Chapter Twenty Five
Hyejin stared at the screen of her laptop during the late night in her room alone. It stayed there while she just stared at it, as if a mere stare could send it to disappear into oblivion. Not that it work since it was still there, right on the screen.
DREAM!
SEVENTEEN's concert will be held on March 27th, 2017. Be sure to be there and enjoy an amazing performance by your shinning diamonds, SEVENTEEN!
So they're going to have a concert? Hyejin thought as her eyes stared at the time. It wasn't long now until the opening time to buy concert tickets. Hyejin was still thinking about whether or not she wanted to attend it. She didn't want to get reminded by the mistake she had made, but she also wanted to see them perform.
After all, she was still a Carat.
Hyejin started biting on her fingers, still thinking about it. Two more minutes. She had two more minutes before it would be open to buy tickets.
Should I? Hyejin thought. The minutes changed. One more minute. Hyejin began to gnaw her lips as she continued to stare at her laptop before going to the link of where the purchase the tickets. Before her, the minute changed again and it was officially open to buy the tickets. Before Hyejin could think, she already pressed on the purchase option and had already written down all the information needed before she could stop herself.
Congratulations! Your purchase has been made successful!
She stared at the message popup. It was already done. She was really going to that concert and she wasn't even sure whether she felt happy about going. She was still too afraid to see Dino after what she had did to him.
But she also wanted to see SEVENTEEN as a group. She wanted to see them perform. She wanted to be a fan who continued to support her no matter what. Because SEVENTEEN deserved all that love.
Her phone was placed on her bedside table and it started ringing. She picked it up and noticed that it was a call coming from Dae Jung, much to her surprise. She answered it and asked, "What's up?"
"Lots of things, like the skies, the birds, the stars, the moon and the sun, the galaxy—"
"I get it, you pabo." She cut him off, switching it to loudspeaker so she could multitask on her laptop. Her cursor lingered above a website she hasn't visited in a long time—Wattpad. It wasn't because she didn't like it anymore but she was just afraid. What nasty things have people left on there? "Why are your calling?"
"I saw something," he said.
"I see things too. Like the things in my room. There's a closet, my bed, the walls—"
"My turn to say it: I get it." Dae Jung let out a hearty laugh on the other end.
Hyejin rolled her eyes before she moved the cursor to another website to keep her from getting bored. "No, seriously, what do you want?"
"You saw it too, didn't you? SEVENTEEN's upcoming concert," Dae Jung said.
At the mention of the concert of SEVENTEEN's, Hyejin stopped doing what she originally was doing and stared at her phone that was placed beside her laptop. The call was still on-going but she couldn't even say anything in return.
"Are you going to it? I know you're a fan still but things has also happened recently..." Dae Jung was trying to put it into Hyejin's head and she understood his concern. But she also understood that if she wanted to do something, she would turn stubborn and ignore everyone's warning and do it.
"I..." Hyejin paused. Did she want to tell the truth or did she want to lie to him about it?
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say yes." Dae Jung knew her better than anyone in the world. Although it was rare for him to see the inner thoughts and emotions of Hyejin, he was still able to see it at times.
Hyejin also knew that he was Dae Jung. He was her best friend so it was obvious for him to know her real well. She couldn't lie about this anymore. "Yes, I am going to that concert. It's not like I'm not allowed to."
"For your safety, I'm also going to that concert. I also got the seat next to yours," Dae Jung said, surprising Hyejin.
"How do you even know where I sit?" Hyejin asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Did you stalk me or something?"
"Nah, calm down. Ms. Jang managed to ask the people who handle the purchase of tickets where you sit and bought me the ticket which has the seat next to yours. I'm kind of like your bodyguard, in case any sasaengs will want to attack you," said Dae Jung proudly.
Sasaengs? I haven't even heard any news from them anymore. People are more civilized these days. Hyejin was just amazed by her best friend and Ms. Jang herself. "Whatever. Just don't ruin my fun on that day."
"I won't. In fact, I'll even bring boxes of tissues in case you'll start tearing up after seeing Dino," Dae Jung teased on the other line.
"Did I ever mention how annoying you can be at times?" Hyejin told him, rolling her eyes once again.
"I know you love me either way," Dae Jung teased again, snickering after he did. "I have to go now. I have a game to play and I need to level up before the others in order to gain a gold medal."
"You and your games. I will never understand what you're saying, you know that, right?" Hyejin said.
"I know. But I know what you're talking about. Cool, huh?" Dae Jung said.
