Love Again | Baekhyun

10 | Reckless

"I need to talk to you about Baekhyun." Kwang Ji said, his voice sounding almost heavy, like it was a difficult topic.

Sarang felt the nerves start to kick in, wondering what he could possibly need to talk about. "Is something wrong?"

The manager furrowed his brows. "You two.. You haven't known each other that long, have you?" He asked. Sarang was silent for a moment, not expecting that question. But he was right, she'd only known Baekhyun for a brief amount of time, a little over two months now. In fact, Baekhyun had asked her on a date not even one month into knowing each other.

Now that she really thought it over, it sounded like an incredibly short period of knowing someone, but it didnt feel like it. Since meeting for the first time, the two of them had spent nearly every waking moment together, just out of coincidence at first but eventually by choice. Their tiny little two months had felt like much, much longer than that.

Lost in thought, Sarang forgot to answer. But it seemed like the lack of words was enough confirmation for Kwang Ji. "I'm very sorry to be blunt, but if this isn't serious.. Please just end it before either of you gets too attached."

It felt like a slap in the face. A hard one. Out of all the things in the world he could've wanted to talk about, she never imagined he'd be telling her to break up with Baekhyun. They barely had any time together. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Sarang, I really am. But I'm his manager, it's my job to look after him." The worst part about all this was how genuinely Kwang Ji seemed to hate having to tell her this whole thing. "This relationship is distracting him, he's been making brash decisions."

She stared at him, feeling her anxiousness spike up the more he spoke.

"But what concerns me most is a scandal. His fellow EXO member just went through a huge backlash, the fans are sensitive right now, the fandom is torn apart. They won't react well to a dating scandal if you somehow get caught by dispatch." Kwang Ji went on. "This is only his second solo album, one bad scandal now can really hurt his career. And so soon after Chen's situation, it might hurt the other EXO members too."

Sarang immediately remembered the headlines she read of EXO Chen, the nasty comments, the terrifying amount of hate coming from fans of EXO, not just outsiders. Was that gonna happen to Baekhyun if word ever got out of their relationship? But he had been so carefree, so lighthearted in showing everyone that they were together.

"Why are you talking about this with me? Shouldn't you talk to him?" Sarang asked quietly, incapable of responding in any other way but a question. Lots of questions, lots of denial brewing in her heart.

Kwang Ji shook his head, "I can't talk to Baekhyun because he won't care. He's reckless. He spoils songs far before release dates, he does spontaneous things without asking for the company's permission. It's funny to people, and his sense of humor is important to mentally survive in this industry, but Baekhyun.. He just doesn't care enough for his own wellbeing, he's not careful enough."

The words flowed out of Kwang Ji's mouth so smoothly and convincingly, Sarang couldn't help but wonder if he practiced it. Or maybe it was just one of the qualities someone needs to have to be a manager for SM artists, a skill in persuasion. Maybe part of his job description was to get rid of Baekhyun's romantic partners.

She knew he was just looking out for Baekhyun, but Sarang couldn't help feeling bitter.

"I'm sorry to put you in this position, but I was hoping you'd care more about his wellbeing than he does. Maybe if you do, you can at least consider everything I've said." His speech seemed to be done, but Sarang still couldn't find any words to say. Kwang Ji sighed, "I just want the best for him."