BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 9: an epiphany

"He's so... heartless."

Seokjin burst into laughter again as he shook his head. "He may be cold, but I swear he's not heartless. Didn't I tell you earlier that he was the one who asked to lower the punishment for his sasaeng fans?"

"In that case... perhaps he has something against me?" Jieun considered. "Maybe I've ever offended him before in the past without my knowledge? You never know, why don't you ask him if he's seen me before-"

"Jieun-ssi, you sure are one creative lady, but I can assure you that he has never seen you before. He's just... moody these days, like what I told you that time," Seokjin said with a small chuckle as he finally pulled out a black dress and handed it to Jieun. "Jieun-ssi, why don't you try this out? It looks like it will compliment your figure well."

"Wow, you're a manager but you really do everything, huh, Seokjin-ssi." Jieun laughed softly as she examined the dress. "This is really pretty, but it looks really expensive. Besides, it's your company's property, I can't possibly-"

"Oh, no, you can-" Seokjin smiled assuringly. "This has actually been rejected by the company."

"What?" Jieun's eyes widened as she took the dress from Seokjin and scrutinised the dress carefully, trying to find some sort of flaw that deemed it of being rejected. "How- I don't see any spoilt zips or loose threads or-"

"No, no-" Seokjin shook his head. "There's no big flaw on this dress. In fact, most of the clothes you see in this room don't have any huge flaws either. But they're just rejected because they don't meet the requirements of the company - it could be the measurements, or design, or anything. We insist on very high standards, as you can tell."

Jieun nodded in amazement as she turned the dress around in her hands. "I definitely can tell."

"They are the clothes our artists wear to appear on stage after all," Seokjin said with a smile. "Just like how a horrible-looking dish will not be well-received no matter how good it tastes, a talented artist needs to be accompanied by beautiful - no, perfect - clothing. You know what I mean?"

"I think I do," Jieun exclaimed as she admired the dress once more, this piece of clothing feeling even more meaningful in her hands after hearing what Seokjin had said. "I thank you in advance then, Seokjin-ssi. How will I return this to you?"

"No, you can keep it-" Seokjin smiled down at Jieun, pushing the dress towards her some more. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Take this as a compensation for the coffee incident earlier. We met to discuss your terms for the incident yesterday, but ended up causing you even more trouble. I'm so sorry."

"That's alright," Jieun said with an understanding smile as she glanced up at Seokjin's sincere face. "You're not the one who should be apologising, Seokjin-ssi. It's the person himself, even though he simply refuses to. But if I can't get an apology from his mouth, hearing it from you is good enough, I guess."

Seokjin rubbed his hands together nervously. "Actually, he told me yesterday to let you know that he will agree to any terms of yours, other than apologising."

"He really said that? That assh-" Jieun stopped herself in time as she clasped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean that-"

"It's okay, it's chill-" Seokjin laughed. "I heard worse things over the phone last night-"

"Seokjin-ssi!"