"Whatever you say, Cho Dae Jung. I'm ending the call. Bye." Hyejin picked up the phone and quickly ended it before placing it on the bedside her laptop once again. Since she had nothing left to do on her laptop, she switched it off and placed it on her desk. Her eyes traveled around the room before it landed on a familiar book.
Highlight.
Without realizing where she was heading for, Hyejin grabbed the book and opened up to the first page to read it. It was weird for any other person, but Hyejin liked re-reading her works to see how much she has grown and to see if her writing style had changed over time.
By the time she knew it, she was already reading until the last chapter of her book. It was getting late—probably already the next day but Hyejin hadn't gone to sleep just yet. She was almost done with her own book.
Once she read the last word to mark that she was done with the book, she closed it and then realized how similar the story was to her own story in real life. She fell in love with her own idol and that idol liked her back. But she knew where each of them stood, so she had to step back for him to grow further.
Hyejin put the book away before smiling sadly. It was a tragic story but in the end, everything worked out well. Now, Hyejin wondered whether or not in this part of reality will it all work out.
+ + +
Two more days until the concert and she was mostly excited but also slightly nervous. She was nervous to see Dino after rejecting him. Would he hate her? Because she didn't accept him? That was a possibility.
She was home alone after her parents had left for work. She sat in the living room, lazing around as she continued to watch TV. She had chips placed on her lap as she continued to flip through different channels. She was having a lazy day since it was another Saturday.
"...we have found the person who had posted the video of both Dino of SEVENTEEN and Hwan Hyejin."
Hyejin stopped flipping through the channels and stayed on the channel she was on right now to see who it was. She couldn't believe they had already found him. That person should be sent away so he could stop messing with people's lives, Hyejin thought.
She carefully looked at the screen, waiting for something to be shown but was surprised to see a familiar face displayed on it. It wasn't very familiar but she did recognize him either way.
"His name is Byun Minsang and he works at Sweets And Spoons. He claims to be a huge oppa fan of Hwan Hyejin, the famous author of South Korea and claimed that his intentions were nothing serious. He said he didn't want some idol ruining her career and causing her pain. However, he is under investigation and is the same person who took the picture of Hwan Hyejin and SEVENTEEN's Dino for their first scandal," they went on. "Police are thinking of what to do about him."
Hyejin felt her hands curl into tight fists as she continued to stare at the screen of the TV. "And I thought he was a good guy. I guess I was lied to all this while."
Her phone rang again and it was a good timing because Dae Jung was the one calling her.
She angrily swiped the answer button and asked, "Please tell me you just saw the news and that's the reason why you're calling me."
"You saw it too?" Dae Jung sounded surprised but disregarded it short after. "Never mind that. You obviously saw it. That guy is such a jerk! He's the same guy who served us that time at Sweets And Spoons, wasn't he?"
"He is!" Hyejin angrily roared before switching the TV off. "I think I need to call Ms. Jang. I feel like she might want to talk to me about things concerning this. Please hope that it will involve suing him."
"Well, he still is just an innocent fan who wanted the best for you." Dae Jung defended for the dude.
"Are you defending him right now?" Hyejin didn't know why she was lashing out her anger to Dae Jung. She just couldn't believe a person who looked so nice and handsome was the entire reason why they couldn't be.
"He's still young, Hyejin. He's just a little... obsessed," Dae Jung tried to tell her.
"Ah, I don't know! I'll just see what Ms. Jang will do," Hyejin said, standing up from the sofa in the living room. She had to give Ms. Jang a call. "I need to end the call now. I have to call Ms. Jang and ask her about it. I'll see you later, Cho Dae Jung."
"Oh, okay."
Hyejin ended the call with Dae Jung and searched for Ms. Jang's contact. When she found it, she tapped on it and waited for Ms. Jang to pick up. When she did, Hyejin immediately said, "Ms. Jang! Did you see the news?"
"I did," Ms. Jang answered. "I was meaning to call you but you seemed to be busy while I was calling. Where were you?"
"I was calling my friend. Sorry about that. Ms. Jang, what should we do now?" Hyejin asked.
"Come to Waenji Publishing Company, I'm pretty sure I have a plan. I'll see you in a bit. I have a few matters I have to deal with too. I'll tell you about them later."
"Okay. I'll be there soon. See you." With that, Hyejin ended the call and quickly got changed before she headed out of the house alone to get to Waenji Publishing Company.
+ + +
When she arrived, she already saw Ms. Jang waiting by the entrance of the building. It was a good thing not a lot of people recognized Hyejin while she was walking alone to Waenji Publishing Company.
