At eight thirty, Hyun Jae poured herself through the door and collapsed onto couch. Her phone went off, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, and she flung it across the room. She had already told the lie to all of her friends and they were happy for her. She was happy that her friends accepted this so easily, even though they hated her for keeping this secret from them.

Now, all that was left were the others: the bullies who now fancied themselves her friends, the people who ignored her, but now remembered how kind she had always been. She hated them more than she had ever known she could hate people. At least when they were treating her bad, they were honest.

Someone lifted her legs  and sat down, putting them in their lap. She felt hands on her feet and tried to move them. “Relax. You’ve been in heels all day. I know your feet hurt.” P.O. said and she nodded, smiling to herself. It did feel good.

Her head was lifted and placed on another’s lap. She opened her eyes to see Zico smiling down at her. He ran his fingers through her hair and she smiled at him. “You were wonderful today. Apparently people are buzzing about how delightfully wicked you are.” He said and she sighed.

“Yes. Everyone knows my name now. Everyone will recognize me when I leave the house. I suppose people who were cruel to you once now treat you nicely as well.” She said, looking up at him and he shrugged.

“You’ll learn to ignore them as they ignored you.” He said, running his fingers through her hair. “You know, they don’t want me to date you. They claim it’ll ruin us.”

“It would and that’s kind of sad, isn’t it? You’re not allowed to even seek the smallest comforts.” Hyun Jae said, quietly. She closed her eyes and heard him sigh. “You’ll be okay. There will be a more acceptable woman down the road.” She said, smiling as P.O. rubbed her other foot.

“What do you want?” P.O. asked and she shrugged.

“You can’t have everything you want in this life. Sometimes, the needs of the many out weigh the wants of the few.” She said, softly. “In this case, I am the few.” She felt Zico’s lips on her forehead and smiled a little to herself. Too often, the world was too big and complicated. Why couldn’t it be easier? Why did the first  guy who liked her as much she liked him have to be someone who was so amazingly out of reach?

“Do you want to go to bed?”  P.O. asked and she shrugged. “Do you want to eat?” He asked and she nodded, sitting up.

“I should start dinner.” She said, sitting up and Zico pulled her into his lap. She looked up at him, confused and he smiled at her.

“We could start again, even if we get ruined.” He said, hugging her closer. She shook her head quickly. There was no way she could let that happen. He smiled at her gently, and her heart beat like a drum in her chest. He was going to do it again. He leaned forward, slowly and she couldn’t breathe.

She placed her hand over his mouth and his eyes went wide. “I won’t let you ruin yourself, or them for me.” She said firmly, despite everything in her heart. He starred at her over her hand, confused and hurt. She turned and stood quickly, while his arms were still relaxed and walked towards the kitchen. If he was going to be weak about this, she would at least pretend to be strong.

In the morning, Hyun Jae woke up to Ukwon smiling at her. For a moment, she smiled back, thinking she was still dreaming. She couldn’t think of a single moment he had ever looked more handsome than that moment. His hair was a mess and he looked a little sleepy, but it was so adorable, she could barely stand it. She closed her eyes for a moment, and placed her hand over his. He even felt warm in her dream.

“You have to wake up now. It’s time to make the rounds again.” He said and she shook her head, groaning. Something felt weird, but her brain couldn’t process it. His arm slid around her waist and she smiled a little in her sleep. “Do you still like me that much?” He asked and it clicked. This wasn’t a dream. She sat up and screamed, pushing him out of bed.

He sat up and rubbed his head, pouting at her. She threw a pillow at him as he smiled at her from the floor. “Bad Kitty! Are you insane?” She shouted and he laughed at her. She covered , and whimpered a little. She had kept her inner fangirl pretty quiet so far, but it had slipped.

The door opened and P.O. and  Kyung were standing in the door way, ready for a fight. “What happened?” Kyung shouted and she pointed to Ukwon, who was just standing. “What did he do?” Kyung asked, as Jaehyo and Min Hyuk slid into view.

“Bad Kitty on my bed.” She said, and covered again. Her brain wasn’t working properly, yet. She wasn’t even speaking in proper sentences. She smacked her head, until the cobwebs cleared as Min Hyuk walked into the room.

“What did the bad kitty do?” Min Hyk asked and she waved her hand, stopping him.

“He was playing with me. I was asleep. I over reacted.” She said and Ukwon grinned at her. She threw another pillow at him. “I’m sorry. I’ll start breakfast.” She said, swinging out of bed in her pajamas. Shhe rubbed her eyes and started for the door.

“Jaehyo, would you mind starting breakfast?” Kyung asked and she stopped. Jaehyo nodded and started out the door. Today they were booked for a show and then they were going to the studio. It wouldn’t be a hard day, for her. Today, she was just a window dressing, nothing particularly special.

Everyone left to get ready for the day, but Kyung stayed behind and closed the door. He gave her an almost pitiful smile as she sat back down on the bed. “You like him a lot, don’t you?” He asked and she shrugged a little. Not admitting it wouldn’t change anything. “You cried last night.”

It wasn’t a question, so she didn’t bother trying to lie. “I needed to get it off my chest. I’m okay now. My eyes aren’t too puffy, I don’t think. I can hide it with makeup.”  She said, smiling.

“I know it , liking someone you can’t have. It must even more for you, since he likes you back.” Kyung said and she nodded, looking into her lap. It did . It hurt and made her sad. That didn’t matter though.  What mattered was the group and the fans. “It’ll be okay.” Kyung said, and she almost felt reassured.

Hyun Jae was behind the set, fixing Taeil’s hair when someone called her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled brightly. Another reporter wanted to speak to her.  She bowed politely and Taeil wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “How can we help you?” She asked, eyes wide.

“Can I have an exclusive interview with the new couple?” He asked and she looked at Taeil. The manager had told her to let Taeil do most of the talking and avoid as many interviews as possi