Hung Up On You | KNJ

Rock Bottom

It was hard to remember that afternoon, even now nearly a year distance from it. It had been the marked beginning of a steep slide downward for you personally.

Professionally, Bangtan was kicking ass and not bothering to take names.

JinHit Entertainment became a well-known name in the industry as Jimin and Taehyung's solos began to get attention on the award circuit. When they released a duet just before your 27th birthday, you knew from the reactions of your brothers that it had launched them into that stratosphere of legitimacy.

"Livie, it's incredible. You have to come down soon, we're going to have a real concert now," said Jimin during your weekly video call. You remembered laughing just a little at his enthusiasm and promised over and over to try to clear things up at work as soon as possible.

"I'm not positive I'll make the first one you guys, but after Joon's birthday, you're swinging back west and will be in San Francisco, so I'm sure I'll catch the tour there," you said and with that promise Jimin and Tae had been placated for the time being.

You had been absolutely buried under a pile of work ever since you had made the discovery of Emily in your office. Hoseok was grateful that you had actually stopped working from that office for a bit before you had discovered her there. It meant that there hadn't been anything for her to find regarding the newest software that you and Jungkook were working on. But honestly in that time frame, corporate espionage had been the least of your worries.

Every moment of your day was spent in meetings and workshops as Namjoon began to drift further away from all of you. Yoongi and Jin remained infuriated with him. Hoseok had long ago given up trying to reach Joon. Jimin and Tae supported their brothers but were very confused by Namjoon's actions.

Jungkook was another story. Namjoon was his ultimate hero, but JK could not understand what was happening.

"Noona, Monie-hyung is not like this," he said over and over until you too began to feel a little doubt yourself that something more was wrong. He had changed from your Namjoon to this new uncaring person, and you could not understand what had happened. Even Eomma and Appa reached out to let you know that Namjoon wasn't calling home as often, something that concerned you more than anything else. But as your own birthday rolled past, with your brothers coming over to the little house in Santa Clara to celebrate, you tried to keep your focus on the business.

Earlier that Spring, Bangtan had had the honor of being named one of the best companies in the United States to work for. Something that Hoseok had pointed out while you were in the middle of cleaning up the mess that Emily had caused with her hiring and firing spree.

"The timing is interesting, don't you think?" You remembered him asking, but you couldn't figure out how one tied to the other just yet. And there was so much else to focus on.

Over and over as you reached out to the people that Emily had forced out the door, you asked why none of them had reached out to you. And you had been deeply shamed when nearly all of them had explained that when you moved out of the executive suite, they had all assumed that it was a decision made at the top levels that you hadn't shared yet, and that perhaps things were changing.

This made Yoongi so mad that he paid his own money to have your office completely redone.

"Nothing she touched will remain Livie," he had told you and though you had tried to object, you hadn't tried that hard either. You didn't like the idea of someone you didn't know in your work area, even if you had abandoned it.

Yoongi had chosen to redo your office in Forest Green, Silver and Navy Blue, an amazingly striking combination. The walls looked like the pinstripes on your favorite suit of Yoongi's, one that you had then purchased for all of your brothers in varying styles.