SEOUL, SK
KOOK & CHAE
—
The thing they dreaded the most about this whole scandal was confronting their respective groups about their new disposition, Chaeyoung most of all. Standing in front of their dorm rooms, she wondered how her members would react to everything.
Before all of the commotion, she was at a photoshoot with for their album. All of the girls had done their part already, and it was only her pictures that were needed to be taken as she was in another country. She was in the middle of an uncomfortable pose when chaos erupted.
Suddenly, all of the phones in the room started buzzing. The photographer did not even have his attention on her anymore. All of the staff were either looking at their device, or at her. She was puzzled as to why the environment became tense. Unexpectedly, her manager grabbed her and started explaining the situation as they exited out into the building. Her suspicions were right that all of their whispers were about her. Chaeyoung figured this would happen.
And so, she hasn't seen them since the news came out. They were probably blowing up her phone with millions of calls and messages (along with her other idol friends, most notably Sooyoung), but she looked and answered at none. It had been a busy and stressful few hours.
Once she opened the door, she expected yelling and screaming, but there was none of that. Chaeyoung did not know whether to sigh in relief or cower in fear. She took a few steps, with each one comforting her more and more. She started getting the feeling no one else was home. But when she peered her head into their living room, their dorm erupted into chaos.
The squeals of three girls could be heard from three blocks down. They pounced on her, both physically and with questions.
"Yah! Park Chaeyoung, what was that?" Jisoo, their eldest, questioned her with a strictness laced into her voice.
"Of course, all this time you both acted like you hated each other but that was all to cover up how in love you were!" teased their youngest, Lisa, with hearts in her eyes.
"Did you do it in Madrid?" Jennie asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
These were three different, but predictable, responses to her situation. Chaeyoung pushed away every single one of them. She plopped down on the couch and buried her face into a cushion, ignoring their words.
"Give me a minute," she muttered, with clear tiredness in her voice.
All at once, the three girls' questions and teasings stopped. They sat down and gave one another a knowing glance. There was a comfortable silence among them as they waited for when Chaeyoung was ready to respond.
A few minutes pass by and they start to hear sobbing coming from the girl of the hour. Jisoo, Jennie, and Lisa looked at each other worriedly. They did not know if they should let her be or comfort her.
Chaeyoung was emotional at the presence of her members. She was finally able to release all of her feelings that she kept to herself throughout the whole day, especially those she experienced during the meeting and her confrontation with Jungkook. This was the first time she cried since Madrid.
She felt her girls surround her and engulf her into an embrace. She was glad to be back in the comforts of her home, and not just the physical place. Her members were everything to her.
It was only after almost fifteen minutes that Chaeyoung finally decided to pry her face off of the cushion. She looked like a mess with her makeup smeared and her hair disheveled. If it was a normal day, they would tease her about her appearance to lighten her mood, but it wasn't any ordinary time.
With a raspy voice, Chaeyoung starts to explain what happened, but not the wholehearted truth in accordance with her agreement with Jungkook. In fact, she had not even gotten the chance to talk to them about her trip. It was only the next day and she was thrusted into work the moment she landed. Although, she doesn't think she would have told the girls the wholehearted truth if this whole situation did not happen anyways. She usually tells them everything, but she'd rather keep most of the trip to herself, at least for now as she tries to adjust back to normality. They were all also busy for the release of their new album and she did not want to add on to the list of things they need to worry about. Moreover, how could explain the events of Madrid, if she herself can't understand what happened.
Chaeyoung told them exactly the same spiel that Jungkook said in front of their bosses. They were simply not together and the kiss seen in the picture was a drunken mess. She proceeded to then tell them about their company's plan to fix this scandal, and how she was now fake dating her enemy and they all have no choice but to lie and go along with it.
"And so, any minute now, YG and BigHit will release a statement about our relationship," she concluded. Chaeyoung looked at the girls, awaiting for a reaction or response, but they all just stared blankly at her. It seemed like they were all in shock.
After a while, Lisa was the one broke the silence saying, "So... you're not in love with Jungkook?" She sounded like a child whose dreams just got crushed.