"Hwan Hyejin!" Ms. Jang called out, running up to her. Despite Ms. Jang wearing heels, she sure knew how to run.
"Ms. Jang," Hyejin greeted back, pulling down her mask. A few passers-by had already taken notice of Hyejin and were probably whispering behind her back but she didn't mind them. She had bigger problems to talk about. "What are we going to do?"
"For one, we first head upstairs. We don't want to get mobbed in the open," Ms. Jang whispered as she guided Hyejin inside the building, where it was safer. Then, Ms. Jang guided them to an empty break room which provided a few simple snacks and even had a coffee machine, a fridge and a microwave.
This place is nice, Hyejin thought, looking around with an approving nod.
"Take a seat, Hyejin-a. We have things to talk about." Ms. Jang had already sat down on one of the plastic chairs and she pulled out a file with a bunch of papers in them.
"So what's the plan?" Hyejin asked as she finally sat down just as well.
"Well, the good thing is that we have finally found the dude who keeps getting you into nasty articles," Ms. Jang began.
"Yeah, but he was a liar. He said he wouldn't want me to get into any horrible articles but he was the first reason why I did." Hyejin rolled her eyes. She didn't want to believe anyone so easily, especially if they were just a stranger and if they looked really innocent.
"Wait, do you know the guy?" Ms. Jang asked, noticing the way Hyejin had spoken about him.
"Not really. He just served me once when Dae Jung and I went to eat something at Sweets And Spoons. He was our server," Hyejin answered. "He swore to secrecy when it regarded Dae Jung, but he didn't stop when it came to Dino of SEVENTEEN? It seems pretty messed up, if you'd ask me."
"Ah, a jealous person." Ms. Jang nodded, as if she had completely understood the entire situation in a snap. "He did that thinking he could eliminate Dino from the picture. It wasn't directed at you, Hyejin."
"Really? Because it felt like it was." Hyejin wanted to calm down, but she couldn't help but lose her temper. It was rare of her to get mad, but at all of these facts, Hyejin couldn't help but want to smack that dude. What was his name again? Ban Mijoong? Byuk Binyang? She couldn't remember anymore. She decided to just call him Banana.
"Calm down, Hyejin. It'll get better, don't worry," Ms. Jang assured as she tapped away on her phone.
"So, again, what is the plan?"
Ms. Jang looked up from her phone and grinned. "I'm trying to sue him as much as I can, as well as the media that received the picture from him and thought that it would be okay for them to post it. They had no right whatsoever."
"Okay." That was Hyejin's original plan anyway.
"But there's a good outcome out of this anyway. At least, now that he's been found out, he obviously won't do it anymore. As long as you're careful, you won't get into nasty articles as often so chin up," Ms. Jang told her with a little grin. "I also heard you're going to attend SEVENTEEN's concert?"
"Yeah, I also heard from Dae Jung that you got him a concert ticket with a seat right next to mine," Hyejin said in return.
Ms. Jang smiled in response. "I had to make sure you won't get attacked all of a sudden during the concert. While some fans aren't very hostile, some are. I don't want anything to happen to you, Hyejin. You're still so young. We don't want you to suffer from depression because of this hard life you have gotten into."
"Even if it's hard, it's teaching me to fight for things I love and care for. I'm sure I will become stronger through this," Hyejin told her, finally smiling a real smile.
"That is true. But are you truly fighting for what you love and care for?"
Hyejin made sure to notice what exactly her manager and editor was saying. In fact, Hyejin wasn't fighting for something—someone—she loved for. She, instead, let them go. But what could she do now? It might as well be too late.
Just like the reason why she was still single, it was because she never got a chance to fight for the love she wanted. She let them go, thus making them lose their feelings for her all the same. She knew what she has dealt with before. She was doing the same thing all over again.
"Maybe I'm not..." Hyejin confessed, her voice lowering by the seconds. "I think I made a mistake, Ms. Jang. I don't know if I can go back and make it better."
"This is classic and is probably already overused but, 'You'll never know if you never try.' You should try once again, Hyejin. See if there's anything left to take or claim."
Hyejin smiled at her manager and was thankful that she was so cool and that she knew the right words to say to her every time. "Then, my fight isn't over. It's time to change my sadness."
~Author's Notes~
It's near the end guys, just a head's up :)
Also, I'm really, really, really sorry this update is overdue! I got caught up with enjoying my life HAHAHA then I ended up losing my black portable hard disk but luckily I managed to find it! Anyways, since I feel like I owe you guys a lot for being so patient, I'll do a double update ;))) You're welcome and thank you so much!