Late October 2018
"You're making me do what?", Moonhae raises her eyebrows, highly unamused with her stylist.
"They do this every year and it's a huge hit", she assures her, shoving the costume in her face.
"Why they gotta get me involved in this shit?", she whines.
"It's a Halloween special. You'll do a dance practice to your song with them", the young girl tells her.
"Yeah, but Snow white? You've got to be kidding", she scoffs at the classic yellow and blue dress she's now holding.
"Snow white and the seven dwarfs. It's perfect!", she pats her reassuringly on the back.
That's when a voice, that she really rather not hear at the moment, pops into the room.
"Good morning!", Jungkook pipes sweetly, hanging into the door frame with huge grin on his face.
"Mmh...", Moonhae barely grunts at the boy.
"Hey, Jiyoo", he disregards her reaction and steps over towards her stylist.
"Hey, Jungkook", the girl blushes when he wraps his arms around her and plants a kiss on her lips.
"How are you?", the smile never leaves his face and he leans in for another kiss.
"Good", Jiyoo also beams back at him stupidly.
"You're working real hard right?"
"Of course."
They're about to kiss again when Moonhae intervenes, "Oh my god, could you please just get a room?"
"You do so much worse with Taehyung, what are you complaining about?", Jungkook scowls at her.
"Whatever", she glares back at him, knowing he's right.
"I guess I'll see you later then", his smile returns when looking at Jiyoo again.
This time their goodbye kiss lasts a little longer and Jungkook's hands travel down around her ass, something Moonhae does not want to be witnessing, so she clears her throat loudly.
"Love you, Jungkook", the girl says breathlessly after they break apart and he heads for the door.
"Call me later", he winks at her.
The whole situation seems beyond ridiculous to Moonhae.
"Isn't he like the best?", Jiyoo gushes once he's left.
"Oh yeah, sure", she says sarcastically, but the lovestruck girl doesn't even take notice.
"He's so dreamy...", she trails off as she continues gathering accessories for Moon's outfit.
Some time passes with Jiyoo just chattering on and on about the maknae and how wonderful he is. The stylist who she had once tolerated so well, quickly became a nuisance when Jungkook started so-called 'dating' her. Something he seems to do with a new employee about every other week. Moonhae feels about ready to crack her head open when someone suddenly rushes into the wardrobe room.
"Bang PD needs to see you right now", it's one of her managers that stumbles in, visibly distraught.
"Why? What happened?", she furrows her brow.
"It's a mess", he says nothing more and motions for her to follow.
Hesitantly getting up, she pauses when Jiyoo's phone starts buzzing and she lets a gasp escape from her lips.
"Moon...", her voice trembles slightly.
"What is it?", she gets snippy.
"It's Dispatch... They've got pictures", Jiyoo looks up at the girl apologetically.
"Pictures of what? Show me", she almost grabs the phone out of her hand.
And sure enough, once her gaze rests upon that display, her worst nightmare comes true. Plastered across Dispatch's headlines she finds herself wearing that 20s getup. Right next to Taehyung. With his arm around her waist on the dance floor.
"No, no, no, this isn't happening", she continuously shakes her head, willing all the problems to just disappear.
"This is really bad. You should go see Bang PD", she frowns, scrolling through further articles on her phone.
She doesn't need to be told twice. As she rushes through the hallways of the BigHit building, she literally bumps into Jimin around a corner, almost loosing her balance.
"Shit, sorry", Jimin stabilizes the girl and collects himself, before realizing Moon's standing in front of him, "Moonhae!"
"Did you see it?", she huffs.
"Of course I saw it. It's all over the news!", he looks more worried than upset, "I've been looking for you all morning. You should go see Taehyung."
"Do you know where he is?"
The pale-blue haired boy nods and quickly leads her up the elevator to the floor occupying the executive's offices. They immediately spot Taehyung pacing nervously near the door leading to Bang PD's room.
"Taehyung!", she runs up to him.
"Moonhae", he gives her a short hug, calming himself a little, "I'm so sorry about this. I thought it was safe there."
"That doesn't matter now. Have you already talked to PDnim?"
"No... He just asked me here."
"Ok, good", her expression changes to unreadable, "When we go in there I'm going to do all the talking, ok?"
"But-"
"Taehyung, if this relationship matters to you at all, you will let me do the talking", he eyes are dead serious and he merely gulps in response.
Something about her changed in that moment. Her character has turned into something he doesn't recognize and he doesn't like it at all. Nevertheless, he keeps his mouth shut as they step into Bang PD's office.
