I walked up the stairs, my calves aching a little, as I watched Onew's feet move, step by step. My tears had dried, but my face was now swollen, and my cheeks red from crying. Slowly, we made our way up to the presidents room, awaiting his feared words. We had decided, but that didn't mean that I was 100% sure. Either way, I would regret something. My heart still ached..
Before I was ready, we found ourselves out the front of our dreaded location. Onew's facial expression was dull. He was just as filled with regret as I was.
We took our seats after bowing low to the president, sitting next to each other.
"So. I assume you have made up your minds?" The presidents voice was tired, sounding worn out.
"Yes sir." Onew spoke. I remained quiet, unable to get my thoughts together, let alone actual words.
"We have decided."
I tuned out for a moment, not paying attention to the conversation, but clued back in and heard, "we'll be doing this together. We will be going public." He spoke confidently, having made up his mind, the president had no choice in the matter.
He let out a large sigh, rubbing his forehead, "if that is what you have chosen... Get it done as soon as possible, we don't want the press following us because of this scandal. Do it today." The president pushed.
"Yes sir." Onew replied.
"That is all for now." He said with a sigh, waving his hand, signalling us to leave.
We rose from our seats, bowed, and left the room. I felt stuffy, as though I couldn't breathe, even though we had just left the room. All these years, promising myself I wouldn't do this, but now, it has happened. In the public's eye, forever eyes on me.
My SNS flooded with notifications, becoming notified every time someone had found me online. I gave my phone to Onew who was sat on the couch next to me, and asked him to turn my notifications off. He did so, and afterwards pulled me into him, cushioning my head with his shoulder. His hand stroked my hair, soothing me into a comforted sleep.
~~~
A week had passed and Onew had spoken to three different reality shows about his new relationship. He did not mention me directly, thankfully, but he did say that he had been close with me for years. Most of the feedback was positive and supportive, his fans flooding his SNS with support and congratulations. My followers had grown dramatically, and I too, had positive greetings and congratulations. Of course their was the occasional 'hater' but I tend to not read those comments.
I sat in the training room, showing Taemin the basics of the new choreo, so he could then teach the remaining members. He was a good listener and worked really hard, you could see he was trying to make my life easier. My knee had almost healed, and I could move a lot more freely now. This meant that I could actually show them the moves, rather than explain it, it made life a whole lot easier.
The day ended quite productively, with the majority of the dance glued in Taemin's mind, I sent myself back to my apartment, tired and ready for dinner.
I got home soon enough with the help of my taxi driver speeding past the level of comfort. I fumbled for my keys in my bag and eventually found them, unlocking the door. I collapsed on the couch, needing a moment before deciding what to eat for dinner.
I sat in silence for a while, taking the day in, before my body shook with shock as the doorbell rang. I jumped up off the couch and approached the door. I peeped through the hole in the door to see a smiling Onew standing proud at my door. I chuckled before unlocking, and opening the door. Onew bowed politely, and I let him inside. He had a box of freshly ordered fried chicken and a bottle of beer in his hands. "I hope you haven't eaten." He said, knowing that my answer would be no. I never ate this early, simply because I am too lazy.
"Nope. Tonight, you are my savior." I said before taking a seat on my couch and moving the cushions aside so Onew could also sit comfortably.
"I've missed you. I haven't seen you for about 3 days, which was right before I had to go and record at 'Weekly Idol.'" Onew beamed, his smile showing just how happy he was to see me.
"Me too." I giggled a little when I responded.
"I'm really proud of you, you know that right?" Onew spoke suddenly, right before shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth. "You didn't have to, but you did. For us, and for yourself. You really are full of surprises y/n." He smiled, and then shoved the chicken in his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head as he admired the chicken bouncing on his taste buds.
I didn't reply, I didn't need to. He knew how I was feeling. So we just ate, talking occasionally. Onew picked up a piece of chicken and looked over at me. He saw that my mouth was not full and smiled before bringing the chicken closer and closer to my mouth. I opened my mouth and Onew fed me the chicken.
When I had finished chewing I spoke, "Onew? Sharing chicken? What's made you do this?" I said giggling at my words.
"You." He replied simply.
"What?" I questioned, still giggling and smiling.
"Its you. You made me do this. You have stolen my heart." He spoke honestly.
I cringed from the cheesiness and burst out into laughter. I was still laughing, but when I looked at him, his face was serious.
"I'm serious. I haven't even shared my chicken with Taemin, and you know how pushy he can be. I want to share it with you."
I had stopeed laughing now, and looked into his eyes. I could see he was being sincere.
I don't know what came over me, but I raised my hand to his chin, and positioned it so he was directly facing me. I leant my face closer to his, and kissed him softly. I pulled away slowly after a few seconds and smiled, looking down.
"Who'd have known chicken would lead us to our first kiss?" Onew spoke, breaking the silence. We both laughed at Onew's stupidity, but in my head, I remembered, 'that wasn't our first kiss.'
