제이크. 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝘆 ✔

chapter 18: heeseung's breaking point

trigger warning: angst, curse words, violence.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

the morning sun poured through the tall windows of belift's building, illuminating the tense atmosphere that hung in the air. managers huddled around a screen, their expressions a mix of shock and frustration as they stared at the dispatch article that had just dropped.

it was a candid photo of jake and harin inside a local grocery store in boseong-gun. there was no mistaking, it really was sim jaeyun.

“ahh... what to do?” one of them exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “we can’t let this get out. not now.”

“we need to act fast,” another manager said, typing furiously on her laptop. “this could damage their reputation just as they’re starting to break through.”

within moments, they gathered their resources and contacted dispatch, negotiating to have the article taken down. they had the money now, thanks to enhypen’s skyrocketing popularity, and they weren’t going to let an article threaten their hard-earned success.

across the building, sunoo was scrolling through twitter during a break when he stumbled upon a thread discussing the very same article. his heart sank as he read the comments, disbelief washing over him.

his thumb hovered over a tweet that called jake out for being unprofessional, and he felt a surge of protectiveness for his friend.

“hey, heeseung!” sunoo called, rising from his chair. he spotted heeseung in the corner, focused on a task. “you need to see this.”

heeseung looked up, brows furrowing as he made his way over to sunoo. “what is it?”

sunoo turned his phone towards him, the screen glowing with the dispatch article headline and the accompanying photo of jake and harin leaving the cafe together. “it’s all over twitter. look at the comments, they’re ruthless.”

heeseung’s expression hardened as he scanned the screen. the realization hit him like a punch to the gut.

“not again,” he mutters, shaking his head.

“we need to talk to him,” sunoo said, anxiety creeping into his voice. “this could really hurt us.”

“let’s go,” heeseung replied, his tone clipped as he led the way to the dorm.

as they entered the familiar chaos of the dorm, the tension in the air was palpable. jake stepped through the door, still buzzing from the family visit, but the moment he saw his members’ expressions, the joy drained from his face.

“jake,” heeseung greeted, the edge in his voice unmistakable. “we need to talk.”

jaeyun felt a knot tighten in his stomach. “about what?”

"acting like you don't care again, huh?" heeseung smirks, his arms crossed in annoyance.

hee's passive aggressiveness hits a nerve in jake.

"the fuck are you talking about?"

"you are all over the internet, jake! once again!"

"what?"

"there's another scandal of you again, in boseong-gun! so that was why we couldn't contact you that day." heeseung scoffs.

jake turned his head away, ashamed that his long-held secret has now founded its way not only to his members, but to the whole world.

“I thought you were serious about this." heeseung's tone was dripping with passive-aggression. "guess I was wrong.”

“it’s not what you think,” jake replied, his heart racing as he tried to steady his voice. “belift managed to take it down, right?”