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Chapter Text

ZERO

Bobby held his hands up in front of the girls, "Now girls you might think this is a bad idea-"

"Because it is."

"Horrible."

"One of your worst."

Bobby continued on undeterred, "But it'll be great for your idol image especially while promoting Golden. Just think about how happy the fans would be to see you helping out a rookie group, remember what happened when you did that show with New Jeans."

Mira raised an eyebrow at him, "The New Jeans that disbanded after like a month?"

"Ok not the best example, but remember how happy the fans got!"

He was met with three unimpressed stares.

"So what do you think?" Bobby said cheerfully. "Personally I think it's a great idea, I've already talked to their manager and he thinks it'd be great for them to grow too."

Three eyebrows raised at him judgingly.

"What's the real reason Bobby?" Rumi asked after sharing a side eye with the other two.

Bobby deflated, "Fans are getting really agitated and fighting with each other. Hunters and Pops are going insane at each other, there's so much fighting. A collab or at least some friendliness-" he shot Mira a quick look "Might get them to stop."

The girls shared a look again.

Mira crossed her arms, "I don't like it, but for the fans-"

Zoey nodded, "If it's for the fans it might not be so bad."

Rumi sighed, "For the fans."

Bobby clapped happily, "Great, I knew you'd come around. So I was talking with Gwi-ma-"

"Who?" Zoey asked.

"The Saja Boys manager, he thinks it's a great idea. And we've already asked a variety show to have both groups on."

"WHAT?"

Bobby smiled brightly, "I know, they fit you in on such short notice."

Rumi stepped forward, hands landing on Bobby's shoulders, "How short notice Bobby?"

"On Thursday!"

"ITS TUESDAY!" Zoey and Mira screeched.

"I know it's great," Bobby continued on like the girls weren't gaping at him. "The theme of the episode is something pink I think? I need to double check and I'll get right back to you on that." He started walking towards the door with a skip in his step.

The girls all stared after him with slack jaws, watching as the door closed with a click behind him.

They stayed like that for another minute.

"Thursday," Rumi said weakly.

"Two days," Mira said sounding dejected.

Zoey tried to clap in an attempt to cheer them all up. It didn't work. "Maybe it won't be so bad, the Saja Boys are cute after all."

"Two days," Mira reminded.

Zoey's shoulders dropped, "Yeah this is gonna be awful."

"No time to prepare, no time to practice anything," Rumi muttered, staring dejectedly into space. "Short notice to match outfits, short notice to plan a script."

The trio all stared off into a singular spot on the wall.

"This is going to be a PR nightmare."

"Oh yeah."

"100%"

*

*

*

ONE

The girls stood in a circle at their shared apartment, arms around each other, looking each other in the eye.

Rumi looked at both of them, "This is a nightmare, but we'll get through it."

Zoey nodded, "We're HUNTRIX, of course we can do it."

Mira smirked, "We'll blow them away."

The girls all grinned at each other.

A throat cleared from outside their huddle. "Girls, you ready to go? The car's outside."

They all shared a look then broke off from the huddle, turning to face Bobby.

Rumi smiled, taking the lead. "Of course, let's go!"

The three girls followed their manager to the lift as Bobby chattered away happily about charts and how well 'Golden' was doing and how it'd soar even more after the show. The girls all smiled and nodded along, Zoey matching the man's energy as they gushed over their fans. Rumi just had a soft smile on her face and Mira acted like she didn't care too much, yet still a tiny smile could be seen.

In what felt like no time at all, they pulled up to the studio.

They filed out of the car and followed Bobby into the building. They had to get into another lift, this time with three staff from the show.

They ascended to the third floor, when the doors finally opened they saw that the five Saja Boys were already there and waiting on them.

The five stood in a line, a tall man with pink and purple hair, that the girls didn't recognise, stood beside them. He gave them a professional smile when the lift opened.

Bobby had no such professionalism, only enthusiasm. "Gwi-ma, so good to see you here."

The pink haired man, Gwi-ma, held out his hand to Bobby who shook it enthusiastically, "The pleasures all mine." He looked over to the girls, "It's an honour to finally meet the members of HUNTRIX."

At his words, the Saja Boys all bowed deeply.

Rumi stepped forward, "The honour is all ours Gwi-ma, we've heard great things about you from Bobby." Behind her, both Mira and Zoey voiced their agreement.

Gwi-ma looked down at Bobby surprised, "Is that so?"

Bobby brushed the comment off with an easy smile, "Ah it's nothing really, just an odd comment here and there. Anyways, it was super nice of you all to greet us here but we do need to get to the dressing rooms."

The Saja Boys and Gwi-ma looked over at the girls, two staff members behind them held up black bags holding their outfits.

Gwi-ma gave another professional smile, "Ah, we'll not keep you any longer."

Bobby smiled and gestured for the girls to follow him.

Once they reached the dressing room, the three girls turned to Bobby.

Rumi spoke first, "So that's Gwi-ma."

Mira went second, "He's very... Proper."

Zoey went last, "Got anything to tell us Bobby?"

Bobby raised his hands in defence to the girls, "Nope nothing to say, and Mira you're right he's very by the rules. I feel sorry for the boys sometimes."

Three eyebrows raised at him.

"'Is that so?'" Mira said, using her fingers as quotation marks to show she was repeating what Gwi-ma had said.

"'Ah, it's nothing really'" Rumi said, also using her fingers as quotation marks. She also flicked her wrist the same way Bobby had.

Zoey crossed her arms, peering down at Bobby. She raised an eyebrow.

Bobby laughed it all off, "I know, the guy's pretty intimidating. But anyway, the show."

The girls stepped back, mildly upset their teasing of Bobby had ended but respected the boundary anyway.

Bobby continued on, handing the girls their outfits. "So just pretty much be yourselves, try not to fight the boys or say anything that could cause more wars. And Rumi-" He turned to face the purple haired girl, "Please for the love of god, try not to fuel the dating rumours with Jinu."

"I still have no idea where they came from," Rumi complained. She was met with three judging stares. "Ok fine, but that wasn't my fault!"

For once it actually wasn't her fault. She couldn't do anything about Jinu's 'looks' towards her during an awards show a while ago. Or when she'd tweeted that she'd seen a cute cat that day and Jinu posted a picture of his own cat in a cute outfit. It wasn't her fault, it was all Jinu's.

After a sincere moment of judging, Bobby brightened up, checking down at his tablet. "Ok, so the agenda for the show is pretty much normal. Some questions for the groups as a whole, some small activities like fill the sentences and song and dance challenges. Things like that, the usual. You will be able to handle it all, right?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely!"

"Of course."

Bobby clapped, "Great! Go on get changed and get out there."

The trio got changed and were immediately surrounded by makeup and hair stylists. The teams worked fast and within no time they stood beside the camera crew with the Saja Boys watching the host's introduction.

"And I'd like to welcome our special guests, you might know them. It's HUNTRIX and the Saja Boys!" The host threw her arm out to the side to where they were standing.

Rumi glanced over at Jinu and saw him already looking at her. He gestured slightly with his hand, giving her way to go first.

Rumi put her idol smile on her face and led HUNTRIX out. She gave the woman a wide smile and jazz hand waves, "Thank you so much for having us!"

The trio walked over to the seats set up, taking the set of three at the front. Five empty seats behind them.

Once they sat down, Jinu led the Saja Boys out. He gave the host a small smile, "We're so happy to be here."

The host smiled at them as the Saja Boys filed into the seats behind HUNTRIX.

Once they were all sat down, she launched into a quick explanation of the events planned for the episode. After the quick introduction, a staff member dragged a whiteboard onto the stage. The usual layout, a Google search with pieces of tape covering half of the questions in the search history.

Rumi shared a side glance with Mira and Zoey at what they could see of the first question.

Is Rumi's-

Jinu laughed behind her, "Looks like the first question is for you Rumi."

The host laughed, "It definitely is! A very popular ask might I add." She stood up and made a show of reaching for the tape, ready to yank it off. "You ready?"

Rumi crossed her arms, raising her chin. "Bring it."

The host ripped the rest of the tape off.

Zoey and Mira started laughing.

Is Rumi's hair actually real or extensions?

"I think I sent that question in!" Baby shouted, leaning forward to point at the board.

The rest of the Saja Boys started laughing with the girls. Zoey fell off her chair. Even the host laughed a little.

Rumi gave the camera a look, "Yes my hair is real. It's not extensions, it's home grown."

"Believe me, it's real. She sheds like mad," Mira added, barely stopping laughing long enough to even talk evenly.

Her words set off another round of laughter.

"Between her and Mira they keep breaking our hoovers," Zoey spoke up from the floor. "We're on our third one this year."

"It's April!" the host exclaimed.

"I know!"

After the laughter died down and Zoey was back in her chair, the host reached for the next piece of tape. She shot them all a look, "Think the next one will be as funny?"

Are the Saja Boys'-

Jinu spoke up, "Hope so, bring it."

She ripped off the tape and Jinu barked a laugh, then immediately covered his mouth and apologised. But the damage was done.

If they weren't laughing at the question then they'd be laughing at Jinu's horse laugh.

