Onew was reluctant to leave for work, despite knowing he had a full schedule. It wasn’t because he was worried about the media and the repercussions of yesterday, although he had to admit he didn’t know what to expect. Instead he wanted to just spend the day at home with his friends and Rochelle. He hadn’t expected it to be so incredibly easy to fall into a comfortable place within his relationship, but Onew finally understood what it meant to have another half.

Breakfast had been loud like usual, Key soon giving up on his attempts to tease Rochelle when she kicked him in the shin. She had then eaten her breakfast beside him, Onew enjoying having her at the table. It was little things like watching her put her long chocolate tresses into a simple ponytail, or joking around on the couch with Taemin that made Onew realise just how much he liked Rochelle already, and didn’t want to part with her.

Unfortunately, she had to leave earlier than they did, having to go see her boss at K Beats. It meant he could go take a quick shower, but he found it disorientating to say goodbye after spending the night together. Rochelle didn’t seem to be affected by the significance everything suddenly held around him, and Onew wondered if she could feel the change between them like he did.

He closed the door behind him and began to undress, turning on the shower so it would warm up. He used the hot sprays beating down on his body to relax his otherwise racing mind, and tried to focus on the tasks of cleaning himself. He couldn’t concentrate however, and he continued in a distant manner, vaguely realising he had followed the rest of SHINee out to the van. Onew barely said goodbye to Taemin as he was dropped off to go work on his sitcom, and fell silent again as he wondered what Rochelle was doing then.

“Oh I’m going to drive myself nuts,” he murmured to himself, shaking his head and looking up at his friends, hoping to distract his hopeless thoughts.

Rochelle had hurried home to change before heading off to her meeting with Taesung. She knew what it would be about and couldn’t help but wonder what her boss would be expecting from her now. She felt mixed emotions as she waited in the foyer by his office, and when she was finally called in, she had come to the worst conclusions.

“Rochelle,” the man greeted her warmly, directing her to her seat and then smiling at her. She frowned at his casual manner and wondered if she had gotten ahead of herself. “Thanks for coming in so soon, I’m sure you have an inkling about why you’re here?”

“Is it something to do with my position with SHINee?” she asked and the man nodded.

“It appears you’ve caused quite an uproar amongst the fans.”

Rochelle cringed. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry its great news!” Taesung replied and laughed. “Congratulations on getting with Onew.”

“Thanks?” she said softly, chewing her bottom lip as the editor pulled out a small pile of letters. She could only guess what they said.

“You’ve got everyone’s attention! I knew you were the right person to bring SHINee to the people of Korea! And now with your position as Onew’s girlfriend you’ll be able to deliver all the gossip the fans re-”

Rochelle held up her hand and shook her head. “Wait a minute, I’m incredibly confused. You’re excited about hate mail and the attention Onew currently has about this whole incident?”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to get this involved with the boys, but you’ve done well to secure-”

“Are you asking me to report about my own boyfriend and his friends so the magazine’s glossy pages are full of inside material?” she cut in again, feeling her anger rise in her chest. “Why would I hurt everyone like that?! This isn’t a relationship of convenience.”

“Surely you can see what kind of situation you have set up for yourself,” Taesung pointed out, slightly taken back by her reaction.

“All I see is an editor trying to abuse his power by asking someone to work behind another’s back. My job for the summer was to write a booklet about SHINee genuinely. Granted, I didn’t expect to fall for one of the boys, but it has happened. I’m not about to wreck anything I have with Onew for some magazine.”

Taesung narrowed his eyes. “You realise that you’re making a big mistake right?”

“Here,” she said gruffly, reaching into her bag and pulling out a CD case. She tossed it onto the desk. “This is the entire piece I have worked on. Have it. And as for the rest of what you’re asking me to do, get stuffed.”

“E-excuse me?!”

“I quit!” Rochelle spelt out, picking up her bag and stalking out of the office. She went over to her desk, aware that her raised voice in the office would have been heard around the building, and that was the reason everyone had stopped working to stare at her. Grabbing her belongings, she continued on her way out of the building, briskly walking down the street until she felt incredibly weak from what had just happened.

in a couple of deep breaths, she reached into he bag for her mobile, retrieving a number and hoping it wasn’t an inappropriate time to be calling.

“Hello you,” the deep voice answered and Rochelle couldn’t help but feel the tears rise to her eyes then.

“When are you free next?” she shakily asked. “I really need to see you.”

Seeing the girl walk through the doors of their practise room made Onew’s wired up muscles completely relax. He stopped what he was doing and walked over to take the girl in his arms, not sure what was wrong, but understanding she needed the comfort. He noticed the members had joined them, all wondering why Rochelle had turned up even though she was technically no longer working for them.

“Did you get into some trouble Chelle?” Jonghyun questioned after a minute of impatiently waiting for the girl, and she finally pulled away from Onew’s body, shaking her head.

“What’s wrong then?” Key asked, his almond eyes evaluating her expression with concern.

“I can’t believe he expected me to treat my relationships with you as something I could earn money from!” she blurted out and Onew sighed.

“He wanted you to provide more information,” Onew stated and Rochelle nodded.

“So I told him what he could do with his job.”

Taemin’s eyes grew wide. “Really noona?!”

“You chose well noona,” Minho added, smiling at the brunette. “We are lucky you value us so highly, not everyone would be so reliable.”

Rochelle nodded. “Except now without that booklet published I have nothing to show to get into that course at the university, and I have no part time job, which means I’m back to looking at any job I can find so I can help my Mum with our expenses.”

Onew pulled his girlfriend back into his arms and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry too much, something will come up babe.”

“We better get back to work,” Key mentioned and the boys all headed over to the mirror again. Onew gave Rochelle a hug before letting her sit down, her miserable expression making him determined to help her get back what she had lost.