hues (chaelisa)

Chapter Nine: In where the public butts in

Chaeyoung

The car pulls up at the hotel I'm supposed to spend the night at. It's rather late but the hotel entrance is crowded with reporters from different news stations. Right now possibly the worst time to be taking pictures of me, considering the fact that I've spent the majority of the past twenty-four hours either on a plane or in a car. I pull up the hood on my sweater and tighten the drawstring so that less than half my face is visible.

Alright, time to get out of the car and make a run for it. Right as I am opening the door, I am bombarded with twenty different voices asking my questions all at once.

"What's the real reason you were in the hospital?"

"Are you injured?"

I keep on walking forward and right as I am about to pass through those doors...

"Who is Lalisa Manoban to you?"

How in the world did they figure that out?

What in the world does this mean for Lisa?

Before I know it, Jisoo appears next to me and drags me into the peace and quiet of the hotel lobby.

"Chaeyoung. We need to do some serious damage control." Jisoo presses the button for the 14th floor. "Somehow, the media figured out who you were with. They know Lisa's name. And now the fans are invading her privacy. They know her social media, what school she goes to, her memory loss, and they may or may not figure out your past relationship with her. Pictures of you and her spotted together in the past are resurfacing and her name is trending."

"Fuck," is all I can say.

"We could be moments away from the news of your dating past being released."

"What do I do?" I ask, panicked.

"We wait until morning to see how big the situation will blow up after everyone wakes up and checks their media feed," the elevator door opens and we arrive on our floor. "And who knows, we might have to end up telling the truth.

"Your room is this one," Jisoo says when she slows to a stop in the corridor. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow," she says as she hands me my key card before turning away and heading into the room adjacent to mine.

I don't bother to freshen up before jumping onto the cozy bed and pulling out my phone from my hoodie.

First things first.

Message Lisa.

I have to tell her about us. It's not right that I'm keeping her past from her. And it's not like I can keep this from her forever.

me
the truth is we were together in high school. we broke up before my debut and we didn't contact each other for two years until you messaged me about a week ago.
we kept our relationship a secret and the only other person who knows is jennie, who is a close friend.
but there are people online digging up old photos and they might find out soon. i'm sorry for everything, lisa.

lalisa
i don't know what to believe.
it's been a long day for me. a lot of memories came back. i can clearly remember my family, my school, my friends
but everything with you is still blurry
you weren't important enough for me to remember
bye

That night, I cry myself to sleep.

You weren't important enough for me to remember.

When I wake up, my eyelids are practically glued down by the dried tears from a few hours ago. I rush to the bathroom and splash water all over my face.

You weren't important enough for me to remember.

I dry my face and brush out my tangled hair.

You weren't important enough for me to remember.

I check the time on the wall clock to see that it's only six in the morning.

You weren't important enough for me to remember.

"Shut up!" I shriek and kick at the first thing that's within reach, which just happens to be an empty waste bin. The bin goes flying across the room and hits the door. "Shit." I fall back into the bed and bury my face within the sheets.

How can Lisa not remember me? We've known each other since we were fourteen, it's been six years! That's more than quarter of our lives. We were best friends for two years and a couple for several months.

For the first time since I woke up, I catch my phone lying on the bedside table.

"Shit, shit, shit," I repeatedly mumble over and over again as I reach for my phone. I log onto Twitter to see what's happened since I last fell asleep.

"Park Chaeyoung is a lesbian?"
"Fans are shocked by Park Chaeyoung's dating life."
"Park Chaeyoung is part of the LGBT community."

After a bit of staring blankly at my phone, I decide to read one of the titles.

Park Chaeyoung is a lesbian?
Park Chaeyoung's dating life is uncovered. Fans are shocked but supportive. Her girlfriend, Lalisa Manoban, was one of the victims in the recent Seoul traffic accident.

tony
@heyitstonee
wow i did not see this coming! but hey, i support her i think this is a step forward for the lgbtq+ community. hopefully more people can take the incentive to come out and be themselves.

annie
@just_a_fan_of_chae
ok all of you who are hating her for keeping this a secret need to understand that the lgbt community is still a taboo topic, especially in the Korean entertainment industry. chaeyoung has a right to her private life and i'm kinda upset that y'all exposed her private life but i still support her and i hope both of them are okay.

After reading several more articles from different sources, I realize that people think that Lalisa and I are still together. They don't know that we broke up years ago. Has Lisa read these articles yet? What in the world will she think of them?

I need to say something.