Addicted to you | Lee Know

12

A few days later, we still hadn't made a statement because apparently, we had to talk to a bunch of media people first. We had just landed back in Korea, though, and Chan called us together before we could leave border control. "Nuri, stay close to us. We'll take you in the middle, so they won't see too much of you," Chan said, gently pushing me between the boys. Minho came to me and grabbed my hand. "Is this okay?" he asked, pushing some sunglasses on my face with his free hand. I nodded.

"I don't think I can do this," I said, my voice shaking. "I'll be by your side the whole time, and the boys will be around us so they won't see too much, okay?" he said. I nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay. Just don't let go of my hand, please," I whispered. "I promise," Minho said and lifted my hand to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss on it. "Ready, Nuri?" Chan asked. I nodded even though I wasn't ready at all.

I had Chan, Hyunjin, and Han in front of me, Jeongin walking next to Minho, Felix on my other side, and Seungmin and Changbin walking behind me. We were accompanied by security as well. I looked down at my feet as soon as the cameras started clicking. Minho squeezed my hand immediately as he noticed. How could they endure this every time they had to go somewhere? It was terrible. I again wanted to cry, like I did a lot in the last few days, and I was glad for the sunglasses Minho gave me. At least no one could see the tears forming in my eyes now.

The reporters were screaming names and questions. I even heard my name a few times. It felt like an eternity until I was finally in the van with the tinted windows. I took a shaky breath. "You did it," Minho said and slung his arm around me. I managed not to cry and finally took off the glasses. "Thanks, guys," I mumbled. Hyunjin's hand landed on my knee. "You're one of us now," he said, causing me to smile a little. Minho pulled me closer. "We're driving to JYP right now. We need to talk this through," he said. I nodded. "Okay," I mumbled, pulling out my phone. Pictures and Videos from the airport of people filming with their phones were already online. In most of them, at least one of the boys was in front of me, but there were some pictures where you could see me and Minho clearly. At least my face was hidden behind the glasses a little bit.

Minho took the phone out of my hands. "Rule number one of being in the public eye: Don't look up stuff about yourself," he said. "But I want to know what they are writing!" I protested. "In most cases, it won't be anything good. Especially not on those strange update sites. If you want to know what people think, look at the comments under TikTok edits. They are mostly nice," he said. I furrowed my brows. "That's so weird," I mumbled and took my phone back from him. "I don't make the rules," he said and pressed a kiss on top of my head.

Not long after, we were sitting in a room with a man. It wasn't JYP himself, but he was in some kind of management position. "We have to address the rumors," he said, "as soon as possible before they can get out of control." Minho nodded. "Yes, I thought so too. They will go crazy if we don't say something soon," he answered.
"I would have given you the choice to make it public or not, but the pictures from the airport today are pretty clear, so you don't have much of a choice now," the man explained to me. This time I nodded. "I know," was all I could bring out.

"I wouldn't do anything crazy to announce it. Maybe just an Instagram story?" Minho suggested. The man in front of us nodded. "Yes. Just a nice picture of you two and a short text announcing the relationship. Ask them to be respectful, and that's it. You can talk in interviews about it more, but I would keep it private for the most part because Nuri is clearly uncomfortable in the public," he answered. I looked at him surprised. "So I don't have to be in the public that much?" I asked. Minho grabbed my hand. "No, of course not. I mean, I can't keep you out of it completely, but you don't have to be in the spotlight if you don't like it," he said.

"I would make a few public appearances, so the fans will see you being a couple together, but nothing too big. Maybe just take her to some dates and bring her to your concerts. That should be enough. Maybe Nuri should make a public Instagram account. Just so the fans won't think she is rude or something. You don't have to post anything. Maybe just a picture of you two, that's it," the man suggested. I nodded. "I can do this," I said. Actually, now the whole going public thing didn't sound so bad anymore.