Five Star Michelin | Lee Taeyong x reader

Innocence is a Funny Thing

You quickly realized that moping around your house and at Weishen didn't do much other than make you even more upset. You found yourself declining several interviews and deleting emails by the hour. It was exhausting, to the point where you didn't even care anymore. You simply clicked off.

Maybe that's why when Taemin suggested you spend a day with Eileen, the only other person who supposedly now knew of your predicament, you agreed. It seemed like a good idea, to spend time someplace that wasn't your couch, and wasn't in front of your television, binging another useless reality show.

It had been great so far, the two of you had gotten along amazingly, watched a movie and then spent the day wandering aimlessly, in obnoxiously large hats that covered most of your features. It was only on your way back were you faced with a problem.

Because right outside your house was a swarm of reporters. You must have looked horrified, because your new friend stood ahead, "Move away from the door", she instructed the reporters calmly, like she had been through the same thing several times. You supposed she had, being an actress and all.

The reporters seemed to ignore her instructions, spotting you beside her and lurching forward, microphones and cameras being thrust in your face. You took a step backwards, hands rising to your face in an attempt to ward them off.

"Just one question miss!"

"What exactly happened?"

"How do you feel about what's happening right now on air?"
"How does Ncity tie back to you?"

"You worked with Lee Taeyong didn't you? Is that how this sprouted?"
"One question please!"

Flash!

The camera clicked a picture, making you feel dizzy. Your grip on reality was long gone, the faces in front of you were like blurry, unfocused pictures.

Eileen stepped forward again pushing through the crowd, pulling you with her. "No means no", she said firmly, "Open your door."

You obliged, opening said door and stumbling inside, leaning against the wall inside while Eileen followed you in. "You okay?"

You nodded incomprehensibly, sucking in a breath, "Yeah I'm fine-what are they talking about?"

"I'm not sure", she mused, pulling out her phone and looking through something, "What do you think they meant by on air- I have three missed calls from Taemin, give me a second."

She called her boyfriend back, mumbling something under her breath, before agreeing and putting the call on speaker. "Hey", your best friend greeted, "Are you watching?"

You frowned, "Watching what?"

"For goodness sake, switch on your TV, or open your laptop- wait nevermind, it ended, but it should be on youtube."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Just do as I say", he ordered, "open youtube and search up 'Taeyong food scandal'. It should be there."

You sighed, "Taemin I'm not in the-"

"Do it", he demanded, and Eileen clicked off the call, opening youtube instead and typing out the title, clicking on the first video that had been suggested. You pinched the bridge of your nose, but succumbed to your curiosity and looked over to the small screen.

On it was Taeyong, standing there, a nervous expression on his face. He cleared his throat, "You probably can tell why I'm here, but I promise it's worth your time", he said, standing up straighter. You pressed your lips into a thin line, not knowing how you felt about seeing him again, even if it was on a phone.

"As you may know, there has been news going around about a fellow chef and myself. I would like to clear up some of those rumours and set the record straight," you narrowed your eyes at this, wondering what the fuck he had planned.

"First of all I would like to apologize to those who got dragged into this mess, especially Tahmina Aamani. She was misinformed, so I'm here to correct that", he shifted on his feet, "About a week ago an article was released talking about how Y/n L/n", he paused at your name for a split second, "had supposedly stolen my recipe and labelled it as her own. That is false."

Your eyes widened at the statement, now glued to the screen. Where was he going with this? Why was he suddenly letting it out of the closet?

"It's the other way around. I was under some terrible guidance, and I made a horrible, unforgiving decision, but it doesn't excuse me", he sounded unsure of himself now. "I was the one who stole the recipe from Y/n, and I was too much of a coward to admit it at first."

Your mouth went dry as you stared at the screen. The truth was out, he had just told the world the truth, but you didn't understand why. You were confused, so confused.

You had always been confused when it came to Taeyong.

"In the process of this, I hurt someone I care about. For that I am deeply sorry", he ended his little speech, "The only person to be blamed is-"

You blinked, then walked into your living room, not caring for the rest of the video. You hadn't wanted to watch it in the first place, but now that you had you felt-

Furious?

"Damnit", you hissed, "Can't he let me hate him for one minute?"

Eileen looked at you, "Aren't you glad? You've been proved innocent."

In that moment you realized you weren't relieved at all. Sure you were innocent, but that still left so many questions. There would still be a scandal, but a new one, emerging from the old. There would always be a scandal to follow you around, it was the way the world you had found yourself in worked.

"I've always been innocent", you corrected her, "It's just been thrown to the wind now."

You swallowed the lump in your throat, sitting down and leaning back on your couch. The cameras would still be there, they would always follow you around. The fact that they were outside your door at that very moment was proof enough of that.