<OST: Orbit - Hwasa>
"JK is even taking it one step further to leave the k-pop industry," Jennie continued. "He... He's sick and tired of all this."
"What?" Yoongi frowned. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Yeah," Jennie said with a little nod. "He didn't tell me much though, I guess he wanted to tell Jieun-unnie first."
"Being a celebrity really isn't easy at all..." Yoongi commented. "What about you? Have you ever entertained the idea of quitting the whole industry altogether?"
"Of course I have," Jennie admitted. "Especially when faced with bad rumours throughout the years - most that aren't even remotely true... I often feel like giving up. But my passion for acting just keeps me going, somehow. So, regardless of how many drawbacks I face, I always bounce back. Even now, after cutting ties with BG Entertainment... I still have hopes of finding another agency and starting over. It's kinda difficult... but I haven't given up. I'm motivated, you see - to prove Yang sajang-nim wrong. He told me not to return to him one day, begging on my knees - I want to show him how wrong he is for saying that."
"You really want to do that?" Yoongi asked.
Jennie thought for a while before she nodded. "Mm. I'm not sure how long that's going to take, but I still aspire to become one of the best actresses of all time. And to do that, I need a good agency. Not just any random agency, but an agency that is respectful of my decisions, willing to let me forge my own path - one that values my well-being."
Yoongi nodded slowly, in apparent deep thought.
"By the sound of it, a company like that might not even exist," Jennie admitted with a bitter chuckle. "But I want to choose to believe it does."
"I mean..." Yoongi shrugged as he turned nonchalantly towards the trash can once more. "It does exist."
"It does...?" Jennie raised her eyebrows as she looked at Yoongi. "Where? Oh, right! You were in the entertainment industry before, weren't you? Oppa, tell me what company is good!"
Yoongi turned to look at Jennie for some time. "You really want to know?"
"Mm!" Jennie nodded her head excitedly. "Tell me, please...? This really could be my one and only chance."
"This company isn't big at all though," Yoongi said, his expression unreadable. "It barely has any experience... and you'll be one of their first artists."
"Huh?" Jennie frowned. "What kind of company is this? It sounds sketchy... are you sure I can trust it?"
"But one thing can be guaranteed for sure-" Yoongi said confidently. "You don't have to be worried about your well-being at all, because they'll always put you as their top priority. Money-making... that comes second."
"You're lying-" Jennie burst into laughter. "Oppa, you're pulling my leg, aren't you? I'm only looking for a company that respects my decisions... but placing it above profit-making...? Are you sure such a company exists at all? What's its name?"
Yoongi thought for a while. "No Name Entertainment."
"I've never heard of such an entertainment label in my life-" Jennie tried to hold back her laughter. "No Name Entertainment... are you serious? Even the name sounds dodgy... Oppa, is this some scam or something?"
"No, it isn't-" Yoongi promised Jennie. "In fact, NN Entertainment is very keen on scouting you. As long as you're willing to trust them, they have full faith in making you succeed."
"Who are they?" Jennie furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously. "Is it your friend's company? But I've never heard you mention that you have any friends..."
"It's just... someone," Yoongi said vaguely. "Someone who has a whole bunch of money and is willing to invest in people who have dreams like yours."
"That's... That's like-" Jennie paused for a while, trying to think of the right word for it. "An angel investor."
"Well... kind of-" Yoongi shrugged. "But not really. This company... they know what they're doing. You can trust them, for sure. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'll trust them."
Jennie stared at Yoongi for a few seconds. "Really?"
"Mmhmm," Yoongi hummed. "Really. So, what do you say? Are you in?"
"I..." Jennie thought for a while. "You know this whole thing sounds really vague and untrustworthy and all..."
Yoongi pursed his lips, temporarily turning to look at Jennie as she made up her mind.
"But because it's you-" Jennie looked into Yoongi's eyes, a small smile playing at her lips. "Because it's you, I believe it. Connect me with them, oppa. Tell them I'm willing to start from zero - together with everyone else."
"Very good," Yoongi said with a little smile, his tone sounding as if he had made up his mind too. "They'll be very happy to find out about this. I'll contact them, and keep you updated."
"Wait, oppa-" Jennie thought for a while. "If this company is so... generous and amazing, why doesn't it have more hype?"
"Um-" Yoongi scratched his head. "I don't know about that. I'll ask the sajang-nim and find out more."
Jennie laughed. "Sure, sure. Oh- also, another thing-"
"Hm?"
"If the company is willing..." Jennie pursed her lips. "Will it be willing to take JK in also?"
"Huh?"
"I mean-" Jennie looked down at the floor. "I know he's got nothing to do with you... but he's my friend too, so could you help me put in a good word for him as well?"
"I thought he wanted to quit the industry."
