Author’s POV

“Kayla, I don’t mean to question your decision, I’m only asking if you’re ready to do this,” Hwang-Mi said firmly. Kayla looked down at the papers again, sighing. She took the pencil, wrote her signature and looked up at Hwang-Mi.

“I’m sure. I’m not letting an opportunity like this slip because of anyone. If I must move out of Super Junior’s dorm then that is my personal problem, it’s not yours, Miss Kim. I will handle this.” Hwang-Mi nodded. She gave her consent and Kayla was allowed to go. Outside she met Lee Joon who didn’t look pleased at all. He’d been worried ever since Kayla told him about the fight she’d had with Donghae and Lee Joon hadn’t been on her side either. For him, it didn’t feel right that Kayla signed the contract without trying to make SM reconsider their decision about her moving out. Besides, without an agreement with SM, they’d do whatever they wanted. Although Kayla was aware of this, she didn’t change her mind considering the signing; she believed it was right for her.

“Did you sign?” Lee Joon asked for confirmation, an undertone of hope lying under his breath. Kayla nodded her head and Lee Joon’s face turned forlorn and disappointed. “How could you do that? To Donghae hyung and the other members? They care about you. You should’ve talked to them.” Kayla passed him with determined steps; her heels click and clacking as she tried to escape from Lee Joon.

“This has nothing to do with you, Joon. Drop it!” she snapped at him.

“Kayla! Hyung could lose his job unless he-”

“He won’t! Because it says in their ing contract that they have signed for at least 7 years! He must’ve renewed it not too long ago, in which case they cannot fire him. I’ve got this under control! Why isn’t anyone believing me?” She’d raised her voice an octave, causing it to crack in the end. She glared at Lee Joon who understood that he ought to be quiet now. Instead of saying anything, he left. Kayla stood remained on her place until he was out of sight before she headed to the parking lot. She unlocked the car, sat down in it and sped off towards the dorms. There was a little time for her to relax before the filming started again.

When she dropped her bag in the dorms with a loud thud, Kayla exhaled. It was as though they’d help her breath the entire meeting with Hwang-Mi as well as the short argument with Lee Joon and the whole drive home. There weren’t any lit lights in the dorm, so she was alone. She kicked off her shoes and propped up her sunglasses on her head then she slowly made her way further into the dorms. The kitchen looked just like it always did, so did the living room, the bedrooms and it was right then that Kayla realised that nothing in the dorms had changed in the months she’d lived there. Upon passing Heechul’s room, his words began to bang inside her head. He thought that she’d changed in character; Donghae had too. She heaved out another long sigh. Then she opened the door leading into Donghae’s and her former room. She took out her suitcase and in a rhythmical pace began to collect her clothes, packing them one by one in the black plastic thing in front of her. Each garment felt like she detached herself from the dorms, from the other guys that had become like her big brothers and from Donghae. She was certain he would’ve tried to convince her to stay had he been there. But now that he was busy, he didn’t have time to worry about her choices or what she did with her life. He was going to focus on his work for once, and Kayla wasn’t fully used to come second. Donghae had one way or the other had her in first priority, even if he was stressed out.

During their conversation he hadn’t sounded stressed at all; he been calm. Kayla had set her mind that he would discuss this ‘problem’ with her, but instead he pretended like it wasn’t a big deal and told her to fix it. How could he have asked that of her? So suddenly and no guidance or comforting words? Didn’t he care what she did or was it just that he felt that she was ready to solve it on her own? Yet when she told him she was going to sign with Starhaus, he got angry. Kayla couldn’t decide whether he felt stressed out for his own drama and therefore couldn’t have their issues on his mind too or simply didn’t bother about the rumours or anything related to her current job. Then again, Kayla hadn’t cared about the rumours either. She knew there was a kiss in the script, Donghae knew that. Why was it going to be such a commotion over that? Besides, Lee Joon and she hadn’t been too close lately. Not in the past two weeks at least.

Kayla finished her packing, got her other things in another bag – Sungmin’s – and walked out of the dorms. Starhaus Entertainment was giving her a temporary place to stay since SM basically threw her out. She drove to the building, received the key to her new room and went to see how bad or good it was. Turned out, she quite liked the tiny apartment. There were some flowers in the two windows and the bed was in the middle of the room, together with a small closet and a small bathroom. She’d get to eat down in the restaurant for free so food wasn’t an issue either. In a way, Kayla was happy that she’d signed despite it all. She lay down on the bed and made up her mind to take a nap before going to the filming. There was time for that, she thought and soon drifted off to sleep.