Are the Saja Boys' abs fake?

"Absolutely not!" Abby shouted, jumping up from his seat to flex. Letting his shirt ride up to show off his stomach.

"Ab-solutely," Mira said wiggling her eyebrows at him before half slumping on Rumi to laugh.

Rumi herself was trying not to laugh, at both the ab joke and Jinu's laugh. She tilted her head backwards to look up at the ceiling and could see the top of a head of black hair.

As if sensing her eyes on him, Jinu raised his head a tiny bit and met her eyes, albeit upside down. He gave her a smile before laughing again.

His laugh was contagious, Rumi started laughing too.

* * *

A day after the show they were all sat in a conference room. HUNTRIX at one side of the table, the Saja Boys facing them. Bobby and Gwi-ma stood at the top, looking down at them disappointedly.

Or we'll, Gwi-ma was looking down at them disappointedly, Bobby looked like he was trying to be disappointed but was actually happy.

Bobby cleared his throat, "Well, I think you all did really well on the show. Congratulations on that, the fans are loving it. We managed to get some of the inter-group fighting down!"

HUNTRIX looked up and gave their manager a wide smile. A smile that dropped off all their faces when they saw Gwi-ma's.

Gwi-ma cast a glance around at them all, "Did you all forget you have an idol image to uphold?"

The eight idols winced.

Bobby saw their expressions and was quick to defend them, "Now they didn't do too bad, most of the fans are saying it makes them more human."

Gwi-ma's eye twitched, "The fans are convinced that the Saja Boys are weak."

Bobby crossed his arms, "They're not weak, HUNTRIX is just stronger."

The two glared at each other.

HUNTRIX and Saja Boys shared worried glances.

Gwi-ma sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "I'll give you that, but some of the fans are trying to start dating rumours to say that the boys let the girls win the arm wrestles."

Abby raised a hand, "I only lost to Rumi, I beat the other two."

The four other Saja Boys shot him dirty looks. The rest of them had all lost to the other girls, with only Jinu beating Zoey. It was something Abby had been rubbing in their faces ever since the variety show.

Mira shrugged, "Everyone lost to Rumi."

Even the girls had tried against Rumi, and so had the host, and so had three staff members. Rumi remained the undefeated champion.

The undefeated champion sat back in her chair and gave them all a smug look. Crossing her arms and flexing slightly to rub it in even further. She barely noticed Jinu giving her arms a wide eyed look.

Bobby gave Rumi a proud look, "And I am so proud of you for that."

Rumi gave Bobby a genuine smile, "Thank you Bobby."

"Back to the issue," Gwi-ma spoke again, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "

"I personally don't see an issue. The fans are happy, the fighting is down and our album sales and streams went up," Jinu said, looking around at the others as he spoke. "I don't get what the problem is, sure our image might've taken a hit but the fans seem to be loving it."

"Jinu," Gwi-ma said, leaning both hands on the table. "You fuelled the dating rumours with you and Rumi-"

"They were on a show together, we knew that would happen," Bobby interjected.

Gwi-ma continued on, "Jinu's horse laugh is now trending."

"Trends are good! Brings engagement!" Bobby scrolled on his phone, tilting the screen to show the girls the trending hashtags on Twitter.

Gwi-ma was still going, "And, you are also a meme now."

Bobby looked up at him confused, "Which one are we talking about? All of them got memed."

Gwi-ma stared at the shorter man blankly, then reached over for the iPad and the projector screen whirred to life.

On the screen, Jinu was standing on the ground looking up at Rumi who stood on top of a table. Jinu was dressed just as he had been on the show, nothing had changed for the video. Rumi had her braid wrapped up into a loose bun, the end not secured in.

The two had been chosen for a dare, one given to them by Zoey and Baby.

Jinu reached a hand up to her, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."

Rumi (Rapunzel) whipped her head around. Her braid fell out of its bun and whipped down at Jinu.

The end of the braid hit him square in the face with an audible smack.

"AH!" Jinu stumbled backwards, red mark on his face.

The video paused, all eyes on Jinu who was looking down at the table. "In my defence, that hurt, like a lot."

Gwi-ma sat down heavily in a chair and dropped his head into his hands.

Bobby stood beside him, patting his back. "All in all, you all did good. Just next time try not to cause so many mini scandals, I know you can't help it but just try, ok? Great."

"I've already written about 10 statements to address everything and more keeps coming up," Gwi-ma moaned from his hands.

Bobby patted his back and checked the iPad, "Guess you'll have to write more! Only seven this time." Bobby then looked at the idols and pointed his head at the door, telling them they were free to leave.

Gwi-ma's anguished groan followed the idols out of the room.

*

*

*

TWO

Another part of Bobby and Gwi-ma's grand plan to unite their fan bases was shared fan events.

One of which was currently going on right now.

Zoey looked at the fans, squinting to try to read the signs they held above their heads. She spotted one with her face surrounded by cut out hearts, "Awww I love you too."

The fans in her section erupted into cheers, some waving wildly and others jumping about.

Zoey laughed a little bit, then cupped her hand into a half heart and held it to her cheek.

More cheers.

Some fans pointed behind her.

Zoey poured, slightly sad to have lost some of the attention. She turned on her heel and was met with the (beautiful) sight of the purple haired Saja Boy walking towards her.

Zoey brightened up, waving excitedly at the idol. "Mystery! Come join me!"

Mystery smiled and walked a little faster towards her.

The two stood side by side and waved out at the fans to adoring cheers.

Suddenly, screams from fans sounded the air.

The two idols looked over.

On the big screen, Abby was once again doing a strip tease and had just opened the buttons on his shirt.

The two idols shared a sideways glance and rolled their eyes. Or Zoey definitely rolled her eyes, she wasn't too sure about what Mystery did underneath his hair. She's just going to assume he rolled his eyes with her.

Zoey looked out at the fans in her section. "He's not the only one with muscles! I can do that too!" She lifted both arms and flexed with a wide grin.

The fans were silent for a moment. Then the barricade started pushing forward, barking wildly.

Zoey laughed, then struck another pose. The exact same thing that Abby was currently doing. Turning around to show off her back muscles.

The barking intensified.

Barking also started up from beside her, startling her.

Zoey dropped the pose and looked over to see Mystery barking back at the fans.

Barely holding back a laugh, she playfully slapped his shoulder. "Bad Saja Boy! Down Boy!"

Mystery froze and looked over at her.

Zoey had no idea what he was thinking as he stared at her from underneath his hair.

Then the man turned to face the fans who had also gone quiet. A look full of understanding and hair seemed to pass between them.

Mystery darted forward, leapt off the stage. Now standing beside the fans, he turned his back to them and looked up at her.

Then, as one, Mystery and the fans started barking for her.

Zoey burst out laughing.

* * *

The eight idols were back in the meeting (intervention) room. The idols sat back in their old seats, HUNTRIX on one side, the Saja Boys on the other and Gwi-ma holding his place of disappointment at the head of the table.

Gwi-ma stared deep into the depths of Mystery's hair, trying to find his soul. "Mystery, what did we say about our idol image?" He said slowly as if talking to a child.

"Don't destroy the idol image."

"And what did you do?"

"Barked at fans."

"And?"

"Ran off the stage."

"And?"

"Had a very touching and lovely bonding moment with the fans which boosted our streams and helped to sell a lot of my merch."

"Close but no," Gwi-ma sighed. "You joined the fans in barking at Zoey and shouted, on camera 'I would let you put me on a leash'."

Mystery shrugged, "You always say to let the fans see our true authentic selves."

Gwi-ma, thoroughly done, slammed his head into the table.

Mystery simply looked smug.

Bobby cleared his throat, "So anyways, good news is that as Mystery said, streams and merch sales are up. However, we are looking at dating rumours and a furry scandal. Mystery which would you rather us deny first."

Mystery leaned back, genuinely considering. He even raised a hand to his chin to complete the look.

His bangs turned to Zoey, "What would you rather? Deny dating first or second?"

Zoey froze, truth be told she'd thought the dating rumours coming up after he barked like a dog was hilarious. "Up to you, I don't mind either way. It's pretty funny."

"Damn, right it's funny. I've been watching edits all morning," Mira added.

Gwi-ma twisted his head on the table to glare at the pink haired woman. "Mira, you're on thin ice."

"How?"

"You keep staring at Abby's abs."

"They're right in my face."

"You used a magnifying glass at the fan event."

Mira shrugged, "It was a gift from a fan."

Gwi-ma groaned again as Mystery made his decision.

"Deny the furry one first," Mystery announced.

Bobby nodded, tapping at the iPad a bit before looking up at them. "That's it out now. Gwi-ma did we have any other points to go over?"

Gwi-ma groaned in response.

Bobby continued on with a bright smile, "So overall, the fan event was a hit. Fans are even asking for Collab songs between specific members."

"Sick."

"Brilliant!"

"That's amazing."

"Any members in particular?" Jinu asked, glancing over at Rumi. A Rumi who didn't notice because she was looking up at Bobby.

Bobby looked down at the iPad, "All the members basically, they're asking for everything. We'll give it a bit then go through and find the most popular asks and see how that goes. Is that good?" He got right nods and a groan in response, "Great, anyway you can all go now. Have the rest of the day off."

