Secrets

Luhan: 

"Suho-hyung, where have you been?" Chanyeol asks Suho who just came home. I my head to the side and see that Suho was wearing sunglasses and had no mask on. Tsk. This kid... Suho ignored his question and laid on the couch beside me. 

"Suho, where did you go? Why didn't you wear a mask or atleast ask someone to come with you? You know you should be more careful; fans are getting crazier these days." I say. He was just staring in the corner, deep in thought. I gently nudge his shoulder to catch his attention. "Suho." He looked at me and was startled to see me there.

"Hyung, sorry I didn't see you there." he says. I narrowed my eyes at him. Well, he's weird today. "You were saying?" 

"What took you so long?" I ask.

"Uhhmm... coffee." he answers plainly.

"So it took you five hours to drink coffee?" 

"It was really good coffee, okay?" he says. I nod my head eventhough he was still suspicious. Yesterday he did the exact same thing and went to the exact same coffee shop. 

"Why didn't you wear a mask or bring someone with you? You know it's dangerous---"

"Hyung!!!" I heard Sehun call out. Suho and I look at him who was messing around with his phone. He was showing Tao a pictue as he called for us. Tao's eyes widened as he saw the photo.

"What is it?" Suho asks while trying to grab the phone from Tao.

"So this is where you have been all day..." Tao said with an evil little grin on his face. My eyebrows furrowed at Tao's words. Where was Suho the whole day? Before Suho could grab the phone, Tao tossed it over to me and I quickly looked at the screen.

WTF.

"Suho!!!" I yelled and all the members came running to the living room. My eyes were wide open and my teeth gritted in anger. How the hell could he be so stupid?! Suho was just as shocked as all of them, and still he didn't know what the hell was that photo. I show him the screen to show him the photo of him and a girl talking in a coffee shop. The girl's face wasn't shown but Suho's face was crystal clear.

"Uh.... I... I can explain.. I'm not... Look! T-that was yesterday b-but today I was just waiting for her! No not that way - I just waited  for her and we just talked and I--" he stutters while I stood there listening to his explanation. Right now, I don't care if he was the leader. I was the eldest freaking member of this group... well second eldest but you got my point!

"Who the hell is she?" I ask and the members all took a glimpse of the picture and they all gasped in shock.

Manager-hyung came dashing from the front door and I saw him sweating. He probably heard me yell from outside. Yes, I yelled that loud. He immediately came towards Suho and me.

"Is there anything wrong?" his eyes looked at Suho then at me then at Suho again. I hand him over Sehun's phone and he just stares at the screen. 

"Hyung--"

"Why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend?" Manager-hyung asks with a playful smile on his lips. Am I the only one taking this seriously? 

"She's not my girlfriend! I just met her at the coffee shop yesterday and I was justing waiting for her today but she didn't show up." Suho explained.

"You asked her on a date?" Chanyeol interrupted.

"It wasn't a date! Why would I date someone I just met?" Suho rolled his eyes.

"She must've been pretty then." Baekhyun snickered. "Well, how do we explain this then? There are already news sites writing articles about it."

"We'll just tell them she's your cousin and you decided to have some little 'family' bonding at the coffee shop." Manager-hyung says and empasizes the word 'family'. 

"Do you really think that fans are that gullible?" I ask. Manager-hyung shrugged,

"It's not like we can undo Suho's stupidity. Besides, they won't have a choice to believe it anyway. No one even knows what the girl looks like except Suho and the ones that took this picture so fans won't even bother and dismiss the idea." Manager-hyung says and picks his phone up to dial SM Ent.  

I looked at all the members and stared at Suho who was on the couch again. He seemed really tired. Manager-hyung said that he'll fix things and I trust that he will. Maybe... just maybe all the controversies made me paranoid. I pity Suho the most of course. He's the most tired out of all of us. He's the leader and he would always get scolded when one of the members messed up and I guess he was stressed out. I've just been so afraid of controversies the minute that I debuted more so than all the other members. I'm not a fan of talking to your fans because I'm afraid I might say something wrong and ruin my image. I'm a psycho, right? My eyes glanced at Suho again. 

"What is it hyung?" he asks without even looking at me. 

"What if the fans don't believe you? Aren't you worried at all?" I ask him raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you tired?" he asks me. Huh? 

"Of what?" I ask him. His eyes meet mine and I could see a sad smile on his lips.

"Of thinking about what other people think, of being like this so... trapped." he asks. I shrug,

"This is the life I chose so why would I start having second thoughts now?" I heard him sigh. What's wrong with him? "Is there a problem?" He shakes his head and smiles at me.

"Just one of those moments," he mutters. Oh.... it's one of those moments. Everybody gets them from time to time, those moments when you wonder what you're even doing standing onstage trying to please fans when you can be somewhere else; somewhere that can make you happy. Have I had them? Of course, but I always remind myself that standing on stage, hearing fans scream my name and performing like there's no tomorrow is my dream. It is the somewhere that makes me happy and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"That's okay. I'm sure that you'll be okay anytime soon." I tell him. Something did leave me wondering though... what triggered this moment? Was it the rumors or was it the girl? "What got you thinking?"

"The girl in the coffee shop, she told me that everyone's tired but some are just more tired than others. I don't know, maybe I was just thinking if I'm one of those who are more tired." he says. I narrow my eyes at him. Maybe the coffee got to his head.

"Aish! That girl is the reason why your fans are going crazy right now. Seriously Suho, how could've you been so stupid?" I stand up and leave him on the couch. He looks into the distance and smiles.

