𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐀𝐓 [𝟏] 𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮 || 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖

POV Minho

Being woken up at eleven pm when I fell asleep at ten and a half pm is quite frustrating.

But well, Dayu was crying on the other end of the line, so here I am, in the room she shares with some group members, consoling her.

- "They're going to scold me, I didn't do it on purpose..."

I pat her back, my lips pressed together, nodding gently. At the same time, all idols know the rules for couples.

I look at the time and see that it's two o'clock.

Only two am.

- "It's my birthday today," she sniffles. "I'm an adult."

- "Happy birthday!" I say, smiling.

Sure, the situation is quite drawn-out, but a birthday is still a birthday.

She thanks me and was about to add something when the door bursts open. Malee enters, visibly upset.

- "To the living room. Immediately."

▪︎▫︎▫︎▫︎▫︎

- "You're totally irresponsible!" exclaims a man I don't know.

I'm sitting on the couch next to Ha-yoon. We're the only ones seated: she because her ankle is still fragile, and me because a burly man is blocking the door, and I don't dare ask him to move.

- "I didn't do it on purpose!"

- "You clearly did it on purpose!"

There's tension between Malee and Dayu, and their manager continues:

- "We can't deny the information because you confirmed it three times. Three times, Dayu."

She remains silent, guilty. She looks at the floor, and the door opens to another man, along with the five members of TXT.

Now there are fifteen of us in the room.

- "We'd like to talk to you," announces the TXT manager.

He turns to Dayu, looking her up and down, then turns to Malee.

- "The agency wants you to say it was just a joke related to a song. We're going to do a feat with you in a few days, and we want you to break up. It's too complicated otherwise."

Malee's eyes widen, and Yeonjun protests:

- "You didn't tell me that!"

- "Yeonjun, I'm doing this for your career."

- "That has nothing to do with it," intervenes Shizuka, now dressed in casual clothes. "You can't force them to break up. They can just confess. There's a lot of positive reaction on social media."

- "We don't want it to be official," replies the manager, crossing his arms.

What am I doing here?

- "If that's the problem, you can do your feat, but they can stay together in secret. They managed to date for a while before they were discovered."

The manager hesitates, and Beomgyu says:

- "Just say it outright if you don't want them together."

- "The agency isn't really okay with..."

Malee steps forward and raises her hand:

- "First, my official agency is JYP, so they have the final say, and second, I don't mind making it official."

- "Neither do I," agrees Yeonjun.

The manager was about to protest, but Ha-yoon stands up.

- "What's the point of stopping them? You'll never know if they'll really follow your order."