Acts of Hate | Taennie

6.

"Jennie."

The said girl immediately started chocking on her water and the unexpected sound of his voice calling for her.

It had been a while. Years in fact, since she had last heard him call her by that name.

And to add on to her dilemma, it was him who had unexpectedly begun to pat her back and lean in closer.

"If you're going to flirt, do it later. The media is intently recording you. Don't cause a problem for me when we're filming. We both know you've already caused enough issues apart from this." He spoke in a low voice, ensuring it was only her who heard before he turned back to the media with a small smile and sat up.

He was an actor after all. He knew how to act.

Pretending she was okay. Yeah, seemed normal. Checked out. Co workers after all, it would only show him as caring and there would probably be numerous ship edits going around that very moment.

But Jennie couldn't think all that. She couldn't think, period. Her thoughts were in scrambles as she felt tears prick her eyes.

He was too close. He spoke to her. He touched her.

It was too foreign. It was too much.

Although Jennie had tried to believe that she knew he hated her and that she would be able to manage with it, hearing direct evidence of his hatred for her had unexpectedly sent her through a turmoil of emotions.

So much so that she hadn't even registered his previous accusation of her flirting with Rowoon, who didn't seem to think much of the event.

However, her years of PR training had brought her to collect herself as she cleared her throat and sat straight, avoiding any other criticism he could hold against her.

He was right though. She had done enough.

Thankfully, the awkward silence was brought to an end as the press conference started, and the actors responded with their pre-drafted responses, ensuring a smooth event with no hiccups.

Immediately after, they had gotten up to take cast pictures.

As Jennie and Taehyung were revealed to be the main romantic interests, they were subjected to the press's wishes for them to strike a variety of couple poses separately.

She flinched rather harshly as he put his hand around her shoulders to take a picture, as he tried desperately to keep their touch to a minimum.

Doing their best they put on a smile small enough to satisfy the cameras as they followed the reporters instructions to make several poses for the camera, unable to avoid how stiff their interaction was.

"Jennie, could you take his arm and then the both of you look at each other? It'll look good for a cover photo." One of them asked as she almost lost her smile and stiffly nodded.

She swallowed hard as she linked her arm through his, not missing how he tensed under their contact as she turned around and looked up, finally meeting his eyes.

It felt as though he couldn't breathe. Like he was confined. Him having to stand there and stare at her face and her eyes for so long felt like torture. It felt too comfortable and too similar. A few seconds were more than enough to bring his sanity crashing down.

The two stood there unmoving, as it felt like the outside world had vanished. The multiple flashes of cameras nor the loud yells of adoration from fans had not been enough of a distraction, and it felt like a god given gift when they were told that they were done.

The two moved away to quickly it almost felt like they were jumping away from each other, and she couldn't help but trip as the train of her dress got caught under her heels.

She began to brace herself to fall but was surprisingly caught on both arms by Taehyung on one and Rowoon on the other, as she was stabilised and able to stand up again.

Taehyung let go of her arm almost immediately, and unbeknownst to her the two had shared a type of look.

Rowoon began to ask her if she was alright as he let his touch linger a little longer, as she nodded with a smile, fixing her dress to stand up properly as another female coworker helped her with the same and helped with her hair.

Jennie hadn't known who she was before yesterday, and they had gotten close in a surprising pace.

"Yah you need to be more careful." Soojin laughed as she helped Jennie with her hair.

"This one is always falling somehow or another. She's so clumsy, I don't know how you debuted as an idol, or are able to dance on stage in general." Rowoon muttered shaking his head as Jennie only sheepishly smiled.

"Why are you attacking me all of a sudden?!" She playfully frowned as she smacked his arm and Soojin laughed hugging her.

The event was almost over, and their interaction was nothing painful to end it off, being openly admired by fans.

Taehyung on the other hand saw how the three were together, and saw how she was with Rowoon, and began to sink into the relationships that were on set.

He saw her easy going nature with everyone else but him, and knew that their relationship could never be fixed again.

Jennie also turned to look over, but kept her gaze on Hyejin instead.

More specifically, how she was with Taehyung. The way she looked at him, there was no mistaking it. And he seemed to always be comfortable around her, smiling as he talked to her too, a stark contrast from him with her.

She couldn't help but compare. She knew that she was his in the past, but it was never going to be the present. Especially because she knew who his present was.

Painfully, she turned back before anyone noticed and continued talking to Soojin and Rowoon, only this time she couldn't bring herself to stop over thinking, even as she was in the car and heading home after the event ended.

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Chapter 6.
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Acts of Hate
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JJENINII
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