Baekhyun was right. She must've been really pretty to make Suho stupid.

Kim Naerim:

She was impressive, the way she noticed all the little things. She noticed my impatience and knew what I wanted to hear. But the one thing that made me sure about her is that she can't just capture scandals she can make ones.

I saw the articles going around and I have to admit, the fandom's fast when it comes to things like this. The minute I saw the girl's shirt in the picture, I knew it was Jung Eunhye. I actually came into a quite reasonable conclusion.

Suho is an idiot.

I couldn't help myself but to chuckle at his stupidity. Going out in public and talking to a girl just about her age in a cafe? These boys can ruin their reputations on their own and I won't even have to break a sweat. But this sure wasn't enough to ruin their careers. SM, no matter how stuck up they are, is smart enough to come up with an excuse. And fans, no matter how observant they are, blind themselves to actually give in. 

Lots of people ask me why I'm like this... why am I so ruthless when it comes to exposing scandals? These fans are the reasons. They blindly support these idols believing that they're "role models" and completely ignore their flaws and treat them as if they're epitome of perfection. The reason why I am the Red Lady because I won't let anyone be fooled by them again... just like I was--by EXO.

I looked at the clock again, it was 9:52pm. I was waiting for an official statement from SM Entertainment regarding the whole matter but still they were quiet. I'm sure Showbiz Seoul will be the first ones they'll contact and my hands were just itching to write an article the minute they called. After a few minutes, a representative called. I tried my best not to laugh out loud when they said that she was his cousin and they texted me the official statement.

"The girl that Suho was spotted with today was his cousin. He isn't in a relationship right now and is focusing more on EXO's activities. We hope that the spreading of malicious rumors will stop. Thank you."

As much as I want to write the truth,  I can't afford to lose my job if SM press charges so I wrote what they said.

The next day, I checked the article and saw that it was the most viewed one already with comments saying, "OMO! So relieved..." "EXO can definitely not afford another dating scandal after the whole Baekhyun/Taeyeon thing." "EXO Fighting~~!", just as I thought. As long as an explanation is there, no matter how stupid it may seem; the fans will take it. They always take it...

I'm confident that I can change that. I told Eunhye to meet me at Showbiz Seoul's building so we could talk about her moving next door to EXO's dorm. Luckily, my connections knew where they lived and even if it was being sold for a very high price, I managed to negotiate for it to be more affordable. Eunhye sure is lucky that I chose her because the apartment is huge and everything was all up and ready. I planned this for a long time and a photographer was just the only ingredient missing. I would've done it myself if I could but I'm still the "Red Lady" and the members would smell something fishy if they had someone like me next door.

But someone like Eunhye, a young aspiring photographer, who would take her as a devious paparazzi?

I sat in my office when she opened the door and smiled. I nod at her and signal her to come in. She was bringing her camera again. Sometimes I wonder if she even lets it go.  She bowed and sat on the seat opposite to mine.

"So... Miss Kim..." she whispers. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Yes?" I ask.

"I just wanted to explain the whole incident with EXO's Suho. It wasn't--"

"You don't have to explain anything, Eunhye. SM did the explaining for you but we both know that you and Suho aren't cousins, right?" I say. She nods and stares at the ground.

"I just met him at the coffee shop and I had no idea that someone would take our picture." she said. I smirked,

"Everything's been cleared out since the fans already bought the whole thing and your face wasn't even shown in the photo so don't bother." I say coldly. "Let's talk about you moving next door to EXO's dorm." I quickly took a piece of paper from my side and handed it to Eunhye.

"What is this?" she asks while she started to read the contract.

"That's our contract. Everything you need will be provided for you except groceries, you'll buy that yourself. I'll pay 250,000 won every week but you'll have to provide me with leads and a report of what you've found. Is that clear?" I ask slyly. She simply nods and reaches her hand out to me.

"Pen?" she asks and I smirk handing a pen over to her as she signed the contract. She handed the contract back to me and I saw a slight frown on her face.

"Is there a problem with the terms and conditons?" I ask. She shakes her head,

"No, no, of course not. It's just that... don't you ever feel guilty?" she asks. My eyebrows furrowed at her confusing question. "Don't you ever feel sorry for the people whose careers you've ruined?" she asks looking directly into my eyes. I fold my arms and purse my lips.

"If I felt sorry for every person whose career I've ruined then I don't make it through the day." I mutter. She gives me a sad smile. I saw in that smile was a girl that had something I tried to block since I became the Red Lady, a conscience.

"Can I ask you one last question before I leave?" she asks. I nod in agreement. "What did they ever do to you to make you hate them so much?" My eyes widen, was it really that obvious that I hated them? As a journalist, I made sure that no one would notice my loath for them and people in the office just assumed my efforts as a way to boost my career. How could this girl notice my hatred?

"I don't hate them. I'm just doing this so that Showbiz Seoul could get more credit." I try to regain my composure but I saw her grin. 

"You don't have to pretend that you're doing this as the Red Lady, you're doing this as Kim Nae Rim." she says. How the hell did she know my full name? She smirks, "Your name was written in the contract." 

"How did you---"

"Like you said, I'm a very observant girl. I know anger, pain, love, happiness, hate or anything when I see it. All I can see in your eyes is pure hate when you talk about EXO so I'm asking you why. Why do you hate them so much?" she asks. I couldn't help but let out a small smile. This girl was truly impressive.

"I told one of them a secret, he couldn't keep it and that secret destroyed me." I answer. The memories started to fill my mind again.

A/N: