TROUBLE x CHANYEOL

Part 4

"What the hell is going on?" I shouted through  the hallway as I slammed my keys down on the wooden table in my apartment. I flicked through my mail: there was nothing important so I chucked it on floor in a rage. I stomped down into the living room and kitchen where I was greeted by Chae lazing on the sofa with Jongin's head in her lap. I stood there, with my hands on my hips demanding an explanation for this madness.

"What's wrong?" Chae asked me as she pulled her attention away from the movie they were watching.

I pointed at Jongin with my mouth wide open to indicate that I was talking about him.

"Him! He isn't normal, is he?"

They both looked at each other and laughed.

"What do you mean, B?" he asked me lifted himself from her lap and stood up, positioning himself behind her on the sofa.

"You're in bloody EXO."

There was a silence. Jongin nodded. Why isn't he elaborating on this?!

"Sshhh! We don't want everyone to hear you!" Chae said softly.

"WE?!" I spat back. I wasn't angry but I was shocked that my friend would keep something so big from me.

"We being me, the boys, our girlfriends..."

"Why? Why do you have to be so secretive? What's the problem with the world knowing if you have a girlfriend?"

Jongin took a deep breath and ran his hands through his dark hair as Chae looked at him with longing in her eyes.

"Sit down," he said as he held out his hand to the couch. I did as I was told.

"We have an image to protect, so we can't be seen to be having girlfriends. If we are seen as being single, the fans will like us more."

I pursed my lips. What a weird concept. In my few years in the music industry, I had worked with rock bands who certainly hadn't hidden their dalliances and relationships. Maybe these boybands were different?

"So... do all fifteen of you have secret mystery girlfriends that you keep locked in the cupboard then?" I knew I was being sassy but I was also feeling slightly put out. Chae and I were close but she has kept this from me. I didn't like it. I know that was selfish of me.

"There is nine of us, not fifteen. And no, not all of us have girlfriends."

I had hoped that Jongin was going to tell me that Baekhyun was single but he wouldn't answer me when I asked if he had a girlfriend.

"I can imagine Chanyeol is single though. He is far too annoying to have a girlfriend."

"Actually, Chanyeol is dating some one at the moment. But you don't know that."

I burst out laughing and slapped my thigh.

"No way! That annoying idiot has a girlfriend? Poor woman. Send her my condolences."

Chae looked at me and frowned.

"I don't know why you're so mean about Chanyeol. He is a puppy dog, he wouldn't harm a fly."

No but he would spill drinks and dive into random women who he hadn't met before...

"Why didn't you tell me, Chae? This is such a big thing!"

"We've only been dating a few weeks, I wasn't sure when the right time to tell you was. Plus, with Jongin's confidentially agreement, it's not something I can just share with everyone."

"Erm... you took me to a club with half of EXO and then we went back to their apartment? Surely that was sharing enough information?"

"Baby, you didn't have a clue who EXO were at the club. Why would I tell you? So you could be like every other citizen when they meet someone famous? You're more into KISS than K-Pop, so it didn't seem like a big deal to me that you didn't know. Why would you care? Sometimes they want to be known as themselves and not EXO. They're just normal humans."