"Sooyoung-ah, did you eat?"
Seulgi smiled at the fans cheering loudly as Sooyoung stood up to wave at Dohwan, knowing that a lot of fans loved their chemistry together. She turned her gaze to the left, chuckling as she watched Sungjae drink his water which she knew meant he was nervous. But while the fans loved Sooyoung and Dohwan's chemistry, she herself loved Sooyoung's chemistry with Sungjae a lot more.
You could see how madly in love they were with each other during the days they spent together on We Got Married. Sooyoung would always come home from her shoot and tell the girls about all the lovely moments she had with Sungjae and the other, more lovely, moments they had off camera.
And thanks to Eunkwang, Seulgi had known that Sungjae did the same. He would come home to the guys and ramble up all the perfect things about Sooyoung and Seulgi found it really cute. She and Eunkwang would always make sure Sooyoung and Sungjae got paired together whenever the two groups would meet and hang out. Everytime they got together for picnics, fun days at amusement parks, or shopping sprees. They were technically in-laws, right? Of course they would hang out more often than usual.
And thanks to all the time they spent together, and thanks to all the time they let Sungjae and Sooyoung get at least a few minutes of alone time, they had both opened up about their feelings for each other. They weren't dating yet because of the fear of scandals, but you couldn't deny that they were meant for each other, and that once they started dating, they would never stop.
Seulgi smiled even more as she saw Eunkwang ensuring Sungjae that there was nothing to worry about. "Cute," she mumbled and turned her gaze to the front.
"Bonsang, Red Velvet. Congratulations!"
Seulgi widened her eyes, not knowing if she heard right since her mind was somewhere. However, she didn't hear wrong and she and the other girls stood up from their seats, everyone in complete shock.
"We won?" Seulgi exclaimed, not believing it. She covered her mouth with her hand, feeling the lump forming in her throat.
"Our first award is a bonsang?" Yerim asked, tears in her eyes as she couldn't believe it.
"Come on, let's go," Joohyun told them excitingly and they walked up to the stage, listening to the sound of fans cheering as well as Peek A Boo that was playing in the arena. Seulgi pressed her lips together as she tried to fight the tears, but she couldn't fight the delight feeling she felt right now. This was their first ever award claimed at an award show, and not just any award, it was a bonsang. An award that truly showed their determination and hard work in the industry. The group's hard work had finally paid off.
"The eight bonsang of tonight is awarded to Red Velvet!"
"Yes, in 2017 they released Rookie, Red Flavor, and Peek A Boo. Red Flavor was a huge success and let the group achieve 219 hourly perfect All-Kills, breaking the record for most hourly perfect All-Kills."
"This is Red Velvet's first award and let's hope they gain many more in 2018!"
Seulgi bowed to the hosts and went to stand by one of the mics, waiting for Joohyun and Yerim to go and accept the award and the flowers.
"One, two, three."
"Happiness, we are Red Velvet!" the girls introduced and loud cheers were heard once again around the arena.
"Wow.." Joohyun laughed as she looked out to the audience. "Thank you so much for all the love we received throughout 2017 up until now, and thank you for believing in us and our hard work. I think this bonsang award we received today is a confirmation for our hard work and I can promise everyone that Red Velvet is going to work even harder this year. Also, we certainly hope you will enjoy our comeback that's soon." She smirked as the fans cheered, excited for their upcoming comeback. "Please give it a lot of love, thank you."
Seulgi smiled as she leaned forward to the mic. "We would like to thank our beautiful families and friends who always believed in us and gave us a lot of strength and support. We would also like to thank Mr. Lee Soo Man, our staff crew, and our SM Family who always supports us as well. And of course, we would like to thank our amazing ReVeluvs," she smiled even more as the fans cheered once again. "Without our luvies I don't think we would be where we are at today. It's thanks to them that we are able to work so hard and come out with new music. Let's stay together for a long time. Thank you."
"Thank you! We love you!" the girls chanted and bowed before walking down from the stage. Seulgi looked up and saw Youngho cheering for her and mouthing congrats bestie!! Her lips curled up into a big smile, but it soon turned into a small frown as she saw Taeyong standing behind Youngho, smiling while cheering for them as well.
"Can we go back to hating each other? I can't stand you being so nice to me, and I definitely can't stand you smiling at me. It's only giving me reasons to not stop liking you... Can you please give me a reason to start hating you again..." she thought bitterly. Her lips formed a thin line and she walked back to her table, recalling her and Taeyong's meeting with Lee Soo Man.
FLASHBACK:
Seulgi opened the door to Lee Soo Man's office and bowed at him. She closed the door carefully and proceeding to walk up to his desk, sitting on one of the empty chairs.
"Isn't Taeyong with you?" Lee Soo Man asked her and she shook her head.
"No... Is he late today again?" she asked, causing Lee Soo Man to chuckle.
"Some things never changed," he shook his head but looked up as he heard a knock coming from the door.
Seulgi turned her head and saw Taeyong walking into the room, bowing to them before sitting on the chair beside her. She straightened her back and brushed her bangs, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"Alright, let's start the meeting, shall we?" Lee Soo Man spoke and leaned back on his chair, looking at Taeyong.
