jiae had said no when donghyuck asked if she wanted to ditch jaemin's surprise party. at least, she did at first. but there wasn't much reason to stay after he blew out the candles, since jaemin spent the majority of the party admiring his girlfriend. jiae doubted he'd notice if she and hyuck left, so when the others started an intense game of jenga, jiae let her boyfriend take her hand as they snuck out of the house.

it was cool for an august night, causing jiae to tug on her sleeves as she and haechan made their way to his cousin's store. when he noticed her tense shoulders, hyuck smiled to himself and released jiae's right hand in order to wrap his arm around her and pull her chose. once she was tucked neatly under his arm, he slyly intertwined his fingers with her left hand.

"you're so cheeky," jiae mumbled with a small smile on her lips, shyly cuddling into his side. his presence filled her with relief, and his touch melted her insides. jiae hadn't felt such emotions for anyone before, and she never wanted that carefree, lovesick feeling to go away.

his chuckle sent a gently rumble up her arm, causing jiae's smile to grow into a laugh. "cheeky," he said. "that's a new one."

jiae looked up at his face, admiring the way the streetlights glimmered in his dark eyes. he was smiling, the expression mirroring hers, and it made jiae want to flop onto the ground and ask whatever higher being there was how she got so lucky.

when he smile shifted, his eyes darting to something past jiae's head, her immediate instinct was to follow his gaze. before she had the chance to turn, donghyuck released her hand and quickly cupped the side of her head, covering her face and preventing her from looking behind her.

"what is it?" she ask, unable to keep the slight tremble out of her voice.

without explaining, haechan pulled her closer to his chest, where his jacket acted as a shield. "i thought i saw something. come on, we're almost to the convenience store."

jiae followed his pace, her eyes glued to the ground as donghyuck kept a firm grip on her. he didn't let go until after jiae heard the familiar jingle of the bell in his cousin's store, pulling her back to where they were surrounded by aisles.

looking up, jiae found her boyfriend leaning against an aisle full of assorted ramens, her back almost touching the snacks in the stands across. her eyes darted across his figure, from his closed eyes to his rising and falling chest to his shoes.

"are you alright?" she asked, taking a step forward and placing her palm flat against his chest. "are you in any pain?"

though his eyes were closed, hyuck smiled at her words. he slowly reached up to cover her hand in his, taking a moment before opening his eyes and focusing on her worried face.

"you must like me a lot," he suddenly teased. "to touch my boob in public like this."

jiae's eyes widened and she quickly pulled her hand away. "i-i'm not—that's not..." she tried to stammer out, but her burning cheeks and ears weren't helping her focus on her words. "you are very annoying."

her boyfriend winked and held up a peace sign in response.

deciding not to bring up whatever had spooked him back in the street, jiae held her hand in front of her. "come on. you owe me ice cream."

yuxi
jiae

yuxi
jiae

yuxi
ji

yuxi
jijijijijiiijijiiiji

yuxi
JIAE

sosuke
if she didnt answer u the first
time then she doesnt have her
phone on

yuxi
THIS IS IMPORTANT

yuxi

yuxi
IS THIS YOU AND HAECHAN??

miles
AAAAAA WHAT IS THAT

miles
NO

miles
THAT CANT BE

miles
SHE WASNT WEARING
THAT WAS SHE??

sosuke
yuh

yuxi
oh this is bad

yuxi
this is very very bad

hyeyeong
where did you get that picture?

yuxi
i have a friend who follows one of
those accounts run by ppl who help
dispatch get their photos (ew ik) and
she sent this going PLS TELL ME
THAT ISNT ONE OF THE NCITY
BOYS and now i am scared 🙂

hyeyeong
so it hasn't been published yet?

yuxi
not by official dispatch i don't think

yuxi
are they going to get exposed?

yuxi
is haechan going to lose his job?

yuxi
is sm going to make them break up?

yuxi
oh god what if haechan mega
fans find her and dox her?

miles
you freaking out is making me
freak out omg HYE WILL SHE
BE OKAY?????

hyeyeong
i'm going to talk to the company
and make sure they're aware of
what's happening, but she should
be fine

yuxi
i'm acruallt xhakinf rn

yuxi
gona fo dm yangyanb to
distraxt myself lololololol

miles
😞 i've been replaced

jiae
um

miles
JIAE

miles
ARE YOU OKAY??

jiae
im fine i'll br

jiae
hyuck

haechan
good morning my lovely
sunshine cupcake 🥰

jiae

haechan
oh

haechan
are you okay?

jiae
idk i'm kinda freaking out

jiae
what do we do?

haechan
the company will handle this don't
worry. you're going to be okay

jiae
what about you? or us? why "you"?

haechan
take a breath for me okay darling?

jiae
i can't breathe when you call me darling

haechan
man it's so hard being this
fabulous and attractive

jiae
hyuck 😭

haechan
right okay serious time

haechan
IF it gets to the point where the
company has to release a statement
then one of two things will likely
happen

haechan
either we deny the rumors and
say that isn't us, or we confess
and go public

haechan
and i said you because nothing
is going to happen to you. your
face isn't clear, and i'll do everything
in my power to prevent anyone from
exposing your identity. i promise

jiae
what do you want us to do?

haechan
this isn't really up to me

jiae
it is

jiae
that's what a relationship is
yk it's about solving your problems
together as a team

haechan
what are you thinking?

jiae
i think that i have really strong
feelings for you but i don't know
if i'm ready for our relationship
to be in the public eye...

jiae
we haven't even properly kissed yet..

jiae
i like how things are right now.
i like this pace and where we're
going. i like you and i'm scared
that if our relationship is outed
this early it will drown :(

haechan
it's settled then. we'll deny the rumors

haechan
considering the timing, fans will
think that this is just a play by antis
to tarnish our comeback

jiae
thank you

jiae
i'm sorry for putting you
in this position

haechan
jiae you haven't done anything
wrong. IM sorry for putting YOU
in this position.

jiae
thank you for protecting me then

jiae
they would have seen my
face if you hadn't

haechan
of course. i'd do anything to protect you

jiae
anything?

jiae
what if an evil bee was trying
to sting me? would you jump in
front of it?

haechan
... maybe not ANYTHING

jiae
BRUH we're over

haechan
NO IM JUST KIDDING COME BACK

•
ik it's supposed to be night but this was the best photo i could find so shhhhh