BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 153: behind the scenes

Jieun was silent for a while. "That's why he sent that lady to drop this bombshell on your fans at your very first solo concert...? Isn't that a little too much of him-"

"This is only a speculation... but if he was really behind this, I wouldn't be surprised-" Jungkook swallowed hard. "If you think about it, this really is nowhere close to the worst thing he has done-"

"Then... when's he gonna stop?"

"Not until we're completely ruined, I guess-" Jungkook shrugged. "Seeing us succeed probably makes his blood boil... and though I hate to admit this, but in the future he'll continue to do everything in his power to take us down. He can resort to anything, Jieun-ah - underhanded means, et cetera. This piece of news that we're dating... he probably had been well-aware of it for a long time now and was just waiting for the perfect moment to release it. That's the truth of how this industry works."

"That's freaking scary."

"It sure is..." Jungkook agreed. "But the only way for us to survive in an industry like that is... well, ironically, to not be afraid. The more afraid we are, the more he will keep attacking our vulnerable spots. So don't feel sorry for loving me, Jieun-ah... because I am not one bit ashamed of loving you."

"I'm not ashamed of loving you," Jieun clarified as she looked up at Jungkook. "I never said I was."

"That's good enough for me-" Jungkook said with a little smile as he swept Jieun's hair out of her face. "In the future, there might be many more events like this... but I will protect you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I know."

"You trusted me earlier..." Jungkook smiled a little. "And I'm glad you did. Because in the future, you'll have to rely on me even more."

Jieun paused for a while, wondering what Jungkook was trying to say as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Lee Jieun-" Jungkook paused for a while. "Will you marry me...?"

The question popped out of nowhere.

Jieun didn't even know how to react as she pulled away from Jungkook abruptly, staring at him and wondering why he'd ask her something like this so out of the blue. But Jungkook just stared back with his eyebrows raised, waiting patiently for her answer. 

Click!

"Jungkook-ah, is everything alright?" Seokjin stormed into the room at that very moment. "Jieun-ah, you looked really frightened earlier! Is everything-"

Byulyi bolted in behind him a few seconds later.

"Jieun-ah...!" Byulyi's voice trailed away as she realised that something was amiss. "Um... are we interrupting something here-"

All Jieun could do in that very moment was stare blankly at Jungkook, not knowing how to respond to his question.

"No, actually-" Jungkook finally replied as he got to his feet, addressing Byulyi and Seokjin simultaneously. "It's great that you're both here... after all, Byulyi-noona is Jieun's best friend and... Seokjin-hyung's my best fr-"

"I'm your best friend?!" Seokjin shrieked. "What on earth, you can't just drop something like that on me so casually- I need to be mentally prepared-"