I looked at Xiao who seemed to be bewildered. He turned his head around to me and sighed,
"I don't get paid enough for this sh*t"
He walked away tired and I facepalmed.
꧁_______________________________꧂
-홍대 (Hongdae), KOREA, AFTERNOON TIME 14:00-
-Y/N's pov-
Y'know, for starting off as a kpop idol in a fresh new group, you'd expect to get attention but not almost INSTANTLY get into a scandal, not just any, but a DATING scandal.
I'm not gonna lie, I set myself up doing that. In Korea, it's not that we're NOT allowed to date as a idol, it's more of a "don't get caught doing it" thing. As far as I know, it's been about a month being in 5wirl and I haven't gotten any angry or complaints from my company about my behaviour.
I thought that was strange, but not even that, the FANS, especially FANGIRLS actually seem to be interested in the dating scandal with Xiao and I. Even weirder, they seem to support it.
When Xiao's asked about it, he puts on a act and gently smiles and responds,
"Me and Y/n aren't dating, apologies for any confusion"
He doesn't seem to deny what happened either or speak up and try to call me out for lying.
I thought he'd be pissed about it but nevermind...?
-
I laid calmly in my bedroom as I scrolled through social media on my computer. I scoffed and did a eye roll when I saw a post from a 5wirl fan saying,
"
@MeodaLGstan
'It's been a month since Xiao has confessed his feelings to Y/n. Is it bad that I sorta want them to end up together?'
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.
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@Pokipoki_10
'Not at all. I think having a couple in the group is cute. Have you seen them in videos? So cuteee, he def likes them🥰'"
-NARRATOR POV-
Aether and Venti were chilling out in her room. The group decided to hang out more, of course Kazuha was busy and Xiao was being as antisocial as ever.
Aether decided to do some of his studies in Y/n's house as he still decided to attend university. So did Venti but he preferred to still slack off. While Aether was writing, Venti was busy trying to make pencils stack.
Y/n smirked a little at the 'he def likes her' and mumbled,
"Def likes her my ass. He hates me"
Aether looked up from his work and took off his glasses.
"What was that? Is everything okay Y/n?"
From their chair, they spun around to face both boys, one who was giving them full attention while the other was still heavily focused on their pencil tower.
They stretched their arms and replied,
"Huh? Yeah i'm fine. Just reading 5wirl chat forums."
Aether nodded and responded,
"Ahh, that makes sense. Yeah, the posts there are definitely... interesting"
Aether decided to take a break from his work and stand up to look at the forum's with Y/n. Aether and Y/n looked at the conversations, Aether slightly laughed a little and said,
"Well they seem to be a fan of Xiao and Y/n, that's for sure haha..."
Just then, they heard a loud groan. Both looked behind them to see Venti who seemed to be mourning the fall of his beloved pencil tower.
"All those hours.. to perfect my tower... And yet it falls.."
Venti's expression fell dark and then to a frustrated one.
"Thanks Aether for mentioning Xiao and Y/n! That's what caught me off guard"
"Just rebuild it. Also, who cares about the situation? It's just funny seeing fans act like they know everything about the idols and act as if they know the idols off camera"
The braided haired boy stood up and stomped over.
"It doesn't matter. You've already caught my attention and I wanna read too"
He stood beside Y/n and put his chin on Y/n's shoulder as he read on.
As he read, his curious expression fell to a frown and an annoyed look.
"Are you okay Venti?"
Venti sighed and mumbled,
"I'm fine, can we not look at these though?"
Through gritted teeth, clearly his happy mood disappearing.
Aether Looked at Venti and then Y/n, to which he chuckled a little as he had seem to realised something.
He took the computer mouse and opened a new page.
"Sure Venti"
He replied.
Y/n confused as to why they had to leave it but still spoke up to break the awkward silence that was uncomfortably drowning everyone in it's overwhelming presence.
"Yeah, I need a break from this stuff. I might die of laughter"
Aether nodded and smiled at their response.
"It's way too funny how many fans support it"
Still annoyed, Venti was still having an attitude.
"Oh yeah? Well I don't! I hate this new Y/n x Xiao thing. He doesn't even like them!"
Y/n put their hands on Venti's shoulder to calm him down and replied in a calm tone,
"It's alright. It's not like I like him either"
"Yeah but still! Why him though...? Relationships in groups only ruin things..."
Venti snapped back with a jealous tone lacing his voice.
Y/n turned to face Venti and they smiled sweetly.
"I swear I'll never get into a relationship with him. I prefer our friend group now anyways"
Venti looked at Y/n and he frowned again. He hugged Y/n tightly and groaned again,
"See?? He doesn't deserve someone as sweet as you!"
I think they forgot about the other presence in the room.
Aether.
He just stared at both of them with a awkward smile,
'Am I just gonna thirdwheel here or...??"
To try to start a conversation, Aether tried talking about a new topic.
"When do we go to practice once again?"
Y/n thought for a second, with Venti still clinging onto them of course, then they responded,
"Hmm, tomorrow I think? We only got today off luckily"
"Time passes way too fast. I just wanna sleep all day"
Aether whined.
Y/n agreed,
"Yeah, I have a sore head and my body aches from all the practice"
Aether noticed the time and said,
"I gotta get my work finished! Let's get back to studying Venti"
Venti hesitantly let go of Y/n and went down back to writing with Aether while Y/n went back to playing on their pc.
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-SEHO ENT. DANCE STUDIO 4-
After a not very long break from their job, Y/n and their members were already back to practicing.
After an exhausting few hours of practice, Y/n was requested to leave the dance practice room for a few minutes to talk with the managers of 5wirl.
