The Swap [Jeongcheol]

29

Weeks passed since Jeonghan's confession on national television. Weeks passed since Jeonghan left his friends' apartment, moved or even talked. Weeks passed since he broke Seungcheol's heart and his with that. Instead of feeling happier about saving his fake boyfriend's career, he only felt worse.

Jeonghan was not the only one who never went into public after the announcement Jeonghan has made. As soon as it was made and Jeonghan left Youngsoo's talk show, Seungcheol called his manager, demanding for answers. Upon finding out the truth, that it was all a set up by his company, Seungcheol could not contain his anger and sadness anymore. He couldn't believe anybody's words, couldn't believe that Jeonghan had sacrificed his reputation just to 'help' Seungcheol. If he had known, he would have rejected this kind of help right away.

It had been weeks since Seungcheol talked to anyone. Not even his friends could cheer the rapper up, and not even the music he loved helped him to overcome his feelings. He reacted in a depreciating way whenever somebody would attempt to talk to him, not wanting to hear their words or their complaints. This time around, Seungcheol has never felt so lonely before.

The loneliness lead him to write songs about heartbreak, the feelings he had for Jeonghan made him write love songs and the anger he had towards the person he loved and everybody involved in this matter, made him write songs with all his negative feelings spat onto the sheet of paper, each and every word symbolizing how hurt he actually was.

Though, even when writing songs, Seungcheol never felt like rapping or singing them. Reading the lyrics made him remember the events which caused him to feel this way, and he would soon find himself in tears. Unlike the last time he cried, there was nobody to comfort him there. Seungcheol was on his own, not getting one step closer to being fixed.

For several times now, Jongsuk tried to get the artist out of his apartment. There was no use to try to unlock the door, for the male changed the locks the day he found out about Jongsuk's horrible plan. His trust for his manager was gone, replaced with hatred and disgust towards him. The same went to his CEO, who had treated the rapper like a son all this time. Now Seungcheol noticed, that just like almost everyone else, he was used for money or for fame. To the world, he was just a toy which did not deserve any love or affection.

His two closest friends, Wonwoo and Mingyu, tried to cheer up their dear friend. They came by almost every day, knocking on Seungcheol's door to tell him about recent events, trying to distract him from Jeonghan. At times they tried to talk about it to Seungcheol, just sitting in front of his door while yelling loudly. Seungcheol never let them inside. The only person to go in and out of his apartment was his maid, who also did the grocery shopping for him and cooked for the male, feeling sad for the person she worked for.

What surprised Seungcheol the most, were the people he talked to occasionally, pass by his apartment door and say encouraging words to him. Some of them even left letters in his mailbox, which his maid would hand him every morning. The first time he received the letters, Seungcheol just threw them aside, being sure that it was another way of winning his trust only to fuck him over again, but as time passed by and his loneliness grew, Seungcheol began reading the letters.

He found out that Jeonghan quit his job at the café, that Woohyun was preparing a second album and much more. All of his friends said they didn't believe in Jeonghan cheating on Seungcheol, claiming that his TV act looked forced and unrealistic; which it was. Jeonghan has never cheated on Seungcheol, they were not even officially dating during that time, yet he told the whole world he did to protect Seungcheol's career.

The rapper wasn't sure if he should continue with making music or should put an end to it. He doubted his capability to go on stage again and perform in front of a large audience. His trust for his company and his manager was gone, and he did not want to ask them to finance his new music. It was easier to stop it, to throw the many song texts he wrote aside and to focus on his miserable life.