"It takes an eternity to build but only a moment to destroy. You could've saved us yet you chose to break it all."
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Yuri and Seungcheol had dealt with a great many things in their lives, romance, sasaengs, near-death experiences, kidnappings and...
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"Choi Seungcheol," Yuri spoke into the receiver that gave her nothing but an empty recorded message in reply. "You had better pick up or else-"
"Or else?" Yeo Jeong asked, peeling through the open door. She appeared from outside, her face visible through momentarily before she stepped in. Yeo Jeong was close to Yuri in age and wit, being the second eldest of the four member group, I-Doll. Walking in, Yeo Jeong watched her friend curse a poor smartphone for a call that did not connect, the liveliness of her bedridden friend amusing her. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
Yuri waved a hand to welcome a familiar face. Giving up on the phone call that was constantly being diverted to voice mail, Yuri kept the phone down. "Nothing." She dismissed it indifferently, "What are you doing here?"
"Checking up on you, obviously." Yeo Jeong rolled her eyes, finding the seat next to her friend. Keeping aside the small basket of fruits she'd brought along, Yeo Jeong lowered her voice before continuing, "And I'm here to update you on everything that's been going on in the company."
Yuri was intrigued. Her mother was ignoring her calls and the bodyguards at her door were refusing to spill if her mother had tried to visit. It was good in some way but Yuri wanted access to answers and Yeo Jeong's appearance was equivalent to striking a gold mine. She leaned forward. "Tell me, what is my mother up to?"
"Oh? So, you're admitting to it now?" Yeo Jeong cocked her head to the side, pleasantly surprised. "Didn't you continually insist that she was only 'like' a mother?" She air quoted with her fingers.
"It was a lie, of course," Yuri rolled her eyes like it were obvious, "I'm surprised you bought that for even a second. The only person that can pretend to even remotely be a mother-like figure to I-Doll is me, myself. I wrote our songs, I recruited each of you personally. No random ajhumma's going to stake a claim on our achievements like this."
"But your mother is."
Yuri sighed, "Yes. My biological mother is," she corrected. Growing impatient, she hurried on her friend with a wave of her palm, "Enough of that. Just tell me what's going on in the company right now."
Yeo Jeong glanced at Yuri suspiciously. The Lee Yuri she'd encountered over the past few months had been so evasive and distant that seeing her be open and approachable now was unforeseen. It was almost as if Yuri had been returned the personality she'd lost.
"Fine." Yeo Jeong gave in to her friend's hurrying expression. "I don't have a lot of time anyway. Daepyo-nim has banned us from leaving the company building and I need to return before they realise I'm gone."
"They've banned you?" Yuri frowned, "With what reason?"
Yeo Jeong nodded, confirming her suspicions. "The company's calling it an evaluation period. It's weird timing. The new album comes out day after tomorrow but they want to check whether we're ready enough."
