One of the best - and worst - parts of Rose's job was that she got to see behind the scenes. For a fan of the group that meant a lot of spoilers. The day she walked into Stray Kids' practice room and saw them rehearsing for their World Tour was one of those days. The bags of drinks and snacks she had brought slipped out of her hands at the sight before her. Luckily nothing was spilt, and she quickly bent down to pick everything up before the boys noticed.

"Noona!"

"Food!"

Felix and Changbin were the first the run over to Rose, closely followed by Jisung and Jeongin. Felix linked his arm with hers while Changbin took the bags and started taking out the food.

"Yah! Thank her first, you animals!"

Felix giggled next to her at the pout on Changbin's face from being told off by their leader.

"Thank you for the food, Rosie-Noona."

"You're welcome, Binnie."

She smiled fondly as the rapper smiled at her with his cheeks puffed out full of food.

By now everyone had joined them around the table at the back of the room where Changbin had spread out the containers of fruit and bottles of drink. Chan spotted on the other side of Rose to Felix and rubbed the back of his head while smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry about them."

"You don't think I've been ignored in favour of food before?"

"No one should ignore, Noona."

Rose ruffled Felix's hair in thanks, making the dancer crinkle his nose in delight.

"So... was that - are you doing an OT8 version of Red Lights?"

"You saw that? Yeah, what did you think?"

"I think STAY are going to die... happy."

Her heart warmed as Chan burst out into laughter.

"Wah! Seungmin, no!"

Changbin's shouts were mostly ignored by the group as if they were a common occurrence, but Rose looked over.

"He keeps stealing my fruit!"

Seungmin leaned over and ate the piece of fruit direct off the fork that the rapper was holding.

"See! Did you see that, Noona!"

"What? I didn't see anything. You should really stop being so mean to Seungmin, Changbinnie."

"But - But - Rosie-Noona!"

The younger boys laughed at Changbin's expression of dismay before teasing him that he should be nicer to them.

"Lixie, I have an idea for the choreography!"

Hyunjin jumped on Felix who was still holding onto Rose's arm and so almost knocked her over in the process. Chan caught her as she stumbled backwards, wrapping an arm around her protectively and pulled her into his side and out of the path of his overly exuberant teammates.

"Thank you."

"They should be more careful."

"They're fine. I'm not that fragile."

Chan frowned slightly but changed the subject.

"Where are you assigned this afternoon?"

"I'm accompanying Minho to Music Core."

"They asked you to go with him?"

"Actually, I volunteered. I - I was hoping we could spend some time together."

Chan glanced over at the others before turning his back so that he was between her and the others. Removing his arm from her back, he gently held her upper arm.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? Minho hasn't exactly been..."

"Welcoming? I had noticed, but that's exactly why I asked. I want us to get along. I want him to like me."

"I want that too, but -"

"But what? Do you think something bad is going to happen?"

"Of course not! Minho is a great guy. I don't know why he's been acting so strange with you."

Her soulmate looked so sad, that Rose couldn't resist the urge to comfort him. She rested her hand on his chest.

"He's protective of you. I'm a stranger that's suddenly integrated themselves into your life and his. But once he gets to know me..."

"He'll l-like you too, just like the rest of us do."

Chan stuttered on the word 'like', almost saying something else instead and then overcompensated by making it sound as if his feelings for her were the same as everyone else's. Rose felt a little twinge in her heart at what to her was a reminder that they were nothing more than friends and her hand fell back to her side.

Stepping away from her soulmate, Rose grabbed her bag which had been put to the side earlier.

"Minho. It's time to go to your next schedule."

The dancer looked her way at the sound of his name and stared at her for a minute. For a moment, Rose thought he was going to refuse, but then he nodded and went to gather his things. This was a typical interaction for them. Minho was never openly rude to her but instead tended to pretend that she didn't exist.

Putting her game face on, Rose opened the door and followed behind the Idol as they walked through the building to the garage and got in the car.

"I got you your favourite drink."

