SHADOWS OF TRUTH (JENNIE KIM FANFICTION)

8. Heightened Pressure and Lingering Tension

The morning sun seeped in through Y/N's half-drawn curtains, casting soft, warm streaks across her bedroom. She lay there in the quiet, savoring the stillness before the day would inevitably pull her into its chaos. Just as she closed her eyes again, sinking into the lingering comfort of her bed, her phone buzzed, shattering the calm.

She groaned, reaching for it blindly, squinting at the screen to see her manager's name flashing insistently. Y/N sighed and sat up, feeling the familiar knot of tension creep up her spine as she swiped to answer.

"Good morning," she mumbled, her voice raspy from sleep.

The overly cheerful voice on the other end instantly grated on her nerves. "Morning, Y/N! Sorry to wake you, but I wanted to catch you before you got busy. We've got a last-minute meeting scheduled for you and Jennie at HQ in a couple of hours. PR wants to discuss some feedback about, uh... the relationship project."

Y/N closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. She knew exactly what "feedback" meant—more critiques, more demands for fake chemistry, more insistence that she act like she'd fallen head over heels. She'd barely wrapped her head around the surreal arrangement with Jennie, and now they wanted to push it even further. "Right," she said flatly. "Let me guess, they want us to look more 'genuine?'"

There was a pause, and she could hear her manager shuffle through papers on the other end. "You could say that. It's nothing too heavy, just... well, they've been tracking fan engagement, and there are a few things they think could boost authenticity. So they'll go over some pointers with you."

"Pointers." She bit back a bitter laugh. Of course. In the eyes of her team, everything was a performance. She glanced around her room, still scattered with traces of her actual life—an unfinished book on her nightstand, a small pile of clothes at the end of her bed, the untouched guitar in the corner she hadn't had time for in weeks. The idea of trading her real self for a scripted fantasy felt more unbearable with every passing day.

Her manager's voice brought her back. "It'll be a quick meeting. Besides, this whole project is for the fans, right? You and Jennie are trending, people are invested in this—"

"Right. All for the fans," she muttered under her breath. She forced herself not to say more, knowing any real protest would just be met with more enthusiasm about how "great" this was for her image.

"Good, good," her manager said, barely pausing to acknowledge the sarcasm in her tone. "Just remember—it's not personal, Y/N. This is business, and you're doing great. Management really believes in this pairing. If all goes well, we could even push this further, maybe into a few joint appearances, some endorsements..."

She barely heard the rest. As her manager continued to rattle off the plan, she pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to hold back the mounting frustration. None of this felt real. This "relationship" they wanted her to perform was becoming another job—another set of instructions, each one designed to inch her closer to a version of herself she barely recognized.

Her manager's voice faded into the background as she walked to her bathroom, setting the phone on speaker. She splashed her face with water, trying to shake off the weight of everything unsaid, the parts of herself she kept locking away. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror, wondering if any of this would be worth it in the end. Just like any other project. But something about it felt different, heavier, especially when Jennie was involved.

"Are you there, Y/N?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she replied quickly, brushing her damp hair back. She forced herself to sound steady. "I'll be there on time."

"Great!" Her manager's upbeat voice filled the bathroom, oblivious to the storm churning inside her. "We'll see you soon, then."

She hung up without another word, the sound of the dial tone oddly final. Y/N took a deep breath, gripping the edge of the sink, the cool porcelain grounding her. Part of her wanted to rebel, to walk into that meeting and tear down every facade they'd built up. But she couldn't. Not without making Jennie's life even harder than it already was.