Rochelle was glad to find the next morning she was able to put more weight on her ankle, and excitedly got ready for work. She sent a text to Onew letting him know she was on her way over and when she finally arrived at the dorm, Rochelle punched in the code to let herself in.

“Hello!” she sung out happily and after removing her shoes, she walked down the hallway before stopping in her tracks. Onew glanced up at her worriedly and smiled weakly. “What’s wrong?”

“Your little relationship has been found out,” Seung-Eun stated and Rochelle gaped at the older man, stepping into the room and sitting down at table where everyone was. He threw a selection of photos at her and Rochelle picked them up, sighing deeply as her eyes darted from one after the other. She hadn’t realised how quickly a story could be put together about herself and Onew. There were four shots of when she had gone to get the drinks after the radio event with Onew, and two of the boy holding flowers and a teddy bear as he walked into her apartment building. Her fingers trembled and she let go of the photos, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. They had only been together a couple of days and already she could feel the end trying to arrive. Tears sprang to her eyes then and she bit down harder on her lip as she steadied her emotions.

“Someone at K Beats sent them through,” the older man continued sternly and shook his head. “Imagine if we hadn’t of known and someone went to write up a statement about this!”

“This is ridiculous,” Key pointed out, shaking his head roughly. “So they’re a bunch of pictures, Onew is allowed to date someone if he wants to!”

“It’s not that simple,” Minho replied, and Key shot the taller boy a look. “Rochelle is meant to be here for her work. It could come across as her using Onew for her career.”

“Just like I originally thought,” she said softly, and Onew rubbed her back gently. It surprised her that he comforted her in front of their manager and she glanced at him, his dark eyes concerned.

“So what do we have to do then?” he asked, taking his eyes off of Rochelle and focussing on the photos.

“I think K Beats should get someone else to run with what you’ve got so far on your assignment, Rochelle,” their boss stated and she involuntarily shuddered, her hand going up to . “I think it would be best if we separate-”

“Not happening, so give us another solution,” Onew cut in and she could tell the others were in awe of their leader’s determination. Rochelle glanced at his expression and Onew shook his head furiously, gripping her hand in his.

“You are a very famous person Onew,” Seung-Eun warned and sighed. “The negative aspect of what could be said will affect SHINee greatly.”

“Sunbae, I understand all this, but I also understand that I am human and have found someone I want to spend my time with.”

“What if your relationship was a secret?” Taemin suggested and Rochelle glanced at the dongsaeng. “I mean, could you make it a behind doors sort of thing and in the public eye not be obvious about your affections?”

“I guess that could work, if Rochelle agrees,” Onew said slowly, glancing at her. She could see the pleading in his eyes and before she thought it through she was nodding in response.

“We could all make sure that they’re never left alone in the public eye,” Jonghyun continued and smiled. “It’s not like when we’re all together that Rochelle is left to just Onew anyway.”

“I am one of her closest friends after all,” Key announced satisfactorily and Rochelle couldn’t help but grin at the boy. “A joint effort.”

Seung-Eun sighed, looking at all the boys individually and then at the couple. “No more pictures together, and don’t let this affect both of your work.”

“Thank you,” she replied softly, smiling weakly at their manager. He let out a huff of air and got up, muttering about making a call. Rochelle glanced at Onew and he smiled back, placing a hand on her cheek. Without a word he stood up and took her away from the others and their plans to protect them, closing the door to his bedroom behind him.

“You can explode now,” he stated and she glanced back at the boy, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“No, I won’t.”

“I know that you don’t like this, nor do I, believe me,” he said, sitting down and patting the space beside him for her. “I just didn’t think it would be this bad, and this quick.”

“Ditto.”

“It’s going to hurt you when I claim I have no girlfriend. I already feel guilty at the idea of not recognising you as that special person.”

Rochelle smiled at Onew. “I don’t need you to tell people to know that I exist to you.”

“You more than exist,” he corrected, leaning in to kiss her lips gently. She felt his frustrations melt upon contact, although he was more passionate than usual, pressing himself against her a moment later. Rochelle gasped for air and then pulled away, blinking a couple of times.

“Woah,” she breathed and Onew grinned. “Where did that come from?”

“Well, I’m preparing.”

“For?” she questioned and Onew chuckled.

“I figure we’re behind closed doors right now,” he casually mentioned and Rochelle laughed, shaking her head lightly at his humour. “So, better make the best of it.”

“How long until you finish work today?”

“Probably ten tonight, after everything.”

“Well you better get on with it then Mr. Lee,” she instructed with a smirk, and the boy chuckled, Onew’s lips capturing hers once again.

For the next week Rochelle and Onew managed to stick to the plan, although it had its difficult moments. When Onew tripped and fell down on stage, she had wanted to rush up there and pick him up, but she couldn’t do anything, not even when he was backstage again. It frustrated her that she was forbidden to show any natural emotion for the boy, but she knew why and managed to make it through the days relatively well. There hadn’t been much time to be alone as they had been busy with many performances and events that by the time they got home from working or practising, they were all basically falling onto their beds with exhaustion. She didn’t want to complain, as they still had some great times together as a group, but the novelty of keeping secret had certainly worn off.

“You look happy,” Kate stated sarcastically as Rochelle yanked clothing out of her dresser and roughly dressed herself. “Trouble in paradise already?”

Rochelle shot the girl an unimpressed look. “Everything is perfect.”

“Liar,” the red head retorted and sighed. “Tell me.”

“It’s harder than I thought. I like Jinki, so much,” she admitted, taking a deep breath and Kate directed her to sit on her bed. She obeyed and then continued. “But I just want to spend time with him. I want to go back to the way we were last week, where we held hands or he had to just be beside me all the time. I want to kiss him, but it’s like ever since Seung-Eun told us to cool it, he’s started pulling away. He might as well not even be dating someone.”

“Chelle, you don’t mean that,” Kate replied quietly as Rochelle tried her best not to cry. She glanced at her best friend helplessly, and Kate hugged her, Rochelle soon clinging to the girl as sobs sounded around her bedroom. It was becoming obvious to Rochelle that she couldn’t take being background noise anymore, even though Onew wasn’t intentionally making it that way. It dawned on her how difficult it was to date someone who was famous and she wondered if it was really worth waiting for the chance to come out publicly. It was early days in their relationship, but she felt so intensely connected to Onew, and after the way everything had moved so quickly, Rochelle felt a little lost now. It was like she was back to being a friend who wanted more.

Glancing up at her best friend as she wiped her eyes, Rochelle shook her head. “I can’t keep going along this path, it’s just too hard.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly and then sighed. “I really don’t know, but I’m gonna have to do something.”