"-And we've got to get Kyoung on the line, Dispatch can't keep fucking us over like this!", Bang PD is busy arguing with a group of managers in the room before he spots them, "Finally, you two show up!"
They stand with their heads bowed, like teenagers caught in the act, listening to a lecture.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Careers are ruined because of shit like this, I hope you know that!", he yells at them.
"We're so sorry. It won't happen again", Taehyung says quietly and Moonhae shoots him a look.
"Yeah, no fucking shit it won't happen again!", he bellows and the room goes silent.
As Bang PD gages the atmosphere around him, he sighs deeply, sinking into his desk chair with his hands covering his face. Rubbing his eyes for a moment and collecting his thoughts, he finally looks up at the two young souls wavering in front of him.
"First of all, why don't you tell me what's going on between the both of you. I need to know and I want the truth", his tone is much calmer now, yet still sharp.
"We've been dating since April", Moonhae admits.
"April?", he stares at her in disbelief, "And when did you think to tell us about your relationship?"
"We thought it may complicate things if more people know. We wanted to avoid a situation like the one we have now", she explains levelheadedly.
"Well, I'll tell you right now this could have been avoided if we had known about your relationship. We're probably the least strict about our idols dating, but if we know, we can make sure scandals like these never happen."
"We understand", she nods.
"Now, if I could, I would tell you to stop seeing each other..."
"But that wouldn't be good for business", Moonhae cuts in, "The fans want to see Moon and BTS together. It's sold better than any collab before. The videos of us together have more views than anything else. We sell. And if we sell, we work together. And Taehyung and I work best in a relationship with each other."
"You're not wrong...", Bang PD mulls her words over.
"The fans don't have to know about our relationship. Since the beginning they've wanted me to date multiple members from BTS and even if it seemed like I was very close to some of them at times, I was never dating any of them. So what's the difference to what's happening now? Just like any other pictures or videos of me with BTS, I was just hanging out with Taehyung when we went to that jazz club. We're just close, like I am with any other member. That's what you tell them and our product still sells", she continues to talk business.
"I see what you're trying to say...", Bang PD taps his fingers together in thought, "If I can get this situation to blow over, you'll be fine. However, some changes will have to be made."
"Such as?", the waver in her voice has returned.
"For one, we don't want you two to appear close on camera anymore. Get closer to the other members and your relationship becomes less obvious. Secondly, we may have to do something about the housing situation", he conveys.
"B-but you can't move her out!", Taehyung suddenly bursts out and Moonhae places her hand on his chest to silence him.
"Look, Moonhae moving into the same dorm building as you has always been a temporary solution", he begins to explain, "It was meant to keep her safe from her boyfriend at the time, but now... That's no longer the issue."
"Whatever you see fit", she says to Taehyung's surprise, who looks at her in dismay. This meeting isn't going at all how he thought it would.
"Very well, get back to work then", he dismisses them, "I have a lot to handle here. Please, stay out of trouble. Your schedules continue as usual."
They bow before leaving the office, a heavy atmosphere settling between them when they turn towards each other in the hallway.
"Did you really mean all that?", Taehyung's voice sounds raspy with sadness.
"Taehyung, I-", she reaches up to touch him, but he backs away.
"Is our relationship really just a product you want to sell?", there's tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Of course not! It's what you have to tell them to make them believe you're profitable!"
"I don't want to be profitable!", he spits out angrily, "I want to be with you!"
"But that can't happen if the label doesn't support the relationship! Why can't you see that?", she argues back.
"Why can't you see that you're not at your old label anymore and you're not trying to sell your relationship with Jaewon!", his words sting as soon as they come out of his mouth.
"I did that for us, Taehyung! I said all of that for us, so that we could be together!", she's trembling, but contrary to the boy in front of her, her eyes are dry.
There's silence between them before he says something that makes her heart shatter into a million pieces.
"Well, I don't want us to be together if our relationship is going to be like that", his voice is so quiet when he says it, but it comes crashing down on her all the same.
Her lips part in shock and the boy doesn't even look at her when he turns the other way and takes off down the hall. Once again, all alone, she sinks to her knees.
As soon as she knocks on his door, she knows she's being stupid. But she just can't help it.
The small boy with reddish-brown hair slowly opens the door. His surprised cat eyes stare back at her teary ones.
"Moonhae, are you alright?", concern is written all over him.
"Yoongi!", she bursts out, letting her arms fall around him in an embrace.