Abby, Mira and Zoey cheered the loudest at that, leading the rest of the idols out of the room while chanting for a couch.

*

*

*

THREE

For once, the Saja Boys were doing a promotion without the HUNTRIX girls. For the first time in months, they were actually doing an interview by themselves. The reason for this? Saja Boys had just released a new song.

Over the course of the months of forced interactions, the two groups had actually become pretty close.

Not that Baby cared much, true the girls were fun and it was funny to watch Mystery and Jinu fumble over their words. He didn't mind who they hung out with, however what he did want was a rap battle against their rapper, Zoey.

He was only half paying attention to the host, Jinu was taking most of the questions anyway, questions about their inspiration for the song, questions about the concept, questions about an album blah blah blah.

So there Baby was, zoned out, leaning back in his seat staring off into space. Honestly not paying attention to anything.

When the other Saja Boys gasped, Baby finally started paying attention.

He saw Zoey standing in front of them, finger pointed at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her, surely she wasn't supposed to be here?

"Did you seriously just crash our interview?" Baby said, blinking at her and the finger pointed at him.

Zoey just grinned (out of the corner of his eye, Baby could see Mystery swoon), "You didn't say you could rap that fast."

Baby sat up straighter, sensing that he was finally about to get what he'd wanted for so long.

A proper rap battle.

Baby grinned, "You never asked."

The two of them grinned manically.

"Freestyle or cover?" Baby stood up, dusting non-existent dust from his shoulder.

"Freestyle, obviously," Zoey said, walking closer so they were both in a clear spot of the floor. "What's wrong Baby, scared you can't write lyrics?"

Baby gritted his teeth, "Bring it."

"GIVE US A BEAT," Zoey shouted, striking a pose with a hand in the air.

From somewhere backstage, music started blasting through the speakers.

And they were off. The two of them spitting lyrics, taking turns and overall having a blast.

While the two rappers had their fun, the other Saja Boys and the host stood off to the side. Watching the rap battle like a tennis match, heads flinging back and forward, back and forward, back and forward.

* * *

After the interview turned rap battle, the two groups were back in the intervention room.

Gwi-ma looked downright disappointed at Zoey. "Zoey," he said, voice laced with distraught. "You were supposed to be the normal one."

Zoey looked down at the table, not making eye contact with anyone. "Sorry sir."

"No need to be sorry," Bobby cut in. "Fans loved it and now want a full rap song from both of you."

Baby and Zoey's heads shot up, "Really?"

Bobby nodded, "Of course! It was amazing, Zoey those lyrics were amazing. 'I create, innovate and inspirate, that's what I do and you don't have a clue.' Amazing, I loved it. And Baby," Bobby held out his arms, "Love the rap, your lyrics could use some work but you definitely had the spirit and the talent."

Zoey beamed at her manager, "Awww thank you Bobby."

Gwi-ma glared at her, "Your face is a lie, you betrayed my image of you."

Zoey turned her wide smile to him, "Not my fault you had the wrong image."

"Of course her face is a lie," Mira said, reaching up to pinch Zoey's cheek. "Her cheeks hold her secrets, that's why they're so squishy."

Zoey tried to bat the other girl off and was largely unsuccessful as Romance decided to finally speak at an intervention meeting.

"Gwi-ma, you said Zoey was the normal one. I, for one, take offence to that," Romance said, pouring slightly.

Gwi-ma stared blankly at him, "I watched you this morning, pose at yourself in the mirror for 40 minutes."

"Perfectly normal activities, at least I haven't caused any scandals or rumours," Romance said airily, he couldn't deny the allegations. Or technically he could, he'd actually been posing for 47 minutes but what Gwi-ma didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Gwi-ma blinked, "All of you have caused problems. Gossip magazines have a field day with you all, you especially Romance."

Romance fell quiet, no quip left to shoot back. The gossip magazines did in fact talk about him a lot. He couldn't blame them, he could also write dozens of articles about his hair.

"Let's list it all shall we," Gwi-ma said grimly. "Romance pays more attention to his appearance than others, which is the only reason he is the only one without a dating rumour. Abby is allergic to clothes. Baby got into a public rap battle on live television and lost."

"I did not lose."

"You did," came a chorus of voices. The vote was unanimous in the favour of the HUNTRIX idol.

Gwi-ma continued on, "Mystery is still getting furry allegations, and Jinu is well Jinu."

The last two boys just nodded and agreed with their manager.

Gwi-ma turned to the girls, "Rumi is freakishly strong and has tattoos. Mira with the abs obsession and the lesbian allegations-"

"Those are hard to beat," Mira agreed.

"Abs or lesbians?" Abby asked quietly. He was ignored.

Gwi-ma looked down at the iPad for his list, then up at Zoey. "And Zoey was supposed to be the normal one, but now she's crashed an interview and beat the lead rapper in a rap battle."

The HUNTRIX girls and Bobby nodded, well aware of their own capabilities and rumours.

"I think the rap battle was a success, it's already got 5 million streams on Spotify." Bobby turned the iPad to face them all the single and its statistics.

Gwi-ma just looked at the iPad defeatedly, slowly losing resolve by the day. "Of course you released it."

Bobby grinned, "Of course I did, the fans love it. So anyways, that's all we had to say, you can leave. Zoey, Baby." The two idols looked at him. "Work together and make some lyrics ok? Get a full rap song out there."

Zoey nodded, giving him a finger salute, "Aye aye captain!"

Baby just nodded, back to pretending he was nonchalant - but they all knew he was in fact very chalant and was still upset that he lost.

Zoey and Baby left the room first, already talking about possible lyrics and themes. Mystery trailed behind them, offering his help.

Next went the three pink haired idols, shoving and teasing each other. Mainly it was Abby and Mira shoving and teasing, Romance caught sight of his reflection in the glass and gave himself a smoulder.

The last two idols in the room we're Rumi and Jinu.

Rumi looked up at the man, holding a hand out for him to go first. "You go first."

"No you first, I insist."

Rumi and Jinu held eye contact for a minute, both waiting for the other to go.

At long last, Rumi sighed, leaving the room first. Jinu pumped his fist in the air at his victory before following her out.

Then it was just Bobby and Gwi-ma, the two managers watching after the politeness stand off between Rumi and Jinu.

Bobby raised an eyebrow, "I get the rumours now."

"You're only getting them now?" Gwi-ma said exasperatedly.

"No, I did get them before, but now I understand where they're coming from."

*

*

*

FOUR

After all the months of joint interactions, friendships had bloomed between the groups. They would meet up outside of working hours in disguise and do normal friend activities.

As of right now, the pink haired trio was walking through a zoo. Disguised bodyguards mingled with the crowd so as to not draw attention to the idols.

"That is a fabulous specimen," Romance said, gesturing to his side.

Abby and Mira peered around to see what he was on about. They came face to face with their own reflections.

Abby laughed, throwing his arms around the other two's shoulders. "We get it, you're gorgeous. Now hurry up I want to see the monkeys." He started off down the path again, half dragging the other two with him.

Mira pretended to struggle a bit before caving and wrapping her own arm about the ab-ed man's waist. "So desperate to see your family huh?"

"Ab-solutely!" Abby said with enthusiasm. "Now come on!"

Abby was off again, pulling them along even faster. He only stopped when an older woman looked at the trio, specifically Abby, very judgingly. At her look, he dropped his arms from their shoulders, instead grabbing their hands and dragging them on at a much more acceptable pace.

Mira laughed and gave the woman a wave paired with a grateful smile.

Romance also gave her a wave once he saw what she'd done. Then the pink haired man, now a pink haired man in a hat with a man-braid, looked over at her.

Romance gave her an appraising look, he flicked the tiny end of his own braid. "I like the hair, you suit it up."

Mira flicked the pink ponytail over her shoulder, letting it swing along her back. "Thanks, the braid isn't too bad either."

Romance squawked at the implication that his hair was only 'not too bad' instead of perfect.

Mira openly laughed at the reaction.

Abby looked back at them, "What's so funny?"

"I told Rom his hair wasn't too bad."

"He'll cry about that one tonight."

Mira laughed again, after a beat Abby joined in. Romance was still pouting.

A few strangers looked over in their direction, probably noting the trio with mildly suspicious hats laughing loudly. Or a laughing duo and a pouting guy.

Abby grinned and led them a bit further. He stopped, let go of their hands and stepped away gesturing wildly.

"Lady and Gent, we have arrived," Abby said, bowing low to the ground. Behind him the monkeys lazed about their enclosure.

Romance stepped forward, hand outstretched as if to go for a handshake. "Hello Mr and Mrs Ab, it's a pleasure to meet you." His voice was completely serious like he was actually meeting Abby's parents.

Mira threw her head back laughing.

Abby just smiled as he straightened, taking it all in stride.

The three pinkette's looked in at the enclosure, marvelling at the animals.

Romance still had his hand out for a handshake.

He held it out for a moment, just as he went to lower it. A monkey in the enclosure looked directly at him and lifted its own paw for a handshake.

The trio nearly died laughing, even Abby couldn't shrug it off and collapsed to the ground.