“Ah, there she is!” the director announced her arrival to the crew. Kayla bowed to the crew and went to get her makeup, hair and lastly wardrobe done. Lee Joon was already there once she sat down in the makeup chair; they’d just finished his hair. He was staring down into his phone.

“Hey,” Kayla mumbled softly. Lee Joon jerked his head towards her. His face was serious for once and not very kind. “I’m sorry,” Kayla immediately added.

“It’s all right. I understand. It’s got nothing to do with me so I should’ve been quiet. Let’s just put it behind us and work now. No personal stuff is going to ruin our performances, yes?” She nodded her head.

“Can I get a hug?” she asked carefully. Lee Joon got up from his seat, took a step towards her and wrapped her tightly in his arms. It was a friendly hug, a warm hug that both of them really needed in order to move on. After they’d broken apart Kayla looked over to some of the fans who were taking pictures of them. She decided to take matters into her own hands and do something about these rumours. “Lee Joon oppa,” she called, making him face her again. “Let’s take a picture!” She waved him to herself and they took a picture together. “Thanks.”

“What’s it for?” he wondered. Kayla smirked in the fans’ direction.

“I’m putting an end to these rumours,” she replied. She logged onto Twitter for the first time in over a month and went straight to writing a status, ignoring all the mentions of her cheating or not being right for making a movie. She uploaded the picture with Lee Joon, both tagging his name and writing ‘my dear friend, Lee Joon oppa!’ in the tweet. She figured both the A+ fans and the ELFs would see the tweet if she wrote his name. Within a minute she saw that Lee Joon had retweeted her tweet and favourite marked it as well. She smiled at him thankfully then returned to getting her makeup fixed.

“Everyone quiet on the set! Cameras, microphones ready?” the director shouted. “And... Action!”

“Why are you leaving so suddenly when you know that I love you and want you to stay?” Lee Joon’s character Minki asked. Kayla’s character Mollie stood across the room, watching him since she’d stopped packing her bag.

“I have to go. I’ll come back. You know I will. There are just a couple of things that I need to fix. I’ve told you already, it’s not so easy to go somewhere and forget everything that has happened. One day it fires up again and you’re forced to deal with it. That’s how it is, Minki.”

“Let me come with you.” Kayla knew it stood in the script that she would look up at Lee Joon and then cry, but she got an idea. She thought about something sad before she looked up, so that the first tear fell as their eyes met instead. “Don’t...cry,” Lee Joon said, less confident than he ought to, though the director didn’t cut. “Don’t cry,” he repeated.

“You’re making this hard for me, Minki. Can’t you leave? Please, just go. I need to be alone.” Lee Joon hesitated, like it said in the script, then he headed towards the door, opened and disobeyed the script; he did not turn his head towards her. He only left. The camera went back to Kayla who still cried.

“And... Cut, the director ordered. Lee Joon came back in and Kayla wiped her tears – some girls helped her with her makeup while the direction began to speak. “Brilliant... It was brilliant. I loved the way you felt the tension between the two of you without... staring at one another. It was... really good,” the director complimented. “I loved it. I don’t need another take here.” Lee Joon wooed and rushed over to Kayla to hug her.

“Yay! You’re awesome!” he cooed in her ear. Kayla chuckled; she pointed at his chest.

“You... aren’t so bad either!” she said, smiling proudly. “I cannot thank you enough for helping me as you have. But we aren’t done just yet.”

“We’ll be done sooner than they thought. Much sooner... It’s gone about three months and they said it would take at least five. Although now you’ll have time to get back to school for real and study hard for your exams which is good,” Lee Joon remarked. Kayla sighed.

“Mm... How fun for me.”

“Guys, we need to discuss some last changes in the script so you can actually go and finish for the day. Thank you so much for today, you were amazing,” Hwang-Mi informed them. Kayla and Lee Joon thanked for the day and went to get their things together.

“Hm... Lee Joon? Could I use your dorms to bake a few cupcakes to the guys in SJ? I owe them a huge apology for just leaving and they’re probably worried about me. Or well... Ryeowook is probably worried about me.” She giggled. Lee Joon laughed loudly.

