“Yes,” I say slowly. “Our mutual friends connected us. But we were just friends at that point. Our relationship didn’t turn romantic until later.” I’m not quite sure why I feel the need to clarify this, especially since the look on Jiyoon’s face clearly indicates that it doesn’t make a difference. “But anyway, I wasn’t with him last night,” I say quickly, changing the topic. “I was with my family. Actually, I have something important to share with you all.” Here we go. “I’m moving out of the villa and back home with my family. I know this might seem sudden, but my parents recently got a place really close to here, and they had a room prepared for me and everything. It won’t affect my commitment to the group or to any DB activities at all. In fact, I think it will help! It’ll be like a fresh reset.” I’m so nervous, I’m rambling. I clamp my lips together and smile meekly. “So what do you think?”

There’s a moment of stunned, awkward silence.

Finally Jiyoon clears her throat. “Wow. You’re lucky your family’s so close,” she says with a hint of envy. “That must be nice to have the option to live with them.”

“I wouldn’t mind living with my family too, to be honest,” Youngeun adds. “That’ll be a nice change for you, Rachel.”

I nod, grateful for Youngeun’s levelheadedness. I start to head to my room, but before I can take even one step—

“Can we go back to the boyfriend, though?” Sunhee says. “What’s he like? Do you have a photo?”

So close.

“He’s really sweet and kind,” I say hesitantly. It feels weird talking about Alex right on the heels of Eunji and Geonwu’s scandal. From the pinched expression on Eunji’s face, I can tell it’s still a sore spot for her. I deflect the rest of the conversation. “I don’t have many photos, though. We are long distance, after all.”

“Well, congratulations, Rachel,” Mina says with a smile. “On the relationship and the move. That’s a lot of big life things happening for you.”

“Thanks, Mina,” I say slowly. She doesn’t say anything more, but I can’t help but feel uneasy. All things considered, they took my news about the move really well. But the unexpected reveal about Alex has me on edge. The girls wouldn’t out my relationship, would they? I suspect that more than one of the girls has a secret boyfriend of her own. Lizzie and Sumin were looking particularly worried when Eunji and Geonwu were exposed. They wouldn’t want more members of Girls Forever under the media spotlight for secretly dating, would they? That would only draw unwanted attention to themselves.