Paper Dolls

Chapter 22

My stomach is churning and not in a good butterfly fluttering kind of way as we wait for Jiho to join us for practice today. It feels more like someone is laying down bricks in the pits of my belly making me feel heavier by the second.

Ms Noh is evidently distracted, she keeps glancing down at her phone and she barely pays attention to me while I run through my lines. Mr Wan is here as well and he's busy reading some theology book. 

He seems to be the only calm person in the room right now and thankfully he ignores me while I blunder through the second half of my rap verse. 

After a few absurdly tense minutes I finally can't take it anymore. 

"Is everything, okay?" I ask to no one in particular but my gaze is fixed on Ms. Noh. I still feel uncomfortable around Mr. Wan even though he's barely looked at me the entire session. 

Only Ms Noh bothers responding with a terse nod. "I'm sure you've read the tabloids by now. Viva is currently blowing up on social media and not in a good way." 

"All publicity is good publicity." Mr. Wan speaks up. "Unless our stock price drops then Jiho would be in real trouble." 

Great, if I wasn't already worried enough, now I find myself squeezing the jute material of the seat beneath my butt. 

"Wasn't Silver also embroiled in a dating scandal last year?" I refer to one of Jiho's group mates, Silver, who is aptly know for his platinum silver hair and matching eye brows. He was caught at a very exclusive ramen place with an unknown girl and the news had circulated online for weeks. 

Thankfully, after approximately two months and a very busy Viva schedule, the scandal had died down and people eventually forgot about it. Everything went back to normal soon after and that is considered one of the best case scenarios in the industry. 

I've heard of singers being kicked out of their groups or companies for similar improprieties. But if Firefly didn't dismiss Silver, surely they wouldn't kick out Jiho, right?

"Silver is lucky. His fans aren't so intense," Mr Wan murmurs without looking up from his book.

"It all depends on the type of fans you have. Viva's fans tend to be quite supportive as a whole but Jiho and Chan have many possessive fans who can be quite aggressive and delusional. Remember that sasaeng fan who tried to drag Chan off the stage during their last showcase?" Ms Noh tells us animatedly and her words only make me feel worse. 

Panic burrows it's way into my chest and I suddenly feel choked up with guilt. The last thing I want is to be responsible for destroying someones career. 

A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts and my heart pounds when I see Jiho open it slowly. His head is hung low and all I want to do is rush over and hug him but that would be the worst thing right now. 

"Sorry I'm late," He murmurs, all his usual playfulness absent. His face is solemn as he walks inside and it is only then that I see Silver and Rachel walk in after him. 

He hands a piece of paper to an equally confused looking Ms. Noh and she turns it over. 

She then looks up at him like he'd just grown an extra head. 

"They want the four of you to perform this song? And we're supposed to re-arrange it a day before recording?" Her eyes are bulging out of her head making her look like an insect. 

"Firefly believes it is the best course of action right now. They were nice enough to not kick me out of the duet but it can't be just a duet anymore." He barely even looks at me when he says this, causing an ache to form in my chest.