Jooyoung left the dorm the next morning with the four members saying their goodbyes and gratefulness to her. They even woke up to make sure they would still see Jooyoung as she was scheduled to leave the house at 6am. She would then drop her things to her old apartment, fix herself, and immediately go to the company for her first day of work.

Finally, Jonghyun closed the door and sighed, looking at the other members with a regretful smile. “It was a pity though now that we won’t have any one who acts as motherly as her anymore.” He said as they all rested on the long couch. “For sure we’re gonna have another male manager in place of her, and we can’t expect him to take care of us the same way she did.”

“But where’s Onew hyung?” Taemin sat up properly looking around. “Is he still in his room sleeping? I thought they talked last night and everything was better? We should’ve had woke him up.”

“The only thing we know was about him hugging her from behind and I’m not sure if he even successfully told her everything that he wanted, but I think he’s-“ He was interrupted when the door to their room opened, and Onew appeared with his complete training attire. His look made the other members confused.

“Don’t you think you’re too early for that, hyung?” Minho commented looking at him from head to toe. There was even a white towel hanging on his shoulder.

“I’ll jog for a while and I’ll just see you in the company.” He told them.

“What? You should’ve told us earlier so we could jog with you. Wow, hyung, that’s not nice to only think about yourself.” Jonghyun said while shaking his head, though Onew just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “Seriously, what are you trying to do?”

“Moving on?” Onew blurted out that got the other people inside the house dumbfounded and literally speechless. Key and Minho even had their mouths wide open with his declaration of moving on. “She left, and… well? I guess I can’t really do anything but to go on.” He flashed his usual Onew smile which a lot of fans may find attracting and worth melting, however, the four members absorbed it as a forced and fake one. “I’ll go ahead. See you later.” Onew put his earphones on and went out of the house – not waiting for other members to say something.

“Did I hear right about his moving on thing?” Key looked at the other members after hearing the door closed. “He’s what? Moving on? From what?”

“Moving on from someone he didn’t even get to have.” Minho let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. “For heaven’s sake, he’s the oldest but I think he has the most innocent thoughts about falling in love. He got rejected of his first confession and he thinks that’s the time to give up.”

“But all the time I thought Jooyoung had the same feelings. I was thinking she’d be moved and overwhelmed over his confession, after all, she’s still a girl and Onew hyung is an idol.”

“And you thought all the girls would fall in love with Onew hyung?” Minho asked Key to which the other nodded. “And maybe generally in SHINee?”

“I’m not being full of myself but think about it. Previously, I believe I can get any girl I want just by telling her I like her… but because of what happened to Onew hyung, I’m not sure about it anymore.”

Jonghyun stood up and laughed at the three members. “It just goes to reality that we are still human. Though we are handsome and we have skills and all the fangirls scream, at the end of the day, we are just guys, and we still have to prove ourselves to that special girl we should have.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at them one by one. “I’ll go take a bath first.”

“I can’t believe we are praising ourselves.” Minho blankly looked at Key for a split seconds, and blurt out a laugh when they realized they were just boasting about themselves.

Meanwhile, Onew took his bike out and traveled until he reached a park nearby. It was early morning and there were not much people strolling around the park – majority of them were jogging as well. He put his hood on and his phone safely in his pocket. EXO’s Let out the beast was playing as he started jogging around.

He was thinking maybe he should quit picturing her in his mind.

*** *** ***

Jooyoung was browsing in her computer SHINee’s set of schedules for the rest of the month, their interviews, their endorsements, and other appearances. Everything that is being broadcast, written on line, on TV or in radio, goes to her feed and she was able to track everything, including feeds from both critics, fans, and sometimes even from the antis. She was only sitting for some good hours but she already felt the pressure. This was her first real office job since she graduated, and she realized it won’t be easy. There were several calls and emails being sent to her and she’s tasked to negotiate with them with the goal of making the deals a lot more beneficial on SHINee’s side.

“I will direct this to their managers and coordinator and I’ll call you back for approval.” She said after making one call from the representative of one cosmetic brand which was trying to renew a contract with SHINee. The terms and conditions she presented to them was favorable enough and the other party agreed. Now all she had to do was forward it to their managers for approval. She sighed after ending the call up. It was exhausting, pressuring, and all, but she was happier doing this. As she smiled to herself, she noticed two girls who were probably around her age whispering and looking at her from the table not so far away from her.

“I don’t think this is the right time to chat and talk with each other.” The team leader noticed the two so she scolded them, and eventually turning to Jooyoung to apologize. “I’m telling this to you as someone who is concerned enough. There was once a rumor around the company that you and Onew ssi are dating. You should know so you have the idea while some of your officemates will whisper on your back.” She shrugged her shoulders and just smiled. “These girls over here already have the right to be jealous having the fact that you are close with SHINee, so don’t let yourself be affected.”

“I understand, ma’am. Thank you for letting me know.” She nodded formally and smiled slightly, turning her attention back to her work after giving a quick glance over the two girls.

On the back of her mind she knew why these girls were talking about her. They were probably curious if the rumor was true, and if ever it was, then what did Onew see in her that he liked her. They probably found it weird that someone like her actually took his attention.

It was exactly the reason why she refused to believe him though half of her mind wanted to. He was hard to believe just because she couldn’t see the reason why he would actually like her, and maybe he was just fond of her presence, and it would subside once he got used on hot having her around – just like the old times.

She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to think about these things.

A/N: Hi guys, I believe it won't take too much of your precious time voting for this short poll I did if ever I decide to move on and have another AFF Project after the two fics I'm currently writing. Please choose one. :) thank you!