Fictional | Yang Jeongin

10

"Oh no," I whispered as I stared at my phone. Pictures of me and Hyunjin from yesterday were trending on Twitter, with people already speculating if we were dating. How could it be that I was outside with Jeongin all the time and paparazzi never spotted us, but now that I walked into Hyunjin once, rumors already started? I looked over at Jeongin, who was still sleeping peacefully next to me. Yesterday, we had continued where we left off in the studio, and let's put it this way: I wasn't in any condition to walk home after he was done with me. I gently shook him. "Innie," I whispered.

He opened his eyes, a little confused, but as soon as he saw me, he started smiling like crazy. "Good morning," he mumbled, pulling me closer. "Innie, we have a problem," I mumbled into his chest. "No, we don't. Everything is so good," he whispered, planting a kiss on top of my head. "No, Innie, look!" I said, pushing him away a little so I could show him my phone. He stared at the open page, seeing the pictures of me and Hyunjin. They looked suspicious. We were laughing in all of them. In one, he held the door to the café open; in another, he was holding my coffee while I put away my phone; in yet another, we hugged. That was when he greeted me.

"They are from yesterday when I ran into him before I visited you guys in the studio," I said. He grabbed my phone from me and stood up. "But these rumors are false!" he complained and walked to the door. "Maybe you should put on some pants," I said, starting to collect my clothes from the ground, but ultimately deciding to just wear Jeongin's shirt from yesterday. It went down to my knees anyway. "Right," Jeongin mumbled, pulling on some sweatpants before he left the room. "Hyunjin-ah!" he yelled. I trotted behind him, feeling slightly guilty. "Kitchen," I heard Hyunjin yell. Jeongin practically ran to him.

"Can you explain to me why you are apparently dating MY girlfriend?" Jeongin snapped at Hyunjin. I quickly walked between them to de-escalate the situation. "Hey, Innie. It's not his fault. He is as clueless as me, and you know that what they say is not true," I quickly said, putting my hands on his shoulders. Hyunjin just looked at us, confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Hyunjin asked, still confused, and Jeongin shoved my phone into his face. Hyunjin took it and stared at it as well.

"Chan!" he yelled, panicked. A confused Chan came into the room. I grabbed Jeongin's hand as Hyunjin gave my phone to Chan and turned back to us. "You know that's not real, right? We just bumped into each other and got coffee before we came to the studio!" Hyunjin defended himself. "I know that's not real, but still! Why can't there be rumours about me and her? Why does it have to be you?" Jeongin whined.

"Okay, relax, guys," Chan said. "No need to make a fuss. The pictures look platonic. I mean, you're just hugging." "Yes, but people are reading into it!" Hyunjin protested. "Why is it always me? I can't have a single female friend!" "I'm sorry, Hyunjin," I mumbled. "It's not your fault!" he and Jeongin said at the same time. Chan looked at us. "Maybe you two should just go public," he said.

"What?" Hyunjin, Jeongin, and I said at the same time. "It would deny the rumors and leave no room for new ones about Suki and Jeongin or any other member. Because I'm sure at some point, Suki will be alone with one of us again," Chan explained. Jeongin looked at me. "You decide. You will be the one in the spotlight," he said. I hesitated for a moment. I loved being with Jeongin, and I wanted everyone to know, but was I ready? "I—I don't know what to do," I mumbled. "It's so overwhelming... I've never been in such a situation before," I mumbled.

Jeongin pulled me against his chest. "Listen... I would love to just tell everybody, and I'm sure people will love you, but if you don't want to, we don't need to. We'll find a way," he said. I slung my arms around him. "But it would never stop. There will be rumors all the time," I mumbled, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's tell the world." Nothing else really made any sense at all. "I'll call management," Chan mumbled, pulling out his phone. "And then we'll make a plan."