Mira went down next, slumping into his shoulder.

Romance was the last man standing but even he couldn't stay up. He dropped against Mira, burying his face into the top of her hat to hide the tears of laughter streaming down his face.

* * *

Back in the intervention room, Gwi-ma was having his third? Fourth? Fifth? existential breakdown.

Bobby tapped at his iPad while the idols tried not to laugh. Monkeys, that's what got them caught this time.

"Congratulations Mira," Bobby said, getting all eyes on him. "You've just got your first dating rumours-"

"I've had dating rumours before though," Mira interrupted.

"-with a man, you didn't let me finish," Bobby finished. He ignored the way that Rumi and Zoey started snickering and lowered the iPad to look at the shocked pink haired woman. "According to fans, you are now bisexual."

"ABBF," Romance said airily. "Assigned Bisexual by fans. Join the club, we have bracelets." He lifted his wrist to show the thin woven bracelet of blue and purple.

Zoey and Rumi were openly laughing now. Mira's jaw was still hanging open.

"A new member," Abby said, pumping his fist in the air. His own blue and purple bracelet catching the attention of the others.

For once, Bobby actually had the disbelieving manager face that Gwi-ma normally wore. "This is the reason the two of you have dating rumours? Matching bracelets because fans think you're bisexual."

Romance flicked his hair over his shoulder, "Yes."

Bobby just stared off into space in response, then down at Gwi-ma. "I understand you a lot more now."

"Thank you," Gwi-ma answered from his arms.

Baby raised a hand, requesting permission to speak. When Bobby nodded at him, the green haired man spoke up. "Who has the dating rumours again? Mira and which one?"

"Both," Bobby answered plainly. "Both of them, at once. It's a threesome rumour and seriously Mira." He whirled to the girl, "Your first dating rumour with a man and you have two at once."

Mira shrugged, still in shock. "Go big or go home."

Bobby flopped into the seat beside Gwi-ma, waving them towards the door. "Get out of my sight, all of you. I need a break." His words had no bite behind them, only exhaustion,

The eight idols sat there for a minute, not quite processing that they were just allowed to go with none of the usual comments.

Jinu looked at the two managers, confused. "Is there no-"

Gwi-ma's head shot up, he levelled Jinu with a glare so powerful it shut the man up immediately. "Jinu, no. You cause the most problems, so shush. All of you, leave. Go."

The eight idols were then quick to stand up and make their way out of the room.

Somehow Jinu was still the last one out, despite having been seated closest to the door, because he had waited back to let Rumi walk out first. Rumi who had waited to let everyone else go in front of her and so had left second last after a stare off with Jinu.

Gwi-ma's head dropped again, and instead of patting his back, Bobby also dropped his head to the table.

Chapter Text

FIVE

If you asked Rumi what she thought of the whole group interaction thing, she'd tell you she thought it was a great idea: it stops the fans fighting, unites the fans, helps boost their music and of course makes the fans happier.

Now, if you asked her how she felt about it, she'd give you a different answer. At the start she had felt conflicted about it, and felt it would only make things worse. She had one main reason to feel this way.

Jinu.

Dating rumours between her and Jinu had run rampant for years, ever since the first awards show they appeared on at the same time. Apparently Jinu had looked at her in some kind of way and that set them off. In actuality that wasn't even the start of it, it had been knocking about ever since the Saja Boys had debuted but the awards show boosted it from discarded tweets to entire gossip magazines dedicated to them.

Rumi hadn't had much of a problem with the rumours themselves, she didn't care too much. She was an idol, rumours were always going to happen, just these ones stuck around for a while but that didn't matter.

Her problem was Jinu.

Jinu with his soft smiles, fluffy hair and ridiculously handsome face.

Yes, her problem was with Jinu.

Because of course wild dating rumours started up between her and one of the only men she could actually see herself growing to like.

And so she had initially felt conflicted about the plan.

At the start, it had been awkward between her and Jinu. She had tried to avoid them to stop the dating rumours getting worse, but nothing had worked.

Somehow, every single time, Rumi and Jinu ended up interacting and it would send them off.

At the variety show, the eye contact and the smile they shared while laughing at the questions. The fans and magazines went wild. The Rapunzel roleplay dare. The fans and magazines went wild. When Rumi had been winning the arm wrestling competition, Jinu had been watching with an open jaw. The fans and magazines went wild.

Rumi wanted to avoid the man, but he made it so so hard to stay away.

At the variety show, when it was finally time for Rumi and Jinu to arm wrestle. The two had clasped hands, his warm hand encasing hers. Their eyes met, Jinu's smiling eyes met her determined ones. Then the buzzer went and they strained against each other, Rumi slowly getting the upper hand as Jinu put up a good fight, before he stopped fighting against her and she won.

After the show she confronted him about it.

"Why did you do that?" Rumi asked, stalking towards the man.

Jinu stepped back every time she moved forward, "Do what?"

Jinu's back hit the wall and Rumi moved closer yet again, getting into his space. "You let me win."

Jinu gave her a sheepish smile, "You were winning anyway."

"That's not my point."

"It's my point."

Rumi's eye twitched, "Jinu." She watched as Jinu swallowed, not looking at her. "Look at me." The man's eyes snapped down, finding her own. "Why did you do it?"

Jinu opened his mouth a couple of times, then closed it, looking away from her. Finally, he took a deep breath, met her eyes and said, "You were on a winning streak."

Rumi went to open her mouth to object, but Jinu spoke fast, cutting her off.

"You looked so happy to be winning and I-" his voice faltered, he looked away from her again. "I didn't want to ruin that."

Rumi froze, head gone blank with nothing to say except, "Oh."

"Yeah," Jinu met her eyes again. "That's the reason I swear."

"Oh," Rumi said dumbly, still processing.

Jinu looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes and took a breath, then met her eyes again. "Maybe sometime we could meet up ourselves and try again? I promise I'll try better then."

Rumi just nodded, easily agreeing in her shocked state.

So yeah, it was hard to want to stay away from the man. Especially when he was so genuine.

From then onwards a friendship had formed, one completely outside of their jobs and the rumours. They were just Rumi and Jinu, and they were just friends.

One time, Rumi had been over at the Saja Boys' apartment, just hanging out with Jinu and his pets.

She sat on the beanbag in Jinu's room, legs curled beneath her as she leant back. Jinu's black cat, Derpy, curled up on her chest.

Rumi made kissy noises at the cat, delighting in the wide eyed stupid blinks she got in return.

She gave the cat a wide smile, completely ignoring Jinu who sat on his bed watching the whole exchange. She leaned her head up and placed a light kiss on the cat's nose. "Mwah," she said loudly, greatly exaggerating the force of the kiss.

Derpy blinked at her, then gently headbutted her on the mouth.

Rumi did not squeal, she just curled more around the cat excitedly, hugging him tight against her chest.

"He likes you," Jinu said, distracting her from the cat.

"He reminds me of you," Rumi replied, gently stroking along the top of Derpy's head.

Jinu gave her one of his soft smiles, "Really?"

"Yes," Rumi said, laughing as Derpy looked at her with wide, thoughtless eyes. She held the cat's face in her hands and turned him to face Jinu. "You're both a little stupid."

Jinu laughed, a musical sound mixed with snorts similar to that of a horse. "Rude."

At the nose, Jinu's bird, Sussie, started squawking to her own tune.

Rumi just smiled, sinking back into the beanbag, Derpy back on her chest.

Jinu moved from his bed over to the bird and Rumi smiled at the cat who was nuzzling against her neck.

"And cute too," Rumi whispered to Derpy, trying to keep her voice low so Jinu wouldn't hear.

Not low enough, because Jinu turned around to look at her with a tilted head. Sussie also tilted her head to look at the woman.

"You think I'm cute?" Jinu asked, voice think with an emotion Rumi couldn't place.

Rumi looked up at him, "Yeah, of course you are."

Jinu stood still as if afraid to move. "Really?" His voice was oddly strangled.

Rumi worried she'd gone too far, "I mean like yeah obviously, like objectively speaking you are pretty cute. Not that you're only cute objectively, the way you act is pretty cute too. That's a good thing I swear, not a bad thing and I should shut up now- oh my god. I'm so sorry."

Jinu laughed, his voice light. He walked over to her and sat down beside her on the beanbag. It sank beneath his weight, tilting her slightly to the side.

It was big enough to hold both of them with enough room for the space Jinu had left between them.

Jinu looked down at her and shifted so he was also half lying down at her side.

The two were silent for a moment.

Rumi was considering how bad it would be if she suddenly just jumped up and ran.

Just as she was about to decide to commit to the plan, Jinu spoke.

"I'm glad."

"Pardon?"

Jinu turned his head to face her, "I'm glad you think I'm cute."

"I didn't go too far then?"

Jinu gave her an unbearably soft smile, "Not far enough."

Rumi smiled back at him, "You sound like a fan now."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Depends, are you going to start rumours about this?"

Jinu's expression changed and Rumi was once again hit with regret.

She went to apologize but Jinu spoke once again.

"I was thinking about that actually."

Rumi's heart skipped a beat, she ignored it. "What about it?"

