CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
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We broke up. I don’t know how, I don’t know why… but we broke up.
Meanwhile, BTS got back from their Map of the Soul tour in the states. Namjoon had his heart set on Maeve, one of the oldest members. Of course, he met her in Italy, when she was about seventeen.
They would go out non-stop. It was as if fate couldn’t bear to separate them.
When he and BTS came to the states in 2018, he pulled Maeve to a very pretty tree close to the boys’ hotel, and kissed her. Now, he is thinking about marrying her in a few more years. And Maeve was really looking forward to it.
But what does this have to do with me and Jake? I’d tell you…but I’m not ready yet.
Jin met Leila when they first debut. But they didn’t begin dating at that very moment. They were only good friends. And even good friends begin to fall in love, right?
But Erika and Jungkook’s relationship began right from the start, before BTS’s debut. Erika was like any other teenager from Australia, and Jungkook was a trainee under BigHit Entertainment. Once Jungkook graduated from high school, he and Erika were inseparable. They never had a break-up experiance.
But I did.
It was while I was jogging at a park near HYBE. I was anguished. That was because Jake and I had a dispute. In the public eye. At a red carpet event. And you’re probably wondering how we even came to this. That is a long story.
I was visiting Jake in HYBE Building. But he looked as though he didn’t want to see me.
“Hey there!” I said, cheerfully.
“Hey…” Jake said, in a monotone voice.
I was confused. He was usually so cheerful to me. Now, it was as if…he didn’t want to see me.. His eyes were all saddened and frowning…as if…he wanted to break up with me. But as I observed the room slightly, I noticed I might have interrupted his V-Live.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
But then, he closed the door in my face. That time, my heart sunk. I then stayed close, hoping that I would see Jake again (and have him explain why he was not up to even seeing me today). However, he didn’t bother to come back out. I peaked through the door again…and he was STILL doing his live. It had been over an hour already and he would rather be in a boring live than to hang out with his girlfriend.
What the hell, stupid?!
I waited out in the lobby. I noticed a few BTS members walking in. Yeontan came running up to me and growled playfully, his paws brushing up against my calves.
I held him gently in my arms, his fur sinking into my hands. I hadn’t felt something this soft in YEARS. Well, I did all of my life, but not like a puppy. Most dogs’ furs are pretty tough on your hands. But he then licked my cheek. I giggled like an *.
“Woof!” Yeontan barked, “Woof-woof!”
To be honest, he was just as sweet as Layla. He was so cuddly and so happy. I could see his tiny tail wagging as I caressed his snout. But then, he snapped at me. Of course it didn’t hurt. He was only playing with me.
Kim Taehyung knelt down in front of me as I played with Yeontan.
“Hello, Y/N,” he said, softly.
I flinched towards him. I was a huge fan of him. And there he was…again.
“Oppa?” I replied.
Taehyung chuckled.
“What was Yeontan doing?”
“He was only playing with me.”
“I know…but he didn’t bite you, yes?”
“He’d never. At least…not to me.”
I looked down with a frown. Taehyung noticed.
“Gwaenchanh-ayo?” he asked.
I didn’t turn my head to him, but I did nod slowly.
He sat next to me and held my hand gently.
“What happened?” he asked, this time in English.
“Nothing.” I said, closing my eyes and resting on the lounging sofa.
“Something happened…but what?”
I didn’t answer. I sighed deeply.
Taehyung pulled to his arms. Yeontan let his two front paws on my other arm and whimpered. Taehyung gently pet his head and smiled warmly.
“Is Jake not nice to you?” he asked.
My heart froze.
Of course he is…I thought, But why would Taehyung even mention such a thing? I love Jake to bits. Then how come we haven’t been getting on these past few days?
“We’re doing just fine,” I said, “It’s just…”
My voice trailed off. I was at a loss for words. I did want to tell him that things were worsening for me and Jake…but I didn’t want to worry him. And I didn’t want Jake to get into any trouble either.
“It’s just…” I said again, “We haven’t been able to see each other…because we’ve been so busy doing our idol stuff. You know?”
“Okay…?” said Taehyung, suspiscious.
“But really…we have been doing just fine.”
We weren’t fine. Our relationship strained. It was as if…we couldn’t be anything anymore. We had to separate. It was the only way for us to be free from this entire mess. But for some reason…I don’t think any of us were ready to let go.
But I had to.
