BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 35: crossing the line

Jennie froze in her spot and glanced in Yoongi's direction. "What?"

"You don't have to care about what others think," Yoongi continued after some hesitation. "As long as you know you're not doing anything that goes against your conscience, you have nothing to fear. Just trust in yourself."

"Not doing anything that goes against my conscience..." Jennie hesitated. "What if I am?"

"Hm?"

"Nothing-" Jennie got up abruptly. "Goodnight, Yoongi-ssi."

-•-•-

"You're guilty, aren't you?" Hoseok narrowed his eyes as he pointed at Chungha when she arrived at work the next morning. "That's your guilty face right there - tell me, did you break the rules or not?"

Chungha frowned. "Come on, that's stupid. I'm not you, why would I break rules?"

"You sure?"

"Mmhmm."

"Ever entertained the thought of it?"

"Thinking and doing are two different things."

Hoseok gasped. "You thought of it?"

"Nope-" Chungha lied through her teeth as she recalled offering Jieun to buy her coffee last night. "Besides, I don't think Jieun-ssi needs any of my help. She's way ahead of Hyejin-ssi at the moment, oppa."

Hoseok frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me give you some advice as a fellow colleague, Jung Hoseok-ssi-" Chungha beckoned for Hoseok to lean in. "Lee Jieun-ssi has gotten the chance to move in with JK-ssi. I told her to take it up. You're done."

Hoseok gasped loudly as he jumped to his feet. "How-"

"Shh-" Chungha pulled him back down into his seat as their colleagues turned to look at them. "Keep it down, you dummy."

"No, but-" Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows. "How did she do that? Did she beg? That's awfully obvious-"

"He was the one who asked," Chungha whispered. "Apparently she helped him with some insomnia issue of his and now they're looking into it. But if she really moves in with him, it's pretty much over. She's gonna get her hands on some wonderful scoop and bujang will probably let her report about it in person-"

"Oh- bujang-nim!"

Chungha shoved Hoseok away from her, and the both of them scrambled to their feet at once, at the announcement of Namjoon's arrival. But as they turned towards the door, he wasn't there.

"Ya!" Hoseok folded his arms and turned around. "Who was the one who-"

"Me, sunbae-nim-" Hyejin said with a grin. "I'm sorry, I must have seen wrongly-"

"Oh, no, no, no-" The frown on Hoseok's face disappeared the moment he realised who it was. "Hyejin-ssi, it's fine. Go back to work, don't worry about it. Work hard!"

Hoseok and Chungha took their seats once more.

"Any updates about Hyejin-ssi?" Chungha asked Hoseok. "You seem kinda scared of her."