Chapter Twenty Four
SEVENTEEN was happily gathered in a room, awaiting the time they will finally start their V live. The others were excited to once again interact with Carats, since they missed them so dearly. Even when their bodies were sore from late night practices or when their voices were close to losing due to continuous practice, at the end of the day, the Carats were the ones that continued to encourage them.
Dino stood near The8 and Vernon. He was happily talking to the other members while keeping track of the time all the same since it was nearing the time they would start their V live. Dino was excited. He couldn't wait to see the Carats.
A minute before they would start their live, their CEO, Han Sungsoo entered their room which they would be using for the V live, along with their manager.
Everyone in the room fell silent, unsure on why they were here at the very moment. Seungcheol, as the leader, quickly asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Well, there has been news," their manager said. "You guys won't be able to do a V live today. We'll tweet to the fans, telling them that we're sorry. There will be a lot of questions on why, but I'm pretty sure they'll also understand."
Everyone was confused on what he was talking about. And the fact that their CEO was there made it even more scarier because that meant that the matter was something really important if their CEO was here.
"All of you, come to meeting room right now," Hang Sungsoo said before he left the room and went ahead.
"Hyung, what's going on?" Jeonghan immediately asked, worried.
His manager only shook his head in response. "You'll see when we get there in the meeting room. As of now, all of you are summoned to an emergency meeting."
+ + +
Dino was sincerely scared. For some odd reason, he felt like this meeting was his fault. It just gave out that type of aura for him. He sat down at the farthest seat from their CEO, scared he might have caused another trouble in his sleep. He has been careful, what could have happened now?
Once everyone was seated, Hang Sungsoo began, "It would seem like news have surfaced."
Everyone was silent as they just listened to him. They were too scared to say anything or even asked what was wrong.
"Lee Chan," Han Sungsoo called, sending shivers down Dino's spine.
Dino swallowed. "Y-yes?"
"Do you know what type of news have surfaced recently?" Han Sungsoo asked with a cryptic face on.
Dino had no clue. He could make a wild guess but his mind was blank. He had no absolute clue. Unless...
No way. There was no way that would be what Han Sungsoo was talking about. As much as Dino wanted to believe that it wasn't what he was thinking, it only made sense that it was. Dino was now confused on how it even got into the news. Unless someone was there and they were recording?
"Lee Chan, I know you like her but you have to be careful. We have warned you before," Han Sungsoo knowingly told him.
Dino immediately knew that it was exactly what he was thinking about. He hasn't had time to check it out for himself to see how much damage he has caused but he had a feeling that it would affect him, Hyejin and the entire SEVENTEEN reputation.
What exactly am I doing to my group?
"The news are filtering in every way possible. Some Carats are dumbfounded, some are mad, most are jealous but there is a small group that are actually happy for you," Han Sungsoo explained, leaning against the table before clearing his throat. "What do you suggest we do now?"
"I don't know..." Dino said in return. All he ever wanted to do was to protect Hyejin. Why was he needlessly hurting her this way, and why was he affecting his group so much? All they did was work hard and they even took care of him. Why was he doing this?
"We're going to do some damage control, but we also need to know the story first hand, Chan. What exactly happened that day? Is the news true? Did you really confess to her that day at the market, like in the video?" Han Sungsoo asked.
"I... did," Dino answered. He thought that if he lied, he would make the situation a whole lot worse. He wanted to stop hurting people around him because of his own selfish reasons.
"Okay. What happened after you did? Are you two really dating, like what the news are saying?" Han Sungsoo asked.
Everyone in the room was suddenly interested in the story. Even Dino's members. Some looked concerned while the others were just waiting. They had nothing to do with this story, yet, Dino always somehow manage to drag them down with them.
"No, we are not dating." Dino felt the pain wash over him once again. When Hyejin had left him that day, he wasn't sure what to do anymore. All these times, he thought that she would feel the same way. No longer as idol and fan but as a boy and a girl who both want to love each other.
"Is this the truth, Dino?" Han Sungsoo asked once more for confirmation.
Dino nodded in return as he bit the lower part of his lips to hold back tears. "Yes, this is the truth. She didn't accept me so I guess that lessens the damage. Although, I'm afraid some fans would think Hyejin was being inconsiderate about my feelings and would attack her by saying that she hurt me and whatnot."
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Waenji Publishing Company will help her deal with that. In the mean time, we have to work on damage control. I suggest we have another concert here in Seoul before sending you kids off for a world tour," Han Sungsoo suggested, surprising everyone in the room.
