runaway love / cha eunwoo astro ✔

+thirty two

the next morning came, and it wasn't a pleasant morning for some staffs of sm entertainment, specifically the a&r team of the rookie idol singer, raine.

it was just half an hour past eight in the morning, but the amount of phone calls they had received and answered were insane and outrageous. the department was in total chaos, with the constant ringing of the phones from all over the places. and as if the phone calls were not enough to add stress to the staffs, there were also hundreds of articles published in the net, all fussing over the dating rumours and false rumours were spread like a wildfire.

"everyone, meeting room! asap!" the leader of the team yelled as he made his way towards the room, "also, call raine's manager and ask him to bring raine here! i want to see her right away!"

—

"what is happening, oppa?"

eunbi asked warily, glancing at her manager who was driving tensely. she was just about to go for practice when her manager demanded her to come with him as she was asked by the company.

her manager didn't say anything at first and silence consumed them until they were a short distance away from the company. "are you dating someone, eunbi?"

"what?" eunbi widened her eyes, "no. why did you—"

"then, what did you do last night? you told me you wanted to celebrate your birthday with your friends but you met your boyfriend and got yourself caught by the paparazzi. "he sighed as they reached the parking lot of the building and stopped the car at the entrance, "now, go and explain yourself. tell them what actually happened and who is that guy."

"b-but.." eunbi was beyond bewildered but she decided not to say more. she climbed down the car and went inside the building. she thought back of last night and raked her mind for any mistakes she probably had done but she just couldn't come out with anything, nor she could understand the whole boyfriend situation.

she opened the door to the office deparment and there weren't many staffs around. one staff told her to go straight to the meeting room, where everyone was waiting for her.

whatever she had done, it must be a major fault for them to react this way.

at the thought, she felt nervousness took over and she dreadfully stepped inside the meeting room with cautious steps.

"raine-ssi." all eyes were instantly on her and she never felt so small before. "did i do something wrong?"

the team leader frowned at her before gesturing for someone to explain it to her. "this morning, an article was released about you."

a print-out was given to her and eunbi almost couldn't believe her eyes at what she was seeing.

'SM's new idol singer, raine is caught dating, the boyfriend is someone famous'

below the title, there were pictures of her hugging a man and eunbi instantly knew that these pictures were taken last night when taehwan had hugged her.

"tell me honestly, lee eunbi." the team leader's voice was terrifying. he sounded like a killer that was about to kill his victim. "who is that guy? i want his name."

"h-he is not—"

"what is his name, lee eunbi?" he questioned coldly, disregarding her attempt to deny the rumours.

"lee taehwan." she answered timidly, looking down to her feet.

"that actor?" the team leader sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "don't you know the rules, eunbi?! no relationships allowed, especially when you have just debuted! and you still have guts to date an actor??" he yelled, taking eunbi by surprise.

"we are not dating." eunbi shook her head, "h-he is actually my brother." she managed to spit the truth, despite the tears that was threatening to fall.

"w-what? but in your profile, there isn't any mention of brother?"

"we have some issues before, but last night, we have solved everything out. we just celebrated my birthday, nothing else." she assured them, "if you don't believe me, we can, i don't know, do a DNA test maybe." she looked down again, afraid of their reaction.

it was partly her fault that this happen. if she write her profile truthfully, this wouldn't happen.

"then, it's settled." a relieved sigh escaped the team leader's lips before he spoke to his staff, "haejin-ssi, call lee taehwan's agency and ask them about their side. then, release an official statement."

he turned to eunbi, "even though this is just a misunderstanding, i still want to remind you, lee eunbi. you are sm's new idol singer and you are bound to have paparazzi around you. be careful of how you act in public," he spoke in a calmer manner, "and never think of getting into any relationship at the moment. you just debuted a couple months ago. you should focus on building your name in the industry, you understand me?"

eunbi nodded with a faint smile and bowed at the staff, "i'm sorry for all the troubles i have caused. i promise to be on my best behaviour from now on."

she was then excused and she returned back to the car, where her manager is waiting to continue her usual day of practicing.