It was while I was in the same room with ENHYPEN. The boys were about to begin another V-LIVE. But as they turned on the camera, Jay and Jake looked at me with a scowl. Yeontan came barging in, barking softly.
“Aw!” said Sunoo, “A puppy! It’s Yeontan!”
But Jay scowled at me again and snapped:
“And what brings you here?”
“I’m here to visit you?” I stammered.
“Sorry Y/N,” said Jake, “But you will have to leave right now.”
“Wait, what…?”
“Get out!”
“Why?”
“GET OUT!!!”
Once I heard Jake yelling at me, I immediately picked up Yeontan and went out the door, slamming it loud enough for the boys to hear. Heartbroken, I slowly walked away to TXT’s private meeting room. But, I didn’t think that they weren’t available to chat with me.
However, I had to talk to someone. I couldn’t let this go. And so, I had to barge into TXT’s lounge.
I slowly opened the door. But it was already halfway closed. Yeontan whimpered, urging me to pet his head. As I opened the door all the way, Huening Kai turned his head and looked into my eyes, which were red and puffy, since I had began to cry.
“Hyuka…?” I said, tearfully.
Huening Kai stood up.
“Oh, Y/N.” he said, quickly advancing towards me, “What happened? Did someone hurt you?”
“No…I’m okay.”
“Then why do you look like you’ve been crying? Did something happen?”
But I broke down, sobbing. I hugged Yeontan tightly as he licked my cheeks. Huening Kai gently patted my back.
“Y/N,” said Yeonjun, “You can tell us, I’m sure it can’t be that bad, can it?”
“ENHYPEN is so mean!” I cried.
“Aww, Y/N,” said Taehyun, “It’ll be okay. Do you need a hug?”
“I have a puppy here.”
“But you’re still upset.” said Soobin.
“We’ll have to go talk to them.” said Beomgyu.
“It’s fine really. It’s not like they were upset with me about something. I’m certain that they weren’t up to seeing me today. I think they were just grumpy.”
“That doesn’t sound like average grumpiness. I think they are being tyrants towards you. In fact, I think Jake is losing interest in you.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. I don’t know why he keeps targeting me so much. What have I done wrong.”
“Nothing,” said Yeonjun, petting my head, “They’re just being plain mean. I’ll go talk to them.”
“Yell at them if you must. I don’t like this at all!”
I then walked out of their meeting room. I had to go and find Bang Si-hyuk and address this issue. It won’t be solved right away. But I have to try.
I passed by BTS’s practice room. Yeontan barked and whimpered, because he knew that Taehyung was in there. I set him down and opened the door for him and left it open in case he wanted to come back out with me. But I continued to walk to Bang Si-hyuk’s office. That was when Namjoon saw me and followed me.
“Y/N?” he called, “You okay?”
I turned my head slightly. But I didn’t want to worry him. So I kept it to the side.
“I’m fine.” I said. But my voice sounded heavy.
“You sure? You seem upset.”
“I’m really okay.”
Namjoon walked closer to me and tried to get a good look at my face. He gently lifted my chin to make me look at him. He looked straight into my red and puffy eyes.
“Y/N…” he said, sympathetically, “Who did this to you?”
“No one…” I whispered with a whimper.
“No one? It has to be someone? Was it Jake or–”
“It was no one. I’m just overwhelmed.”
Namjoon looked as though he wanted to ask me more. But even he knew I couldn’t take such pressure. So he let me go.
“O-okay.” he said.
I then continued walking to Bang Si-hyuk’s office.
As I arrived, I could tell that the hitman was busy with a lot of computer work. I know I’ve been on my computer, but my work is not as difficult as his. I was about to knock on the door, when Yeonjun called out to me.
“Y/N!” he whispered, “What are you doing here? His office is off limits, unless you have to talk to him about something.”
“This is about something. He is ENHYPEN’s manager, but he has to know about what they have been doing to me ever since my debut!”
Yeonjun was confused.
“Your debut?”
“Yeah. Before our crossover show, I overheard a member saying something mean about us. He said that me and the girl groups finally couldn’t have their own show, and that the ENHYPEN boys would get the spotlight, and that my girl groups will have to make do with being stupid so-called ‘cover artists’. I don’t know who, but come to think of it, Jake had been so rude and discourteous to me and my girl friends.”
“And you have to talk to Bang Si-hyuk because–”
“Because the issue has to be addressed! If it’s not, then I don’t know what else to do, I don’t know who else to talk to!”
“Alright then…do you want me to come with you?”
“It’s okay…I can handle it.”