Chaeyoung could not help but giggle at her question. The youngest always knew how to make them laugh and lighten the mood. "No, no, definitely not," she denied urgently with distaste in her mouth.
Lisa squinted her eyes at Chaeyoung, not believing her words.
"Omo, that means you're gonna have to go on dates with Jungkook and see BTS a lot," Jennie realized, covering her mouth in disbelief.
Though Blackpink was a very successful Kpop girl group, they could not amount to the level of BTS, not right now at least. They were worldwide famous, any idols would tremble at their godly presence. Until now, all of them were fans of the seven men. Even Chaeyoung, who hated Jeon Jungkook, loved and praised the rest. The thought of her constantly being around the Grammy-nominated group made the girls excited.
Lisa and Jennie squealed at this idea, but their celebrations were cut short when Jisoo interrupted them. "But Park Chaeyoung, why were you going around drunk and kissing random men?" she asked further. She was not like the other two who glossed over all of the details she shared.
Everyone went quiet. Chaeyoung knew she was about to get scolded by their eldest member. She did not know what to say as that's not even what exactly happened. She didn't think this far into their made up story.
"I'm sorry," she apologized having thought of a logical answer to that question. "Something came over me while I was alone abroad. It was unlike me, and I promise to never do that again."
"Which brings me to what I've been wanting to say," she continued. This part was real and heartfelt. "I also want to apologize for jeopardizing our careers as a group. I know this whole situation will have a negative effect on us, especially if our fake relationship gets exposed. If anything, I just don't want to bring you guys down with me."
In response, the girls once again pulled her into an embrace. "Awe, Rosie, we're sisters," Jisoo reassured, changing personalities from an overbearing mother to a comforting best friend. "No matter what happens we will be by your side."
"Unnie is right, you are worth more than anything to us!" Lisa agreed, caressing her back to comfort her further.
Jennie, with the other two having said everything she wanted to say, chimed in with a joke to take some of the pressure off that Chaeyoung was feeling, "Yeah, and look at the brighter side. Your scandal will bring more publicity and attention for our comeback." This earned her a slap on her arm from Jisoo.
Chaeyoung smiled. Though she wasn't quite ready to talk about what truly happened yet, she was comforted by the thought of the unconditional love she knows she will receive from her girls. She was happy she got at least one thing right in life.
☾･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
It was exactly one hour later that an official article was released from the two respective entertainment companies. The boys of Bangtan were eager to read. Although, they were taken aback, as this was the first time two agencies made a joint statement about their artists. It was probably a public relations tactic, to show that both companies were supportive and had a joint front.
They were sprawled all over Jungkook's bed and floor, where he had been moping around ever since he returned from the meeting, with their attention all on their phones. He didn't want to get up so all of the boys came to him. Since Dispatch revealed the photo, all headlines of Korean news outlets were of him and Chaeyoung. The whole nation was awaiting for a clear response.
Namjoon was the designated narrator. He was surprised at the length of the statement, as agencies replies were usually straight and to the point. "We have thoroughly investigated the matter, and it seems that Jungkook and Rosé have grown very fond of one another. They traveled separately on an unpublicized trip to Spain and coincidentally met, where they ended up enjoying each other's company. The two artists are happy and seeing where things are going, wishing for their fans' undivided support."
"Yah, how come BigHit didn't put in any efforts when rumours of Jin and I dating were going around?" Namjoon jokingly complained after he finished reading the statement.
Upon hearing this article (and the build up of events from today), Jungkook was in no mood to joke around. He wanted his bed to swallow him whole. It was now officially official. If this was all a dream, he would like to be waken up now.
It did not help that his members would not stop teasing him, even after he denied the claims of them actually being together and explained their fake-relationship arrangement. They still acted like college students where one of their buddies finally scored a girlfriend.
As expected, the two biggest teases were back on to their shenanigans and would not stop cooing over the statement made, rereading the article but in a more teasing manner. Jungkook takes it back. If they were college students, Jimin and Hoseok were the girls on the bleachers fangirling over their crushes on the court.
