Parental Discretion Advised

Iron In The Fire

Taemin's POV:

We all sat around in Kikah's living room, tossing around ideas. Trying to figure out exactly what to do with the tape.

"We could leak it to dispatch." Suggested Amber.

Irene shook her head. "No. If we do that then it won't just expose NaEun for the lying bitch that she is, it'll expose Kikah and Tae's relationship--and RoRo."

Sighing, I had to agree with Irene. It's not that I'm ashamed of my family. In fact, it's the complete opposite. It's just that, I know how some fans can get and I don't want them to go through that. I don't want people harassing Kikah or boycotting her stores and beauty line. I don't want people doing or saying hateful things to my child. I also don't want my group members to suffer behind all of this either. I wasn't sure if Shinee could survive that sort of scandal.

It would be different if I knew they would be happy that I had found love and started a family. If the fans and media wouldn't see it as a scandal but as something good. Something to embrace and support, but that was not the way things were set up in an Idol's world.

We were supposed to be the untouchable boyfriends/girlfriends of our fans. Our companies marketed us that way. They'd buy our merch and come to our concerts. Even, shower us with gifts with the hope of winning oppa and unnie's heart, by showing us how dedicated they are as fans. It was set up from the start to be a double-edged sword.

Some fans truly believed that we were their property. That, by doing all of those things made them entitled to run our lives. Telling us what we could and couldn't do. When to lose weight and even what friends we should/could have. So, when dating rumors start, the fans can become enraged. Writing hateful comments on our significant other's SNS, sending death threats, and threatening to pull support, if we didn't end the relationship.

Being an Idol was daunting and sometimes I wondered if it was really worth it.

In the end, I always and still believed that it was. Being an idol has given me so many opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Essentially, my job was a blessing that allowed me to find love and become a father. However, now, it was my job to protect that which I treasured the most, my family. That's what keeps me silent and motivates me to keep my relationship private. I'll never hide them away like some dirty secret, but until the time was right I wasn't speaking on it either. Not until both Kikah and I were ready. And some trout mouth hag's antics was not going to persuade me to act differently. I wasn't stupid, I knew the game she was trying to play.

NaEun was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. She hoped that by suing Kikah, I would try and persuade her not to, by offering one of two possible solutions. Giving into her pitiful demands or exposing my relationship and killing my career. Either way, it would ensure that she would get what she wanted. Both options, would have destroyed my relationship and both mine and Kikah's career.

"Why don't we just mail them a copy?" Shrugged Key offhandedly.

Flabbergasted, Jonghyun stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "I thought we agreed not to do that, in order to protect Kikah and our niece from the backlash." He countered swiftly.

Confused, Key shook his head. "What? No. I didn't mean to dispatch." Taking a deep breath, he clarified. "No. I meant, to her company."

Nodding her head, Kikah added. "That's kind've what I was thinking. Only, I think we should tailor the copy we send them. Take out the things that indicate that Taemin is in a relationship with me. Also, I think we should add that we'll threaten a counter-suit; against her and her company."