Pop Star || Yoongi x Reader

62. Caught in the Drama

He picks up on the second ring.

"Hey," Suga answers. You can hear the chaos of an outdoor shoot around him. But you suppress the urge to ask how it's going.

"What did you do?" you snap instead.

"It is over?" Suga is sitting snugly in a chair, a black winter overall wrapped around him and a pair of heating pads in his lap. You had called right around the break. Only one last shot was left for the day.

"Seriously, Yoongi. What did you do?"

"You needed someone to buy you time. I bought you time."

You give an exasperated sigh. Despite the annoyance you feel at his cryptic answers, you can't help but get all warmed up hearing his low voice, his softly accented d's and t's. It seems ages since you guys had a proper conversation. Even this morning, although you had noticed some stiffness in his tone when he answered your call, you had to jump straight to the point without addressing it. It was supposed to be a formal call. Update him on the situation because of the implications it could have. It was stupid of you to think it could be just that.

"I thought the mafia thing was a joke," you continue in a less aggressive tone.

"It was. Until you told me what that asshole did. And that you needed him to shut up and not do anything for some time. Couldn't miss that opportunity, could I?" he finishes in a murky tone.

"Opportunity to do what?" you ask.

"Are you worried about him - ?"

" - are you mad? I'm worried about you!" you snap. "You're - we're artists for fuck's sake! We have to toe the line - I've had to entertain requests to perform in front of these - these - businessmen - it's hard enough saying no to those - and you can't just go ask them for a favor for nothing!" you shudder. That too for me. But no, maybe you're giving yourself too much credit. He has to save his own brand - that would come first, wouldn't it?

Suga hadn't really thought twice before doing what he did this morning. The panic in your voice. The mention of that ass of a former manager. The sheer urge to skip his shoot to fly in and take care of everything - of you - himself. But you - you had been acting dodgy since a few days - calling less, texting differently. He was trying hard to keep the walls from crumbling around him again. To hear you go ballistic over his wellbeing despite the shitstorm you were in was making it hard for him to stay defensive. Still, there were other things.

"Ah, so that's what this is about," he replies slowly, "I can't do something for you? Does it make you that uncomfortable?"

It's buried under a load of irony but the hurt in his voice doesn't escape your notice. Outside, your car has entered the slow-moving traffic once again.

"Of course not. Discomfort is the last thing I -" you stop because you can't lie. You felt guilty involving him, you felt guilty about this whole thing. " - it's just something DK said," you clutch the folds of your dress, "that I use other people to get ahead and you - you did get dragged into this because of me - I shouldn't've asked you to - I was just panicking in the morning -" you hold back a sob.

" -Y/N, kumanhe," Yoongi's voice softens, "he is trying to get to you. You did the right thing telling me. And please understand - I did what I wanted to."

You let his words sink in. In the morning, you called him only because Monica told you to. It was him who'd asked you if you needed him to distract DK. And that you didn't need to worry about it at all. He could have shut you out then. Scolded you for not being careful. Blamed the whole thing on you.

Instead, he came through.

There's a pause. Finally, you let yourself open up.

"I saw it happening – you know when something's been happening to you but one day you're able to see it – DK kept saying stuff – like I can't do a thing by myself – and while it affected me, a part of me awoke to the fact that it was bullshit, he was manipulating me like he always had," you say bitterly. "It's scary how believable he sounded, even after all this time."