Leader's Duty (Ryeji fanfic)

"Explain it then"

{Two days after}

POV Yeji

-"We are having a meeting in the living room!" -our manager said.

I glanced at Ryujin and she was leaning on one of the wall with her arms crossed. She's wearing a gray hoodie that covers most of her face but still I can see her swollen eyes.

-"Tomorrow is the MAMA awards 2025 and we have to attend. We are not going to do anything crazy, you are going to perform "LOCO" in english just like in the world tour, same aesthetic and everything"

-"Are we going to perform at the end?" -Yuna asked.

-"You are going to perform before BTS. Ryujin and Jimin are going to have a duo performance" -an awkward silence filled the room and Ryujin cleared her throat- "Get ready, we are going to HYBE's building for the fitting and rehearsal"

We arrived at the huge clear building in Nonhyeon-dong, there were fans at the cafe, photos and messages on the walls for BTS and TXT to read. A couple of fans spotted us and requested for photos but security intervened, they yelled a lot of things to Ryujin and I felt bad for her.

-"You can't date Jimin!"

-"Leave our chimmy alone!"

-"You are a whore"

Ryujin ignored all of them and kept walking to the building. Our manager led us to the fitting room and the stylist was already waiting for us. First the maknaes and then Lia and I got fitted.

Our outfits were going to be all black with gold accessories, and a couple of details on the stitching. The fitting took a couple of hours and it was time to rehearse the performance.

Loco sounded on the big speakers and we took our places, we started to dance and during the second verse Ryujin messed up.

-"Stop" -said the choreographer- "Ryujin! What's wrong with you?"

-"I'm sorry" -she replied- "I'll try again"

-"From the start. Five... six... seven.. eight"

Loco
Walked in, smooth operator hit your mark
I'm gettin' loco loco
Oh gosh, pure shot of poison to my heart
I'm gettin loco loco

Ryujin messed up again and she almost cursed.

-"Shin Ryujin!" -the lady stood in front of her and looked like she was about to hit her- "Take five minutes to concentrate"

-"Shit" -she whispered loud enough for me to listen- "What the fuck is wrong with me?" -Ryujin asked herself.

I stretched out my arms toward her but quickly stopped. I'm upset but also worried. Despite everything that happened, I'm still her leader and I have to worry equally about all of my members.

Ryujin and the girls left the room, a peaceful silence filled it, it was me with my thoughts. Should I forgive her? Should I let her explain and eat my ego? Or should I act like a bitch towards her?

I left the room and collided with someone. The person dropped the phone and some papers, I knelt down to pick them up. We looked into each other's eyes and noticed it was Jimin.

-"I'm sorry" -he apologized.

-"It's ok, don't worry"

I walked past him but he took my arm.

-"Yeji, can we talk?"

-"Sure..." -I didn't want to but he is older than me and respect comes first. If he is going to ask me to forgive her girlfriend I won't.

He took me to a recording room on the same floor and told me to sit down, the door closed and fortunately the air conditioner was on.

-"Are you ok?"

-"What do you mean?"

-"I know you and Ryujin are dating"

-"Were" -I stopped for a second- "You know what... we never actually dated" -I played with the fabric of my sweatpants because of the nerves- "Is in the past now"

-"Is it? You still love her don't you?"

-"I'm sorry but I'm not comfortable talking about this with you" -I stood up and reach the door- "If you excuse me I have to rehearse"

-"Please listen to me" -he gently grabbed my arm- "Just trust me about one thing...." -I almost rolled my eyes at him- "It's not her fault and if she ever tries to explain, please listen to her" -he let go of me and opened the door.

We finished the rehearsal and Ryujin stayed at HYBE. She needed to practice with her boyfriend for the duo part.