Something About You

27 : What Matters The Most

"Do you have anything to say about this rumor?" my manager, Seungwon asked.

He's much older than me but during the first day I was put under his care, he stated that he didn't feel comfortable with being referred as a senior or having the image as an old man.

"It's just a baseless rumor, people will only laugh at it, right?" I replied his question with a question again.

He was sitting on his chair, fidgeting from left and right, sighing before he massaged his temples. His face showed frustration before lifting up his face to see me standing in front of him again.

"People will only laugh... do you even know how much calls and mails I received from the last few days?" he clicked on his desktop and turned on his phone.

The screens were showing a lot of mails and calls from various numbers and emails, which I assume was more than amount of calls I receive in a year.

"Okay, I'm sorry about that. But clearly, we're just bestfriends and we have some jobs there. Aren't you familiar with girl friendships?" I apologized, hoping he already had an alternative to solve this instead of scolding me when it's clearly not my fault.

He sighed. "Are you being honest? Well, I'm not suspecting anything. But please be honest, are you really just friends with Rosé?"

I had to think a couple of times as I saw his serious face. I couldn't tell why he wanted to know.

"Of course we're just friends, what else could we be?"

"If you say so, I will have to set you with an idol to make these rumors gone."

"What? Is that really necessary?" I couldn't believe what he was planning. It was too stupid.

"Only that will convince them and stop the mails and calls overflowing my phone and email."

"We can just ignore them for a few days more and they will get tired of it. Same-sex couple isn't someting easy to proof as skinship among female idols is common."

"Oh, you're so smart for saying so. Do you even know the amount of stress I have to handle from the upper managers? Come on, please Sunyoung. This isn't my idea either. You should know your rumors are spreading wider than you think."

"Really? Who told you to do this?" I was at the verge of telling Rosé to buy this stupid company.

"The boss. He's been reminding me to take care of this as he also had been receiving the same mails and bumped by the medias because of your rumors. He's probably mad because of it."

"As if it's my fault. Why didn't you back me up?"

"Do you want me to be fired?"

I sighed. I don't feel right doing this as I think it is disrespectful for me to lie to my fans. I also think it's not fine to be officially known as someone's girlfriend when Rosé has been waiting for me to make us official.

"Don't we have another way? What if I receive even more backlash for dating a male idol?" I tried to convince my manager. He must be aware how female idols constantly receive more hates and threats for dating their oppas.

"You don't have to worry about that. We're planning to set you with a new actor. He's older but is still new to the industry. He's still underrated and I think it's beneficial for both of the company. You will help him to boost his fame and he will help you to make the rumors gone. To make it looks like it's not planned as a cover up, we will have to announce that you've been dating for a year."

"Ugh, this is driving me insane. You really don't like me to have options, don't you? What is his name, anyway?"

"Wi Hajoon. He doesn't have any drama or movie published yet but he's currently shooting for a series. From what I've discovered, he got recruited just last week but he has great skills. Good reputation. No need to worry much."