My Star | Im Changkyun {COMPLETE}

Chapter 14

Surprisingly, the meeting had been rather pleasant. Of course it was quite awkward discussing about whether or not the rumour was true but once it was over, the topic had changed instantly to talks of a comeback, this time being a mini album which meant more work but Hyebin was glad since she'd get to sing new songs and it would keep her busy while Changkyun was away.

It was shocking for the girls as the preparations for the album had already begun before they'd even knew so they were instantly hit with studio sessions and radio silence from any online presence or TV appearances.

Being out of the spotlight seemed to have caused the criticism to fizzle down, especially once it was revealed that a sasaeng had attacked Mode-L with false rumours because of how close the members of Mode-L were with Monsta X, her main targets being Hyebin and Sooyeon.

Mirae had also been quite the talk of the town after gaining attention for her recent interview, where she had openly displayed her support for the LGBTQ+ community, where she had drew negative criticism, however, these were thankfully drowned out by the countless positive comments. She would have been happy on any other occasion, however, the attention received was worrying her regarding her past. 

No matter how much she tried to tell herself it would no longer concern her, she still worried about the girls from her past school and the scandal regarding her sexuality. She wasn't embarrassed of her sexuality, the true issue was the fact she was living in a country where LGBT rights were denied outright and subjected to discrimination. The fear of her whole life going downhill because she loved someone of the same sex was too much for her to handle. As a public figure, it'd probably be ten times worse. With her current anxiety disorder, it was already difficult going about her regular activities...

The girls had been quite supportive of Mirae and hated seeing her like this so they'd been constantly reassuring her that nothing would come of her interview and the hype around it. Thankfully, while preparing for the new mini album, Mirae had been able to take her mind off the issue by throwing herself into her work.

While recording their last song on the mini album, Jiyeon had noticed how pale Hyebin had become, the way she subtly shifted every few seconds as if she was going to explode at any minute.

"Are you okay unnie?" Jiyeon whispered, placing a hand on her bicep and observing her with a worried expression.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Hyebin's eyes kept shifting around the room as she kept swallowing to keep herself from throwing up. 

Truthfully, she'd been feeling queasy all day but being in the sweltering heat of the recording studio with no air con and thick smoke from the staff, it was all getting to her. It didn't help that she'd have to go out on a date with Changkyun later too. She didn't want to turn him down since the days were drawing closer towards his departure for the groups tour. Soon they'd be apart for 6 months so it was important to spend the time they could together.

"Alright, just let me know if you need anything." Jiyeon offered, making sure Hyebin wouldn't feel stuck alone.

"Mmm, thank you Jiyeon," Hyebin managed in a low voice with a feeble smile.

As thankful as she was for Jiyeon's actions, Hyebin didn't want to draw much attention to herself in fear of being scolded for not putting enough energy into her work so she tried to pretend like everything hadn't just happened, gulping down her bottle of water whenever she had the chance. In a way it felt like she was drowning, barely able to breathe without salivating as her body desperately tried to dilute her mouth ready for the acidic contents of her stomach to come up. It was so painful, her eyes remained watery through the whole session as she blamed it on the glaring lights.