Chapter Seventeen
Last night's events lingered until the very morning for Hyejin. She was full of smiles as she replayed every single scene she spent with Dino. She was actually afraid when she woke up, she would realize that everything was nothing but a dream. Thankfully, it was nothing like that.
Dae Jung is calling...
It was around the early morning of ten when Dae Jung decided to call Hyejin. She picked her phone from the table and swiped the answer button. "Hello?"
"Hwan Hyejin!" Dae Jung excitedly said on the other end.
"Dae Jung!" she said in return, equally excited.
"So... nothing to tell me?" Dae Jung said, almost teasingly.
"Am I supposed to tell you something?" Hyejin was dumbfounded.
"What? Are you telling me you two aren't dating yet?" Dae Jung asked.
"Dating? You must be crazy!" she said, flopping onto her bed. "There were no confessions made, Dae Jung. How could you say that we're dating? Tsk!"
"Oh, I thought you were. What a bummer," Dae Jung said in return.
"Oh, come on. I have no chance, after all. That would also make me selfish to have Dino all to myself when there are a bunch of other Dino fans out there in Korea or the world itself," Hyejin told him, slightly bumming herself down.
She selfishly wanted her to have Dino all to herself, but she knew he didn't belong to her. Just like her fanfiction, he belonged to other people. His company. His members. His parents. His fans. Where did she stand in his life? Just another fan in the crowd that was slowly dragged into the spotlight.
"Now, don't pull your hopes down, Hyejin. Just because it seems useless, doesn't always mean it is. So don't give up too soon, okay?" Dae Jung encouraged her.
"Thanks, but I can't believe we're talking about love right now. It sounds so typical." Hyejin found herself smiling like an idiot again. Why was this happening so often?
"You're right, though. This sounds all too familiar. Remember when you would call me just to fangirl about SEVENTEEN and Dino in general? Telling me that he's too handsome for his own good and that he needed to stop? Look what has changed. You're actually friends with him and you have a crush on him," Dae Jung continued teasing.
"Shut up!" On a contrary to what she had just told her best friend, she was giggling a little too much. Alone. In her room.
"You're so cute, Hyejin. You still fangirl over him. Oh, I forgot to ask. Don't you have any schedules today?"
"No, no schedules at all. I have a free day today," she replied to him. She looked at the wall clock hanging near the door of her room and noticed that it was already ten thirty in the morning. Hyejin had no plans of leaving the apartment, however.
"Want to hangout today? I miss seeing my best friend in real life. The only times I see you are on TV or on websites," Dae Jung said, still teasing.
"Nope. I'm too tired. Come over instead," she said, throwing an arm over her eyes. She was still tired from coming home late last night. However, she woke up too early this morning. She didn't get enough sleep, so she was more tired than she usually was.
"Okay. I'll come over then. Want me to stop at a chicken restaurant to order take outs?"
"Cho Dae Jung, have I ever told you that you're my best friend in the entire world, and that I love you?"
"I knew you'd say that. Food always catches your heart, doesn't it?" Dae Jung chuckled on the other end.
"You know me." Hyejin found herself smiling tiredly in her room just as well. "Get it from my favourite chicken store, okay?"
"Sarang Chicken. Got it," he said before he ended the call.
Hyejin heard the beep afterwards and quickly used this waiting time as a nap time. In less than five minutes, Hyejin had already fallen asleep to catch up on a few minutes of the sleep she lacked.
+ + +
Hyejin heard loud beeping when she slowly woke up. She then noticed that it came from her phone, which was placed near her head. She groggily grabbed it and stared at the contact's name before picking it up. "Hel—"
"Hwan Hyejin!" an impatient voice said on the other end.
"Who's this?" Hyejin asked, yawning.
"Did you fall asleep? Yah! I've been waiting out here since forever!" It was then she recognized the voice. It belonged to her best friend, who said was coming over.
Her eyes wandered over to the clock nearby and noticed that it was almost two in the afternoon. Hyejin gasped and quickly got up, rushing out of her bedroom to open the door and let him in.
Once she and her best friend were no longer separated by a door, he ended the call and entered the apartment.
"Did you fall asleep for that long, Hwan Hyejin?" Dae Jung neatly placed his shoes before heading to the living room, putting the take out from Sarang Chicken.
"Yeah." Hyejin closed the door and rubbed her eyes. "How long have you been waiting outside?"
"Since eleven in the morning," Dae Jung answered, moving on his own. He headed to the kitchen and grabbed two plates, as if he were the owner of the apartment and Hyejin was his guest. His eyes glanced over to her before he shook his head, showing a disapproved look. "You look horrible."
"Wow, thanks," Hyejin bitterly answered. "I'm going to wash up real quick. Feel free to eat without me first."
"Okay. Go make yourself less ugly," Dae Jung said in reply, chuckling under his breath.
Hyejin rolled her eyes before she walked back into her room to wash up a little. She looked like a zombie who just woke up from its 1, 000 years sleep.
After she was done, she joined her best friend in the living room, enjoying the chicken that he had bought from her favourite chicken restaurant.
"I wonder why my name was never mentioned whenever the topic concerned you on interviews or websites," Dae Jung said as they watched the news. He had a chicken in his hands and was enjoying it very much.
The news were currently showing news about stars. Something NCT 127 and their appearance on Weekly Idol. She wasn't very into them yet, but she did find Lee Taeyong real handsome. If she hadn't fallen for SEVENTEEN, she would have been a fangirl of NCT instead.
"It's because I told them not to include you. I wanted you to feel safe, Dae Jung. I may come off as selfish and you might think that I want the fame all to myself, but that isn't true. It's not as easy when you're famous. Trust me." Hyejin bit into her chicken.
