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The phone rang twice. He ignored the first one. And then he rejected the second.
In his mind, there was no use to answer her calls. He's tired. He's tired of always understanding. Of keeping it together. Of the scandals that kept popping up. Of wearing his professional mask. He's tired of basically everything relating to her.
"Aren't you going to pick up those calls, PD-nim? It might be important," one of the writers asked as they gather their materials for their presentation.
But Yoongi did not answer the younger female and just continued walking with his laptop and papers clasped between his hands. They moved from their cluttered cubicles to the meeting room where the other staff were waiting for them. After all, this upcoming come back had been highly anticipated by practically both the company and the fans.
"This is the concept and the overall outline we came up." He finished presenting to their Management Heads.
"Alright. Then, just make sure to coordinate with Accounting and finalize all your costs for the budget." The CEO commented before ending their meeting but holding Yoongi back in the room after.
"What is it, daepyonim?" he asked, sitting back on his chair.
"Are you sure about that decision, Yoongi-ah?" the CEO eyed him.
"I am. That's why I told you about it personally." Yoongi sighed, leaning further back into the chair. "And no, you can't change my mind, Junghoon-ie. You, of all people, should understand why I'm going to do it."
Kim Junghoon shook his head in defeat. He knew how head-strong his friend was and if he said it was final, then, it's final. No ifs, no buts.
"I hope you're ready with the consequences that comes after it."
Yoongi only snorted and shrugged at the other male. "Shouldn't you be telling that to yourself? Walls have ears and doors have eyes."
They parted ways outside the meeting room and Yoongi focused back on his pending project. There really was nothing more to talk about the topic. All his 'boss' had to do was to accept it because he'd do it reagrdless.
When hs phone vibrated again, the same name flashed on the sceen. He took a deep breath, almost a heavy sigh, before answering it.
"Wow! You finally picked up." Her tone was laced with the mixture of disbelief and mocking. "After you ignored me for so long."
"If you have nothing more to say, I'm hanging up."
"Don't! Iㅡ I'm sorry... Min PD-nim." She quickly settled to her usual softer tone. "I know I screw up big time and I want to make it up to you and unnieㅡ"
"Listen, here, Somin-ssi." Yoongi interupted her, using his field-trained working voice. "Just make sure to strictly follow the company rules or there might be no more next time. And that goes not only for you but to your manager and all the other people working in your team too. Please remember that."
"I know... but still, I want to do something for you and unnie." He could almost see her pouting on the other line and it was not affecting him at all. "Let me do it. Please..."
"Yah. You're not listening again. I just told you to not do anything you are not supposed to do." Yoongi said firmly. "You've caused her enough problems. And we can deal with our own relationship ourselves."
"Hmph! And here I was, thinking of offering you to a members-only reservation dinner or something! But you are nothing but being a total jerk to me too! You should be called Mean Yoongi instead!" Somin then hung up.
Yoongi gritted his teeth to keep himself from loudly cursing at their artist. He had to keep reminding himself that she was in her mid-twenties and not a teenager like she liked to act most of the time.
"Oppa, you don't look so good." Seulgi handed him his coffee. They unexpectedly met in the empty break room where the coffee maker was located. "Is the location scouting going well?"
Yoongi sipped his drink and smiled inwardy at the realization that she made it just how he prefered it. "Just one set back but nothing big. We have everything laid out for now. You? Why are you still here? It's late."
"We had to do some last minute clean up before they can release Somin's come back date. But it's over, for now." She said sourly, stretching herself, before sipping her own drink.
"Good. Then, I'll drive you home." Yoongi stood and picked up his cup.
"Really?!" Seulgi's eyes shone. "You're the best oppa!" She strapped her bag over her shoulder and hung on to Yoongi's right arm as they walked out of the office.
After another week of finalizing the music video plans and the album photo shoots, Yoongi was standing there eyeing Somin through the monitor from his chair. He let the photographer have some creative freedom with the shoot as long as it maintained the concept they had prevously discussed. And he was not wrong to hand over the reigns to his team. The photos came out beautiful and the little easter eggs they added vaguely complimented the look.
During the break, he scrolled through the series of shots in the computer and selected a few for sampling. And unbeknownst to him, standing behind his seat was Somin, watching carefully as he meticulously check each photo.
"I like these two shots. They're nice, right?" She suddenly commented, pointing at the screen, hovering close over his shoulder, surprising him.
"What the hell! Don't do that, Somin-ssi..."
And despite the black mask he was wearing, the woman still found his rounded, flustered looking eyes adorable.
"Aww, Min PD is so cute today too!" She giggled, pulling a chair to sit beside him. He, in turn, inched away from her while looking back at the other staff. "You're being too serious, PD-nim. Relax."
"And you're too lax. This is the exact reason why people misunderstand you and manage to twist realities into some scheme." Yoongi replied, his attention going back to the computer in front of them.
