Untitled, 2018

Chapter 68: The Hardest Choices We Make

I was going to go crazy. Absolutely crazy. A plan was slowly formulating in my head and I didn't know what I should do or how I should do it. I called the first person I could think of telling: Gunho. We decided to meet up the very next morning. We barely had any time left after all.

I took a cab directly to Gunho's building with every intention of skipping my classes today, and saw Gunho waiting inside. Bypassing the front desk, he took me back towards the HighTen practice room. "Our practice starts in four hours, nobody will bother to be here before that."
I nodded, and we sat down in a corner. "Gunho, do you think the company would be upset if the media found out Baek Hee and Jihun are dating?"
He frowned. "I'm not exactly sure if they are though..."
"But it would make it impossible for Jimin's side of the story to come out right?"
"Yea of course. That would paint our company's idols as cheaters. That's objectively bad press."
"So if Jihun and Baek Hee were revealed to have had an affair, the company would stop blackmailing Jimin..."

Gunho's eyes widened with understanding, "But... then those two might be kicked out by our company, Riti."
I figured as much.

"But what if it's just a threat? Like... if BigHit had images of Baek Hee and Jihun."
"That's..."

The door to the practice room swung open and a large man barged in without warning, freezing when he saw us. I gasped loudly and stood up in surprise, Gunho slowly doing the same.
The man's eyes glowered when he recognized me. Why wouldn't he be mad at me? Apparently I got him demoted. "You! Why are you—"
He looked like he was going to yell for security but Gunho ran towards him with pleading eyes, "Manager Kahn! Please don't."

I shrunk into a corner of the room as Kahn glared at me, trying to understand what was going on. "Why is she in our building?"
"She's my friend! She's... she's Park Jimin's friend." I scowled at Gunho. How could you say that? Jimin could be in even more trouble if this old guy reports this situation!

Kahn stepped in and closed the door behind him, slowly trying to piece together what was in from of him. "So you're here to talk to our CEO?" He asked me.
I shook my head.
"You're here to retrieve the pictures?"
I shook my head.
"You're here to represent BigHit?"
I shook my head fervently.

He took a seat at a stool near him. "Good. You're not a complete idiot. But then why are you here? Are you fond of being caught at the wrong place at the wrong time?"
I furrowed my brows. "Are you going to report me?"
He laughed without humor. "I have more important work to do. And besides," he checked to make sure the door was securely closed behind him. "I've trained these insolent brats for years to work hard on their craft and give it their all. This blackmailing and scandal-making... is against everything I stand for as a manager. So, tell me, what kind of plan do you have in mind?"

"What?" I wasn't sure if I was heading hum correctly. The scary man ten feet away whose enmity I'd secured sounded like he was on our side.

"Well you wouldn't be here unless you had a plan, right? So tell me."

Gunho sighed with relief and sat down, and I cautiously took a seat as well.

"I have a picture of Jihun and Baek Hee kissing. It's not too high quality but you can tell it's them. I thought that if the company knew that it could circulate, then they wouldn't blackmail Jimin. But I don't know how." I explained.

"And if they didn't care? Would you go all in? Circulate the photo anyway?" Kahn asked.

I hadn't thought about that, but the idea of taking revenge like that repulsed me. "No!" I spat out. "That'd be too late. I wouldn't want to get them labeled as cheaters on purpose."