Dae Jung chuckled. "You don't have to explain so much. I totally understand. Have you seen what goes on in," Dae Jung used his chicken to point at the screen, "that world? It's nothing but scandals, fake rumours and hates."
"Not always," Hyejin reasoned out.
"You're right. Not always. But the stars receive more hate than the average person does," Dae Jung said. His head moved towards Hyejin before tilting it slightly to the right. "Wait, don't tell me you've received a lot of hate?"
Hyejin shook her head, her eyes still concentrated on the screen of the TV. "Don't be silly. I don't look up stupid hate comments about me. Whatever they're saying, they're saying out of nonsense or jealous. What did I ever do to them directly? Nothing. Which is why I'd rather not look at them."
"Ooh." Dae Jung pinched Hyejin's cheek to tease her. "Hwan Hyejin sure is mature. No wonder you're the older one between the two of us."
"By months only. Pssh," Hyejin said in return, rolling her eyes at him once again.
The TV's current playing show ended and went to the next show. To Hyejin's surprise, it was news about her. However, it wasn't those usual news she has became used to. It was a completely different one this time.
Breaking News! Are Hwan Hyejin and SEVENTEEN's Dino dating?
A source has seen the two out together in E-Cube Mall late at night. In this clip, you can clearly see that Hwan Hyejin affectionately wave at each other goodbye before they both head home. Were they on a date? Is an idol dating his own fan? Find out more on this shocking news!
It was then, Hyejin dropped the chicken she was eating on the floor and had completely lost all thoughts in her mind.
+ + +
"Yes, Ms. Jang. She's fine. Okay, the definition of fine isn't really fine... Yes, yes. I understand. Yes, I'll wait for you. Please hurry. Huh? Oh, yes. Hyejin's just staring at the screen of the TV. I turned it off. Yes, I also hid the remotes and made sure she wouldn't do anything stupid. I'm trying to calm her down. Her current state? She's emotionless, Ms. Jang. It's scary. I've never seen her like this. She's so pale. What? Yes. Yes, I will. Okay. See you soon. Please hurry, Ms. Jang."
Dae Jung ended the call with Ms. Jang, Hyejin's manager and looked over to Hyejin, who was still sitting on the floor, still staring at the TV. It was nothing but a blank, silver screen. Hyejin had no thoughts at the very moment. All she wanted to do was hide away.
"Hyejin, please say something." Dae Jung stood in front of Hyejin, holding her by her shoulders in concern.
Hyejin didn't. She was lost in her own world. She has seen the comments that the TV show had aired. They were different comments directed to her, both directly and indirectly. They were saying like how she used her fame just to get close to him and date him. Some said she was trying to ruin his career. They were nothing but a bunch of lies. However, they had an affect on her. She was breaking. And the reason was because of a lie.
"Hwan Hyejin!" Dae Jung shouted a little louder, shaking her a little stronger the second time.
Still no response. Hyejin wanted to cry, but she couldn't even feel the tears. She felt nothing. She was numb.
"Hyejin..." Dae Jung wasn't sure how else to snap her out and ended up hugging her while slowly breaking down into tears because he thought of how useless he was. He couldn't prevent things from happening. That was understandable. But he couldn't comfort his own best friend? He felt nothing but useless.
Hyejin wanted to cry with him, but her eyes were nothing but dry. She closed her eyes, feeling weak. Like the life had been sucked out of her.
"D... don't worry." Dae Jung sniffed, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Ms. Jang will be here soon. She'll know what to do."
Hyejin felt upset that Dae Jung thought that he was useless just because he couldn't help her. That wasn't true. He should know that he was helping her well enough.
Short after, the doorbell of Hyejin's apartment rang. Dae Jung stood up from the floor and rushed to the door, wiping away the tears from his eyes before he opened the door to let Ms. Jang in.
"Where's Hyejin?" she worriedly asked once she entered the apartment.
"She's..." Dae Jung sucked him a sharp breath. He slowly pointed at Hyejin, who was lifelessly sitting on the ground. "She's over there."
"Why are you crying?" Ms. Jang also took notice of him. "Did something happen?"
"No," Dae Jung answered, shaking his head. "It's nothing important. Please, just help Hyejin."
Ms. Jang nodded and rushed to Hyejin's side, as if she was her real mother. "Hwan Hyejin! Hyejin-a! What happened?"
Hyejin didn't say anything in return.
Ms. Jang turned to Dae Jung for answers. "Do you know where her parents are?"
"They're at work..."
"Aish," Ms. Jang muttered under her breath before she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Yes, it's me. I need your help. Please secure Hyejin's parents and make sure they don't get attacked by different interviewers and reporters. I'll be here helping Hyejin calm down."
"Hyejin, please... You're worrying us," Dae Jung said, sitting in front of her. His eyes were glossy with tears in his eyes.
Hyejin had no other thoughts but the thoughts of her ruining her own favourite group's reputation because of a stupid scandal that wasn't even true. How could someone assume their relationship, post it on the Internet and let everyone believe that it was true, when they haven't even got a word from the two parties that were involved? The logic people had these days.
Or maybe it was because Hyejin was found in that position. She wasn't just a spectator anymore that could simply make assumptions and post different comments online to either defend or attack whatever she was getting herself involved in.
Nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel guilty about being the cause to SEVENTEEN's slow befall. What if they have to start over again? What if drastic measures have been taken? What if... Dino already hated her after finding out she was the reason why their group was now falling?
~Author's Note~
Hi Kimichies! I'm back with an update! The reason why it took so long was because I was on a trip and also, I wanted to keep you guys hanging for some time. Don't hate me! It's just something authors need to do at times ;)
Well! Hoped you enjoyed this one too! I'm sure I did, although when I wrote it, I did find a little difficulty in it. No matter! <3