manager said as Soohyun hung his head in shame.

                “What can we do? Is there something I can do to help?” Soohyun asked as his manager put his elbows on the arm rests of the chair and put his index fingers to his lips.

                “Well there is something that needs to be done right away. You need to contact her. I need to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her before anything further is done.” His manager said as Soohyun nodded.

                “How soon?” Soohyun asked.

                “As soon as possible. Tonight if we can. Don’t alarm her, though. Tell her you want to treat her to dinner again. Send her a text or call her right now if you can.” His manager said as Soohyun reached into his pant pocket and pulled out his phone. He composed a text message and sent it to Jayne. A few minutes later, she replied back.

                “She said tonight is fine. What time should I tell her?” Soohyun asked as his manager looked at his calendar.

                “Tell her 7:30pm. We’ll pick her up at her apartment in my car. I’ll figure out the rest of the details momentarily.” His manager said as Soohyun typed another text to Jayne.

                “Well, it looks like that’s taken care of.” Soohyun said as he set his phone on the desk.

                “Good. That’s one less thing to worry about. Now, let’s eat this breakfast before it gets cold.” His manager said as he opened the bag and started to divide the food between them. Soohyun nodded, but didn’t know if he had the appetite to eat what was in front of him. What had he just gotten himself into?