“Hello?” Krystal picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID.

            “Krystal, I hope you weren’t making trouble when I was gone.” Her authoritative tone was not easily missed – one would easily mistake her voice as demanding.

            “Of course not, Jessica unnie – what would make you think that?”

            “You’re my sister – it’s an innate habit of yours to continuously stir up trouble. But anyway, I’m glad you aren’t causing any disturbance. I had a lot of stress lately, so I’m glad you helped me out.”

            “Oh yes,” Krystal recalled her sister’s sticky situation, “What was the judge’s verdict? I hope Siwon oppa didn’t get the higher end of the deal.”

            “Let’s just say, he’s on his knees begging to be forgiven.” Jessica dryly laughed. “I’ll be back in Korea before next week. If I find out that you’ve done something wrong, you better admit it before I find out from one of my friends, alright?”

            “Of course – see you soon unnie.” Just as Krystal hung up, another person was calling her phone. It was Ilhoon.

            “So the article should be released online in a minute – the physical copy will be published tomorrow morning. All the editors are really hyped up about this – we may snag an award for the most viewed article in Seoul. Thanks Krystal.”

            “No, thank you.” Krystal then ended the conversation, a satisfied grin lining her lips.

****

            “What is the meaning of this?!” Mr. Kim threw the printed article in front of Kai’s hands. He drew a hand up to his temples, massaging them to ebb the pain away. “Krystal Jung?! I thought you stopped seeing her!”

            “…” His eyes glazed over to the crisp paper. Scanning the contents of the paper, his eyes widened in horror. Kim Jong In and Hana Park seeing other people?! The title was enough to grab the readers’ attention. It was bold and conspicuous. Kai didn’t need to read the entire article to know what was going on. The pictures were enough to say a statement of their own.

            “I…”

            “You have no excuse, do you?” Mr. Kim questioned, almost mockingly. “Though, I’m ashamed at both of you – Hana as well. She shouldn’t be seeing Oh Sehun, but as far as I’m concerned, at least they weren’t photographed with a baby!”

            “Abeoji, I can –“

            “You can’t explain, Jong In! You’re with a baby! This baby is yours isn’t it? You know what, I think I need to call Jonghyun and our lawyers about this. This is just too much, Jong In. I thought you knew better than that!” Mr. Kim dug into his pocket before pulling out his phone. Kai took this time to leave the room. He needed to rethink things.

            He had seen Hana and Sehun’s photo, but…him and Krystal…

            He should have been more careful to start off with.

****

            “Hana Park! I raised you better than this!” My father exploded; the veins in his neck jutting out. “You were caught with another man! And just what were you doing with him?”

            “Abeoji, he’s just a friend!” Or at least I think so.

            “A friend who leans over this close?!”

            “Abeoji, he was just helping me buckle my seatbelt!” This was getting out of hand – my father had no right to explode at me. I wasn’t even dating Sehun. At least not yet…”What about Kai!? He was with Krystal Jung and their baby girl!” If I was going down, I was dragging Kai down with me.

            “Don’t get me started on Jong In, alright?!” My father was fuming. “Our company stocks are going to go down – everything is going to collapse. And you care for Jong In? I don’t care – I’m going to call Jongup. This is getting too far.” At that moment, my father’s cellphone began ringing. We met eyes for a second before my father picked up.

            “Jongup, we need to talk.”

****

            “I’m rather surprised about this, Sehun.” Lawyer Lee examined the article approvingly. “You hired a paparazzi to photograph you and Hana? You really outdid my expectations for you, Sehun.”

            “Kai and Krystal were just a bonus,” Sehun added.

            “Have you figured how you’re going to ask for the $15 million?”

            “I have a plan, but its solely base