Bada x Howl: Standing Next to You

XXIII. Standing Next to Him (Bada POV)

*Author's note: timeline for their shared IG post is slightly altered for story

He puts down his phone, sighing. Bada looks over, concerned.

Howl had finally posted a gratitude post about his birthday cafe and included some of the JJ crew who had accompanied him after the Jerk Family photoshoot. Shortly after he posted, he received a stream comments and message requests about the JJ girls he tagged, particularly Eunki, insinuating he had an inappropriate relationship with them. Some of the comments even tagged Bada, and she got DM requests of his post calling out the pictures with Eunki. It turned a celebratory post sour, and he quickly turned off the comments and texted his friends to apologize.

"Are they getting nasty messages?"

"Thankfully, not many. It's mostly just me."

"Do you think we're making it worse?" she reflects.

"What do you mean?"

"Our keeping things so private. Maybe that's fueling more rumors and speculation. Redlic and I were talking about this the other day, how she and Minsun were open from the start. Their fans seem fine with it."

"I don't know. I've wondered that too," he admits. "But they're also not in the public eye as much..." He doesn't have to continue, as they both know what he means: they're not at her level of fame.

Howl, reading her expression, quickly reassures her. "It's not your fault. I think it's just the unfortunate result of being well-known. Think of every idol - they have the same issue."

"But we're not idols," she insists dejectedly.

"I know."

Her eyes shift, as she bites her lip. Finally she looks up. "What if we post something?"

"I think that would draw attention--"

"No, I don't mean post a statement. Something more subtle."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something that's still low-key but puts to rest the speculations."

"We could...but what if you lose followers?" They both know that a key reason she was so captivating and appealing to such a wide fan base was her "girl crush" style. While dance style or gender presentation doesn't actually reveal anything about one's sexual orientation, many were quick to erroneously, correlate them.

Bada meets his eyes, a steadfast look of resolve. "I don't care. If being in a happy relationship makes me lose fans, it's not worth keeping them."

*****************

They upload it together later that night before bed.

They decided to do it in their love language: dance. They picked Jungkook's Standing Next to You, a song that best expressed what they wanted to say but couldn't outright speak. They found a closed office center in Incheon and choreographed the piece in a little over an hour.

It takes only three seconds for the first views, likes and comments to trickle in, with growing attention every refresh. They mutually decide to put away their phones for the night and face the reactions in the morning.

"Whatever happens, I don't regret it," Bada asserts as she nestles up against him, laying her head on his chest the way she did most nights.

They both know she is taking the bigger risk given it's her fanbase who is more likely to react negatively. However, she is convinced that their silence made things worse and could no longer bear sitting idle. While she's grateful for the recognition and opportunities SWF2 has given her, she's not willing to prioritize admiration from strangers over the most important relationship in her life.

Sooner or later Bada knew that all spotlights dim, and many fans will move on to other people and things. But what she and Howl had, she hoped would last a lifetime.

And so, in the moments that matter, she wants to make sure he knows she is standing with him, by him, for him.