"You know I hate putting on a front." Somin quietly said, pursing her lips together in a pout.
Yoongi didn't reply. He straightened his back and turned to the younger female beside him. They have known each other since the day Somin was initially street casted to be a model. As the years built and her skills improved, it was a mutual agreement between her and the company for her to debut as a soloist. That was almost a decade ago. And now, that lanky kid that innocently greeted him before was now a successful singer of eight years despite her still childish antics.
"Sometimes I forget that you're not a rookie anymore." He finally said, grinning at her sullen face and patting her head before walking away.
"Oppa, look at this." Seulgi called from the other end of the glass shelf. "The design is simple."
Yoongi steped beside her and was about to peer in the display she was pointing at when the store clerk pulled it out for them.
"Good choice, miss. We just got this ring last week." The lady said, pushing the black velvet box towards them. "It's made of slim white gold band and a two-carat diamond."
"Try it on." Yoongi said to Seulgi, watching the female's face morph in astonishment.
"What?! No."
"How will we know if it will fit?" he innocently asked.
"Oh, my god. Don't tell me this is how you're planning to propose?" She exclaimed, earning a few glances from the store staff.
"You're exaggerating, Seulgi-ah. Just try it on."
Defeated, Seulgi plucked the ring from the box and slid it on her ring finger. She showed it to Yoongi, demanding, "Happy?"
Yoongi nodded, inspecting the ring on her finger, and then turning to the clerk, pointing to another ring. "I'd like to see this one too."
"Yah! We have a budget!" Seulgi protested when she saw the ring he was referring about.
"It's fine."
"No, it's not." She pulled the ring off and placed it back in the box.
They sat in one restaurant afterwards with the purchased item securely nestled in one of Yoongi's pockets.
"Will I get to know when you will be asking the question?" she asked over their last order of lamb skewers.
"Of course." He answered matter-of-factly, eating a slice of meat heartily.
"Why do I get the feeling that what we had in mind are two different scenarios?"
"Because... it is?"
Seulgi snorted in disbelief and pointed one metal skewer at the older male. "Sometimes I wonder how I could even stand being with you."
"Don't worry. The feeling is mutual."
Cold spring wind blew as the first day of the music video shoot came but the atmosphere around the production crew was more freezing. News of an important location being unavailable irked not only Yoongi but the Head Writer too. The plan they carefully laid out, the iterinary, the timeline, all of it was disrupted when they arrived in the scene.
Yoongi immediately called an emergency meeting in-site while communicating with other departments for a re-schedule of some things. They knew they had to act fast.
"Wait, so we're not going to shoot anything today?" Somin asked as soon as she heard the news.
"Yes... They said the rain was too heavy to start," her manager said.
But the look on her manager's face was not convincing enough. She immediately pulled her phone and pressed one of her speed dials. Yoongi picked up after her third attempt.
"We're in a meeㅡ"
"Is it really because of the weather?" She didn't wait for him to finish.
"..."
"Is it!?"
"Mainly."
"What did they do this time?" She was furiously holding her tears back.
Yoongi paused for a second before answering. "The set was trashed. Stay in the office for now while we try to get back on track. I'll see you later." He then hung up.
Somin was left feeling more guilty. They all thought the issue had died down and the fans had moved on. But apparently, they were wrong. She had been off of all her private and public SNS accounts for the duration of her hiatus, focusing all her energy in creating more music. And yet, even after months of silence and legal procedures, they still persue her.
"It was not as major as we thought," the assistant director said as the team heads and their CEO gather in the meeting room later that day. "There are still some parts we could use for the shoot and just overlay the rest post-prod."
"Do we need to push the date?" Junghoon asked no one in particular.
"No need." Yoongi confidently answered. "We adjusted the timeline but nothing the team couldn't do. Though, we may need to do some overtime."
"I'll take your word for it, Min PD-nim." The CEO said.
Somin, on the other hand, was with the company's consulting Legal Team clearing every single detail still regarding the same scandal at kept on biting her.
"We've already both denied we're not dating and yet they have the nerve to do this to me?!" She was beyond livid.
"Don't worry, all the additional evidence were already sent to the court, Somin-ssi. For now, your well-being is our concern. So we've assign additional security for you starting today." Seulgi and another legal counsel had discussed with her the current status of their lawsuit and what to expect moving forward.
"Thank you," was all she could say. Although she wanted to personally strangle those people, there was nothing more she could do but wait for the jurisdiction.
After introducing the two new security personnel, Seulgi added, "Aside in your home and here, they'll be coming with you everywhere, alright?"
"I know. Please spare me the lecture, unnie," Somin replied, feeling more tired.
"Well, your boyfriend told me to do so though." Seulgi whispered as they neared the artists' lounge.
The shoot proceeded like nothing happend. Crew and civilian security alike had been assigned in all three locations and Somin was almost never without an escourt. And yet, it still happened.
