• Yujin •
"You could at least pretend that you're listening to me." I looked up from my phone when Dayeon spoke.
I smiled apologetically and sent a quick reply to Xiaoting, stating that I need to focus on the meeting.
"I'm sorry, where were we?" I asked.
Today I'm in a meeting with Chaehyun who's since she's my manager, along with Dayeon because she will make the theme song for the show and because she didn't have anything else to do. The company is planning to produce a variety show and asked me if I could participate in it to attract attention. I didn't really mind, especially now that I'm planning to have a comeback shortly after my collaboration with Bing. However, the thing about this show is that it's being dubbed as a 'dating show' by the publicity department.
It's called "We're The Real Couple" and it's basically all about fan service. The show already released a voting poll for fans to vote for their favorite ships. Last time I checked, Bing and I were among the top five. If she accepted going on the show, I didn't really mind it.
But I have to tell my suitor about this so that she won't have to worry.
Heh. Ting. My suitor.
I smiled unconsciously as I felt giddy at the thought.
"Weirdo. Don't smile at me like that. Anyway, I was telling you that when we trended because of that dinner we had about two weeks ago, the shipping polls changed."
"Oh, I see. Did Bing and I drop? I won't participate in the show anymore?" I asked.
Dayeon looked at Chaehyun, both of them laughing.
"Yes and no. Yes, you and Cai Bing dropped from the top. No, you will still participate in the show."
I frowned. "Are you going to rig the rankings? We're having a poll for a reason, you know."
Chaehyun rolled her eyes. "I know. It's just that your partner changed."
I motioned for her to keep going as Dayeon snorted 'cause I didn't know where this was going. "You should really check the Blue Bird from time to time to keep yourself updated."
I rolled my eyes at what she said. "That one time I panicked when my phone was flooding with notifications because I happened to trend for the simple fact that I ate a seasoned chicken feet at a restaurant, made me uninstall that app in the first place. Besides, comments there are a mix of admiration and unwarranted hate. As much as possible, I'd like to avoid the last part. Also, I have you guys to update me with everything." I grinned cheekily at them.
"... You have a point. But you have to admit, that chicken feet was the best."
"Of course. That's why my reaction was like that. Who would have thought that I would suddenly be the reason for chicken feet to be scarce for solding out that fast." I laughed, remembering the hashtag 'Yujin_took_all_the_chicken'.
"Anyway, who's my new partner?" I honestly couldn't think of anyone since I haven't been that active yet for the past week.
"Ting eonnie~"
To say that I was shocked was an understatement. I couldn't speak for a few seconds while the two of them laughed at my expression.
"W-what!? How is that even possible? Yah, did any one of you disclose to the public about my little crush on her!?" I squinted my eyes at them.
"A little crush, she says." Dayeon teased.
"Kim Dayeon, I swear- You know what, I don't care. Ting doesn't like being in the eyes of the public, that's why we hang out in closed areas or in disguise. How did us being voted in the poll happen?"
"Calm down, eonnie." Chaehyun smiled. "If you're going to accuse someone, blame yourself and her for being clingy."
"...Huh?"
"You know that you have a lot of fans, right? We were a huge group of public figures all in one place. It was inevitable that some fans may have recognized us or maybe some bastards followed one of us, but the thing is that there's a video of you guys caught being mushy. They compiled it in a short clip and the internet went crazy I tell you. That is how XiaoJin was born."
"... XiaoJin?"
"Yup. Xiaoting plus Yujin equals XiaoJin. Makes me cry in happiness." Chaehyun playfully wiped a tear off her face.
We already have a ship name? What the-
"It will probably die down. I can't bother Xiaoting for this."
"Tell that to the rioting fans online." Dayeon giggled but I simply stared at her with a blank look.
They looked at each other before Chaehyun spoke up. "If she really doesn't want to, we can do something about it. As much as the fans want it, we will prioritize both of your consent."
"But you can ask Ting eonnie first, you know. As far as I've seen and heard from your sisters, she's willing to do anything she can within her power." Dayeon grinned.
"You make it sound like she's head over heels for me," I scoffed. "She's just that kind and generous."
And also because she likes me.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, eonnie.~"
"But we won't have to worry about what you want, right? You're obviously going to accept this if it's with her." Chae wiggled her eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes but didn't disagree with her. "We haven't hang out with each other lately, of course I'll take this opportunity."
Both of them laughed and I could only smile shyly because I really miss her. I can't deny that in front of the people I trust.
"You should ask her now!"
I pondered for a while, "Maybe the day after tomorrow? Let's see first if the hype dies down and we drop in rank. It would be useless asking her if we don't place at least third."
"Okay!~"
•°~°~°•
• Xiaoting •
"Ting."
I stopped reading the file I was holding when Shiro called me.
"I received an email from our Chief of Public Relations. They seem to have received an abundant amount of emails requesting for you to appear in interviews. Mostly from entertainment sectors."
I returned my gaze to the file. "Then tell them to do what they always do. This is not the first time."