"You know how they ship us together right?" Jinu started off hesitantly. "Ever since the groups started working together everything has gotten so much better, like the fighting stopped, streams are up-"

His voice trailed off so Rumi finished off with, "And the fans are happier."

"Right so I was thinking, what if we played into it? Like the dating rumours, could help even more I think."

"It might, plus it would mean we could hang out normally without having to hide."

Jinu's head turned to her so fast Rumi was nearly worried about him.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have to hide. What do you think? It's completely up to you." Jinu sounded so hopeful that Rumi was filled with hope too.

Rumi gave him a smile, "Yeah. I think it could work."

Jinu's returning smile was so bright it put the sun to shame, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

From then on, for the past two months, they had stopped hiding. They'd started just hanging out normally, maybe a bit more than what would be considered normal but no one said anything so it couldn't be a problem. They also started doing small things to play into the rumours.

Rumi posted a picture on Instagram of her on Jinu's beanbag with Derpy sleeping on top of her. Jinu posted a mirror selfie of him doing a facemask in her room, Rumi's braid ever so slightly in the background.

The fans and magazines went wild.

Unbelievably wild.

Theories ran mental, fan pages cropped up, fanart and fanfiction soared. Streams and sales were boosted to insane heights. It was even mentioned on television.

Rumi and Jinu thought it was brilliant, the fans were loving it.

One time, not long after they decided to play into the rumours. They met up on a rooftop.

Rumi walked up the last few steps to the roof to find the door already propped open with a brick. She pushed it open and was met with a sight that nearly made her heart stop.

Jinu was waiting for her, sitting on the floor, leaning back on his arms as he looked up at the sky.

Rumi stopped breathing for a second at the sight.

He's gorgeous, she thought, then was shocked at the thought. Sure he was handsome but she'd never actually thought of him as gorgeous, he'd always just been Jinu to her.

He still hadn't noticed her, so she took the extra few seconds to steady herself and look around the roof.

Jinu was sitting on a blanket, a food basket at his side. An empty spot beside him on the blanket, clearly meant for her.

She stood there for a moment, speechless.

Jinu sighed and raised a hand towards his face. He twisted his wrist, looking up at his watch. "She's late," he said, sounding sad. He sat up straight, eyes still on the watch.

His eyes flickered over to the door and everything stopped as he looked at her for the first time today.

The air was silent, something hanging heavy between them.

After a beat, Jinu gave her one of his soft smiles. "Oh hi, how long have you been standing there?" His voice was oddly breathless.

"Not that long, just got here," Rumi replied, voice also oddly breathless.

They stared at each other for another moment.

Once again, Jinu broke the silence by frantically gesturing at the empty spot beside him. "Sit, sit. I made us food."

Rumi laughed, heart still pounding. "Alright, alright, jeez calm down, I'm coming."

Jinu's easy smile met hers as she settled beside him, his eyes never leaving her face. "You changed your hair."

"Yeah, the braid was hurting my head a bit." Rumi tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Jinu's eyes followed the movement. "So, what'd you make?"

Jinu's eyes stayed on her hair for another second, his face unreadable to her. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned his head down to the basket and started chattering on like he hadn't just gave her butterflies.

"Just some basic stuff really, some sushi, dumplings, rice cakes, some Kimbap I know you like it. Stuff like that and I tried to make Hotteok but it went weird so I just gave it to the boys and made Mochi for us instead," he said, lifting his head to give her a smile, then went right back to unpacking the basket, laying everything out around them.

Rumi's jaw was on the floor. Metaphorically speaking that is.

A man that was handsome, could sing, dance, dress well and also cook. She should be swooning right now.

Instead she reached out a hand, picking up one of the boxes. She opened it and the beautiful smell of the kimbaps.

Jinu was still talking but Rumi had set her eyes on her goal.

She grinned, "I love you." She lifted a Kimbap.

Jinu's head snapped to her, "Really?" His voice high. "Oh," he said after he saw her, voice dropping. "You're talking to the kimbap aren't you?"

Rumi wasn't even listening to the man, eyes zeroed in on the kimbap in her hand.

She raised it to her face, ready to inhale the amazing smelling food.

Just as she was about to put it into her mouth, she stopped and looked over at Jinu. "Wait I'm sorry, thank you so much for the food. You should eat first."

Jinu's face still had a shocked expression and was slightly red, his voice still high as he said, "No it's alright, I made it for you."

Rumi gave him a wide grin, then unhinged her jaw and shoved the whole kimbap into her mouth. Pushing it down her throat to fully fit. She closed her mouth and started chewing with full cheeks. Doing a little happy dance at the absolutely amazing taste of the food.

She didn't notice Jinu staring at her with a mixture of pure confusion, shock and horror. His jaw dropped to comical levels that should not biologically be possible.

Rumi swallowed the rest of the kimbap with a gulp, giving a wide smile over to the shocked man. "That was amazing, you're a wonderful cook."

It took Jinu a moment to get over his shock. He gave her an impossibly soft smile, "I'm glad you liked it."

The two shared a smile.

Jinu's eyes flickered over to her ear, he reached a hand up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Warm hand brushing against her face. His expression had gone unreadable to her again, yet still so impossibly soft, "You should wear your hair down more often, it suits you. I like it."

With his words and eyes trained on her, Rumi's breath caught in her throat, heart skipping a beat.

Oh.

Oh.

She had it bad.

* * *

Rumi doesn't know when she fell for Jinu. For the guy who she was playing into dating rumours with. For the leader of a rival group who they were working with to boost sales.

For the guy she was making a Collab song with.

In the studio, Jinu's eye caught hers from behind the glass as she shifted in her seat in front of the microphone.

He gave her a wink, then a thumbs up as he mouthed 'Good luck' at her. She smiled back and hoped it hid the jitters that his wink gave her.

She had it so so bad.

Ever since she realised, up on the rooftop that night, every touch, every interaction, every smile, every playful wink set off a storm inside her. She so badly wanted to tell him, to hope for more, but she knew her feelings weren't reciprocated. He only acted like that for the fans, to fuel the rumours. Even when there was nobody around them to witness the acts.

A beep came through her headphones, followed by the producer's voice, "Ok Rumi, ready to go?"

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, forcing all thoughts of Jinu out of her mind as she exhaled. "Never better."

"Great, music starts in three, two, one."

The opening notes of 'Free' met her ears and Rumi sang. Pouring all her feelings into the lyrics, into the lyrics her and Jinu had crafted together to fuel the rumours.

A song about hope and how they found it in each other.

If you asked Rumi what she thought about the song, she'd tell you she thought it was great. It fed into the rumours and was all around a great song. The fans would love it! And she had so much fun writing and singing it with Jinu.

If you asked her how she felt about it. She would tell you she felt like her heart was breaking into thousands upon thousands of pieces because the song, the lyrics and the feelings weren't real. They would never be real.

And still Rumi sang, pouring her heart into the song. Her only thought was for the fans and not of the man that stood watching her with his soft, soft eyes.

* * *

Weeks later, the two groups were back on a variety show again. The hosts had welcomed them with wide smiles and plenty of laughs.

Rumi tried to ignore how Jinu was sitting right behind her as she laughed with the judges. She tried to ignore the weight of his gaze on the back of her head, using all her willpower to not turn around and meet his face that she knew would be looking down at her with that unreadable expression.

So she looked on and immersed herself in the show, excitedly answering questions and laughing along with their jokes.

The perfect idol.

One of the hosts stood up, "And not to mention, we have some extra special guests who don't see as much of the spotlight as our stars."

Rumi sat up straighter, sharing a confused glance with Mira and Zoey.

Special guests?

The host paused for a minute, letting the live audience speculate among themselves, before dramatically throwing her arm out to the side of the stage. "Let's give it up for the managers of these two wonderful groups! Bobby and Gwi-ma!"

Bobby and Gwi-ma walked out from the side of the stage, waving to the crowd.

Rumi immediately covered her mouth at the sight and huddled forwards. The other two girls also did the same, and together the three of them made a small huddle of shaking shoulders as they tried not to laugh.

Bobby, like the girls, was wearing a shining pink sequined jacket paired with white trousers. He had also donned glittering sunglasses that were at risk of falling off his head as he excitedly bounced across the stage.

Gwi-ma, on the other hand, was dressed in a smart black suit. Bright pink hair, parted and styled in such a way that it bounced with each step he took.

(For a second, Rumi was jealous of the volume, then she remembered she also had a lot of hair on her head and she had no need to be jealous).

The two managers reached the centre of the stage and sat down in the two chairs facing the eight idols.

Gwi-ma bowed his head slightly to the hosts, "Thank you for having us."

Bobby gave the hosts and the crowd his wide smile, "We are so happy to be here."

Gwi-ma gave a small smile as he voiced his agreement with the shorter and shinier man, "That we are."

The host clapped her hands together excitedly, "We are so happy you decided to join us! We'd heard that you both normally turned down interviews, never mind a show! Especially you Gwi-ma, you've only ever done one interview since you started managing the Saja Boys."

Bobby grinned and lightly elbowed Gwi-ma, "I talked him around to it, it was far easier than I expected."

