CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
.
.
.
Jake couldn’t sleep that night. He still thought about me. But I didn’t have the heart to forgive. I still didn’t trust him.
He then got out of bed, grabbed a piece of paper and jot down a few words. He was writing a letter to me. It was one of the old-fashioned ways to apologize.
Bang Si-hyuk told him to later apologize to me once I felt a little better about what had been going on. But the thing is…I’ve changed slightly. I have been doing a lot of music videos and covers, and I didn’t have time to look at my phone, check my messages or texts, I didn’t even have time to read his letter.
But it was while I was in my dorm, alone, when I found the vibrant pink envelope underneath the doorway of my bedroom door. I figured he left it outside and one of the girls slid it under my door.
Curious, I picked it up and observed it in my hands. It was a letter of course, but I didn’t know who it was from until I began to read.
I tore it out and unfolded the lined notebook paper. I do have to warn you…the note made me go insane. I mean it.
Dear Y/N,
There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It was not me who was trying to sabotage you. Really…it’s not. Someone else was setting me up.
The truth is…Jay tried to destroy and ruin your career. He was the one who was jealous, not me (although, I did admit that I was jealous before, in I-LAND, I hope you kind of remember).
You see…after we all left I-LAND, I overheard him speaking to himself, saying that he had to get rid of you somehow. Without him or any of us getting in trouble. But he had to get ‘creative’. He began circulating rumors to the people of ‘After School Club’ and ‘Weekly Idol’ so that our reputation wouldn’t get ruined, but yours would. That’s the reason you were getting kicked out.
And then, the reason I was getting so upset with you… he told me to act cold. He told me that I had to drive you away. But I didn’t want to and said that Y/N would inform PD-nim, and he threatened that I would be out of the band. Jungwon overheard this and said that he was only this way because he was humiliated by JYP. And obviously, it still haunts him to this day. To be honest, there were some times I did feel bad for him.
And, it was while we were doing our personal info segment for our debut reality show. You might have heard him say something, but I didn’t see you.
I think he said something like this:
“The girl groups finally can’t have their own show. And now…ENHYPEN will get all of the spotlights! It’s our time to shine. Y/N’s girl groups will have to make do with just being so-called ‘cover artists’.”
Yeo-rin was concerned about this and asked multiple times to speak with him. But Jay forced to tell Jungwon that it was all right. But Jungwon told her the truth beforehand. She and PD-nim tried to speak with him, but he didn’t want to.
And that’s when you came to our live.
“Here she comes,” he said to me, “You know what you have to do.”
I had to be mean to you Y/N. But I was mean to Jay’s consent. Whatever happened…it had nothing to do with you, Galway Londoners, or AO3. It was all Jay. We won’t kick him out of the group, since we all know the exact reason why he tried doing this. He had so much trauma buried deep inside of him and he did nothing to stop it from getting the best of him.
Back in I-LAND, I also noticed that he had trouble sleeping too. So I guess that’s why he was a bit cruel to you when he asked you for his bed back (he shared it with Jungwon). I also believe he might have been having traumatic flashbacks or nightmares in his sleep too. I guess that was another reason he was grumpy at all of us. And the reason why he seemed competitive too.
So, darling, now you know the truth. I am very sorry that I had put you girls in such a annoying and cruel situation. It really wasn’t my fault. I know it was my fault that I didn’t stop him before hand (because I thought it was simple jealousy), but that doesn’t give an excuse for what I had done. What Jay had done. Again, I am very, very sorry.
If you have it in your heart…please, forgive me. I’m only asking you once. You don’t have to consider it right away.
Tá mo chroí istigh ionat (Taw mu kree iss-chig un-it) (You have my heart inside)
Sincerely, Jake.
I paced around the dorm room, hands on top of my head and ruffling my hair, and muttering things I shouldn’t be saying. I was going insane!
“Why didn’t Jake just tell me that?!” I asked in a shout to myself, “Why didn’t he say that it was Jay all of this time?!”
After three hours of disbelieving Jake’s side of the truth, I eventually sat down and reflected on what had been happening again. I didn’t really know that an ENHYPEN member had been out to get me and the girls. But I also didn’t think that he would take his traumatic past and his strength that far.
I remembered sticking up for him when the others received the parts that HE wanted. But I guess I didn’t know why he had been so upset about it completely, since no one decided to tell me about him.
I then passed out in my sleep, because I cried so hard and didn’t take the time to calm down. But I thought of Jake again. His soft puppy smile, his dark-auburn hair, and his bright brown eyes (blue, since he had contact lenses). I could easily see clearly why I had fallen in love with him. And it was pretty obvious why he reciprocated my feelings. We looked up to each other. He was always there for me. I was to him. I regretted what I had done. I had to forgive him now.
But I didn’t know how to do it.
.
.
.
Ni-Ki had gone out for the day. His sister Kanade was in town, so they went out for lunch and some shopping. But while that was happening, someone familiar was coming to visit HYBE.
Tae-woo and Hwa-min.
But I wasn’t there today. We were filming for our next mini-album.
They then came to visit Mr. Bang’s office.
“Hwa-min-ah!” said Mr. Bang, cheerfully, “What a surprise!”
“Si-hyuk…it’s been a while.” said Mr. Hwa-min.
“Now tell me…how have you been doing.”
Tae-woo looked a bit resentful. She couldn’t explain what was really happening. Dream Life Entertainment hadn’t been doing so good because of her teaching style and that trainees were refusing to apply there.
“My younger cousin’s teaching had worsened at our old company. I am still thinking of keeping it open, but now that the girls’ usual dance teacher Taeyeon from Girl’s Generation had just came out from the hospital, things had been already slow. So, I was wondering if you had any job oppertunities open, or positions she could apply to.”
“We do have a few left,” said Mr. Bang, “She could be an assistant manager to BTS, one to TXT, or one to the girls.”
Tae-woo bulged her eyes.
“Not them! Please not them!” she begged.
“Why not?” asked Hwa-min, “After all, Y/N had already been demanding an apology from you for a year. She is seventeen now, I hope you know.”
“Humph!” Tae-woo huffed.
“Anyways, I think she would be open to those positions. But that means she’ll have to be kinder again like she used to.”
“At least my sweet nephew Jake didn’t have me when he was in training. He was on that show with the other boys. And did you know that they allowed girls on that show?!”
“Yes,” said Mr. Bang, “Because Hwa-min sent them there.”
Tae-woo flinched and bulged her eyes again.
“You…WHAT?!”
“It’s true,” said Hwa-min, “After you kicked the girls out of our agency, I wrote to Bang Si-hyuk to let the girls in I-LAND. But we knew that you would react this way and resent against them, so we had to do it in a way you would accept it.”
“How could you do this to me?! First me getting a new job, now THIS?! What else do you have planned for me?! Huh?!”
Hwa-min and Mr. Bang chuckled. But Tae-woo pouted again. She was only forty-four, but she really didn’t have to react that way towards us. She was our old ‘dance teacher’ after all.