A Beautiful Lie || Jikook

t r e i n t a i s e i s

Her hand finds mine, her thumb smoothing over the back of my hand. "Honestly... it's fine Jennie." Surprised, I meet her gaze and smile. "I've found someone else and a friend of mine has opened my eyes... I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you... Forgive me?"

My heart swells at her question. "Of course, that's all I've ever wanted." She pulls me into a tight hug, my chest compressing.

"Good, cause we need you to complete our dance in the talent show!" What? The driver pulls up to the driveway while I gather my thoughts.

"What?" My mouth drops in disbelief. "It's in 3 days!"

"Oh come on, it'll be a piece of cake! Remember that dance we did for the show in 8th grade?" My smile widens involuntarily, thinking about the lack of problems we had those days. "It's like that but with a few tweaks... You'll get it soon, I promise." My face drops, thinking about the stupid dance and how long my nights will be while practicing.

Her expression seemed full of worry and something sparked inside of me. "I'll do it."

She cheers, pulling me in for another hug. "Yay! Ok let's start practicing now!" Now?

"Excuse me miss, but we've arrived." My driver speaks up through the parted division. Looking around, I could tell we were home and Chae was here with me.

"Come on, I have a dance room we can practice in."

Chaeyoung chuckles, opening the car door. "Of course you do."

**End of Flashback**

"Don't worry Jimin, I know what I'm doing."

"But-"

"Wasn't that a wonderful performance ladies and gentlemen? Round of applause for my friends Jongin and Kyungsoo!" The crowd goes wild, interrupting our conversation.

"I have to go, I'm up next." Jennie adjusts her headset and starts walking away.

"Good luck!" I shout, her head turns to smile and wave to me.

"You too!"

"Now let's welcome our next performance called BlackPink! These ladies have worked hard to get where they are today so let's show them our gratitude!" The crowd cheers again and the music starts playing.

"BlackPink in your area."

The crowd cheers randomly throughout the song, especially when Jennie was being held by the other 3 members. All in all, I was happy for her, for them, for the chance to perform myself. As the song came to it's end, my nervousness grew. Hoseok found me and came up to me, rubbing my back. "Jimin... we're going to start soon... Have you decided?" I stay silent, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Whatever you choose, I am 100% behind you." His smile might have been comforting in any other situation but it wasn't helping now.

"Yeah I'll do it." His smile changes slightly, less comforting, more pity. "I would rather them reject me knowing who I am than accept me as someone they think I am. I'm not planning on pretending to be someone else the rest of my life." He nods, understanding.

His mouth opens to speak but he gets interrupted by Madam Jae. "Jimin! How are you?" Hoseok immediately shows how uncomfortable he is so he stands up. "Is this your partner?"

Hoseok bows before her, almost 90 degrees. "Hi Madam Jae, I'm honored to meet you!" He extends his hand and she takes it with a fake smile. "I am so happy to meet the teacher of Jimin that made him who he is today."

She chuckles, pulling her hand away. "I bet... I'm glad to meet you too but... I was expecting to see a more... feminine partner." Hoseok's face is riddled with shock as he stands there stunned.

"Oh." His hand was still out, now rolled up in a fist as he backs away. "I should go now... get some last minute make-up stuff... done." He pivots on his heels, walking away and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed from head to toe at the encounter between the two.

"He seems... nice." Her nose sticks up in the air looking at Hoseok but when she looks at me, her face softens. "Now, tell me why you look so nervous Jimin? I've seen you dance plenty of times to know you'll win." Her words just pierce my heart all over.

"Th-that's not it..." I sat down on the nearest thing I could find, an old theater set, and place my hands under my thighs.

She follows me and sits down, her hand on my shoulder. "Jimin, don't worry. You were born to be a dancer. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours." The words moved me in a way I can't explain. Even though this might be the last time I perform for her, this is my time to shine.

"Let's give BlackPink some love!" The crowd is louder than ever, almost bursting my eardrums. "Our next performance is a duet, Jimin and JHope or JiHope for short!" Even though they haven't seen us yet, they seem excited for us.

"Go get 'em." She winks, lightly punching my shoulder. I run to the back of the stage and find Hoseok already in position. He looks at me unsure but I flash a smile to show I'm ok. He nods and holds my hand, letting go before the curtains rise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, JiHope!"

P.S. I like the concept of letters. Maybe I'm old fashioned or something but I like them... idk... I was thinking of story ideas and both of them had to do with it. I enjoy paper and the fact that it was handmade. Maybe that's it. Woops, I'm ranting about letters. Ignore me.

P.P.S. sorry for the boring chapters, this was the last one! I promise!