For the first time, Chan didn't know how to talk to his group. Introducing his soulmate was not only personal to him, but as much as he might wish it wouldn't, it was also going to affect the whole group. He wasn't sure how they were going to react. Changbin was someone who tended to go with the flow and Felix had gotten to know her before finding out their connection. However, the other members were more prone to dramatics.

As Rose stood in the practice room beside her soulmate and in front of seven other Idols, it seemed as though the day she had been waiting for had arrived. Here she was with her soulmate, with the boys who were like family to him, and all she hoped was that they accepted her into their lives. She knew that without their blessing, then her relationship with Chan was going to be difficult, or non-existent.

Sensing her soulmate's struggle to start what they both knew was going to be a surprising conversation for the other Idols, Rose began by introducing herself.

"Hello, I'm Rose and I am your new assistant. If you need anything just let me know. Please look after me."

After bowing she waited for Chan to say something while the other boys greeted her back.

"I - There's something important I need to tell you all."

Minho, who hadn't really been paying attention and instead was doing some stretches to get ready for their last day of rehearsals, suddenly looked at Chan. Rose noticed as his eyes focused on the leader, obviously sensing that what Chan was about to say was important.

The other members just looked a little surprised, apart from Changbin and Felix who must have known what was about to happen. Rose glanced over at her soulmate out of the corner of her eye. He was tense as if he was forcing the words out of himself.

"Rose is my soulmate."

Hyunjin's face flew up to cover his mouth as he gasped, his eyes wide. He started to jump up and down while pointing at the couple with his other hand but ended up tripping and then staggered a bit before finding his balance.

"I knew it! I knew something was going on!"

Jisung's jaw dropped as he stared at his leader, then he turned to Minho as if to say, 'can you believe this?' The dancer was keeping his thoughts to himself as he studied the pair in front of him silently. He could sense an underlying tension between the soulmates, and it made him wary of Rose.

"Congratulations, Hyung! Welcome to the team, Noona!"

Changbin walked up to Chan and gave him a pat on the back and then smiled at Rose.

"Noona! You didn't tell me the job was working with Stray Kids! This is so great!"

A beaming Felix bounced in front of the two soulmates. He'd had a lot of time to get used to the idea, but he was happy that his closest Hyung had found his soulmate and the younger Aussie was glad that it was Rose. He knew Rose would be good for Chan.

"We've met you before..."

Jeongin had his head tilted to the side as he tried to figure out where he had seen Rose before. Seungmin stepped forwards.

"At the fan meeting. Have you known since then, Hyung?"

Chan shifted uncomfortably at the reminder that he had met his soulmate over a month ago and was only just saying something now.

"Yes, but we only talked properly yesterday, so this is still very new."

Why didn't you say anything back then?

Everyone was thinking the same thing, but none of them voiced the question out loud. They knew their leader must have his reasons and if he wanted them to know then he would tell them.

"What a coincidence."

"Minho-Hyung?"

"Isn't it a coincidence that the fan Changbin invited backstage just happened to be one of our soulmates."

"It's like something out of a drama!"

"The work of fate."

"How romantic..."

The four in the room that knew it was thanks to someone's plan, rather than luck or destiny, stayed quiet.

"The magic of soulmates bringing people together."

"So, Rose, tell us about yourself. How do you know Changbin-Hyung?"

"And Felix!"

"Well, I used to work with ATEEZ and I was dropping off some things at their apartment when Changbin and Felix were visiting."

"Wooyoungie invited Noona for dinner without telling her that he had guests. She was a little star-struck!"

"Yah! I walked into a room full of Idols that I had only seen from afar before with no warning! Anyone would've reacted the same way."

"It's okay, Noona. We don't mind if you fangirl over us."

Felix grinned cheekily at her.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of that when the new album drops tomorrow."

"Speaking of, we should get back to work."

Before they could move, it seemed one of the members still had questions for Rose.

"Why don't you work for ATEEZ anymore?"

"Minho -"

"Their company fired me when they found out my soulmate worked at a rival company."

"Really!"

"Oh no, that's so sad!"

"So, you got a job working with your soulmate instead."

Chan didn't like Minho's line of questioning, so he stepped closer to Rose and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Rose got a job here because she is highly skilled, and we needed someone to help out during our comeback. We are lucky to have her on our team."

Rose was so focused on the feeling of her soulmate's hand resting on her shoulder that she almost missed what he said. She glanced over at him in surprise. When he met her gaze, she could see the sincerity in his eyes. The whole interaction confused her, and she stepped away, letting Chan's hand fall away.