"He showed up at my apartment at four o'clock in the morning blasting Gangnam Style through a speaker," Gwi-ma corrected, a professional smile never leaving his face. "I just agreed with whatever he was saying."

"Exactly what I mean! Far easier than I thought it would be, he just answered the door and said yes!"

The host laughed, "And I'm glad you did Bobby, we've just been dying to see Gwi-ma and the Saja Boys interact. Our idols haven't even got a chance to say hello yet." She turned back around to the idols.

"Hello Gwi-ma," the Saja Boys said in unison, voices tinged with shock.

Gwi-ma went to greet them, "Hello bo-"

"HI BOBBY!!" Huntrix shouted excitedly, always happy to see their manager. Even if he was wearing a copious amount of glitter.

"HI GIRLS!!" Bobby shouted back, matching their volume and excitement.

Beside him, Gwi-ma winced.

The host laughed and quickly started on getting them onto the next activity. A song and dance challenge, both groups would choose a song from the other group and cover it for the audience. The managers could join in or stand on the side-lines and just help them plan the performance.

The host told them they had 5 minutes to prepare.

Huntrix immediately shot up and ran at Bobby, who was also running to meet them in the middle. Together the four made their way off to the side of the stage, huddling together as they made their plan.

Rumi risked a glance back, eyes briefly meeting Jinu's just before he was pulled into the Saja Boys' own huddle.

She turned back into the Huntrix pre-show hype huddle, "We've got this."

"We're Huntrix, of course we do!" Zoey said, grinning.

"We'll blow them away," Mira said smirking.

"You girls will do amazing!" Bobby chimed in.

Together the four of them cheered, then went quiet again as they discussed the song they would do and how they would distribute the lines.

If they had looked over, they would have seen the Saja Boys plus Gwi-ma giving them a concerned look.

The host called time and told them to find their seats again. The seats had been moved, now instead of eight at one side with two at the other, there was now six seats at once side of the hosts and four at the other. Both sets pushed away from the middle of the stage to give them all room to perform.

"While you were planning, we posted a poll asking the audience and those watching at home which group should go first. It was pretty tight but going first is-" she paused, a drum roll sound playing through the speakers "Saja Boys!"

Huntrix plus Bobby clapped as the Saja Boys stood up and made their way to the middle of the stage.

Gwi-ma stayed sitting, eyes glued to the boys.

The Saja Boys got themselves into position as the opening notes to 'How it's done' started playing.

Jinu started it off and Rumi's eyes were glued to him as he sang her lines. Her eyes never left him, not even when he stopped singing and the others took over, or when the formation moved. Her eyes followed him about as he danced her moves and sang her lyrics.

All too soon they were done and Huntrix was up next.

The trio made their way to the middle, Bobby standing off to the side beside the chairs. 

Latin came through the speakers and Rumi saw the Saja Boys share wide eyed looks. Jinu's eyes, however, were glued to her just as hers as been to him.

She looked forward as Mira started off the song, snapping back into performance mode and giving the cover her all.

Within a blink the song was over and Rumi was singing the final words, looking down at the audience. "Get down on your knees, I'ma be your idol."

The audience burst into cheers and claps, the girls grinned and bowed to the audience. Rumi gave them a big smile and a wave, turning back around to the others.

Mira and Zoey were also smiling, each of them proud of themselves for the show they put on.

The Saja Boys were now standing, all of them clapping apart from Gwi-ma who was moving one hand as if he was clapping, the other hand behind Jinu.

Jinu who was standing still staring at her, mouth wide open.

Gwi-ma, in a 'clap', slapped his hand against Jinu's arm, snapping the dark haired man out of his trance and prompting him to start clapping too.

The girls laughed and threw their arms around each other. Bobby joined them, putting his arm around them from the side as the room clapped for them.

* * *

After the show ended, the girls and Bobby were all backstage in their dressing room. The girls taking off their makeup and Bobby tapping away at his iPad.

"The show was a hit," Bobby said excitedly. "Especially the cover of 'Your idol', the fans are loving it and want an official cover."

"That's amazing," Zoey exclaimed, putting down a makeup wipe to pick up her phone.

"Isn't it! And streams have gone through the roof, we've been at the top of the charts for weeks now. This plan actually worked!"

The girls laughed.

As Rumi laughed, her head was thankfully free of Jinu. The ache inside her slightly less.

"Oh my god, look at this," Zoey said, turning her phone around to them.

On the screen was the Saja Boys, just as they had been on the show.

Zoey turned up her volume and Rumi's voice came through on the speaker.

"Get down on your knees, I'ma be your idol."

On the screen, they watched as Jinu began to bend his knees and as Gwi-ma's hand shot out to grab the man's hair and yank him back into a standing position.

Rumi's mind went blank as they started clapping on the screen, her eyes dropping to the caption.

Proof Jinu is whipped for Rumi (as he should be)

"Wow," Mira said, sounding very judgy. "On live television too."

"What do you think Rumi?" Zoey asked.

Rumi thought she should go speak to Jinu about this and get things set straight. They could not feed into the rumours anymore.

She couldn't feed into them anymore.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Rumi said, jumping out of her chair and crossing the room with purpose. In a blink she was out the door and striding to the Saja Boys' dressing room.

She raised a hand before she could convince herself to stop and knocked.

Gwi-ma answered the door, "Hello Rumi, how can I help you?"

"Can I talk to Jinu?" Rumi asked. "Please."

Gwi-ma blinked at her, then sighed, seemingly aging with the action. "Fine." He turned his head back to the room, "Jinu, Rumi's here for you."

"Oh my god," one of the boys said. A crash followed.

Then Jinu was at the door, peaking out at her over Gwi-ma's shoulder. "Hey Rumi, what's up?"

"Can we talk?"

Jinu looked at Gwi-ma, face slightly panicked.

Gwi-ma didn't care, he stepped to the side, pushing the younger man forward and out of the room. "Remember where you are," he warned and slammed the door on the two of them.

Jinu gave the closed door a betrayed look before turning and giving Rumi a sheepish smile. "Heyyy?"

"Not here, let's go." She twisted on her heel and took off down the corridor, trusting the man to follow her. She found an exit and pushed the down open, leading the two of them out onto a back alley.

Then she finally turned around to face Jinu.

A Jinu who was looking down at her with a confused expression, "Rumi, is everything ok?"

"No Jinu, it's not," Rumi said, voice slightly breaking.

Jinu's expression turned panicked and he stepped towards her, arms outstretched to pull her into a hug. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Please tell me."

"It's us, Jinu," she said and Jinu froze. "This whole thing of us feeding into the rumours and the fan service. I don't think we should do it anymore, I can't do it anymore. It's messing with my head."

Jinu just stared at her, then stepped forward again and pulled her into a hug. One hand on the back of her head, holding her close. The other wrapped around her back.

"That's ok," he said, voice soft. "That's completely fine." His hand on her head moved slightly up and down along her braid. "Can I ask what brought this on?"

Rumi tucked her head into his chest, arms curling slightly at his sides, not entirely holding onto him. "Zoey showed me a video of you while I was singing. You went to kneel and Gwi-ma dragged you back up."

Jinu's hand froze on her head, "Oh that. You said to kneel and I listened."

"Not for the rumours?"

"No Rumi," Jinu said, pulling back from her slightly so she could see the sincerity on his face. "No of course not."

"Good, because I want to stop."

Jinu nodded, face soft as he looked down at her, "Then we stop, easy as that."

The two looked at each other like that for a moment, staying in the other's arms.

With Jinu's arms around her and his impossibly soft eyes as he looked down at her.

Rumi stopped thinking.

She got onto her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.

She pulled back and let herself fall back onto her heels.

When she opened her eyes, Jinu was staring down at her in shock. His mouth fell open.

What she'd just done hit her like a truck.

"Oh my god. I am so so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry," Rumi frantically apologized, pushing herself away from her man. His arms fell from around her easily. "I am so sorry Jinu, I'm just gonna go."

She turned and went to run off down the alley. She got all of one step away.

Jinu's hand caught her wrist.

She looked back at him and he met her eyes with shock still written across his face.

"What?"

"I am so so sorry."

"You kissed me?"

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to do that. You were never supposed to know how I felt."

"Felt? You-" Jinu's voice broke off. "You like me?"

A part of Rumi broke, "I'm so sorr-"

"No."

Jinu pulled her back by the wrist, his other hand caught her jaw. Tilting up her face as he pressed his mouth to hers.

Rumi stopped thinking again.

Jinu was kissing her.

Jinu was kissing her.

Mind blank, she lifted up her free hand to cup Jinu's jaw and kissed him back.

Jinu kissed like a man starved. Like he had been waiting his entire life for this moment. Like he would die if they parted and she was his saving breath. 

Rumi's head was spinning when he finally pulled away.

Jinu's eyes flickered all over her face before a wide smile spread across his own. He pressed another quick kiss to her lips, then her cheek, then her forehead. Finally he pressed his own forehead against hers and pressed another kiss, short and chaste against her lips.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Jinu said softly as if he would break the moment if he spoke too loud.

Rumi met his eyes, "You don't mind?"

