Fan Service [Chan]

Chapter 49

"First off, I could easily beat Changbin. Secondly, Ella and I told each other that we love each other. She wouldn't choose Changbin over me."

Mana looked up, her eyes gleaming for me. "Congratulations!" she told me.

"Psh. It's just words," Seungmin fought as he took a bite of cereal.

Chan glared at him and I sipped my coffee, enjoying the banter between them.

"On a real note, I'm happy for you two," Seungmin said, finally giving up the joking to be nice.

"Thanks," I smiled. "What time do you two have to leave today?"

They always traveled the day after shows.

"We actually have a week off. Chan didn't tell you?" Seungmin seemed confused. Mana, too.

"We had other things to talk about. I forgot to bring it up," he answered. "Sorry," he apologized.

"So what do you do when you have free time?"

"Chan's a masochist," Seungmin began and it reminded me of the conversation we'd had earlier. "He likes to work during his free time."

Chan noticed my uneasiness at the words and moved his leg so that it was touching mine. "And Seungmin is a child and likes to go to amusement parks."

"Children aren't tall enough for the rides," he argued. "It's an adult activity."

"You rode Small World four times last tour. I'm pretty sure babies are allowed on that one."

"Yeah, two times on each side, so I didn't miss anything. Babies can't be observant like that."

I laughed so hard that cereal milk nearly came out my nose.

"What are you planning to do this time?" I asked.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Chan about that," he began. His tone was much more serious. "The guys and I want to find a way out of fan service."

I looked at Mana worriedly. She didn't know what that was yet. Chan eyed her as well. She didn't look confused, though. She placed a supportive hand on Seungmin's.

"She knows," Seungmin said.

"You told her?" Chan seemed angry.

"Lee Know told her. She was asking too many questions that we didn't have a good answer to."

At least it had been the second eldest who made the call.

"Do any of you have even the beginning of a plan?" Chan asked.

"Not yet."

I suddenly realized I hadn't checked to see if STAY realized the Red Lights sounds were Chan and me. I pulled out my phone.

According to Twitter, it was a popular theory but not one that had any proof. I angled my phone so that Chan could read it.

At the same time, his phone buzzed. So did Seungmin's.

Seungmin groaned. Chan flipped his phone onto the table in frustration.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Surprise show in Dallas in two days," Chan answered.

"Here? Again?" I questioned.

"Why?" Mana asked.

"Group punishment. I guess we did something to piss JYP off badly enough that he doesn't think we deserved a break."

"By doing what?" All y'all do is perform, travel, and fan service," I shouted.

"He probably found out we rigged it last night," Seungmin admitted.

"God forbid you not have to sleep with someone you don't want to," I argued.

This was so stupid. JYP was stupid. How long were they supposed to live like this? They weren't props; they were people. People that he'd strung up like marionettes and forced to dance for him. But even marionettes got put on the shelf at the end of the day once they were done being controlled. JYP didn't even think them deserving of that.

"We're used to it," Chan tried to comfort me, to not make me feel so angry, but hearing that was even worse.

"You shouldn't have ever had to do something you didn't want to even one time, let alone so many times that you're 'used to it'," I cried.

"We'll figure a way out of it," he soothed. I should've been comforting him.

"I hate him," I told Chan.

"Me too," he agreed. "But we've got to be smart about how we do this, so we can keep the group. Okay?"

"Okay," I grumbled. "I need to change my flight home until after the show."

"You're going back to Boston after?" Chan sounded so sad.

"To get my things. I only packed for the weekend."

"I'll come with you," Chan offered. He pulled out his phone and began looking at flights. "We'll take this one and then meet the guys in Phoenix."

"Okay!" Having Chan in Boston with me could be fun.

"So there's a way for you to filter which guy gets the fan service?" Mana asked out of nowhere.

"Yea. JYP has used it before. So have we," Seungmin replied.

"If Ella is going to every show, Chan should just have himself picked every time and bring her on the dates with him. Nobody will sleep with him while she's there."

The idea of letting Chan be picked every night made me sick.

"That's not a terrible idea," Chan said, and I looked at him in concern.

"That girl the other night saw me and still slept with you," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but you weren't on the date. If we make them feel like a third wheel, they won't ever feel like it could even get to that point."

I was willing to try it. "We can test it at the next show."

Chan held my hand.

"It's a bandaid solution, though. We'll need something better eventually," Seungmin said.

"For now, it's enough to solve our biggest issue."

"Why can't you just out JYP for doing the fan service?" Mana asked.

"It could ruin our image if people found out how many fans we slept with. It would also breach our end of every NDA that was signed, and, while we could afford the buyouts, it wouldn't be fair to out the fans' personal lives like that."

"You care too much about people that used you," Mana accused Chan. I had to agree.

"They didn't know they were using us. They thought we were willing because that's how we were asked to present. It wouldn't be fair to cause them guilt over it either," Chan further explained.

"So we need something on JYP," Seungmin said.

"Blackmail," Chan agreed.

They didn't have anything yet that was usable without impacting someone else. They were going to have to wait for the next opportunity to be with JYP in person.

For now, I hoped that the fan service filtering would work.