"Why didn't you tell me about Kim Chungha before?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"I'm sorry," Taeyong apologized and bowed once again. "We agreed on keeping it a secret."
"Keeping it a secret is not what I'm disappointed about," Lee Soo Man stated. "I just want to know why you didn't tell me about her when I suggested you to be in a fake relationship with Seulgi?"
"I only began dating Chungha a few weeks after the scandal..." Taeyong trailed off, trying to find his words. "I'm sorry."
Lee Soo Man sighed heavily as he rubbed his nape. "Well, there's nothing we can do now," he said. "People still can't identify the girl on the picture so we're still on the safe side. But a lot of people still believe you are cheating."
"So..." Seulgi mumbed. "What are we supposed to do?" she then asked.
"As much as I want to, I can't release a break up statement since it will be too suspicious and there's a risk that everyone, not only the haters, will start calling Taeyong a cheater." Lee Soo Man answered as a matter of fact.
"However, if more pictures are released it will cause just as much problems. So I think it's the best if you two publicly act like you're still in love with each other. That will show the public that your relationship is still healthy and strong and more people will therefore believe that the girl on the picture is Taeyong's 'cousin' or so."
"No. That way I won't ever get over him... I have to ignore him and this is not helping." Seulgi thought but nodded her head anyway.
"Yes," she and Taeyong answered.
"But Taeyong," Lee Soo Man called and turned to Taeyong. "I don't want you sneaking around to meet Kim Chungha again, alright? If more pictures are released, it will cause a lot of problems to the company and to your group. You have to be really careful."
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"Seulgi!"
Seulgi sighed as she recognized the voice. Why couldn't she just leave the building in peace? Did he always have to stop her? Why couldn't he just leave her alone and go to his girlfriend instead? That's what they're for!
"Yes?" she said as she turned around, seeing him only a few meters away from her.
"Do you want to go and grab a coffee?" he asked when he reached her.
"Uhm.." she hesitated. She couldn't, she was trying to keep a distance from him and get over him, that was her plan. "Won't Chungha be mad?"
"No, why?"
"Well... She's your girlfriend, and..."
"Chungha and I trust each other. I let her hang out with her guy friends and she lets me hang out with my girl friends, there's nothing to worry about," he smiled reassuringly.
"But I already had my coffee this morning..." she lied with a smile.
"You don't have to order a coffee," he stated. "Come on, we haven't hung out since before new year."
"Why does it seem like he's hitting on me?... Or maybe he's just being overly friendly...Why am I hoping that he's hitting on me? Seulgi, you idiot, he has a girlfriend! He's just being a normal friend trying to hang out. His behavior is nothing different from Youngho's..." she thought to herself.
"Yeah, but..." she tried to come up with another excuse, but suddenly it felt like her brain cells had stopped working.
"Why do you seem so out of it today?" Taeyong laughed, "didn't you sleep well?"
"Yes!" she answered quickly. Too quickly almost. "That's right! I'm really tired, and I really want to go home and just sleep. We can hang out another day, alright?" she smiled and turned around.
"Oh, a-alright," Taeyong answered unsurely as she rushed out of the building, not letting him say or ask anything else.
END OF FLASHBACK.
"And yet we still hung out a few times after that... How do people manage to lose feelings for someone?" Seulgi thought as she watched Taeyong walking towards their table.
"Congrats to your award," he smiled as he sat down beside her after she and the girls had asked him to join them at their table after seeing him sitting alone, waiting for his members who still were backstage... But letting him join them was also good publicity for him and Seulgi.
"Thank you," Seulgi smiled, turning her attention back to the stage as they were about to show the nominees for the digital daesang, a prize where Red Velvet were one of the nominees as well.
"By the way," he inched closer to her and she turned to him, her eyebrows slightly raised. "I don't think I will be able to join the dinner later," he then told her.
"How come?" she asked him.
"I don't feel very well and I want to rest. I already told the guys," he explained.
"You're going to be with Chungha, am I right?" she asked him, some disappointment noticeable in her tone.
He opened his mouth to say something but let out a sigh instead. "I didn't want to worry you," he admitted and her lips immediately curled up into a reassuring smile.
"I don't want you to get caught. And I'm not telling you that because I want forbid you from seeing her, what kind of friend would that make me?" she stated with a small chuckle. "But I'm telling you that because I know how cruel people can be if they catch you two together. So, just promise me to be careful, okay?" she said and held out a pinky finger, causing him to laugh at her cuteness.
"Pinky promise?" he spoke. "Really?"
"It's good for publicity," she reasoned, making him laugh once again.
"You always manage to surprise me, Kang Seulgi," he said and locked his pinky finger with hers. "Why couldn't you be this nice to me five years ago?" he teased.
"Hey!" she scoffed. "You were the one who bumped into me without apologizing, it's not my fault I felt like being mean to a mean person," she defended herself and laughed shortly after.
"Alright, alright," he smiled and held his hands up in surrender. "At least we sorted that problem out."