This of course scared the life out of Y/n since they were worried that they did something wrong.
They left the room and entered a office where Xiao also seemed to be sitting in a chair. His manager was sitting next to him while Y/n's personal manager was sitting next to a empty seat, probably for Y/n to sit in. Then the person who sat in front of all, the head manager, Soo Min. The one who sorta controls everything, from scandal situations and reputation, etcetera.
She was intimidating, her aura was professional and she was a serious person. She had long black hair and always seemed to be a fan of suits since she never stops wearing them.
She sat in front and all of a sudden broke the scary and awkward aura by saying,
"Ah, Y/n! So glad you could join us. Please, have a seat next to Miss Gyeong"
Y/n nodded and had a nervous smile.
'Oh sh*t. Did Xiao tell the company what happened? Am I going to get fired?'
Miss Gyeong, Y/n's manager, had a serious expression and nodded while patting the seat next to her,
"Yes, please take a seat for this Y/n. This is important for your future here"
'OH NO'
That's what raced through Y/n's head a billion times. Their life flashed before their eyes.
After a nervous gulp, Y/n nervously said,
"A-Ahaha.. is that so? Well uhm.. Okay."
Y/n took the seat next to Miss Gyeong and everyone waited to hear what Soo Min had to say next.
"Alright. I wanted to start of by mentioning the incident that happened about a month ago.."
'Yeah, that's it i'm getting fired.'
"I wanted to express my gratitude to you Y/n and Xiao"
"Wait what"
Soo Min clapped her hands together and completely flipped her personality, you'd find it hard to believe she was the type of manager who was extremely strict and always got everything done way before deadlines.
"You guys must be confused, well! Ever since that happened, 5wirls popularity sky rocketed. I'm not gonna lie, I was thinking of dropping this group but because of you guys, I decided to stay!"
Xiao raised an eyebrow, what a backhanded compliment.
"Uhh... thank you?"
"After a thinking process and long chats with the company, we decided that we will allow permission for you to publicly date!"
Everyone else in the room, including the other two managers had a shocked expression. Mr Han, Xiao's personal manager, almost fell out of his seat when hearing the news.
"YOU DECIDED WHAT?"
Soo Min responded confused but still in a cheerful tone,
"Oh, did you not hear? Well we decided-"
"No no! We heard! We're just shocked and also HEAVILY against this!"
Miss Gyeong said while trying to collect her thoughts.
Soo Min relaxed her position and went back to her calm and composed act.
"I see.. but isn't this exactly what Y/n and Xiao would want? But also the fans? Think how much we'd profit off of this!"
Miss Gyeong freaked out and even stood up while trying to argue,
"It doesn't matter! There shouldn't be relationships between idols! End of story!"
Mr Han also stood up and was quick to defend Miss Gyeong's train of thoughts.
"Yes! I agree with Miss Gyeong! How could the company allow this?! We just can't"
Honestly, Y/n and Xiao felt like two kids sitting in a office while watching their parents argue. Y/n looked awkwardly at Xiao who also looked back but he seemed to not be surprised like at ALL.
Soo Min stood up and exclaimed at both the managers,
"WOULD THE BOTH OF YOU'S SIT DOWN AND LISTEN?"
Frightened, they sat down without hesitation and listened intently,
"It's going to be a fake relationship if not real. They don't have to date for real."
Mr Han nodded but rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache and replied in a annoyed tone,
"Yes but I thought we'd agree that we should ONLY influence that shipping stuff amongst the fans. Not actually allow them to date."
Wait what?
Y/n looked at Mr Han surprised then asked,
"You agreed on what now?"
Miss Gyeong whispered in Y/n's ear,
"We'll talk about this later-"
"No, let's talk about it now! What the hell did you guys agree on behind my back?"
Xiao, still obviously annoyed, responded,
"It's as it sounds. I was just told to act as if I liked you so we could influence the relationship between us and see how the fans would react"
That must be the stupidest marketting tactic i've ever heard in my entire life.
Soo Min nodded awkwardly,
"Right... yes. As Xiao perfectly explained, that's what we're planning. Do you understand?"
-Y/N POV-
I scoffed, what? She wanted me to agree with her? She wanted me to make my entire idol personality or career based on a fake relationship with a pretty boy? Actually, not a bad offer. I know i'd probably accept it in other circumstances or something. That's not what i'm here or becoming an idol for though. So yeah, i'm not participating.
"With all due respect Soo Min, what genuinely possessed you to make you go through with this idea?"
I questioned her. She gave a glare while Xiao laughed but quickly composed himself when Soo Min looked at him.
Soo Min sighed disappointedly.
"Alright.. I get the hint. You think it's too early for a relationship? I get what you are saying..."
"What? No that's not what i'm saying at all! I'm saying-"
Soo Min interrupted and replied with a glowing expression of excitement and a brand new idea,
"Ah! You're saying we should build up to the relationship and make fans feel more entrapped so when the relationship happens, everyone will go mad and get tons of attention!"
"WHAT-"
"Pffft, don't worry Y/n. Heard ya loud and clear. Your idea is amazing, I fully support it!"
Soo Min stood up and shoved Y/n and Xiao out of her office.
"Thank you for coming! Make sure to make tons of content for the fans!"
She did a wink and then shut the door.
MY IDEA? She didn't listen to me at ALL! This isn't what I wanted. I looked at Xiao who seemed to be bewildered. He turned his head around to me and sighed,
"I don't get paid enough for this sh*t"
He walked away tired and I facepalmed.
Says you.. I never get heard at all. Not even by my own damn company! I thought to myself, is this genuinely a good idea. SHOULD I actually go through with it?
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