Jinu grinned and kissed her again, "I'm over the moon actually." He squeezed his arms around her, "This feels like a dream."

* * *

Back in the intervention room Gwi-ma was fuming.

"Jinu, first of all, what the fuck?" Gwi-ma asked, surprising the others that the man actually cursed.

Jinu opened and closed his mouth like a fish, he looked over to Rumi for help but she turned her face away from him to avoid the wrath of the pink haired manager. "Good question?" Jinu tried hesitantly.

Gwi-ma's eye twitched, "I have no idea where to start."

"Is that a good thing?"

"No. Jinu there are countless videos of you trying to kneel for Rumi," Gwi-ma said pinching his nose. "We know you're trying to fuel the rumours but seriously?"

"We're not trying to fuel them anymore!" Jinu protested, going red.

Gwi-ma threw his hands in the air, "Oh and that's just great. They have a picture of you two kissing backstage, or they think they do anyway. How do you expect us to deny that?"

Jinu shrunk back into his seat, "Maybe you shouldn't deny it?"

Gwi-ma glared at him and Jinu shrunk back even further, "I thought you weren't feeding the rumours anymore."

The rest of the idols plus Bobby were watching the exchange, heads snapping back and forth in silence. All except Rumi who was pointedly staring at the wall.

Jinu gave him a sheepish smile, "We could confirm them."

Gwi-ma blinked at him. Once, twice, thrice then shook his head. "Right, I forgot Jinu wasn't allowed to have ideas. Rumi."

Rumi's head snapped over to him from where she was staring at the wall, "Yes sir?"

Gwi-ma wrinkled his nose for a second then smoothed his face back into disappointment. "Rumi what should we do about the rumours? Deny or ignore? I really suggest we don't ignore them since they have that picture."

"The picture's trending," Bobby added, turning his phone to face them. He scrolled through the feed a few times, each of the posts was about the picture.

Rumi kept her eyes on the phone, not looking at anyone else in the room.

"Well?" Gwi-ma prompted after she had been silent for a minute.

Rumi slowly raised her eyes to meet the deranged pink and purple haired manager. "Confirm them?"

Gwi-ma blinked at her, his eye twitching. "You want to confirm the rumours? I think I heard you wrong."

Bobby also stared at her in horror, "I think I also heard wrong."

Rumi took a deep breath, eyes flickering over to a hopeful Jinu. "We should confirm them."

Gwi-ma's eye twitched again, "Pardon?"

"We're together," Rumi said after another tense moment.

"WHAT?" the room erupted. The other two girls stared at Rumi is pure shock. Across the table, Abby had jumped up and was shaking Jinu by the shoulders.

Jinu gave Gwi-ma a smug look as he was shaken backwards and forwards.

Gwi-ma's face fell from professionalism and disappointment, now there was only derangement, especially at the sight of Jinu's smug face.

Jinu shrank back, cowering into Abby. Abby, also shrank back and left Jinu to fend for himself.

"Is that so?" Gwi-ma's voice was flat. His eye twitched again when Jinu tentatively nodded. "Ok."

He reached Jinu with two long steps and clasped a hand down on his shoulder.

"Rumi," Gwi-ma started. "Did you know that the reason the rumours started was because Jinu once was on live and rambled about your hair for ten whole minutes."

Jinu stared up at the man in horror, "Gwi-ma no."

"Gwi-ma yes! Keep going," Mira said, snapping out of her shocked act at Rumi. Of course she'd already known they were together, but it was fun to pretend.

Zoey had also leaned forward on the table, phone out with the notes app open. "Yes Gwi-ma, give us more."

"Rumi?" The purple haired man said, looking over at the eager girls.

Rumi, also a traitor to her boyfriend, leaned forward as well, leaning on her elbows. "Please?"

Jinu shot her a betrayed look. In response Rumi just smiled innocently at him.

Gwi-ma grinned and the light left Jinu's eyes. "Jinu's had a crush on you since before they debuted."

"I KNEW IT," Baby shouted, slapping a hand against the table.

"Baby we knew this, we share an apartment with him," Mystery said quietly.

"I know, I just wanted to be dramatic," Baby whispered back.

Gwi-ma kept going, "He once dressed the cat up as you for Halloween, wig included."

Rumi's eyes sparkled, already imagining Derpy as a mini her.

"He has all of your photo cards."

"I expected that one," Zoey said, quickly typing on her phone.

"Even the limited edition ones," Gwi-ma added.

"Damn," was Mira's reply.

Gwi-ma lifted his free hand to his chin, pretending to think. "Hm what else? Jinu has a 80 slide long PowerPoint about how Rumi was crafted by the gods themselves and given to humanity as a gift. He also had another one dedicated solely to her different hair styles."

"How long is that one?" Bobby asked, sitting beside the girls, also invested in the Jinu shaming.

"60 slides."

"75," the Saja Boys corrected.

Gwi-ma just looks down at the black haired man concerned then went to open his mouth to continue.

"Wait, wait that's enough," Bobby said, waving his hands to snap them all out of it. He looked over at Rumi, barely sparing a glance to the embarrassed Jinu. "Of course we are very happy for you."

Bobby shot the Saja Boys a look and they all nodded in agreement, Gwi-ma included.

"And you can confirm the rumours yourselves, I call not dibs on that one," Bobby continued on. Zoey laughed and finished typing on her phone. Bobby peered over her shoulder at the words typed, "Send that to me."

"Of course!" Zoey agreed and took a screenshot.

Gwi-ma sighed and dropped into the seat beside Jinu.

Jinu looked terrified that the other man would open his mouth again and shifted in his seat closer to Abby.

Gwi-ma gave the girls a flat look, "Anyone else have any news to share with the class?"

Rumi, Mira and Bobby gave Zoey a quick look then looked back at Gwi-ma.

Gwi-ma raised an eyebrow, "Zoey?"

Zoey gave him a smile, "Mystery and I are also together."

The boys have Mystery wide mouthed looks, Gwi-ma just looked at Zoey with his eyes loosing light. "Zoey no, he barks." his voice was laced with concern.

Zoey grinned, "Yeah and?"

Mystery lent forward and gave Gwi-ma a look, "See Gwi-ma, barking works. it got me a girlfriend. You should try it sometime."

If looks could kill, Mystery would've been dead within seconds.

Abby glanced at Romance and Mira quickly then back at their resident bangs, "Really?" He was ignored.

Gwi-ma looked back at the girls, this time at Mira with desperation. "Mira, please tell me you haven't gotten with any of them either."

Mira tilted her head, considering. Gwi-ma let out a strangled sound.

"No," Mira said slowly. Gwi-ma let out a sigh of relief. She looked over at the two pink haired boys, "Not yet."

Gwi-ma's head dropped to the table with a thump.

Bobby looked around the table, "Ok so that's everything sorted. You all can confirm the couple rumours yourselves and that's us wrapped for the day, have a spa day or something. Go unwind."

"Bobby," Romance started, eyeing the short man with suspicion as the others stood up and made to leave. "You weren't shocked by any of this."

"Oh I already knew, the girls told me everything."

Gwi-ma's head shot up, "YOU KNEW AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?"

"Time for us to go folks," Bobby said hurriedly and shepherded the rest of the idols out of the room.

Gwi-ma and Jinu were the last ones in the room. Gwi-ma staring after the short man with betrayal and Jinu watching his manager with apprehension.

Finally Gwi-ma met Jinu's eyes, "I'm surprised you weren't the first one out."

"You aren't mad?" Jinu said quietly.

Gwi-ma looked at Jinu for a moment then gave him a smile and ruffled the younger man's hair, "No I'm happy for you, you actually did it."

Jinu beamed at him, not even caring that his hair was a mess now.

Gwi-ma continued on, "I'll finally be free from the PowerPoints."

"No actually," Jinu said, reaching into his pocket for his phone. "I started a new one and I want your opinion on which picture has better lighting and fits the vibe better for a cute girlfriend compilation."

Gwi-ma sighed but still looked at the numerous pictures Jinu showed him and gave his honest opinion on which pictures were better.

*

*

*

PLUS ONE

With the two groups doing regular interactions and becoming friends, most of the fans loved it. But of course there would always be the anti's that hated it.

Some Huntrix fans hated the Saja Boys and thought that the boys were using the Huntrix girls for fame and clout.

Some Saja Boys' fans absolutely hated Huntrix and truly believed that the girls were trying to seduce the boys. They believed they needed to save the boys from the 'sirens'.

One of the extreme Saja Boys fans was convinced that Jinu was her soulmate and when she saw the announcement that Jinu and Rumi were officially a couple, she lost it. She went and stalked the Huntrix girls and took to twitter in a storm.

She wasn't the only one.

Together as a whole, the Saesangs posted hundreds of hateful tweets about the girls, not just Rumi, all of them.

Together they also leaked tons of personal information, from the girls' personal phone numbers to random details about their choice of self-care brands.

Bobby for one, was livid and took to twitter in the girls defence. Calling out the leaked information and urging fans to shun the Saesangs that stalked his girls.

Gwi-ma was more silent about it, openly distasteful but staying silent on social media. As far as they knew anyway.

The Huntrix girls were all over the place, trying to frantically get new phone numbers and change everything that they barely had a minute to look at social media or see how things were going.

