Y/N who had just woken up felt petrified by the news that had broken out. He went out to open the social media and saw that his name was number one on the trend hashtag.
"Y/N. It's best to not look at what the fans or news have to say right now. The fact that the news broke out, is all you need to know." Bang calmed him down as Y/N ruffled his hair in frustration.
"Yuri. How is she?" Y/N opened his phone to see whether she had notified him about the news or not. Chaeyeon's name came up on top of his message.
'This is bigger than we thought, Y/N. Manager unnie came and told us about the news.'
Y/N replied with a question as to how Yuri's doing.
'We're calming her down right now. What're you gonna do about the situation, Y/N?'
' I'll think of something. Please, take care of her for me, Chaeyeon-ah. '
Y/N threw his phone after the last message as he grunted loudly. Changmin then came in a hurry, gasping for air as if in a hurry.
"Y/N, Bang-chan. Come with me. We need to go to the office."
________
Changmin's face was pale as never before as he got out of the meeting room. He let out a groan, leaning onto the railing when his phone started to ring, showing IZ*ONE's manager's name.
"This is a mess, Changmin-ssi." Irene said as soon as he answered her call, with a sigh at the end of her sentence.
"More of a mess than I ever thought it would be."
"What do you mean 'I thought it would be'? You should've known that it would turn out like this."
"Yet we just let them be, Irene-ssi."
"I don't want the kids to feel like they're being imprisoned. You know full well how it feels like."
"True. And nor do I."
The two fell silent as their minds were filled with the worst possible outcome.
"So, how did your meeting go?" Changmin broke the silence.
"Not now, Changmin-ssi. I do not want to remember the scoldings I've gotten earlier. I wish you were there to hear everything he said."
"Sorry. Also I'm pretty sure we got a similar kind of earful. What're we gonna do now, Irene-ssi?"
"I should tell you how it is on my end, before we come up with a decision."
"I'm all ears. We need to be quick."
_________
The room was filled with a heavy atmosphere, as none of the Stray Kids's members could dare to open their phone, in fear of the backlash they could've gotten.
"Hyung. What's gonna happen to us?" Jeongin asked to the leader.
"It's okay, Jeongin-ah. We'll be alright. But, Y/N. Are you?" He shifted towards Y/N who sat by the end of the room, laying himself on the chair as he stared at the ceiling.
"I don't know, hyung. A lot of things are going on in my mind right now."
"What about Yuri? Have you checked up on her?"
"She's not answering. I think she was told by Irene-noona to turn her phone off for the time being."
Just then, a ringtone echoed in the room as they looked for the source of the sound. It turns out to be Y/N's phone, with the caller ID showing Chaeyeon's name.
"...aren't you gonna pick that up?" Han asked.
"No. I don't think I will." He replied as he let the phone ring, eventually stopping after some time.
"Wouldn't that make them worry about you? I think you should answer the call, the next time it comes. Or at least text them and say what you're feeling at the moment rather than being silent." Seungmin suggested.
"Thank you for the advice, Seungmin-ah. But I'll pass."
Hyunjin glared at Y/N as he spoke out.
"Hyung, this isn't like you. You're not the type to leave someone hanging like this. You're gonna make them worry about you when they're also in the same position as us."
He stood up in protest, witnessing his unusual behavior. He has always been looking up to Y/N, which is why seeing him like this made him feel agitated.
Hearing this, Y/N gritted his teeth and turned his attention to him.
"Then do you want me to answer the call, talk with them and possibly make a decision that I may or may not regret? That might 'cause more damage than it already is?" Y/N said with a tense look, as the others could only froze in place having never seen Y/N like this.
"I'm sorry, Hyunjin-ah. It's just that I don't want to make decisions based on whati'm feeling at the moment. Give me time to think for a while, okay?"
"Sure, I'm sorry too, hyung. But at the very least, you should tell them and say that you're at the office right now, waiting for our manager's report."
"Yeah. Yeah you're right. I should do it."