"Yeah, he does," Jennie said with a sigh. "But I don't know, I just feel like he's being rash about it. If he was given the choice to work under his own conditions, I'm sure he'd really like that as well. Can you do that for me, oppa?"
"I-" Yoongi scrunched his nose. "I'll think about it."
"Eh..." Jennie smiled as she hit Yoongi on the shoulder. "Come on, I know you're a nice guy, it won't hurt to put in a good word for him..."
Yoongi relented. "I'll see what I can do."
"You're the best!" Jennie squealed as she patted Yoongi on the shoulder excitedly. "I always knew you were an amazing person."
"Ha-" Yoongi scoffed. "You and JK seem to be pretty close, huh."
"Why?" Jennie grinned cheekily. "Does that make you jealous?"
"Jealous? Not at all-" Yoongi shrugged as he headed off back towards their apartment building. "I'm done with my trash, see ya."
"Hey, wait up!" Jennie ran after Yoongi, slinging an arm around his as she teased him relentlessly. "You're jealous, aren't you? Aren't you!"
"I said I'm not!"
"You are!"
"Cut it out-"
"You're blushing!"
"I'm not!"
-•-•-
"Bujang-nim, bujang-nim!" Hyejin burst into Namjoon's office later that evening, after finding out about Jungkook's resignation from the k-pop industry. "You won't believe this, I just-"
Hyejin stopped abruptly, as she spotted Namjoon lying on the table, fast asleep.
"Bujang-nim!" Hoseok burst into the office right behind her. "About the interview with Jennie-ssi, people are calling in to ask-"
"Shh-" Hyejin turned towards Hoseok with a finger to her lips, gesturing towards Namjoon. "Bujang-nim's asleep."
"At this hour?" Hoseok glanced down at his watch. "It's only 7pm now and there's still so much we have to do, bujang-nim still needs to make decisions for us, and about JK's Instagram story too, he-"
"Let's go out and talk, sunbae-nim." Hyejin ushered Hoseok out of the office and closed the door gently behind her. "Did you know? I came to work earlier today and saw bujang-nin fast asleep on the sofa in his office... I highly suspect that he has been spending his nights here."
Hoseok raised his eyebrows as he peeked into the office, where Namjoon was still fast asleep. "You're kidding."
"I'm not, so let's just let him rest," Hyejin said softly. "He has been working non-stop since the scandal began and hasn't even been able to get much rest at all... He may be capable and all, but everyone has their limits. Let's just try out best to handle whatever we can."
"What are we gonna do about the other media companies contacting us though?" Hoseok asked Hyejin. "They want information from us about how we scored that interview with Jennie Kim."
"About that-" Hyejin pursed her lips. "What do you think bujang-nim would say?"
"Nothing," Hoseok said quietly. "He'll probably tell me not to give them any information. Like... it'll completely take the spotlight away from us."
"Really?" Hyejin raised her eyebrows. "I think he'd want us to tell them about it though."
Hoseok frowned. "Why?"
"Because it can boost our reputation...?" Hyejin suggested. "If they upload articles about how we were approached by Jennie Kim first... our company's place in the public's eyes will skyrocket."
"Wait-" Hoseok's jaw dropped. "That actually makes sense."
"But not just any company-" Hyejin continued. "What was that company again? G7 News? That small company that's reputable for only publishing confirmed facts, am I right? I'm sure they won't distort what we tell them and will publish whatever we say... I think just telling them what happened will be a good idea."
Hoseok shook his head slowly. "Hyejin-ssi."
"Hm?"
"You're a genius."
"You really think it's feasible, sunbae-nim?" Hyejin scratched the back of her head uncertainly. "I just tried to put myself in bujang-nim's shoes and thought of what he'd do. If you and Chungha sunbae-nim think that it's suitable, I think we can go ahead."
"It's more than feasible-" Hoseok nodded. "I now know why bujang-nim has such high expectations of you, Hyejin-ssi. Indeed, you always live up to his expectations."
"Please don't say that, sunbae-nim, I still have a lot to learn-" Hyejin chuckled softly. "About the JK Instagram story-"
"You can decide on that as well," Hoseok said as he backed away. "I have to handle the reporters, so you're in charge of that."
Hyejin hesitated. "But, sunbae-nim-"
"Please write a good article, Hyejin-ssi!"
Then Hoseok left, and Hyejin slowly opened the door and peeked into Namjoon's office to check if he was still fast asleep - he was.
He must be exhausted, Hyejin thought to herself as she approached him. He was shivering a little, so Hyejin picked up a blanket by his desk and spread it over him. She crouched down and watched him for a while, with a small smile playing at her lips.
Then she got up and left the room.
-•-•-
"Jungkook-ah."
"Oh, hyung-" Jungkook looked up from his phone as Seokjin walked through the doors later that evening. "You're back."