"What happened?", he holds her tightly, despite being startled.
When she starts crying again, he shuts the door to his room and pulls her over to sit on his bed.
"I saw the news, but all of that will blow over. You'll be fine", he strokes her back softly.
"N-no it won't. Taehyung said he doesn't want to be with me anymore", she sniffles.
"He said what?", Yoongi almost chokes, "He wouldn't..."
"I made our relationship sound like a product for Bang PD and now Tae thinks that's all it means to me."
"You should tell him that's not true."
"I already tried to explain. He was really hurt by what I said... And now he's leaving me", the tears come running again.
"Moonhae...", Yoongi lightly brushes a lock of her hair behind her ear.
With another sob she throws herself into his arms again. Her head leans against his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck, as her warm tears wet the fabric of his shirt. He sighs into her, his heart that had been healing so well aching now more than ever. It hurts so much to see her like this. So in love with someone else that she's bawling her eyes out.
"I'm sorry...", he says suddenly, pushing her away from him and getting up from the bed.
She looks up at him in confusion with her puffy face and lips.
"I just... Moonhae, I can't do this", he huffs, running his hands through his hair.
"Do what?", she controls her breathing and wipes her nose.
Stretching his arms over his face to shy away from the situation, he sighs again. It takes everything in him to say what he needs to say. Not what he wants to say.
"Please don't come to me when your heart is broken, Moonhae", he can't even look at her. He can't bare to see her expression fall.
"Y-yoongi?", she stutters.
"I'm sorry, I'm just not the one you should come to for stuff like this..."
"Aren't we friends...?"
"Yes, we are", he speaks in the most defeated tone.
"I don't understand", she whispers.
"I'm sorry", he stares down at his feet, "I think you should go."
It breaks him when she doesn't say another word and just slowly raises herself off the bed and walks towards the door. There's a short pause before he hears the turning of the doorknob and the click of the door falling into place after she's left. That's when he lets himself sink down to the floor.
It may not be fair to her, but he needs to be able to heal his own heart. It's not fair to him to take on her burdens if it'll end up breaking him. A few months ago he would have done it without hesitation, but now he's finally learning to put himself first.
Despite the emotional hardships, the work continues as if nothing happened and they get ready to film their Halloween dance practice special. Moonhae gets ready in the same room as Jimin, who's been her support system over the past few days. After Yoongi turned her down, she ended up alone in some bathroom and Jimin eventually found her. She confided in him and he hasn't left her side since.
"It's going to be fine", he encourages her when he sees how displeased she is.
Standing in front of the mirror in her snow white costume, she looks like something out of a cheesy fairytale. And having to face Taehyung again while dancing adds to her dread.
"Hey, look at me", Jimin now squeezes her cheeks between his small hands, "Just have fun with the dance and everything will be fine."
"Fun?", she echoes with a grimace.
"Yeah, if not fun then just do your best for the fans", his eyes are so expectant it's hard to contradict him.
So she ends up following him into the practice room, joining six other boys in dwarf costumes. They look ridiculous and she would have been rolling on the floor laughing if it weren't for the heaviness in the air.
"We'll take the choreo from the top", one of the choreographers announces and lets the music begin to play.
Moonhae looks around worriedly, not knowing if she's up to dancing at the moment, but then she spots Jimin giving her a thumbs up and sticking his fingers in his cheeks, encouraging her to smile. Somehow she manages a small grin and is able to turn around towards the camera again with enough stage presence to wow the audience.
Even when it's time for her short dance interaction with Taehyung, it's as if she zones out and only concentrates on creating a good show. Her ridiculous snow white costume doesn't even bother her anymore, seeing as the rest of the boys look just as silly.
At the end of the dance she takes a bite of the apple the choreographers have given her and feigns being poisoned just as snow white once was. She's about to drop to the ground, as they discussed, when a set of strong arms catch her before she lands on the floor. There's hooting all around her as the boys get rowdy for the camera. She swears Hoseok brings out a money gun and shoots it across half of the room for extra effect.
It's not until the managers yell cut, however, that she dares to look up at who caught her. Of course it's not who she wishes it was.
"You good?", sweet Jimin smiles down at her.
"Yeah...", she sighs, allowing herself to be helped up by her friend.
"Great job everyone!", the head choreographer praises them, "Nice touch by catching her, Jimin!"
He merely nods and she nervously tucks her hair behind her ears. That's when one of the seven dwarfs storms out of the room. Looking after him, of course it's the one that hurts her the most.