"World tour?" Seungcheol squeaked, surprised.
The other members started to whisper among themselves while Dino drowned in his own world and thoughts.
A world tour? That meant I will have to be busy for the mean time and I won't be able to see Hyejin at all.
"If it's settled, then you kids should go and have a discussion now and prepare for the concert. It will be held not long from now, so please practice well. We will inform you the confirmed date soon enough," Han Sungsoo said before he dismissed the group.
SEVENTEEN walked out of the meeting room and looked at each other with a slightly stressed face. That was when Seungcheol decided to hold a little meeting for the group itself, so everyone moved to the dance practice room to conduct it.
"As we have heard, we will have to work real hard these days to think of concert ideas," Seungcheol said, looking over to Woozi. "We won't need new songs, will we? We can just rearrange a few songs." Then he looked over to Hoshi afterwards. "And new dance moves for it? You can do it, right, Hosh?"
Hoshi was slightly flustered but he knew his job, so he nodded his head. "I will. I'll start thinking about it now. Jun, The8, you guys can help me right?"
"Of course," they answered together.
Hoshi's eyes moved towards Dino, unsure. "Are you in a right state to think of new dance moves? I mean, you got rejected by your crush after all..."
"I don't know..." Dino confessed. He wasn't even sure whether he was doing okay. He did feel the pain from the rejection, but at least he wasn't living like a zombie. Even the book character in Hyejin's story was doing okay when Dino left the country.
Hoshi patted Dino on the back, reassuring him that it was okay. "You don't have to if you don't feel like it. Just try to get back into a better state. Okay, Chan?"
"I will," Dino promised.
"In that case, I better start working on the songs," Woozi said. "I'm going to my little office now. I'll see you guys later."
"Hip hop unit and I will work on the rap lyrics right now," Seungcheol said, grabbing Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon and pulling them out of the dance practice room to somewhere else.
"I'm going to bring Joshua, Seungkwan and Dokyum. We'll try to work on making a few new songs, who knows?" Jeonghan said, motioning them to go.
Dino was still with the performance unit and he tried to snap himself out of it to concentrate.
"Come on guys, we don't have a lot of time. Let's start this," Hoshi said.
+ + +
Another all-nighter.
There was no such thing as sleep ever since the damage control plan has started. Dino spent nights trying to think of good dance moves they could use and once they had finalized something, they started teaching the other members.
He had never received a word from Hyejin, so he had no idea how she was doing. He was afraid that she was crying these nights because of what has happened. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't.
The concert was scheduled next week. The poster has been pasted on almost every wall and announcement board in Seoul. Every Carat has been made known about the concert. Now, Dino wondered whether or not Hyejin would come and see them.
Despite them knowing each other, she was still a fan in the end. Just a fan in the crowd before she was pulled out into the spotlight and was given her own title and fame. Wouldn't she want to come and see SEVENTEEN perform? Or will her feelings get in the way?
Although Dino knew there was a higher chance she wouldn't come, he still wished that she would. He was working extra hard just to show her how cool he could be on stage as he stands not as Lee Chan, the boy who loves her, but as Dino, a member of SEVENTEEN, the group that she loves.
"I can't believe it's going to be April soon," Hoshi said as they took a five minutes break after practicing for nearly two hours.
"We won't be here for long," Woozi reminded as he panted heavily.
"Right. The world tour. I can't wait to travel again but I'll surely miss my parents," Seokmin said as he drank up water from the plastic bottle.
"Seokmin hyung, introduce yourself in English again, just like during our trainee days," Seungkwan said, trying to brighten up the mood.
Seokmin grinned as he placed his bottle of water down on the floorboard. He cleared his throat before he began, "Hi, I'm Lee Seokmin. My father's name is Lee Jaeseok. My mother's name is—"
Seungkwan threw a pillow at him, laughing loudly. The other members wondered where he got the pillow from.
Thanks to both Dokyum and Seungkwan, the other members got to laugh. They were pressured into finishing and perfecting their performances but it was a good thing they still knew how to have fun to calm the tense atmosphere.
Dino smiled at his members as his eyes looked at each and every one of the members. How did a few random no name boys from South Korea get together into one entertainment and become best friends like this? Dino found it amazing.
Once, they stood as boys with different stories. Now, they stood as one group who went through hardships together and achieve great rewards together.
Dino smiled to himself. He was happy. Even if he couldn't see his parents as often, even if he couldn't meet up with Hyejin like a normal person, he was still happy.
And I hope you're just as happy as I am, Hwan Hyejin.