“So, why did you want to buy me lunch?” Minji asked while staring at her steaming bowl of stew. Jaejoong reached over and spooned some soup into her bowl of rice. “I'm not even hungry.”

“If someone offers to buy you a meal, eat it.” Jaejoong snapped and did the same to his bowl. “Eat.” He gestured as he mixed his stew and rice. She looked down hesitantly, feeling the steam cloud in her face. She held the long silver spoon in hand and timidly mixed the stew.

“Thank you for the meal.” She mumbled, unable to look him in the eyes. “I'll eat it well.”

“Why are you always sleeping instead of eating properly at the times to eat?” He asked in between spoonfuls.

“I don't have enough money to eat three meals a day.” She cleared , “I don't like eating the food they serve in the cafe. All the other girls eat out with their own money. Then again, half the time I'm not even hungry.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Where does your part time work money goes then?”

“It goes to my phone bill and towards savings.”

“You care more about your phone bill than food?” He scoffed and wiped the corner of his lips. "It's good to save, but it's best if you have a secured career first."

“Why do you care anyway?” She muttered to which he pretended to knock her on the head. She flinched and backed away.

“A senior should look after his juniors.” He flicked her forehead. “But a kid like you wouldn't understand that."

“Kid?!” She exclaimed, “Mr. Kim, you're only six years older than me. Don't make it seem like you're old enough to be my father.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well, just know that I'm worried about you. Mr. Chang is pushing my buttons lately. I'll make sure you pass his evaluation.”

“Worried? Please, I'm capable enough to be independent. I don't need anyone worrying about me. I could care less what Mr. Chang thinks. He's been like that since I transferred. I'm use to it.” She slurped what was left of her soup and wiped her lips. “Thank you, Mr. Kim. I should head back to the company now.” She stood and bowed.

“Wait, I'll drive you back.” He grabbed her arm as he took a sip of water.

“It's alright, Mr. Kim. I want to walk back.” She pulled her arm away.

He pointed to the window where snow was beginning to fall. “In that weather?”

“Yes, in that weather.” She rolled her eyes and pulled her hood over her head. She walked out into the snow and kept her head down to avoid the cold wind. The sympathetic words Jaejoong said replayed in her mind. In her heart, she still couldn't believe any of those words.

~-~-~

Jaejoong was in his car, ready to pull away from the driveway. He had just finished an hour long interview at one of the department stores near his apartment. He looked out his window and was amazed at the crescent moon that illuminated the dark sky alone. His phone rang in the cup holder just as his car finally warmed up. He shut off the gas and checked his phone.

Yoochun? He answered the call and the panic in Yoochun's voice made him wince. “What are you saying? You're speaking too loudly and fast.”

“Get home now. Now, I tell you!” Yoochun screamed.

“Okay, okay. I will, but tell me what's wrong.”

“You will find out when you come home. I'll meet you there.” Yoochun said and ended the call. Jaejoong looked at the abrupt ending with a puzzled look, but hurried home anyway. When he reached the door of his suite, Yoochun was impatiently pacing back and forth.

“What's the matter?” Jaejoong asked, entering the pin to his door. The door chimed and unlocked. He turned to motion Yoochun to enter first, but Yoochun had already pushed the both of them through. “Why are you so shaky?”

“Why did you go to the girl's dorm? At NIGHT?” Yoochun spun around and grabbed the man by his shirt. “Have you gone crazy looking after those trainees?”

“H-How.. did you now?” Jaejoong blinked as he slowly pulled Yoochun's hands away. “I was look-”

“Punk. Have you taken a liking to one of the girls?” Yoochun cover his face and slumped into the chair. He couldn't believe how oblivious his group member was to news written about him. “Dispatch! Dispatch took photos of you!”

“What?!” Jaejoong exclaimed with his jaw dropping. Yoochun pulled out his phone and searched for the pictures that nearly gave him a heart attack. He handed his cellphone over with a building headache. “N-No..” Jaejoong gasped, staring at himself.

“They think you and that girl have something going on. Please tell me it's not true.”

“Absolutely not! I only showed up to find the black sheep.” Jaejong held out his hands. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he yanked it out of frustration. The caller happened to be Junsu who had just finished one of his musical shows. “I know, Junsu.” Jaejoong sighed, interrupting Junsu as he was beginning his rant. Jaejoong placed the call on speaker and Yoochun spoke up to get Junsu on the same page. “Black sheep skipped one of the classes so I went to scold her, but she didn't listen before I could even start. Then, I bumped into the CEO and we had a talk about her past. Something went wrong between her and the previous vocal coach.”

“But what does that have to do with you?” Junsu asked. Yoochun shook his head and stared at the ceiling, “She has nothing to do with us.”

“She does.” Jaejoong answered with his hands on his hips. “S-She... The CEO wanted us to keep her in the program. I-I'm doing it for the two week off.” He fibbed despite it already obvious to the other two members that he was lying.

“Yeah, whatever you say.” Junsu muttered.

“Don't.. spend so much time with the trainees these next few days. The CEO will probably call you in tomorrow morning to discuss about the matter. It's best that you keep your distance until a statement is made by the company.” Yoochun advised.

“But, I can't leave them alone because the next evaluation is tomorrow. The black sheep needs all the help she can get. She needs to ace the elimination challenge by the end of this month.” Jaejoong insisted. “I'm thankful that you guys are worried, but this supposed scandal is ridiculous.”

“Okay, do whatever you want. Just be careful, alright? I'm hanging up. I need to go to the next location. Talk to you guys later.” Junsu ended the call. Jaejoong turned his attention towards Yoochun who just shrugged.

“Like what he said, be careful.”

“I will.”

Another update! Thanks for reading and please give it a upvote or share this story (: