"Damn girl, what are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Are you really one to talk, Hana-yah?"

"... Nope."

For the past week, Dalnim have come to the gym 4:30 in the morning so to avoid any presses. The scandal really did make an affect on her life to the point that it's hard to do her normal everyday tasks. But she decided it's best to just dedicate her time exercising and perfecting her skills for the upcoming volleyball competition.

She went far and beyond with her regimen. Using the gym's own equipment, she heightened her workouts so to strengthen her muscles, so to become stronger than before. Increase on her stamina, work on her agility, perfect her techniques. As well as doing the strenuous physical work, she pondered useable game plays in her head, hoping to use certain formations and new techniques with her teammates. Everything just has to be golden by the time competition finally comes around and they can qualify for the Olympics, the life-long dream.

No such gossip was going to refrain her from doing what she became famous for. Plus, it was the best distraction for the time being.

And plus-plus, going to the gym so early in the morning gives her less a chance of crashing into Young Gi outside her apartment.

"Do you want to practice passing with me for a bit, Hana-yah?" Dalnim suggested as she met the other at the bench to take a swig from her water bottle. She tossed the volleyball she had been practicing with into Hana's hands, just urging her.

Hana glimpsed back and forth between the ball and the girl, before a smug smirk tugged at her lips. "Sure, on one condition." Dalnim perked an eyebrow at the sudden request but gestured for her to tell her with a nod. "Call me unnie, just like you used to!"

Dalnim scoffed with a laugh. "Unnie? We're the same age though."

"What? That didn't stop you before," Hana responded with a pout to her lips. "It was so rude that you suddenly dropped it. I'm still basically your senior since I've been on this team far longer than you have, and after all, I am older than you."

"Yah, you're only like four months older!" With a roll of her eyes, Dalnim snatched the ball from Hana's very hands. "Fine, but I'm not calling you unnie all the time. I just really need a practice partner right now."

"Uh huh."

A sigh left her lips. "C'mon unnie, let's go practice."

"Alright."

The two girls practiced hard together until more of their teammates began filing into the gym. Eventually, the whole team began doing their daily routines and worked out altogether. It wasn't until a couple hours later, Coach Seon had called Dalnim for a private meeting. The well-known athlete knew what was to come, her coach had been working hard behind the scenes to deal with the scandal. It was about time they did something about it.

Dalnim hurried into the coach's office after taking a much needed water break. She halted at the doorway when she spotted a familiar back of a head. The male turned around and once meeting her eyes, he continued to stare at the tiled floor. "Oh, Dalnim, go on in," Coach Seon chimed from behind, patting the young woman's shoulder.

"Why is he here?" Dalnim asked, clearly not ready to see Young Gi so soon.

"Because this concerns him."

Her coach lead her further inside and had her sit down in the empty chair right to the young male's left. Dalnim made sure to turn her body slightly away, so to have less of him in her peripheral view. Sure, she was acting like a child having her stubborn tantrum, but then again, he did spark the scandal.

Coach Seon sat into her own seat behind the desk and glanced back and forth between her son and her prized athlete. Just how did this all come to this? "I did a lot of meetings and discussions about the current matter in hand." The older woman looked solely on Dalnim, her gaze suddenly solemn. "We're going to have a meeting at S.M. Entertainment in the afternoon tomorrow, you and me. But, I would like to make one point... I want them to completely regard my son's matter and make him not responsible for the situation."

Dalnim hung her head as she thought about it. She wasn't surprised that her coach made the request, after all, Young Gi was her only son. Also, Young Gi had been her best friend since the beginning of her college years. They had been through so much together. The effort and the commitment they had thrown into their friendship was far more than what most would expect. She despised Young Gi for this happening, but then again, a lot of people are blinded from reality in the name of love.

"I agree," Dalnim murmured. The Seons gawked at her in surprise, not quite expecting such an answer right away. "Hopefully, we'll be able to wipe his identity from the media."

Coach Seon beamed at the pleasing response, nodding along. "Yes! I'm really happy you agree, thank you."

"Yeah, thank you, Dalnim-ah," Young Gi murmured from the side.

"You're welcome, coach."

After a few more words exchanged about the meeting the next day, an idea came to mind for Dalnim and the more she pondered about it, she wanted to go with it. "Coach, would it be okay if Hana joined us?"

A look of bewilderment crossed the older woman's face. "Hana? For what reason?"

"I mean, she's been through similar predicaments so it'd be nice to have her support or something," Dalnim uttered.

"Who am I to say no? But, as long as she agrees to it, though," Coach Seon replied. "Do you want me to ask her about it?"

The athlete waved her hand. "No, it's okay. I'll ask her about it myself. Shall I go back to practice?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll come by tomorrow to pick you up, you better be ready by 11, alright?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

All three rose from their seats to leave. Coach Seon and Young Gi fell into conversation, which Dalnim guessed was her cue to leave. However, she barely made it out the door before her name was called by the particular someone she'd rather not talk to.

She stopped to look back at the male nurse with an unamused expression. Young Gi froze at the cold look but that didn't stop him from asking. "Dalnim, how have you been?"

Dalnim nearly let out a boisterous laugh at the ridiculous question. This boy should know how much she had been struggling the past week, her privacy little to nothing. The tan lad must've seen the flock of reporters outside the gate of their gym, people ready to attack anyone who would enter or exit the building. Never had she thought she would experience such craziness to an extreme that she needed to change her comfortable schedule to avoid the annoyances.

"How do you think I am?" she shot back at him, the irritation obvious in her tone.

"I'm guessing not great."

"No, not at all."

"I'm really sorry."

"You sure?"

Young Gi flinched back from the harsh words, his eyes averting away. "I am, I really am. I'm guilty for everything that happened to you and this scandal was the last thing I wanted to happen. I just... didn't want to lose you." An awkward silence followed after between the two. Dalnim couldn't help but stare the male down.

She knew he felt horrible, and in a pit of her gut, she knew she missed him. The lack of having her best friend every single day really did take a toll on her. It wasn't like Young Gi ever treated her badly, the only times he acted out of character, it was usually for a good reason. This scandal was far more than she would expect from him but she just wasn't sure she wanted to cut off any ties with Seon Young Gi.

"Young Gi, I would like for you to refrain from talking to me for a while," the raven haired girl told him. "Honestly, you're the last person I want to see and that'll probably be the case for a while. For now, I'd like for us to just focus on our work and not see each other unless it's necessary. Once this whole thing blows over, then maybe I'm okay with at least talking to you. That sound plausible?"

The man could only sheepishly nod his head, lips pursed with his subtle hurt. "Yeah, sounds plausible. But whatever happens... I just hope you'll be happy and that Chanyeol won't ever hurt you." With one last strained smile, he slipped past Dalnim and left.

She glanced over to her saddened coach who she knew had listened into their conversation. Unintentional but only because they were blocking the exit out and thus had to wait for the two younger to finish talking. Coach Seon nodded for her to go on to practice and that everything will be fine.

And so, Dalnim hurried back to the courts to her teammates, quickly falling back into the physically strenuous routine.

~ * ~ Next Day ~ * ~

Dalnim was picked up by Coach Seon at her apartment complex around 10:30 in the morning. Inside the car, Hana already sat, bearing her a welcoming grin. The less experienced girl was surprised that her unnie had agreed to tag along with her and their coach to the S.M. meeting.

Hana was even more surprised that she was asked, however was very much touched that Dalnim would want to bring her for support. Dalnim could've requested Yeon Kyun, Tae Ri, or even Hye Rin to accompany her, but instead it was Hana. She wasn't going to admit it, but it made her happy, and finally it felt like they were back to the kind of friendship they had before.

The car ride to the S.M. Entertainment building took a while to arrive to, the traffic of the day unexpectedly worse than usual. Once the three women have parked their car in the parking lot a adviser had told Coach Seon the day before, they all made their way into the building, only to be stopped by a younger woman, possibly 20 or 21. The bespectacled blonde bared a cutesy smile as she handed them badges for them to wear.

"Hello, Miss Yoon, Mrs. Seon, and Miss Hwang, I was told to bring you up to the meeting room for today," she chimed, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I'm Jeong Rin and I will be assisting you today."

"Omo? You're so young to work here," Hana uttered out, the curiosity getting the best of her.

"I'm mostly here for internship," Rin replied. She held out her hand, gesturing towards the elevator. "Shall we go? The meeting is on the third floor." The three trailed after the shorter girl into the elevator, up onto their designated floor, as well as walking over to the correct room. "Water is provided inside, if you're thirsty. We are still waiting on a few people to arrive, but please go on in, the meeting will start soon."

Rin held the door open for the three, and once they entered the room, she cautiously closed the door. Inside, a few people were already sitting about, all eyes on them.

"Hello, thank you for having us today," Coach Seon greeted, followed with a bow from all three of them. They went over to sit to one side of the long table, Coach Seon sitting in the middle. The three of them chatted to themselves to make sure they knew what to say or not say for the meeting.

An air of nervous hovered the women, but of course, the main star of the media felt like her insides were twisting. Dalnim didn't want any complications to happen. Hopefully they'll be able to save Young Gi's name, hopefully they'll be able to fix this mishap, and hopefully they won't ask her to stop dating Chanyeol. Today can end in a variety of ways and that's what was bothering her the most. What might she lose today?

More people filled into the room and Dalnim nearly paid no attention until she noticed the recognizable tall figure. She jolted up straight in her seat, eyes glued on the male in casual wear. She continued to stare right until he took the unoccupied chair besides her. "What? You look a bit starstruck, NimNim."

Dalnim pouted at the man. "I didn't know you were going to be in this meeting. Aren't you too busy?"

"We were doing some preparations for the upcoming shows. Nothing I don't know already," Chanyeol murmured. He then bared a greeting to everyone in the room as well as Coach Seon and Hana, who only greeted back just as kindly.

Under the table, he intertwined their fingers together, in which instinctively, Dalnim nearly flinched back from. "What are you doing?" She whispered at him. "Shouldn't we admit we're dating?"

"They already know."

"What?"

Chanyeol leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss to her cheek, instantly getting her flustered. "They already know," he replied with a smirk. "Me and the boys had a meeting months ago about how our schedule will be for the new year. And since it being our fourth year, we're able to date freely, thus me telling them that I was planning on dating you the moment I get the chance."

How many more surprises can this boy throw at her?

"You did not."

"Oh, but I did!"

"How can you even full out say something like that?" Dalnim murmured, her free hand touching her warm cheeks. "What if I rejected you?"

"And how can you say that to someone you claim you love?"

"You're unbelievable."

Soon enough, the meeting had commenced. Dalnim's nervousness wasn't too bad now that Chanyeol was with her. The comforting warmth of his hand on hers was enough to keep her calm and collected.

Dalnim wasn't quite sure who the people talking were, but she could sense the professional vibe oozing from each of them. If anything, her, Chanyeol, Coach Seon, and Hana seemed too underdressed for such a meeting. And each held a stoic gaze to not give off any biased emotions. It was a bit off-putting.

"Alright, first things first, we should confirm what is correct or not, whether we have knowledge of it or not," one woman by the name, Kim Hyunsoo, announced. Her eyes trailed onto the very couple. "You two are, in fact, dating? We need to make this clear now before we continue."

Simultaneously, Dalnim and Chanyeol chimed with a confident yes.

"Wonderful, congrats," she beamed at the two. The woman lead onto the photographic evidence of the couple interacting in public. With their sneaked pictures displayed on the screen was a bit uncomfortable to bear, since it was proof that people were following after them. How unbelievably disgusting. "I mean, it's obvious on how you two are close but it's the matter on how people interpret the pictures. There also goes the matter of Dalnim supposedly dating another man."

Eyes casted down onto the table before her. Just the indirect mention of Young Gi pained Dalnim. "There's also the insider from that one mall who claimed the relationship to be true," Mrs. Kim continued. "The article may be from one place, but other gossip websites have taken notice of it. It's only this grand of a scandal because Park Chanyeol is in the picture and the public hasn't heard an official claim from Yoon Dalnim herself. A matter like this should eventually fade under the other gossip that comes around, but we have ideas to help with the dilemma."

"Such as?" Coach Seon gestured on.

"Well, we can't use the mall person as she was just someone who believed what was true, but maybe from the source of the scandal himself, he can claim the relationship as false," Mrs. Kim suggested.

"I'm sorry, but I would prefer it if he stays out of the media," Dalnim piped up, making sure everyone to hear her opinion. "That might be the easiest day to deal with something like this but Seon Young Gi isn't one to deal with such attention... Plus, he's someone I care deeply about."

Mrs. Kim nodded with pursed lips. "I see, well we do have other ideas, then."

The meeting went on for a couple hours, discussing the game plan to fix the mess. The people have mentioned that if this scandal didn't happen, they would've dropped hints to the media themselves and make the big reveal about the relationship in the near future. However, that might be prolonged or altered as of now.

Ideas consisted of paying gossip websites to clarify the matter in hand and set it straight that Dalnim wasn't dating Young Gi. But how far could such go? Other people in the room had claimed for the idea to not be effective enough.

One person had the audacity to suggest that they confess to not dating, an idea shot down instantly by the couple and a few others.

Then came the decision they do an interview with a reliable magazine that the majority of South Korea gets their celebrity information from. The executives described that they will give the editors of the magazine a script on what to ask the idol and the athlete. Ultimately, the new article with the details of their past together will overshadow the scandal. And even from that interview, they could confirm the relationship they share.

That was the best choice.

And with that said, the meeting finally ended, leaving Dalnim unsure as she was since it began.

"Dalnim..." The girl glanced up at her boyfriend, snapping out of her daze. "We got this, okay? It'll take time but it'll all be settled one day. Honestly, I'm just happy that I'm guaranteed to see you again soon for that interview." Dalnim couldn't help but smile at that fact. Their schedules were contradicting enough, but at least there was this little sliver of time to be together, even if it were for business.

It'll be fine.

As long as I have Chanyeol, I can do this.

We can do this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: I apologize for a not so exciting chapter. Next will be more appealing (hopefully)! I promise it's leading into something. :)

And those who are reading Unfair, I will get around to planning on what I want in that next chapter.

But I'm going to work on my anime story first and maybe another part to Liberosis and then I'll get into the nitty and gritty to #baekedpotato.