Private Files

The Revelation

January 2019

At Red Velvet's dorm, Joy receives a call from her manager.

"Sooyoung-ah, you need to come by the office right now. I'll text you the details."

At Sungjae's apartment, he too receives a similar call.

"Come to SM right now."

----

Upon the arrival of everyone required, SM's head of public relations stood up.

"I'll cut to the chase," she took a deep breath. "Dispatch has let us know that Joy-ssi and Sungjae-ssi are their new year couple. We have to decide our course of action by the end of today before they release the article at 6am tomorrow. And they are adamant on doing so."

The room was so silent that you could hear the small gasps let out and the quickened pace of breathing among those seated.

"I need an immediate update on the situation regarding Joy and Sungjae's fans, Cube's decision on this and possible courses of action." the head finished as she sat down.

"SM has decided to deny all rumours. We cannot take the risk; we're currently preparing for Red Velvet's Japan comeback."

"Cube's is to accept the rumours." Cube's representative announced. "Sungjae and Joy continue to have strong fan support and most of BTOB's fans support a relationship from any of the boys."

There was an awkward clearing of throats and shuffling of papers. Joy looked up to see Sungjae with a slight frown on his face, twirling a pen. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't due to being in SM compound.

Joy cleared her throat and raised her hand. "I am very very sorry about all this trouble we have caused. But is there any possibility that Sungjae and I have some sort of say in the decision?" In her peripheral vision, she saw Sungjae stare at her astonishedly, before raising a brow when she caught his stare as if to say "did you really just ask that?".

"Seeing as to how a response will have to be given to Dispatch, I don't see why not. What do you both think we should do?"

"I think we should allow Dispatch to release the article but Sungjae oppa and I would reveal ourselves as a couple before the article comes out." Joy started. The eyes of the people around her widened. "A lot of the hate towards idol couples and interruption to group schedules happen when fans and netizens accuse the idols of lying. So the most straightforward way is to stick to the truth as much as possible."

Sungjae raised his hand. "I would like to agree with Sooyoung. Upon becoming a couple, we have let both companies know and kept an extremely low profile." He made a slightly disgusted face at the drafted Dispatch article. "The pictures used in the article are a clear violation of privacy - photos taken at the apartment complex through infiltration!" Sungjae took a breath to calm down before continuing. "We are extremely grateful for the protection the companies have given us. You know that we want the best out of every situation and we would not voice our opinion unless we have thought through them carefully before."

"We would each pen a post on social media stating our relationship and how we decided to keep it secret due to the We Got Married contract clause and wanting a budding relationship out of the spotlight. I think it can be done; like Heechul sunbae and Momo-ssi's relationship."

The heads around the room started to nod slowly, contemplating the feasibility of the idea.

Cube's PR representative spoke. "Sungjae and Joy's fanbase has gradually increased over the years, with it seemingly plateau-ing because of a lack of recent connection between the two. Their We Got Married video views are in the millions, there are comments about them in 2018 and 2019 and both have gained fans for their groups because of the programme."