"Well, I'm going to meet the rest of your team, but before I go, do you guys need anything?"

There was a moment of silence while each of them waited to see if anyone spoke up.

"No, thank you, Rose."

"Alrighty. See you guys later then."

"Bye, Noona!"

All eight of them watched as she left the room.

"I can't believe Rose-Noona is working with us! She was so sad after having to leave ATEEZ, I hope that she's happy here."

Changbin patted Felix on the head.

"I'm sure she will be. She's a part of the team now. Right, Hyung?"

"That's right. Does anyone else want to say something before we start rehearsals?"

"Since she's your soulmate, do we all get to call Rose, Noona?"

While some of the boys chuckled at Jisung's question, Minho scoffed, making Chan frown.

"What is it, Minho?"

"Your soulmate seems to be hiding something and I was just wondering whether you knew what it was."

The air in the room turned tense at the dancer's words. Chan and Changbin were thinking about their theory that Rose had known she was the leader's soulmate for a few years already. Seungmin was inwardly agreeing with Minho that there was something either Rose or Chan wasn't telling them but was content that if they needed to know then Chan would tell them.

Felix stepped towards Minho with his hands on his hips and an angry look on his face.

"What exactly are you accusing Rose-Noona of, Minho-Hyung?"

The rest of the group was shocked by the tone of Felix's voice. When he wasn't performing, he was always their sweet, happy fairy. They rarely ever saw him angry.

Minho stared at the younger dancer for a moment. He found it interesting how protective Felix was of Rose and wondered if it was just because she was Chan's soulmate or something else. He took a step back with his hands raised in surrender.

"Nothing. Nothing. I guess I'll need to spend some time getting to know your Rose-Noona, Felix."

"Right... Is it okay with everyone if we start working now? Yes? Great! 24 hours until comeback guys. Let's go!"

The next day Rose was on standby backstage for Stray Kids' comeback performance. Everyone was in their stage outfits and the stylists and makeup artists were adding the finishing touches. Rose helped out wherever she was needed, fetching items for the staff and Idols, and fixing smudges and stray hairs.

"Did you enjoy your first day, Noona?"

"You're about to have a comeback and you're asking me how my first day at work was?"

"Yes. Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I?"

Because you have more important things to worry about?

"I got to spend the day looking after my Lixie. Of course, I enjoyed it."

"Noona!"

"You're so cute! Are you ready?"

"Yeah. I just wish I could dance."

"Things happen, it's unavoidable, and no one's fault. Just do your best."

"Thanks, Noona."

Felix pulled at the hem of his top.

"Is your outfit uncomfortable?"

"What? No. It's fine, Noona. I'm not dancing much in it anyway."

Rose examined the clothing, adjusting it to sit more comfortably.

"I hate it when Idols are put in outfits that aren't suitable for dancing in. I know you've got to look good, but still, it's stupid if you can't dance your best."

When she stopped fiddling with his outfit, Rose noticed that Felix was smiling at her.

"What?"

"It's nice, how much you care, Noona."

"As much as it warms my heart to hear that, it also worries me that you don't think your staff cares about you."

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! But they're not like you, Noona."

"Well, I am your friend, so that does make me special. I'm going to check on everyone else, okay?"

Felix smiled and nodded, watching as Rose went around the room to check that the other members' outfits were comfortable.

There wasn't much she could do without the stylists' approval, but the rest of the boys assured her that they were comfortable with their outfits. Although, when she pressured a few of them, Jeongin admitted to being tickled by a stray thread and Seungmin had a strap that was done up a little too tight.

However, when she reached Minho, Rose hesitated to approach him. She hadn't been blind to his not exactly welcoming attitude towards her yesterday. Instead, she studied his outfit from a distance. She knew that as the main dancer, he would typically be more forcefully with his movements, meaning that his outfit needs to be able to withstand that.

Minho's outfit consisted of a short jacket with a belt around his waist. The belt didn't look too tight which was good, but Rose noticed that it was loose, there were no belt loops to hold it in place. When she approached a stylist to raise her concern, she was rebuffed with the reply that she was not a stylist and the outfit had been fine in rehearsal.

But they don't dance full out in rehearsal...

As Rose watched their performance on the screen in the dressing room, she noticed as Minho's top kept riding up above the belt. In pauses, he would pull it back down and once he tried pulling it over the belt, but it must have been more uncomfortable to have the belt against his skin as the first chance he got it tucket the top back underneath it.

It was painful to watch, and Rose swore that she would work harder so that nothing like this ever happened to her boys again.