The Light of Dead Stars | KSJ

47

It's been an hour since you heard of the leaked photos of Jin and Seri after the multiple shocked and panicked messages from your best friends and Jin's siblings.

In that time period, Jin had spoken to Yoongi - whose usual calm demeanor cracked as he felt worry and anger for you both, Taehyung - who was quite hysterical as he said he and his wife had been getting interview requests from different media sites about the issue, and Sejeong - who was crying of disappointment after she asked why Jin hadn't been honest about the whole situation with her.

On your end, you settled with unreturned phone calls and mere replies to all the text messages you'd been getting, including from colleagues and distant friends and even relatives you've forgotten about.

Apparently, the news broke out late in the afternoon, as an article in some shady entertainment news site published a post with 2 photos of Jin and Seri - self-taken pictures that have her sitting in between his legs with his arms around her waist in one, and another of her kissing his cheek. They were both taken on the same day, as he wears his favorite blue and white zip-up Balenciaga jacket and the custom baseball cap that Taehyung bought him. The background is unfamiliar, which leads you to think they were taken in her apartment.

Not long after, the news gained traction in different social media sites until other sites picked it up as well, basically rephrasing from the original article and putting their own spin and interpretation on it. Information about Seri had been shared, and that of yours resurfaced.

It's nearing midnight and people online are having a field day. The Kims are a well-known family, and even if it's Taehyung who's always been in the spotlight, Seokjin is known by many as well, especially after the news about your wedding since he was twice named South Korea's eligible bachelor by some fashion magazine. During his brother's star-studded wedding, Jin made the rounds online again after looking as gorgeous as he did, questions raising once more about him and ending up with someone like you, especially compared to your model-actress sister-in-law.

Your phone keeps ringing but you're not really in the mood to talk to anyone. After Jin had insisted that he didn't know anything about it, and that they're clearly old photos because he hasn't seen her since they broke up, you stayed in your bed as your husband paced around the room making phone calls. He was yelling and crying, clearly frustrated and helpless as he explained everything to his sister. He'd glance at you and you'd give a reassuring look, hoping that that would calm him down somehow.

Wanting to know what was being said, you read through the posts. The original article was quite suspect, as it revealed fairly harmless information about Seri. You'd even go as far as saying she was being painted in a positive light, at least in terms of her personality and looks. There are things that seem more personal, like descriptions of her soft laughter and her love for colors and flowers, things that someone close to her would know. It painted Jin as the rich, powerful boss and Seri as the meek, soft-spoken assistant who'd come from a humble background, insinuating the former's control and advantage over the young woman.

The article spoke of her long-term relationship with your husband that started when she worked as part of his management team, and that he continues to see her even when he's married to you. They got the first part correct, and you have a feeling the aim was to focus on the second part of the story.

Elements of it were spun around, obviously. There are the cheating claims, the executive and rank-and-file unprofessional relationship angle - which turned into a debate since he's technically also your superior even if you don't directly report to him, the arranged marriage theory, and that lone take about you actually being the "mistress" in the relationship.

You read the comments and they're even nastier, with Jin being completely ripped apart, and then your looks - again - as the topic of discussion. People were saying how Seri is the victim in all this, being the less "powerful" one while also claiming that Jin should've just gone for her because she's way prettier than you are. They'd go for a "good-looking couple over a power couple any day," they said, bringing up theories of why he's cheating on you in the first place because there probably wouldn't be any excitement.