"Jeon Jungkook, what did you get yourself into...," Yoongi asked as he nudged his lifeless body on his bed. He groaned in response.
"When are you going to see her next?" Taehyung asked, the most he had suspiciously said since they were at the restaurant. Aside from everything, Jungkook noticed how quiet he had been. He had been meaning to ask him why but there was too much going on. He couldn't quite respond as he didn't know the answer. He wanted to say never.
"Stop sulking around!" Jin scolded him. "Whatever the matter, I made dinner so come eat with us. We promise we'll stop talking about it."
Not wanting to go against their eldest, one by one, his members filed out of his room. "I didn't promise," Jimin pouted before all of them exited.
Jungkook was left alone with his thoughts. He knew his members meant well and he couldn't judge them for not knowing how to act or which questions to ask, especially considering that this was the first big dating scandal that they have experienced in all their years as a group. But Jungkook himself just didn't want to be around anyone at the moment. He just couldn't fathom how things ended up this way.
But like what his hyung said, he needed to stop being miserable. If he was going to put on an act of being in love, he better start practicing now, which was still, easier said than done. Also, the smell of roasted chicken was making his empty stomach hungry.
After a few minutes, he slowly lifted himself off of the comforts of his bed and joined the rest of his boys in the dining area where they were all enjoying supper. They all cheered upon his arrival, and as promised, no one mentioned anything about his scandal or Chaeyoung as they ate.
They mostly caught him up on what everyone else was doing while he was away. Yoongi had been painting on Vlive, Hoseok discovered a new discreet food stall they could eat at, and Namjoon bought a new bike (aside from all of their schedules of course).
"But Kook, you still have to tell us what you did in your trip though, aside from the scandal," Namjoon said. "Like what attractions did you see?"
The rest of BTS nodded in agreement. They were all eager to hear his adventures, especially because they had never been to Madrid before.
"For another time, soon," he replied.
He didn't quite know how to tell his story yet without revealing too much of the wrong things. Besides, he was still process everything that happened as well. Jungkook acknowledges how secretive Chaeyoung and him were being about their trip, but from two well known enemies, it was just really hard to fathom and explain.
He was simply enjoying hearing their stories, and their different laughs. He was thankful to be back. Though his trip was only a week, he missed their presence and he knew he could really use a lot of their uplifting energy to get through the next few days.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated signalling that he got a text. He had several unopened ones from today from his friends either asking or congratulating him on his relationship. His most recent one though came from a contact whose conversation history was one he had not opened in ages.
He read her message, careful not to scroll back as he imagined them to be very naïve and cringy. 'Since they now confirmed our relationship, the attached file is my schedule for the next three months. I will be very busy because of our comeback so I'll let you know if anything changes, but for now, please send me yours asap so we can discuss our prospective dates.' Chaeyoung sent.
Jungkook did not know why he hated the way she spoke to him so much. There was no emotion behind her voice, even on text, and it bothered him. In this situation in college, Chaeyoung would be the strict group leader assigning roles to her classmates.
He decided to be petty and only send an 'ok' back. Frankly, he didn't care when and where they met, the less the better.
But as he was exiting their conversation, another name in his inbox had caught his attention. Much like Chaeyoung's, he had not seen her pop up in a very long time.
He trembled, wondering if he should open the message or not. Why would she be contacting him now?
A million thoughts and assumptions raced through his head, but eventually, his curiosity got the best of him. 'Jungkook-ah! I heard the news, I'm happy for you. I was always rooting for the two of you since the start :)' it read.
Though it had been years and he had (for what he lead on to believe) moved on from her, he felt a slight pang of hurt and disappointment.
It's not every day that your first love congratulates you on your new relationship.
—
author's note: i don't really like this chapter haha, it's quite boring and more of a filler i guess— but this is why i double updated.
also, i forgot to mention that i first wrote this as a jirosé fanfic, so if you see jimin's name instead of jungkook's that i missed, this is why. i changed the pairing because i thought rosékook fit this concept more, but don't fret, i do plan on publishing jirosé stories in the future!