Fate

Chapter 124

Namjoon's POV
She was grinning ear to ear holding her suitcase. "Excited?"

She did a tiny jump. "Yeah! It's gonna be nice to hang out all four of us together. We can play board games, do karaoke.. I saw there was a hot tub too!" Seeing her in a swimsuit? Hell yeah. "Wipe off that smug expression off your face, young sir."

Her cocky grin made it hard to make it fade. "I will when you stop looking at me like that."

"Why would I? Think I'm not looking forward to seeing you in a swimsuit? Even if I've seen you naked quite a few times, I still enjoy it."

How direct, huh? At least it was clear! I hugged her from behind so tight. "Ahhhh! You're making me feel all fuzzy inside. I can't tell if you're trying to make me feel embarrassed or attracted."

She laughed. "Could be both." Her phone dinged. "They're here~"
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"How did you like our performances yesterday, Meg?"

She answered me. "You know what I'm gonna say! Of course, I liked it. It was fun to celebrate Tae oppa's birthday backstage after the event too. So many articles pop up during this award season it's hard to keep up!"

That amused my girlfriend. "Taehyung was really happy about that cake. But why do you even try to follow up with these articles? Can we ever? Why would you? It can be about anything from the wins of the night, how Idols dressed, performances and how someone glanced in the way of this other person so they must be dating."

That was fair. I had seen a few from yesterday pass myself about our performances, how Moonbyul had a ring on since the beginning of the award season, etc. It was hard not to stumble across one. Kookie smiled as we stopped for gas. "There was one about Irene noona looking really happy to sit at a table close to Taehyung. If she didn't have to sit with Red Velvet, she would have sat with him. At least he sat with Jin hyung." He peered in as he filled the small van. "Thought Min would steal my seat."

Mina was all smiles. "I can drive? Hell yeah!"

Mina's POV
"Can I ask you guys something about the articles while we're at it?" My best friend said quizzingly.

Joonie and Kookie shrugged. "Sure?"

"How do they make you feel when they're about people you care about? Like when you read something about the other members or friends? I mean.. when you read articles about yourselves it's just another one, you know?"

Meg had that right. Kookie answered first. "Sometimes it's funny like Tae's article, but it's annoying sometimes too. Like when they put words in their mouths or interpret something in a totally different way of what they meant. I'm more impacted by their articles than my own for sure. I know I have to shut my mouth, but sometimes I go on my fan account and write something good towards the members just so they know it's okay." How sweet was that?

What I wasn't ready for was my boyfriend's answer. "I think like Jungkook a lot, but she-" He pointed at me. "When she's in a degrading article it grinds my gears. It's nice when they talk about her fancams or her appearance at an event, show or the vernissage in a good way. Hell, even if it's a critique. Because it's not just them saying mean things and they explain their position. I may not agree with these points, but I'm biased. I love that woman as a person, artist and entrepreneur. So many dumb articles pop up when she's here so I just want to keep them away from her and shield her from them." Did he even breathe between sentences? "It angers me even more when it's because of a decision I made or took."

Namjoon's POV
Miny was awfully quiet. Her expression was neutral so I figured the topic wasn't an issue. "Like... I did a post about my last show and there was a picture of her dancing to Wild Flower while I was performing it and there were comments about favoritism because she made an appearance. The guys did too. My featured artists too were there. She's an artist that danced to my songs so I invited her."

My little brother of a man added fuel. "Someone shared about the performance we did for the private meeting after the last show in those comments too. That pissed a few people off."

His girlfriend frowned. "Why? You mentioned it was a one time thing for fun. She didn't even do a part alone. She harmonized and it was great. Better than I can do in my opinion."

"You sing nice! Don't say that." JK argued.

Meg chuckled for a second. "Sorry, Kookie. But, I mean.. What can you do about that, Namjoon? Critique and articles are part of all of your lives. You said it yourself, you have to be careful with your reactions. You know it's not a good look to get fired up about these. Especially if it's about her and she didn't answer."

Mina was overall liked, but I think her public association with me didn't help her. "I hate that our relationship tints everything, even how I perceive what she does when we're apart. It was more obvious when I was dating other Idols, but seeing problematic things about them worried me because: Is it true? How would it impact my career if our relationship came out?
Now, the worry is about how she feels, if she knows about it and most of the time it's when she's here, not away. When you guys leave, I'll miss you and Miny, but I'll be relieved that she'll fly under the Korean radar for a while."

"I get that.." Meg sighed. "But don't you think we feel what you used to feel when articles pop up when we're back home? She knows most are bullshit or heavily biased, but I personally text Kookie when I see something that could be true just to make sure he's okay or is aware of it. It mostly reassures me too, I have to admit. As far as I know, she doesn't do that."

She actually did, but.. "For good things that I forgot to mention, she does."

"Because that's what is worth mentioning." I almost jumped hearing her voice I hadn't heard for the past hour. "We're almost here, I'd suggest you put your coats back on."