“Yeah, sure. If you make one to me too.” He winked. They walked home to the MBLAQ dorms and while Kayla started baking the cupcakes, Lee Joon read through some of the homework she had. “Wow, this isn’t even a little fun,” he pointed out, showing her a paper that she needed to get done. Kayla shook her head, giving him a disliking grimace.

“It isn’t. I hate that assignment. It’s harder without help, too. You might be able to help me?”

“Me? No, no. I did a good job in university but I never got that high grades. I’ll only cause confusing in your teacher’s minds, haha. It’s better if you do it. Why don’t you ask Leeteuk? You’re going to the dorms now, so ask him when you’re there.”

“Mm, I can do that. Here, have a cupcake!” She handed him a yellow little cupcake, it had his name glazed on it. Lee Joon lit up and shoved the book back inside her bag. He almost got the whole cupcake into his mouth in on gulp, though he stopped himself a bit. “Well? Is it any good?”

He gave her thumps up. “Delicious! They’ll forgive you right away!” he said in between chewing. Kayla smiled.

“Great. Well, I’ll take my leave then. Wish me luck.” She hugged him and grabbed the plastic jar with muffins in it. Lee Joon accompanied her to the hallway.

“Good luck. They’ll forgive you easily, I know it. Bye.”

“Bye.” She opened the door and left. The way back to the dorms wasn’t particularly long, but it was enough to have Kayla come up with an apology before she stood in front of the familiar door, which she’d walked out of only a few hours ago. She knocked on the door and waited until someone answered it.

Leeteuk opened the door. “Kayla? Hi. How are you?” He pulled her in for a hug. “We’ve been worried about you. Why did you left without telling us?” Kayla didn’t answer, she only closed the door and handed Leeteuk the jar with muffins. “Hm? What’s this?”

“My apology. Can you gather the members? Those who are here I mean...” Leeteuk nodded and started informing the members of her arrival. Heechul came out of his room right away; he astonished Kayla by pulling her in for a hug. “Heechul? I’m really sorry I fought with you. I’m sorry I said those things... I’m sorry I signed the contract, I’m sorry SM forced me to move out and I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“It’s all right. I’ve forgiven you. So, you tried talking to SM?” Kayla nodded. “What did they say?”

“Basically all the things you told me they’d say. Plus some more... But it doesn’t matter. I’ve updated my Twitter with a picture of me and Lee Joon, pointing out that he’s my friend. I’m hoping that’ll be enough for the fans to stop these rumours. I want to focus on finishing the movie and then clear things up with Hae. I haven’t spoken to him since our fight and I feel horrible about it!” Kayla blurred out all at once. Heechul sighed, hugging her again.

“Kayla! We’ve been so worried! Where have you been? Where are you staying?” Ryeowook attacked her with a tight hug, throwing a bunch of questions while he was at it. “Are you okay?” he added worriedly when she didn’t answer any of his questions. Kayla smiled comfortingly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But I think I need all of your help. I’ve got some real things to deal with and I’m too busy to see to it myself.”

“We’ll help if we can,” Leeteuk assured. “Tell us what it is you need help with.”

“I want to find an apartment. I’ll get the money from the movie role soon, so I’ll be able to get a bigger apartment than I had before, which is what I want. Can you help me find one?” She looked at the members with hopeful eyes. “I’m really sorry about the way I acted, too,” she added. “This is the last thing I’ll ask from you guys. After that-”

“Of course we’ll find you an apartment.” Kayla turned to Heechul who smiled at her. “You’re like our little sister; we want you to have a good life, a good place to live. I should be able to pull some strings here and there. And Sungmin has good taste as well!”

“Aw, thank you! I’d appreciate it so incredibly much!” Kayla exclaimed happily. “You’re the best! What would I do without you? I love you so freaking much!” She hugged each and every one of them. “I’ll miss living with you. Although you probably won’t miss living with me...” She giggled. Kyuhyun made a cute grimace then smiled.

“Nah... We’ll all miss having you around,” he admitted, chocking everyone in the room. Kayla smiled and went to hug him tightly.

“I’ll miss having you around too...” she sniffled.

So, guys, I hate to break it to you but this story will soon be over. It's about four-five chapters left, and I'm going to try and write them fast so you won't have to wait so long. I hope you're still enjoying it, and I'd love to hear from some more of you. It'd be nice to hear your opinions now when it's soon finished. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy the next chapter too~ Love you all <3