Idol Next Door

26

Hello, this is JYP Entertainment.

This is our official response to the dating rumors involving our artist, Dahyun, and V from BTS. After checking over the matter, we come to deny the allegation; the two idols only share a friendly sunbae-hoobae relationship.

JYP Entertainment's statement garnered various reactions from the general public. BigHit's response followed just an hour after with the same contradicting announcement that debunked the circulating rumor once and for all.

Even after the statements of both parties got released, both collectively denying the allegations, the fire would never die down that easily. Surely, it would be the talk of the town for days.

BTS decided to carry on with their activities for the day but Taehyung's mind wandered everywhere. Earlier, he was almost reluctant to release a denying statement. A part of him wanted to affirm the news even though it wasn't true. Yes, it was a crazy idea. BTS was at the pinnacle of their success and the confirmation of the dating rumor could cause some conflict especially concerning the fans. Not only to BTS but Twice would get dragged along too, especially Dahyun. It's the girls who are always unfortunate in these situations.

But sooner or later somehow fans need to accept that their idols aren't robots programmed to sing and dance solely for entertainment. They are normal humans with beating hearts and have feelings. They fall in love, date, and get married eventually (if they want to). In Taehyung's case, he was at the "falling in love" stage. And as much as he cared and loved his fans amongst other things, he was hoping that they would be able to support him when he decides to date in the future.

Taehyung couldn't keep his hands off his phone, keeping himself updated with the news and the public's reactions and opinions, although Namjoon advised him not to. Taehyung felt his own share of guilt and regrets as he read through the comments under articles that various news outlets had released and seeing some unpleasant comments specifically targeting Dahyun, most of them coming from his own fans. He was guilty of having to put her through all of this. Especially because he wasn't there by her side to comfort her amidst the tough situation.

Taehyung still hadn't seen nor talked to Dahyun. Her phone couldn't be reached and even though he had sent her lots of messages, he didn't get a single reply. He even tried waiting for her to get back to her unit, hoping that they could talk it out before the day ended, but she never went home that night.

• • •

Taehyung leaned back against his seat's headrest, eyes lidded tiredly as the van drove to Hannam the Hill. It had been two days since the news broke out and there still was no word of Dahyun. Taehyung was worried about the girl. She didn't contact him the past few days and whenever he tried doing so, she wasn't picking up. Her silence had him deeply distraught. He was constantly anxious, thinking how she had been since the news. His thoughts bothered him awfully that he could hardly focus on schedules and activities. Today, however, was especially tiring and it drained him both physically and mentally.

Their van had approached the complex's basement parking lot, the driver swerving the wheel to find a good parking space to drop off Taehyung.

"What's this?" BTS's manager, who sat on the front seat, mused. The van halted momentarily as they could hear a commotion outside their vehicle, loud voices echoing throughout the usually quiet basement.

Curious, Taehyung opened his eyes and peered over to the window where he saw the media surrounding another van that had been parked nearby, which he could tell belonged to a celebrity.

"Is that Dahyun-ssi?" The driver mused. Taehyung's ears perked upon hearing the name and his eyes promptly wandered around the place to find the girl until he spotted her behind her manager in the middle of the crowd. They were mobbed.