𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 | csc

𝙭𝙭𝙞.

"i'm sorry what? I thought this was about our comeback?" Aerin was more utterly confused than she let off to be as she glared daggers into her members' turned bodies. If the company really wanted to discuss something so. . .weird? they could have most definitely just told her straight up. Not to mention the fact her members were here as well which confused the girl even more.

The CEO let out a sigh before taking the iPad that was set on the table and handing it to her. "Do you recognize this?" Aerin looked at him weirdly before finally looking at the topic of conversation and her eyes were threatening to widen. 4 picturs attached with detailed articles, all with similar headings. One from the carnival, one from the café, one from music bank like 3 MONTHS AGO, and lastly, one from. . . 2 minutes ago!?

"Tha-thats. . ." her voice fell off and eventually she turned to the ceo who glared at her with a glint of strictness in his eyes.

"so ? I have nothing against your relationship so much as i do with the fact it got released but you have to tell-" Aerin cut him off as she stood up from her seat, slamming her hands down on the table.

"no! We're not in a relationship in fact we're like not even friends! Where did you get this anyways?" Ignoring her urgent question, the ceo only motioned for the girl to sit down clearly not believing her, although he soon realized that the girl was not standing down anytime soon and gave another sigh. "The first few articles were posted a while ago but i figured i'd take care of it and shut it down myself, but if with this most recent one that was posted on dispatch about a minute before you got into this room, let's just say it's getting out of hand." Aerin was bewildered. It seemed she completely underestimated the power of that shitty news site because how in the hell did they not only get a picture of the two in such a secluded area, but also upload it on their website two minutes later.

Aerin was scared. No--more than scared; terrified.

Her members weren't even trying to defend her in anyway, the only who even looked remotely guilty was Yuna who had her body turned away from Aerin the most. She had a talk with them yesterday and they seemed fine, so why now were they silent? Aerin had become enraged.

"Seungcheol and I aren't dating in any way and don't plan to. Please fix this situation as soon as possible." And with the slam of the door, Aerin had stormed out. She didn't even want to stay to negotiate or just talk anymore about this at all. It all made her confused.

Sure, maybe Aerin shouldn't have denied any connection she had with the man but it was best that way. For now she had to be not only careful but overly careful. Some part of her wanted to go after whoever took the photos and make sure they stayed out of her fucking business, but the logical part of her knew she absolutely couldn't. The more she denied, the more the fans wouldn't believe her, there was just simply no room for Aerin to stand her ground; and she hated that.

As the girl opened the door to her dorm room the buzz of her phone caught her attention, forcing her to sit down on the beanbag chair conveniently placed in front of her.

It was Seungcheol; Seungcheol was calling her.

Aerin immediately declined the call. She just couldn't talk to him right now. Perhaps if she stayed away everything would calm down, including her denied feelings.

She couldn't help liking Seungcheol, but he wasn't someone to fight for. He made it clear that their "relationship" was purely beneficial and the moment he got what he needed he would be out. Who knew if he thought Aerin was truly annoying and was putting on a show. There was no telling what he really thinks.

Back tracking to the whole reason they came in contact anyways. Who did they think they were? Sherlock homes? This was the first time Aerin genuinely took a moment to think about this whole situation rationally.

It was stupid truly.

Aerin was so hyper-focused on something that could have been anyone's doing and was most likely an accident. She should just stop hyper focusing on something so unpredictable she thought. This was all starting to become just comedic, even on Seungcheol's side. Weren't he and Jeonghan the closest in Seventeen anyways? He should just move on as well shouldn't he?

Although what she didn't know was that those thoughts were soon going to become be her biggest slip-up.