After two days they finally had everything sorted and all sank down onto the couch.

"This is a nightmare," Mira groaned, sinking further into the couch.

"At least we got our numbers changed, the ringing was driving me nuts," Zoey said, sinking into the couch beside the other girl.

"Oh yeah that's the stuff." Rumi sank into the couch beside them, well ready for a rare day of relaxation.

The trio sighed and closed their eyes, letting their heads fall back.

The door slammed open.

The trio shot up and saw an out of breath Romance at the door, "It's Bobby."

Relaxing day all forgotten the girls rushed towards the pink haired man.

"Bobby?"

"What's wrong?"

"Is he ok?"

Romance heaved, still very clearly out of breath, "It's awful, he's getting into a fight."

The three girls were stumped.

"Oh."

"I thought something had happened."

"Why'd you scare us like that?"

The trio went to turn around and go back to the couch, trusting Bobby to be able to handle his own in a Twitter fight.

"No!" Romance lunged forward and grabbed Mira's wrist. "A real fight, their meeting at the Lotte Mart Car Park."

The girls slowly turned around in shock.

"Bobby?"

"In a fight?"

"At Lotte Mart?"

The girls shared a look, completely ignoring Romance. "WE HAVE TO GO HELP BOBBY!"

They rushed back into the apartment and ran to their rooms to get ready.

Romance still stood at the entrance and he was very much confused. He'd come to them to get them to help stop Bobby, not help him in a fight!

As the girls got ready in their rooms, Romance was left with an impending sense of doom that he'd just made the whole thing a lot worse.

* * *

The girls were all suited up in leather, hair styled to perfection and eyeliner sharp enough to kill.

They were ready.

As one, they ran out of the building and dived into the back of a car. A driver already waiting on them.

"LOTTE MART."

"Sorry what was that?" The driver asked, suddenly very confused as to why three of the country's top idols had just stormed into his car clad in leather. He'd only signed up to be one of the personal taxi drivers for the Saja Boys, he wasn't trained to deal with Huntrix!

Romance slid into the front seat with a sigh, "Lotte Mart please."

"LOTTE MART, WE MUST HELP BOBBY."

Romance sighed again, "Please?"

The driver gave Romance a weary look, "As you wish."

He pulled off from the spot in front of the building to loud cheers from the backseat.

The driver, trained enough to deal with the Saja Boys, ignored the girls in the back and paid attention to the road.

Within minutes he pulled into the Lotte Mart car park and saw a large crowd forming.

"THANK YOU," the girls yelled and jumped out of the still moving car. "WE'RE COMING BOBBY!"

The crowd parted for them like the sea parted for Moana, a path forming for them down the middle which they sprinted down.

Romance gave the driver a tired look as he parked the car, "I'm so sorry for that, I had no idea they would react this way."

"All in the job," the driver replied like a liar, this was absolutely not in his job description.

Romance jumped out of the car and followed the path to the girls.

The girls sprinted down the middle of the crowd to cheers from fans, skidding to a stop once they reached the centre.

At the centre stood Bobby and who they assumed was a Saesang based on the look Bobby was giving them.

"Bobby we're here!"

"How can we help?"

"We believe in you!"

Bobby glanced over at the girls. He was also clad in leather just as they were. "Hey girls, just about to bust out some of my old moves here."

The crowd around them looked at each other in confusion.

The Huntrix girls grinned.

The Saesang gave Bobby a disgusted look, "You? Bust out some moves while looking like that?"

The girls growled and made to move forward at the Saesang.

Bobby held up a hand, "Not now girls, this is my fight. Remember Sharon, I was an idol. I chose to retire, you would've never even reached the audition."

The crowd ooh'd at that.

Bobby grinned and struck a pose, one hand pointing high into the air. "GIRLS, GIVE ME A BEAT!"

The girls grins widened. Zoey began beat-boxing while Rumi and Mira started to vocalise in the background.

The crowd gave some confused cheers.

Bobby immediately threw himself into a freestyle dance and song.

The crowd went mental.

* * *

In the intervention room, the layout was a lot different than normal.

Bobby and Gwi-ma were sat down at the table while the eight idols stood at the opposite side of the table, looking down at them disappointedly.

Or seven of them were wearing disappointed expressions, Jinu was beaming that the tables had finally turned.

Rumi tutted at them, shaking her head.

Mira crossed her arms and looked down at the two of them. "I can't believe you, Bobby, Bob-man, Bobert."

When Mira stopped, Rumi picked up the disappointment. "You went out and got yourself into a freestyle dance battle with a Saesang."

"Without consulting us first!" Zoey finished, slamming a hand down onto the table for dramatic effect.

Four of the Saja Boys (all of them bar Mystery) jumped and looked at the girls in mild fear.

Bobby hung his head in shame, "I'm so sorry girls."

"Damn right you should be," Mira replied, looking down her nose at the two.

Rumi shook her head again, "You didn't even tell us."

"And we had to find out from Romance!" Zoey slammed her hand down on the table again. "Ow, that hurts."

Immediately Mystery was fussing over her hand, "Are you ok, my queen?"

The other Saja Boys side eyed the man, but the other two Huntrix girls weren't done yet.

"We had just sat down," Mira said, disappointment dripping off of her words.

"And we had to rush over there!"

"Last minute."

Rumi gave Bobby sad eyes, "I thought we told each other everything Bobby."

Bobby's eyes watered as he looked up at them, "I am so sorry girls, I should've asked you to come along."

"Damn right."

"Absolutely."

"Remember to come get us next time."

Bobby gave them a watery smile, "Don't worry girls I will! This won't happen again!"

The three Huntrix girls leapt forward and encased Bobby in a four-way hug.

Gwi-ma watched in disbelief, "That's it? That's all you're mad about? That he didn't tell you?"

Rumi stuck her head up out of the cuddle pile, "We tell each other everything."

"Communication is key!" Zoey said, also sticking her head out of the pile.

"We don't have secrets," Mira's head said as it also popped out of the pile.

Bobby nodded, though that couldn't be seen as he was too short to lift his head out of the pile.

Gwi-ma went to open his mouth again but was interrupted by Jinu.

"No Gwi-ma you don't get an opinion, you caused the biggest problem!" Jinu said, pointing an accusing finger in Gwi-ma's face. He tried to look disappointed but couldn't wipe the huge smile off his face.

Gwi-ma crossed his arms, "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You got the Saesang' arrested!" Jinu exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table just as Zoey had. "Oh my god, that actually does hurt."

"I know right!" Zoey agreed.

Gwi-me held his head high, "They broke the law."

Abby joined Jinu in pointing an accusing finger, "The Saesangs' got doxxed!"

Gwi-ma feigned surprise, "Really? I wonder who would do that."

Baby's finger joined the gang, "You signed your tweets!"

Gwi-ma shrugged, "They doxxed the girls, I just gave them a taste of their own medicine."

Mystery's finger was the next to rise. "You tweeted 'Good Luck Bobby!' when he challenged the Saesangs' to the dance battle."

Gwi-ma crossed his arms, "I see no issue with that."

Romance was the final finger to rise into the air, "Now you have dating rumours with Bobby."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"WHAT?" came nine voices, the eight idols plus Bobby.

The three Huntrix girls looked down at the man in their cuddle pile.

"You'd tell us about this right?" Zoey whispered but was in fact heard by the entire room.

Bobby whispered back and was heard by the entire room, "This is the first I'm hearing about it."

The Huntrix girls looked up and saw the Saja Boys going through the different varieties of shock.

Jinu's jaw was on the ground yet he gathered himself together first. "And you said I was bad!"

"Jinu, you were bad. You had PowerPoints," Gwi-ma pointed out.

"Ok, maybe I did. But you taught me how to make them!"

"They are an efficient way to display information."

"AND YOU SAID I WAS EXTRA!"

"You are extra Jinu, it's a fact."

"I GOT IT FROM YOU."

"I know you did, that's what I mean. I'm extra but at least I'm quiet about it."

The other eight were watching the two go back and forth.

Mira leaned over to Abby and Romance, still half in the cuddle pile. "Are they actually related? I thought they just looked similar."

Romance replied, "We don't know yet."

"We haven't got DNA from Gwi-ma yet to get them tested," Baby whispered, sticking his head over Abby's shoulder.

Jinu and Gwi-ma stopped arguing to turn around to face them.

"You have my DNA?" Jinu asked.

"Yup," Baby said, nodding.

"We have your hair, blood, skin cells and a urine sample," Mystery said, counting them off on his fingers.

"We might have to throw the last one out and get a new sample. It's getting a bit old," Baby commented, looking down at Mystery's hand.

Mystery agreed and put a finger back down.

Jinu looked at them in horror.

Gwi-ma was also looking at them in horror but by now they were all used to it. So they just ignored the older man who was potentially Jinu's father. Now they they actually thought about it, the two did look similar.

Jinu gaped at them like a fish as they inched towards the door.

"WHEN WAS THIS?" Jinu screeched.

"Time to go!" The seven idols plus Bobby fled out the door, running away into the twisting corridors of the building. All of them laughing as they ran.