"Mm-" Seokjin threw down his bag on the floor and threw himself onto the couch, completely exhausted. "I'm literally dead."
"Hyung-" Jungkook sat up straight as he looked at Seokjin. "You didn't need to resign as well."
"What?" Seokjin's eyes fluttered open briefly and met Jungkook's. "You're still bothered by that? I already left, JK - and I'm not changing my mind any time soon."
"Hey, can you reconsider...?" Jungkook pursed his lips. "Hyung, I know it's a stressful job and all but it's stable. You don't have to quit just because I did - it's okay. Can you tell Yang sajang-nim that you changed your mind? I'm sure he won't mind taking you back, especially now that he probably has a lot of mess to clean up-"
"Jeon Jungkook."
"Hm?"
"I said, I'm not gonna continue without you," Seokjin said firmly as he looked Jungkook directly in the eyes. "And my decision's final."
"Hyung-"
"You left because you wanted to, didn't you?" Seokjin asked. "That's the same for me as well - I left because I'm sick and tired of working for him. These past few years that I was there... they have been out if pure loyalty towards you. Now that you're gone, I no longer have a reason to continue staying. From now onwards, I'm just gonna continue supporting you in whatever you do."
"Hyung, I really appreciate that and all, trust me-" Jungkook pursed his lips. "Okay, fine - so you're sick of working in that company. Now that you're out here, there's so many other things you can do. You wanna be a chef? Go do it. You want to become a lawyer? Go make that happen. You wanna start your own café? You can do that as well. Don't be held back by me, hyung. You have the world at your feet right now, while you're still young - go do it."
"I know and I will, eventually-" Seokjin insisted. "But not yet. You're still not where you want to be, so my job as your manager is still not done."
"Hyung, our contract is gonna be over soon, the moment we pay up our penalty fees-" Jungkook said exasperatedly. "You really don't have to do all this, hyung. I really want you to do whatever you want, really - you've helped me more than enough."
"No, I haven't," Seokjin said quietly. "All these years, I've felt apologetic towards you. There were many times when I was caught between sajang-nim and you... and I eventually chose to side with him instead of listening to your opinion. Now, I want to make amends for the past."
"The past is in the past, hyung - I've never held a grudge towards you for all that." Jungkook frowned. "Seriously, drop it. Hyung, I don't need you to do anything else for me. You're more than a manager to me now - you're even more than a friend - you're like my own brother."
"Then as your brother, let me help you."
"Hyung-"
"I know you, Jungkook-ah," Seokjin said softly. "I know why you quit the industry without even asking anyone for their opinion."
Jungkook remained silent.
"You want privacy, you want to produce music without people constantly controlling you, isn't it?" Seokjin put it simply. "You don't actually want to quit the music industry per se, you're just sick of what the music industry has to offer. The thing is... you haven't finished exploring yet - there's still a whole lot of opportunities out there, waiting for you to discover."
Jungkook frowned. "What are you thinking of, hyung?"
"I tell you what-" Seokjin leaned in closer so he could get a better look of Jungkook. "What about... you go meet someone with me tomorrow."
"Who?"
"Someone whom I think can help you," Seokjin said vaguely. "Just one time - let me try."
"Who are they?" Jungkook frowned. "Your friend...?"
"Huh? Um-" Seokjin hesitated. "Just someone I happened to reconnect with lately."
"Oh-" Jungkook thought for a while. "Okay then. But no commitments, am I right?"
"No commitments at all, of course."
"I can't do tomorrow though," Jungkook said as he looked down at his phone. "I'm going to help Jieun out at the drama shoot."
"The drama has resumed?" Seokjin frowned. "When the scandal is still up there in the air?"
"Life goes on, hyung-" Jungkook chuckled wryly. "After all, we gotta make money, don't we? If I really want to get rid of Yang sajang-nim as soon as possible, that's what I've gotta do. Besides, Jieun really needs my help."
"You should still keep your distance from here for now, you hear me?" Seokjin frowned. "You may have resigned, but you're still currently in the spotlight."
"I got it," Jungkook promised, keeping his visit to Jieun's house earlier that day a secret from Seokjin. "I'll be careful and make sure that I'm there for work and work purposes only."
"I'll go meet-" Seokjin cleared his throat loudly. "I'll go meet the sajang-nim of the company I was tellinv you about tomorrow. I'll go there and make an appointment, and see what I can do for you. If she wants to see you, I'll try to arrange it over the weekend or some day next week. Is that okay?"
"It's good, hyung," Jungkook said with a grateful smile. "Thank you. But after this, regardless of whether this works out or not, promise me that you'll find something you enjoy and start building a career of what you like. You promise?"
Seokjin nodded with a little smile as he got up from the couch. "I promise."