"Yes, about that, I asked him if he knows the cause. He told me that it was because of our dinner last week."
"I already told him to take down everything and just lay low about that. It will soon die down."
"Well, this isn't the same thing as the others."
I looked up again and saw Shiro grinning at her tablet before meeting my gaze.
"Thing is, someone actually took a video of us, particularly you and Yujin. You were being intimate with her and it blew up in the internet. I didn't immediately hear wind of this because netizens were not using your name or Yujin eonnie's. You were called the 'clingy cold beauty'. The video was a compilation of you guys and Yujin eonnie's fans seems to have loved it. Let me send you the link."
I remained stoic once I finished watching the video. I pressed the 'save' button and turned off my phone.
"Deleting this from the source would only cost us. A lot of people already saw it so it's too late for us to take this down now. Did Chaehyun tell you anything?" Shiro shook her head no. "Then I don't see anything wrong with it. As long as it doesn't badly affect Yujin's image. Regarding the emails of invitations, decline everything."
Shiro grinned. "There's one other thing."
I sighed and nodded for her to continue.
Shiro told me about Yujin's company producing a variety show and the voting polls for which guests they will invite. It seems that this 'XiaoJin' ship of ours is gaining momentum and is currently in the third rank. I quickly wiped off the smile I had before Shiro looked up again from her tablet.
"There's a highly likely possibility of you being invited with her, will you accept it?" Shiro craned her head to the side curiously.
"If Yujin asks me, I don't see why not."
Her eyes widened in shock. "You do know that you're not just taking a picture or having an interview, right?"
I rolled my eyes at her. "Of course."
"You would have to do what the production team tells you to do. There will be missions and stuff that you likely haven't done."
Again, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Yes, I know. I don't have a phobia of cameras, Shiro. I simply do not like attention."
Shiro suddenly grinned so wide her eyes turned to crescents. "I wonder why you would go through the trouble to accept it then?~"
"Shut up or else I'm deducting your salary." I threatened.
"I'm kidding, boss. I'll support whatever you decide on.~"
"Good." I grinned triumphantly.
"But it really is good for us if you joined the show. Our company may not be part of the entertainment circle, but marketing is marketing. It's indespensable. You're not just marketing Yujin's brand, but also our company. We don't have to spend another expense for labor, you have an effective face value, and the amount of exposure would be huge. The advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages!" I chuckled a little at the passion she had in her speech.
"Most importantly, you get to spend time with her! The only decision is to support this. You know what they say, a happy boss is a big money force!"
"No one says that?" I smiled.
"I do!"
At that moment, my phone rang with a familiar ring tone. Shiro playfully sends me a heart before leaving my office. I leaned back on my seat and answered the call.
==============================
Yujin❤️
🦌: Hello?
🐇: Hi, Ting~ Are you busy?
🦌: No. I have time for you.
🐇: ... Smooth.
🦌: (chuckles) Oh, by the way, did you receive the flowers and letter I wrote for you?
🐇: (groans) Don't remind me. My staff keeps teasing me about having a secret admirer, while Chaehyun and the rest are getting mad that someone other than 'you' apparently is getting close to me.
🦌: You haven't told them? (laughs).
🐇: About what?
🦌: That I'm courting you.
🐇: Y-yah, stop repeating that! I already know that you're courting me so stop mentioning it every other second!
🦌: (chuckles) Okay, okay. So, you haven't?
🐇: No. It's not that I don't want to, okay? I just feel shy because I'm sure they'll tease me. I'll just tell them whenever it comes up in our conversation (giggles).
🦌: That's okay. I haven't told anyone either. We can take our time.
🐇: Stupid Xiaoting being all sweet and understanding. Hmph.
🦌: (laughs).
🐇: Anyway, I called you because my company has this new show that will cast people based on a poll that they did.
🦌: Yes, I've heard about it. Along with that video of us during dinner trending.
🐇: Yes, about that... We've seemed to have gained fans from that interaction.
🦌: Mhm.
🐇: And well, we kinda got into the top three wanted couples to be invited in the show.
🦌: Mhm.
🐇: Yeah, uhm... I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join the show with me? You can say no if you're uncomfortable with the idea. You don't have to think about the rankings because we could just-
🦌: Okay, I'll go with you.
🐇: -ask my management to remove us- Wait, what?
🦌: I'll go, Yujin. Since it's with you. I'll take every opportunity if it means we could spend time together.
🐇: (hangs up).
==============================
I confusedly looked at the screen when I heard the beep sound. Shortly after, I received a text from her which made me laugh.
'Hey, sorry for hanging up! Kinda panicked cuz i was so happy with what you said🙈 NEXT TIME BE MORE MINDFUL OF UR WORDS CUZ U MIGHT JUST GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!!'
I wasn't sure how to do that but I replied that I would try to be more conscious next time.
If only I knew how fun witnessing all these different sides of Yujin is, I would have asked to court her ages ago.