"Don't draw attention and just find her!" Yoongi demanded no one in particular while his fingers were busy dialling her phone number. "Pick up you brat!"
Cannot be reached.
In three minutes after they discovered Somin's disappearance, Junghoon was already calling Yoongi.
"I got some people dispatched and locating her phone signal but keep looking."
"I know. And I'll whoop her ass when I see her." Yoongi responded before hunging up.
Twenty-seven minutes passed and he got a text message from her manager that they've found her and was unharmed. Once Somin was safely back in her trailer and people's adrenaline died down, they sat in front of each other.
"Yoon Somin-ssi," he began after a long dead silence between them. But she did not answer.
So he continued. "Not as a director, nor a senior... just as plain old me, why did you do it?"
Still, no response, her eyes glued out the tinted window, obviously not giving him attention. Yoongi sighed audibly, leaning back on the couch cushion and crossing his arms.
"If you're not going to explain yourself, people will misunderstand again. You're a popular veteran singer and many eyes are always on your every move. Get your act together, Somin-ssi."
"I hate you..." she uttered lowly, eyes still focused outside.
"Excuse me?"
Somin slowly turned her head to him and replied, "I said, I hate you." This time it was clearer and more spiteful.
"What are you saying?" Yoongi was trying to figure out where all her rage was coming from when he was the one that was supposed to be angry at her.
"You used to always care about me. Me, the untalented girl that only has a 'sellable' face. Me, the one who almost every trainer gave up on. Me, who took six years after debut before becoming popular. You used to know me. When we're alone, you don't call me by my name without honorifics anymore. Not even in this situation."
Yoongi unfolded his arms and held his palms open on the table between them.
He demanded, "Hands."
Somin stayed still and stared back into his eyes before willingly doing as she was told. He held her hands reassuringly, entertwining their fingers. A faint grin momentarily appeared on his lips when he felt her warmth on his skin.
"Somin-ah," he started.
"Too late for that."
But Yoongi brushed off her comment, continuing, "Did you think that being in my position, things are easier to do like before? To be frank, it's not. You think I like always using honorifics with you? My god, I'm tired of half the things I had to do to save face. And I'm sick of always keeping my emotions in check when it comes to you. If you hate me because I used to know you, then ditto. So, choose..."
A two weeks after all the shoots ended, Somin's comeback date was officially announced. And though some paparazzi got hold of the news of her 'disappearace incident', it also led them to pin pointing who were the rats in the company.
"And they really thought we could be bribed!? The nerve of those...!" Seulgi ranted, inaudibly mouthing the last word.
Junghoon crackled at the female before handing over a mug of hot chocolate. "Easy there, tiger. I didn't invite you here to be stressed."
"Please, this is me de-stressing in every sense of the word. Though, I must admit, Junghoon-ie, your place's simply sleek. Not as bachelor-ish than I expected." She said while letting her eyes roam around the open area.
"Thanks. But that's because it's not."
"Oh, my god! Stop sounding like my twin brother, it's creepy." Seulgi shivered, remembering how Yoongi said almost the same words to her.
"I'll take all of that as a compliment, Seulgi-ah," Junghoon said with a smile, lacing an arm around her waist. "Also, this will be their home... if she says yes, that is."
"What!? But, waitㅡ!" His finger firmly pressing on her lips silenced the rest of her words.
"Shh... It's alright, love." Junghoon whispered, leaning over her face. "After all, we get to test it out for them. Come on."
When the music video was released, sparks flew and speculations spread like a wild fire. All form of media outlets kept on contacting the company for their side. But as per plan, they remained silent as Somin promote her album, avoiding any questions regarding the controversial 'realistic' proposal scene in the post credit film of the video.
Looking out the green scenery outside the wide veranda, Yoongi was sitting on the long plush sofa while Somin was resting on his chest. He was idly playing with her hair, patting her head, and smoothing his hand down to her jaw.
"I like it here. It's peaceful." Somin said with eyes still closed, enjoying their time together.
"I know. I'll work harder so Junghoon can't take it back." Yoongi responded, placing a peak on her forehead.
"We really owe daepyonim one, huh?" she asked, looking up at her fiancé. "I feel bad that we had to dump everything to him."
"Don't. He knew what is going to happen. I even warned him in advance."
"Yea, well, I kinda figured that... Or else I don't think he would've approved my MV to be posted. But I'm worried about my fans though." Somin straightened from her position and grabbed her phone.
Numerous people and friends from the industry had messaged her about her engagement, many of which were sincerely supportive of her decision. While others did voice their concerns about publisizing it. And while it remained as a hot gossip, there were a solid majority in her fanbase that had been defending her life choices.
"Looks like there's nothing your guardian Devils won't do for you, Somin-ah," Yoongi chuckled after they read the first page of her public SNS account. "They'll love you regardless."
He then took the device from her hands and placed it back on the table before pulling her back to a hug.
"And I do too."
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