“Okay…hope you can get some answers from him.”
Yeonjun walked away and Yeontan ran up to me and jumped on my calves. I picked him up and held him in my arms.
“You just don’t want to be without me, huh, puppy?” I cooed, tearfully, as I nuzzled his snout.
I knocked on Mr. Bang’s office door.
“Come in!” he announced.
I slowly opened the door. Mr. Bang gave me a warm smile as he looked up from his desk and computer.
“Y/N! It’s so good to see you, have a seat!”
I sat down in front of him. But I quietly sniffled.
“So…” he said, cheerfully, “How have you been?”
“I’ve been…okay, lately.”
I sniffled again, but this time louder.
“What’s the matter, are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”
“I…I’m fine, really.”
Mr. Bang scooted closer to me and gently held my hand and looked in my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, softly.
My eyes blurred with tears. Yeontan licked them away. And he then whimpered. I couldn’t even talk because I was so distraught.
“EN…EN…!”
Mr. Bang looked at me, trying to understand what I was trying to say. But then after a moment, he realized that I was trying to say ENHYPEN.
“ENHYPEN…? What about them?”
But I broke down crying again. I held onto Yeontan tightly. The puppy also whimpered too. Mr. Bang then sat next to me, taking Yeontan in his arms and comforting me.
“Y/N…it’s okay, shh-shh-shh. Just tell me what happened and I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“They…they…”
“Y/N, it’s okay…you can say it.”
“They’re not nice to me…they don’t like me and my girl groups. They said that if we were ‘so-called cover artists’ then that would mean they would get all of the attention! And I think they were the reason we couldn’t have a reality show of our own!”
“Oh, my…” said Mr. Bang, shocked, “But why would they, you’re their sub-unit, from I-LAND. I would have totally given you the permit for your own reality show. Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I don’t know…maybe because…I thought that this situation wasn’t going to be this bad. But obviously…it IS!!”
I cried so hard that my head began to hurt. Mr. Bang looked pretty anguished. But not at me.
“Well…that is not acceptable. I’ll be sure to talk to them and make sure that this does not happen ever again. But right now, take some time outside to calm down. I’ll finish up things in my office, then I’ll go and teach them a thing or two.”
The hitman and I both stood up as he gave the puppy back to me. I sniffled again as he patted my shoulder.
“Thank you…” I whispered in a whimper as I walked out the door.
As I waited outside at the lobby, I held Yeontan in my arms, bouncing him slightly with my knee. He then yawned and tried not to fall asleep.
“And I have to return you to Taehyung…” I cooed, still tearfully, “Wherever he is…”
I set him down and Yeontan ran off. It was as if…he knew that Taehyung was coming. I spotted Taehyung, with the puppy, and Jimin entering Mr. Bang’s office.
“What happened?” asked Jimin.
“Oh, hello!” said Mr. Bang, “Wasn’t expecting you two here. If you were wondering about Y/N, she was having a bit of a hard time just then. It seems to me that the new rookie band had been giving her and the girls a hard time. I can kind of see why.”
“Because they are girls?” asked Taehyung.
“No…mostly because I think they are gaining a lot of popularity and are probably on the brink of being famous than them. I guess that’s why they prompted to cancel their reality show before I gave them the permit to begin it once they were ready.”
“But it had to be one member. One of them seemed really upset that they had to get all the attention.” said Jimin.
“Oh…I think I know who.” said Mr. Bang, crossing his arms.
“I’ll get Namjoon, then.” said Taehyung.
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Meanwhile, the boys were upset with Jake. It was quiet for most of the live, before the boys reacted at the comments.
“Look at the comments,” said Sunoo, “Jake! They’re all talking about your feud with Y/N!”
“It wasn’t a feud, Jay told me to tell her to get out. I wasn’t meant to do it.”
“But Y/N had to get out,” snapped Jay, “She has done enough to us. Why can’t we get the spotlight for once?!”
“Jongseong-ah!” shouted Jungwon, “How dare you hurt Y/N and Jake’s feelings. You know Jake had no intentions to hurt Y/N and the girls, and they have no intentions to sabatoge us! As leader of this group, I decide who gets to go and who stays. And Y/N definitely deserved to stay! She wanted to see Jake.”
“Was it that bad, Jay? Huh?! Are you freaking jealous that Y/N was so into me?!”
“Can we all just STOP SHOUTING?!”
“Ya!” said Mr. Bang as he entered, “That’s quite enough.”
