Taste | Changbin

Chapter Ninety

Upon reaching their dorms, the two groups opted to gather in the youngest members' place. Hyunjin and 3Racha's dorm was somewhat of a mess. Besides Chan, the rest of them had waited until the last minute to pack. Clothes were scattered all over their rooms. 

Exhaustion had found a home in every member. Even the ones who managed to catch some sleep on the plane were still miserable. It'd take hours of sleep before they'd be able to gather their strength again. 

"Does pizza sound good?" Chan asked. "I'm not in the mood to cook anything. We're going to need to go grocery shopping soon." 

"I'll pay for it," Lee Know added. 

The room filled with a variety of mumbled responses. Changbin threw himself on the living room couch. The glint of silver on his finger pulled at his attention. He had forgotten about the silver ring. It had been on his ring finger for so long that it felt natural. He hadn't taken it off since he gave Lennon the other matching ring. 

Had she taken it off? Last he knew, it had still been on her finger, but that had been before they got on the plane. He reached out with his thumb and twirled it around his finger. The engraved heart still sat on the inside of it. 

Silence had once again settled over the group. Chan and Lee Know were sitting next to each other ordering pizza online. Nobody had the heart to go out and pick it up. They'd tip the driver when he arrived. It wasn't Chan's first time ordering online, so he already knew what to get. 

"Chan," Han called out. 

"Hm?" He glanced up at him from over the top of the laptop. 

"Do you..." He paused for a moment trying to find the right words. "Do you think Lennon is really going to quit her job?" 

"What?" Hyunjin picked his head up off the floor. "She's going to what?" 

"Why?" 

"Are you serious?" 

Concerns floated up from the members that had been unaware of the news. They all looked towards Chan for further explanation. He sighed and handed the laptop over to Lee Know, so he could continue the order. 

"Even if she tries to quit, she can't quit. We're all under a contract, including her. Even if she doesn't realize it, it's still official. She signed it and dated it when she was hired. No matter what happens, she can't quit unless JYP terminates the contract himself." 

"Why does she want to quit in the first place? Is it because the photo of her and Changbin leaked?" I.N asked. "I thought management figured everything out. Didn't they say it was fine or something? 

Chan glanced over at Changbin. 

"They weren't happy that the fans had gotten hold of the photo, but there was nothing they could do to stop it." He took over the conversation. "Everything was going great up until last night after the concert. Something happened behind the stage and when I went backstage to find Lennon, she broke up with me." 

"Wait, what did you do?" Seungmin asked. 

"Why does everyone always think that I had something to do with it? I didn't do anything! She mentioned something about fans harassing her while trying to do her job. We think that some fans might have said something to her and she said she couldn't deal with the hate." 

"And you just let her go?" 

"She didn't want to see me. She told me to leave her alone in the makeup room, so I did. I tried to talk to her. I tried to tell her we could fix it, but she didn't want that. She was crying and insistent that we couldn't be together anymore. She said she'd quit on Monday, but Chan and I don't think she realizes she signed a contract." 

"Wait a minute," Hyunjin forced himself off the ground. "You mean to tell me that you left her all alone in the makeup room? Have you tried talking to her since then?" 

Changbin shook his head. 

"With all due respect, you are such an idiot." 

"Hey!" 

"Did you consider wiping away her tears and comforting her? You could have given her some space and then tried to talk to her again!" 

"She said she didn't want to talk to me! She wanted me to go away!" 

"She wanted you to comfort her, you useless sack of muscle!" 

"This is exactly why Lee Know shoves tissues in your mouth!" 

"Enough!" Chan yelled. "We can continue this conversation another time. Lennon can't quit her job even if she wants to and that's the main thing. Everyone is exhausted from the trip. How about we put on a movie? When the pizza gets here, we can eat, finish the movie, and go to bed. How does that sound?" 

Agreements filtered throughout the room. 

Chan pinched the bridge of his nose; being a father of seven was exhausting.