Accidentally Assisting

Chapter 46 - Legendary Rose

"Ah, Rose," Jinyoung forces out a greeting as I enter and sit down at a t-shaped meeting table. "Now that you're here, we can begin. Good to see you again."

Well, I love how he doesn't even attempt to sound genuine. I let my eyes wander around the room. Most of the people present are managers specializing in PR, most of whom I recognize from my time at BigHit. Jungkook's here too, of course, sitting opposite me, making this whole conversation feel a lot more confrontational than it'd have to be.

Next to him sits a young woman his age, staring at me with great interest. Not in an offensive way, more in an analytical way. I mirror her gaze while I try to ignore the pang of jealousy in my heart at the sight of this woman, who I'm convinced to be Jungkook's new assistant.

Are they close? Does she live with him like I used to? I know I was the first assistant he ever asked to move in, but that doesn't mean I was the last.

Then, I shake these thoughts away. What does any of that matter? I don't yearn to be in her place anyway. While I miss working with Jungkook and the rest of BTS, I certainly do not miss being an assistant, one of the most horrible jobs to exist.

While Jungkook has barely acknowledged me, one of the managers starts the meeting by listing all the newspapers and magazines we've been featured in and the impact of these. As I try to follow her speech – my Korean has become a little rusty after all this time in New York – I can feel Jungkook's dark eyes finally focused on me. He makes me feel uneasy because I've got no idea how he thinks of me these days. How mad is he still at me and how has he been dealing with all these rumors as introverted idol hating attention, may it be positive or negative?

"Now,", the manager finishes her presentation, "one question remains unanswered. Why have these pictures suddenly surfaced? And who pushed the journalists to write these articles?"

I nod at her. "That is a very good question indeed."

Expecting her to continue with some theories about what could have happened, I stare at her, just to realize she's staring back at me. In fact, the whole room is staring at me.

Frowning, I rethink my sentence, suspecting I made a language mistake before I get it. I get why they're all looking at me like I'm guilty.

Because they find that I am, in fact, guilty. Incredulous, I raise an eyebrow at that manager. "Are you accusing me of providing the journalists with those photos?"

Jinyoung nervously clears his throat at this. "No one is accusing you of anything, Rose-ssi. We merely believe that it is quite suspicious these photos surfaced so much time after they were taken."

"And I agree with you,", I retort. "But when you accuse someone of something, it is because you reckon that they had a motive. What would my motive be in this case?"

"Rose," Sejin starts, but I don't let him finish. Back when I was an employee, I could never express how I really felt out of fear of being fired. Now, I don't care anymore, and I'm going to enjoy that to the fullest.

"I think you're forgetting one important detail," I say. "You're forgetting that I left Korea on purpose and that I had no intention of ever returning. However, now, because of this scandal, I was forced to come back here. This situation bothers me just as much as it does Jungkook oppa, so I would appreciate it if you didn't portray him as the only victim here."

The female manager's lips have turned into a thin line as she observes me. "Responding to this defensively doesn't exactly make you look innocent, Rose-ssi."