She almost winced at hearing herself. It sounded as if she was sucking up to him, which in a way she was, but Rose knew that Minho wouldn't respond positively to such actions. He spent the car journey on his phone, and she appreciated the fact that he was on his way to a job and probably needed to get into the right headspace. On the way home, she would talk to him.

It turned out there wasn't a lot for Rose to do at Music Core. She went over the boys' schedule for the next few days while Minho got ready to MC. He was waiting to be called when she noticed that his shoulder strap was twisted. She walked over to him and reached out to fix it. Rose stepped back when Minho violently flinched away from her.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm sorry... Your top is twisted."

Rose pointed to her own shoulder before walking out of the room.

Minho watched her leave before letting out a sigh. Leaning his hands on the table in front of the mirror, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He hated how casually she touched the other members and hadn't wanted her to be so familiar with him as well, but he regretted reacting so strongly. After all, he had promised Jisung he would at least try and play nice with Chan's soulmate. Before he was called away to start the show, he told himself he would talk to Rose on their way home.

While Minho was MCing, Rose wandered around for a while before discovering a back door and going outside for some fresh air. Leaning back against the wall of the building she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Hearing a sound, Rose's eyes snapped open. Not far away were three girls who were staring at her and whispering. They were obviously fans.

"This is a restricted area. No fans allowed."

"Who are you?"

"I'm a member of staff. Now, please leave before I call security."

"I recognise you. You got out of Minho's car earlier."

Rose glanced nervously at the girls who were walking closer to her. Her old job had never included riding to a location with the Idols, so she was never seen with them. Now she was kicking herself for forgetting to wear a mask earlier. She had heard stories of sasaeng fans and wondered if she could make it to the door before they reached her.

A hand grabbed her arm before she had taken more than a few steps and Rose was flung against the wall. Her vision blurred as she banged her head and then was shaken.

"Who gives you the right to be so close to them? Minho is mine!"

She dropped down to the ground as something hit her in the stomach and gasped for breath.

"Stay away from them!"

Seeing one of their hands aiming for her face, Rose barely had time to raise her arms over her head before she felt the girl's nails scratch her skin. She stayed tucked up in a ball as they continued to hit and threaten her. Until suddenly they stopped.

Slowly, Rose uncurled herself, and when she couldn't see them, she tried to stand up wincing in pain and grabbing her side. She was taking stock of her injuries when she saw the girls return with cups of liquid. Knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid it, she threw up her arms, closed her eyes and waited for impact.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes only to meet Minho's. The Idol was standing in front of her, covering her body with his own, and Rose could see droplets of liquid running from his hair and over his shoulders. Somehow, he had found her and protected her from the sasaengs' last attack.

Recent events caught up with her and Rose started to slide back down the wall, her legs struggling to hold her up. Minho reached out and grabbed her arms to hold her up.

"Whoa! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Just a few scratches."

"Oh, really?"

The dancer let go of his grip on her arms and Rose almost collapsed. Minho touched her side when he caught her, and she cried out in pain. Adjusting his grip, he frowned in thought as the security guard he had come out with approached him.

"Mr Lee. I'm sorry, but they ran away. We lost them."

"Can you open the door for me?"

Minho scooped Rose into his arms and carried her inside. When they reached his dressing room, he placed her on a chair before getting his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. He ignored her protests that he was the one who needed the jacket since his clothes were wet.

A staff member fetched him a first aid kit and Minho tended to the scrapes on her elbows and hands. He also gave her some pills for her headache. Rose sat quietly and let him do this. It felt nice to be the one being taken care of for once.

Carefully, he helped her into the car.

"We'll take you home."

"No! I - I don't want to be alone."

"You live alone?"

"Yes. Just take me back to the company. I've got work to do anyway."

"Rose, you need to rest. Do you want me to call Chan-Hyung for you?"

"No! There's no need to worry him."

"He's your soulmate. He should know that -"

"I'm fine. He's busy working. There's no need to disturb him. Please."

"Fine, but you're coming home with me. You can have my bed."

"What? No -"

"It's that or I call Chan-Hyung?"

"But - I can't take your bed. I'll sleep on the -"

"I'm dialling..."

"Okay. Okay. I'll do as you say. Happy?"

"Ecstatic."