Namjoon, Taehyung and Jimin were right behind them and sat down beside him.
“PD-nim,” Jake pleaded, “We can explain…please.”
“I know you can,” said Mr. Bang, “And I know that you would have it in your heart to hurt her feelings. It’s just one of you I have to deal with. But I’d like for you all to be present for this, thank you.”
“Right now, explain your explicit behavior with Y/N this instant!” said Namjoon, anguished.
“I–I mean–we were only teasing with her and playing around,” begged Jay, “We weren’t trying to hurt her feelings. She just got mad for no reason, so we kicked her out, right?”
But everyone looked at him in disbelief.
“That’s no excuse!” said Mr. Bang, “You can’t just go and bully the girls with your emotionally damaging actions. That could set them off, especially Y/N. You know, she said that one of you were the reason that you canceled their reality show. I had that feeling too.”
“Well, I wasn’t bullying her,” Jay snapped, “I was only teasing her!”
“No! That’s not an excuse! She was in tears, in my office, and was mentally hurt!”
Jay held back a few tears himself. But Jake was already whimpering. I knew he never wanted to hurt me. But the thing is…I didn’t know that he would actually go along with it when he knows it’s not right. Therefore, I had trouble trusting him.
“I didn’t mean to–” whimpered Jake.
“It’s okay, Jake,” said Mr. Bang, wrapping his arms around him, “I know you would never do this to Y/N. I know you are so good to her.”
Jake, Sunoo, Sunghoon, Ni-Ki, Jungwon, and Heeseung were allowed to leave. Jay had to stay to talk to him.
“What?!” Jay shouted, “What do I have to stay?!”
“Jay, can you please just listen to me for a moment?” asked Mr. Bang, softly.
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It was the night of MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards). I knew I was going to expose Jake and all of ENHYPEN in front of millions of fans and tell them what they had done to me and my girl groups.
We getting glammed up in pretty dresses and makeup. The other girls looked at me as I applied my makeup furiously.
“Y/N, are you okay?” asked Juliet, “You seem pretty upset.”
“We heard you spoke to Bang Si-hyuk. Is everything okay?”
“No!” I said, straightforward, “Jake had done dirty to me. I’m going to make sure that tonight, he pays the price.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Erika, worriedly.
“I’m going to expose him…to the public.” I muttered to myself.
As we rode to the CJ ENM Studios, where the event was going to be held. Because of COVID-19, they did have to hold the event here, since the pandemic made it too dangerous to hold it anywhere else.
We walked on the red carpet as though we were models and the other idols looked at us as if we were goddesses or something. It felt good to have such confidence. But I was really looking forward to teaching Jake a lesson. I had to tell him what he did wrong, without ripping into him like a tiger.
But when it was our turn to get a picture, the camera people walked away. We were all upset and demanding that they would get back here. But they didn’t listen. So, we had to take selfies and post them online.
When we took our seats we had to make sure that we were ready to perform our song and get on stage when they called us. We were right after ENHYPEN, so that let us have enough time for us to get dressed into our costumes and mic’d up. Only…no one was there to put our mics up.
Lara asked where the mics were. And they said that they canceled our performance.
“They canceled our performance! What the hell!”
As the girls were freaking out, I was raging with so much anger. This was the final straw.
That does it!
Once they had all of the idols up on stage, it was time to announce the winner of this year’s MAMA Award.
“And the winner of the 2020 MAMA Awards is…”
“JAKE SHIM OF ENHYPEN!!!” I shouted through a microphone.
I marched straight up to my own best friend. He stood front and center towards me.
“Y/N,” he pleaded, “I know it wasn’t my fault. But please just hear me out!”
“No, I won’t!” I shouted, “Do you realize how much damage you have caused?! You know, the kind of stuff that you have done to sabotoge us?!”
“Whoa-whoa, where are you getting this from?!”
“You know what I mean, Shim Jae-yoon! And I can’t believe that you would stoop so low to get what you and what the boys want. I am so…*ED OFF with you!!”
“Y/N, please! I can explain–”
“WE ARE THROUGH, JAKE SHIM! WE ARE SO DONE! I AM NEVER SEEING YOU AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?!”
The entire room fell silent as I shouted at him. But I had to let him have it. Otherwise…he would get away with it and he would have hurt more people in HYBE.
In the end, I was given a huge bucket of icy cold water…and I poured it all over his head and outfit that he wore for his performance. This was my revenge to him. And I let him know it.