"It takes an eternity to build but only a moment to destroy. You could've saved us yet you chose to break it all."
::
Yuri and Seungcheol had dealt with a great many things in their lives, romance, sasaengs, near-death experiences, kidnappings and...
"Alright, Yuri," Bumzu spoke, taking a pacifying step towards her, "I'll never mention it again, okay?"
Standing in place, Yuri looked down, mumbling softly, "Okay." Silently, she pulled out her books again, mellowing down, allowing him to guide her back to the other room. "Is there any solution to this?"
Bumzu watched her sit down as he handed her a cup of powdered coffee. Sighing and sipping from a different cup himself, he looked at the problem objectively, "Your parents don't want you selling off your property and you want to take responsibility for your group too." He summarised, "This is difficult."
"Yeah, and I lost my wits when they asked me to break off my relationship." Yuri spoke, looking away, "I can't go back to that music trainer job now."
"A month's work is pretty less for thousands of dollar contracts after all." He nodded, "In that case, why don't you divide your money?"
Yuri looked up, "Divide my money?"
Bumzu nodded, "Don't cover the whole amount. Divide some into your members as trainee debt, another as the music trainer they want you to be and fill in the rest by renting out your property over the years." Placing a hand in his pocket, a satisfied frown on his face, "That way, you won't have to sell it off or pay a huge amount."
His words made sense. Aside from the three, if she were to barter on a few rights and re-adjust the profit ratio slightly, the debt would lessen greatly. Yuri considered it with but one thorn to face, "Would they still offer me the music trainer job?"
Bumzu shrugged, "Only one way to find out."
::
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Walking down hallways in the maze of the new HYBE building, Seungcheol was grateful he remembered the way to at least the office. It was on a different floor and if his memory served correct, was the fourth room to the right after the first intersection. Stopping to see the water dispenser that meant the end of the hall, he stopped. Wait... Was this meant to be here?
Realising he'd lost his way, Coups looked around, seeing multiple offices with numbers 21 and 19 around him. Wasn't the main office a bigger space? Looking around for someone who might be able to help, he passed a few empty office spaces on the floor to finally hear some sound. The doors to one of the offices were open and it seemed like a couple of people were talking, discussing something excitedly.
Still a few steps far, Seungcheol could catch bits of words and phrases, "We need her." The lady seemed to suggest, "Modify the contract in a way that benefits us. One month was too small an offer."
"But her relationship—" Seungcheol peeped to the side to see a familiar face from company contract negotiations. Their words slowly seemed to make sense.
The lady in the black pencil skirt shook her head, cutting the man off. "Let them be. Idols don't date for long." She seemed to have the authority in the conversation but Seungcheol had never seen her in the company before. If the man was a team manager, was she his boss?
"Offer them support for now." The lady spoke, "Yuri is a passionate child. And the couple should stay in the company anyway. That way, rumours become easier to squash."
Seungcheol blinked, Yuri? They were talking about his girlfriend and discussing their relationship. But why? Seungcheol couldn't understand why they would choose to interfere now when they had been informed of it from the start. If they didn't take action back then, why would they now?
"The contract—" Scoups stepped out of the shadows the moment it dawned on him. Yuri was between negotiations. It now made sense why Yuri seemed so worried the other night, why she would rather hide it than confide. Running a hand through his hair, Coups sighed, all his mysteries solved, "Ah, hyung..."
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He'd seen his share of negotiations. As a leader, they came at every step of the way. From allowing members to the washroom five minutes before the stage to cracking down on additional funding after a member's health care. Among these vultures, Yuri seemed like a simple swallow with nothing to save, everything to lose.
Had Yuri been going through a hard time because of these people?