"Five years later?" Seulgi pointed out with an 'are you serious?' expression on her face.
"You know, I think that only made our friendship stronger. I honestly think that, as of right now, I'm a better best friend to you than Youngho to be very honest," he told her honestly and Seulgi smiled.
"Best friend?" she teased with an unsure look.
"Come on! What two persons would hang out as much as we've done for the past two months and not call each other best friends?" he reasoned.
"Why couldn't you be this nice to me five years ago?" she mimicked and he rolled his eyes, laughing.
"And no one can beat Youngho, you fool," she then joked. "But you can be the second best best friend if you want to," she laughed and her eyes quickly caught the hosts on the stage who were about to announce the winner of the year's digital daesang.
Taeyong smiled as he looked up to the stage as well, feeling happy that he and Seulgi were on good- great, terms. So great that they could soon call each other best friends for real. The time they hung out together only made them closer and they could talk about anything and they also felt comfortable about sharing their struggles with each other.
Even though he hated to admit it, it was partly true that he was nice to her before because he was worried about making her feel the way she felt. He felt some kind of guilt and felt like he had to make up for it. And now he hated that he thought that way.
He got to know the real Seulgi and not did he know that she actually was a really funny and chill person to hang out with. No wonder all the other guys liked her while he spent his time hating her all along. But now they were good friends, and that was something Taeyong was deeply grateful for. But little did he know, that the girl sitting beside him felt the exact opposite.
"Did we miss something?"
Taeyong turned around and saw Taeil taking a seat beside him while the other guys sat down by the table as well. "Not much," Taeyong spoke. "What took you guys so long?" he then asked Taeil.
"Mark had problems with his outfit and Donghyuck with his in-ear. But we fixed it all," he explained and Taeyong nodded.
"Alright..." The host spoke excitingly as he opened the envelope in his hand. "The winner of today's digital daesang..."
Taeyong turned to his side, seeing Seulgi look at the host eagerly as she crossed her fingers. He smiled and looked back at the host. Even if NCT were one of the nominees for the award, he sincerely hoped that Red Velvet would win it. He had known the girls for years and knew how hard they worked, from their trainee days up until now. They always fought despite setbacks and he knew how much this grand prize would mean to them.
"Remember the day at the café? When we played twenty one questions and I asked you what your goal in life was?"
"Oh yeah!!" Seulgi remembered and shot him a look. "The day when you straight up just body shamed me," she hissed softly but smiled almost instantly, hinting that she wasn't angry about it.
"No," he scowled. "Did I? I'm sorry," he apologized and she shook her head.
"You don't have to tell me you're sorry, we already apologized for everything we did to each other in the past, right? Don't be sorry," she assured him but he still shot her an apologetic look.
"Stop looking so sad and tell me what you wanted to tell me," she argued playfully and sipped on her iced tea.
"I never let you answer the question so... What was you answer?" he asked her.
"About my goal in life?" she asked and he nodded.
"I want Red Velvet to win a daesang one beautiful day."
Taeyong rested his chin on his hands, waiting for the announcement.
"Congratulations... Red Velvet!"
"YES!!!" all the guys in NCT cheered as they stood up excitedly and clapped for the girls while others jumped around. The girls however, sat still in their seats, shocked expressions on their faces. More surprised this time than when they won the bonsang award, but that was understandable.
Yerim covered her face and hugged Joohyun and Seungwan looked at Sooyoung and Seulgi, sharing her shocked expression with them.
"You girls won!" Taeyong cheered and turned to Seulgi who was on the verge of tears. She looked up at Taeyong and shot a surprised smile before standing up, just then feeling the tears stream down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, don't cry," Taeyong smiled and gave her a quick hug. "You deserve this," he whispered in her ear before pulling away from the hug.
She smiled widely at him and wiped away her tears before turning to the girls as they gathered up for a group hug.
"Congratulations to this year's winner of the digital daesang, Red Velvet! Please come up to the stage to claim your prize."
Seulgi held Sooyoung's waist as they and the other girls walked towards the stage, covering their crying faces as the cameramen neared them. They bowed to the other artists who stood up while clapping for them. And as they reached Blackpink's table that was placed near the stage, Seulgi reached out her hand to give Jisoo a high five and gave her and Jennie who stood behind a sincere smile.
While all the other artists sat down as Red Velvet got up on the stage, NCT continued to stand up as they waited for the girls to hold their thank you speech.
"We're getting to celebrate a lot tonight!" Youngho said excitingly with a small laugh and the other guys agreed before turning quiet as Joohyun spoke into the mic.
"Honestly... I'm not sure what to say right now," she smiled before wiping away the small teardrop that fell from her eye.
"Thank yo-"
Taeyong turned around as he felt a hand on his back, seeing a staff member. "I need you to come backstage," she told him and he raised his hand slightly.
"Is it okay if I listen to their speech first?" he pointed at the stage and the staff member shook her head.
"No, it's urgent. Chungha fainted backstage and the ambulance are on their way, you have to go with her."
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"SM confirms Red Velvet's Seulgi and NCT's Taeyong have parted ways"