__________
Why is this kid not answering at this time of the crisis? *sigh* Wait. Could he have been told to stay off his phone for a while as well?
Chaeyeon thought to herself as she stared at her phone screen, which has turned dark after being inactive for some time. Being upset, she decided to go back to the room where they were told to stay as they waited for the upper-management's decision on the matter.
"Unnie, where were you from?" Nako asked as she closed the door behind her. Every single member inside the room had a grim look on their face, hoping that everything would be settled.
"I was trying to reach someone just now."
"Was it Y/N-oppa? Did he answer your call?" Yuri chimed in, as her puffy eyes stared at Chaeyeon with full of hope. Her eyes then went down, as if ashamed after not being able to hear any sort of news from the other side of the group.
"He didn't answer my call, Yuri-ah. But I'm sure he was also told to stay off the internet for a while, so don't worry."
"How can I not?" Yuri's voice started to vibrate, as she started to sob once more, making the atmosphere heavier than before.
"I want to see you, oppa..."
Chaeyeon's phone then lit up as a message went through.
"It's from Y/N." She said as she opened the message.
"What did he say?" Yuri asked.
"He said that he's at the office right now, waiting for the meeting to end. He also told us not to worry, and that he'll try to think of something."
"Just like us." Yena joined in the conversation.
"More or less. Well, we are also waiting for Irene-unnie to be done with the meeting, so I guess you could say that we're exactly at the same position."
"We won't be forced into going to a hiatus... will we?" Wonyoung asked with a noticeable fear in her voice, as Chaeyeon patted her head, calming the maknae down.
"We won't, Wonyoung-ah. Let's trust Irene-unnie and wait for her to come back."
Just then, Irene came into their room and immediately eyed the leader of the group as well as the girl she's embracing.
"Unnie, how did it go?"
"...Eunbi-ah, let's talk. Yuri too. Come with me." Irene said as Eunbi helped Yuri in getting up from her seat. Yuri was barely able to stand as her legs were shaking, almost falling helplessly onto the ground had it not been for Yena who was by her side, holding her.
"I'll talk to you guys about the current situation later, but for now, I need to talk to these two for a moment. Don't open your phone, got it?"
They replied in unison as both Yuri and Eunbi followed Irene from behind.
__________
As Y/N's group were patiently waiting, Changmin came in through the door and looked for the person that caused this whole thing to happen.
"Y/N, come with me." Changmin said as he approached Y/N, taking him by the hand.
"Where are we going, hyung? What about the others?
"The others will come, but I need to talk to you personally first."
Y/N followed as Changmin escorted him to the emergency stairs, in fear of being eavesdropped by the staff who might be nearby.
"What's gonna happen to me, hyung? Do i have to break up with her?" Y/N said in despair, as Changmin quickly stopped him before he could speak any further.
"After discussing it with the management as well as Irene-ssi, it's been decided that we'll act based on your decision. Surprisingly, their company also agreed to this decision."
"So... what will happen if I say that I want to be with her?"
"Then the companies involved will confirm that the two of you are dating. If it's the latter, then they'll say that it's a rumor and that the two of you are only friends, and the pictures being shared were only for the shoot."
"Will they even believe that?"
"I'm sorry that I have to say this, but realistically, no. The damage is already done, Y/N. They wanted to prevent further damage by saying that it's all a rumor, but-"
"But that'll mean that the contact between us will have to be cut off." Y/N cut in between, as Changmin nodded agreeing to his assumption.
"So... what do you say, Y/N?"
Y/N stood silently, as he thought of all the possibilities, and the feedback that they might get due to his decision. Now that the decision is all up to him, it made him feel even more burdened.
"It looks like you still haven't thought of an answer yet. You can think of the answer later while we're on our way. Choose whichever the best outcome might be." Changmin said as he got up the stairs.
"What do you mean on our way?" Y/N asked.
"We're going to their company, and let you talk things through with Yuri-ssi."