Lost and Found

Eight

Trying to find a happy medium in Minji's life was almost impossible. She had lost all forms of happiness and forced herself to smile and be herself for the cameras if they were nearby. She hated lying to her fans and everyone, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't handle if anything broke out and hurt her loved ones.

"Minji-ah, we are just worried." Her mother sighed over the phone.

"Just stop. Stop worrying." She whispered. "You didn't care before, now you're just doing this for your own image!" Her voice raised slightly before she heard rustling. She looked around, not seeing anyone entering the living room.

"You're being very odd lately Minji-ah. You've been avoiding calls, avoiding coming home to your family. Usually, you are very proactive about these things." Her mother sighed. "All this is from that troubled child you've been hanging around." She scoffed.

Minji felt her blood boiling the second she heard her mother speak like that. She hated those words already and she barely knew the kid.

"Don't talk about my daughter like that," Minji growled before ending the call and practically throwing her phone onto the couch.

Bora stepped out, peeking around the corner to see Minji with her head in her hands. She knew that everything was slowly falling apart in her life, and she had no idea how to even begin to fix it. She carefully walked out, taking a seat next to Minji.

"I think... Maybe you should tell the company you need a break." Bora frowned.

"I can't just leave," Minji whispered. Her voice cracked, on the verge of tears as she sat there.

"No one is going to be upset with you..."

"What reason am I going to give? That I found my daughter within the company and now I need to go sit down in my childhood home and cry about it?" She snapped.

Bora jumped at the sudden shift, shocked at the tone. She had never seen the leader like this ever and it was a little terrifying. She had seen the others like this but never Minji.

"I'm just giving suggestions... You're worrying everyone." She whispered. "We don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'm not going to hurt myself. Why does everything seem to be so hyper-focused on my own fucking life?!" Minji shouted as she stood up. "Why can't people just leave me be!? I finally find something in my life that completed me and now it's fucking gone!"

Bora sat in silence, watching as the older woman continued to shout at her. She knew it wasn't her that she was yelling at, but the entire situation. She heard a door open, hoping that no one would say a word to her...

"Unnie?"

Both girls turned their heads, seeing Gahyeon standing in the hallway. She looked terrified, causing Minji to let out a sigh, running her hands through her hair.

"Why are you screaming?" She whispered.

"Go back to bed Gahyeon-ah," Bora stated.

"Please, go back to bed," Minji whispered.

Every day had gotten harder. Minji felt horrible every time she saw Youngeun in the company. She would keep to herself, just trying to survive until the end of the day. She had a massive headache, walking through the company before she made contact with the one person she had been avoiding.

Youngeun glanced over at her, giving her a worried look until she saw a man standing next to her and adamantly talking with the staff. Minji frowned at the actions until the man looked over at her, glaring at her.

"You! You're the cause of all of this!" He shouted at her while stepping closer to her. Minji took a few steps back before a few of the male staff came between them. "I want her away from my daughter!" He screamed.

"I haven't been near her!" Minji yelled at him.

"It's the truth, they have been busy preparing for their schedules." One of the staff stated.

"I don't care." He snapped. "I'm going to pull her from this company and have her signed with another. One where she won't be harassed." He glared at Minji before taking Youngeun's hand and dragging her out of the company.

It had been her ultimate breaking point.

She sat in multiple meetings with managers and the CEO, explaining the situation before everything had gotten out of hand. No one was exactly sure what to do when the kid had been pulled from the company and Minji seemed to decline mentally. Her number was blocked on Youngeun's phone, and she had no way to contact her or know if she was well anymore.

Fans were in shock when the news came out. They had no idea their fun-loving, charismatic rabbit, leader was struggling mentally and wished her well. Wished her a speedy recovery and wished that she would get the much-needed rest that the company was promoting.

The rest of the girls were at a loss when the comeback was announced. Almost everything had been filmed with Minji, so nothing was lost, but when the company announcement came out that Minji wouldn't promote, people got even more worried.

Yoohyeon scanned through all of the socials she had, each one hiding her identity well and passing off as a meme account for her own group. She saw what people posted, saw their concerns, and hoped that Minji would stay with the group and not give up. She would screenshot the good wishes, sending them to Minji in hopes that she would find some kind of strength in them.

But she had stopped replying to everyone. Leaving messages on read and refusing to acknowledge the outside world.