4*TOWN

Reprisal 5

That same day, the guys head to the meeting in their own cars- they arrive a bit later than they usually would have; not having Raya to pick them up is an adjustment. When they walk into the room, the long table is surrounded by faces that the guys just barely recognize.

All of them look at each other as they sit down, absolutely unsure of what to expect.

"So you all must know why we're meeting here today."

The man at the end of the table says.

"I'm gonna take a super wild guess and say this is about Raya."

T says, and Robaire kicks him under the table. The man that was talking before looks at him strangely, but still continues.

"...Yes. She's come to us recently about her resignation, which you all should know about already. However, we're giving her a week to finalize her decision."

"And you couldn't tell us that over the phone? Why do we have to-"

"T."

Jesse shoots T a look.

"What he was trying to say was, thanks for letting us know."

"Hm. Glad to see at least one of you has a bit of professionalism."

The man says, and Jesse suppresses the urge to roll his eyes at him. T sinks back into his chair, spinning it around slowly to keep himself entertained.

"What else?"

Robaire asks.

"For this upcoming week, you'll have a new personal manager to take her place. He'll be with you all soon."

T stops spinning in his chair.

"So that's gotta be it. We can go home."

"Not yet, Aaron."

"Don't call me that. It's T."

"...Right. Well, here he is now. Ryan?"

Everyone's heads turn toward the door, where a well-dressed man has just walked in. He smiles at them.

"Hi! My name's Ryan, as you just heard. I'm so excited to be working with you all."

"Don't get too excited. Raya could still change her mind."

T grumbles.

"We'll see. Anyway, I'll be filling in for Raya this week, as I'm sure you all know. You have an interview tomorrow, and a photoshoot on Saturday. Nothing too big for our first week together."

"Hopefully the only week."

T says under his breath, quiet so no one else can hear him. However- Z, who's sitting right next to him, still hears. He shakes his head at him.

The meeting ends soon after, and the band leaves the building. As they walk out, they notice that the streets are filled with many more people than there were when they arrived.

"Weird."

Jesse says, only acknowledging them for a moment before getting into his car with Robaire and Tae Young.

"Is it just me or are they getting closer?"

Robaire points out.

"Looks like it."

Jesse says, still not really paying attention to them; just trying to get out of the parking spot.

"You think they're fans? How do I look?"

Robaire starts rolling down the window, but Jesse rolls it back up.

"Jesse!"

"We don't need any of that right now. We're going straight home."

Jesse can only drive a few yards before the road is blocked by a crowd of people.

"Jesus Christ."

He honks the horn, catching the attention of at least half the crowd.

"Oh my god!"

"It's them!"

Two girls shout and move closer to the car, preventing them from driving any farther.

"Great."

Jesse sighs, and Robaire rolls down his window again.

"Don't make me turn on the child lock."

Robaire ignores him and sticks his head out of the window. The shouting only grows louder, and people are now crowded around the side of Jesse's car.

As Robaire is talking to the fans, Jesse is looking for a way out. He sees Z's car stuck just a little ways ahead. Fans are also surrounding them, but Z has all the windows up and is completely ignoring them.

"How did they even know we'd be here?"

Jesse says, looking over to Robaire who's still signing things and taking pictures with fans. Tae is in the back seat, wearing Jesse's sunglasses and avoiding turning his head toward the window beside him.

"Alright, that's enough. Thanks guys, we're gonna go..."

Jesse rolls up the window despite Robaire's protests. He honks the horn a few more times, and the fans finally clear out. As he's driving, Tae Young takes off the sunglasses and sits back up.

"You okay, kid?"

"Yeah. That was really weird."

"I have no idea how they even knew we were there."

☆

At home, T and Z are hanging out in T's room. They're on the bed, T sitting in between Z's legs and reading on his laptop. Z had a movie playing, but he's more interested in reading the news articles with T.

"This one's funny. They think I hooked up with Nick."

T clicks on one of the articles, headlined with a photo of him and Nick talking with each other at T's birthday parry.

"Please. They didn't even try to make it believable."

Z laughs, his eyes skimming over the words.

"I would never. Besides, he's probably not even half as big as you are."

T says, and Z rolls his eyes, but laughs again.

"What a size queen you are. And here I thought it was because you loved me."

"Of course, that's the first reason. I love you."

T turns his head, capturing Z's lips in a brief kiss.

"I know. I love you too."

They keep on reading the online articles about themselves, getting bored of them after a short while. T finally yawns and leans back into Z's chest.

"Somehow, that was super exhausting."

"Ha. Let me put this away for you."

Z takes T's laptop, giving the screen one last glance...

to be continued