aespa's 5th member (aespa X Male reader)

Part 21

Y/N POV

Knocking on Winter noona's door, I entered her room.

"Noona.." I slowly approached her who was sitting at the end of her bed with her head down.

Sitting down beside her, I calmly tried to open up a chat with her.

"You know.. if you think about it. It's really not that bad" I said hoping that she'll see the bright side of the story. Luckily it worked as she reacted to it and proceeded to look at me.

"I get to open up more opportunities and you guys get one less problem" I chuckled indicating that me not joining them gives them less burden.

I might have chosen the wrong words there as it made her cry once again.

"Yah you're not a problem to us" Winter noona sobbed, closing her face with her two small hands.

"W-wait no no that's not what I meant. Uhhh I'm just saying that.... it's just one comeback that I won't be with you guys" I came up with a last minute solution to stop the tears of Winter noona.

"You promise?" Once again I got lucky as she stopped and then looked up at me with puppy eyes.

"I promise" I gave her a promise even though knowing that I have no power over that kind of decisions.

"Come here and give me a hug" Winter noona's childish side then came out which I happily accept rather than her crying.

We hugged it out and it calmed her down. I suggested to her that we rejoin the other members in the living room.

Heading into the living room we sat back down at our original spots. I sat down with Ningning once again squeezing at the spot as it was the only vacant space.

"So everyone is cool now right?" Manager noona said breaking the silence. Everyone nodded obediently.

"As bad as it sounds, it is the company's decision. There are pros and cons of it right. So I hope you guys are seeing the pros more" Manager noona then reasoned to us. She still kept quiet about the company's potential plan of separating Y/N from the group to avoid any problems for now.

"Unnie is right. Let's stay positive and keep pushing ourselves to be the best version of ourselves together ok?" Karina noona spoken like a true leader which may have risen the mood fortunately.

"Come here everybody" She then continued, calling us to huddle up.

"Whatever happens. And I mean whatever! We're still aespa ok?" Karina sternly said.

"Yes unnie!" "Yes noona!" Me and the other members answered her, full of energy.

"aespa fighting!" We all then shouted together in unison.

Manager noona who was witnessing this all from behind realised that the bond aespa had made with Y/N is really strong it made her feel touched. She's starting to doubt the company's plan of separating Y/N from them.

After everyone had settled down from the sudden group bonding session, we all sat back down.

"You guys are about to make me cry too" Manager noona spoke out wiping her eyes.

"Unnie~" Giselle who was beside her then side-hugged her.

"Anyways. That's all I wanted to say for today. Schedules starts tomorrow, so enjoy your day off today" Manager noona said. "Thank you Aeri but I have to go now" Giselle then let go of the hug as manager noona proceeded to head out of the dorm after saying goodbye to us.

Usually everyone would just head to their room after this kind of situations but somehow we all stayed in the living room.

"This sucks" Giselle blurted out suddenly. Still thinking about the situation.

"Yea.. but it's alright noona. Let's just keep working hard for the fans yeah?" I still stayed positive about it as she nodded with a smile.

"Okay~ so any plans for today's off day? Or am I just gonna rot in bed again" I asked them a question to make them forget about what just happened.

"No no you are not. I was thinking of having a picnic. Thoughts?" Karina then suggested as it perked everyone up.

"Oooo I would love a picnic!" Winter exclaimed.

"We haven't ate together in ages!" Ningning exaggerated.

"Alright let's go then!" Giselle spoke with enthusiasm.

Everyone then got prepared and headed out to a nearby convenience store to buy the goods for the picnic at a park.

Timeskip

Preparations for the comeback were going smoothly. Me and the noonas' schedule keep overlapping so we see each other less now even though we're still living together in the same dorm. I mean except for Karina noona who at the end of everyday is sharing a bed with me.

And as usual, news nowadays spread fast. Everyone knew that Y/N was not participating in this aespa comeback. There were mixed reactions from it. The news of Y/N leaving was also going viral, the aespa members wasn't aware of this.

One day when I was in a recording studio to fix a few verses with the producer and manager noona, the aespa members then crashed into the room, looking furious.

"Yahh what are you guys doing?!" Manager noona surprised by the sudden appearance of the girls.

"Unnie! Is this true?!" Karina then showed her phone. It was a viral article of speculation about Y/N leaving the group after his solo comeback.

"*sigh* I knew it was a bad idea hiding it" Manager noona said.

"What do you mean hiding it? Were you just gonna drop him from the group after his solo?!" Giselle this time asked madly.

I was inside the booth, witnessing all this. I didn't know what to do as I just stared at them quietly with the producer.

"It's not official yet girls. The company wants to see Y/N's progress first before initiating the plan" Manager noona explained as it made them more furious.

"Don't be mad at me. I also opposed this when I heard it!" Manager noona quickly picked her side.

"Does Y/N even know about this?!" Karina asked in an angry tone as manager noona shook her head regrettably.

"That's it! Come here Y/N-ie" Karina entered the booth and dragged me out.

"We're going home Jagi! These people don't know what they are doing here" Karina fumed as she brought me out of the room with the other members.

Manager noona didn't know what to do as she just watched me get dragged out of the my recording session. The producer was also stunned, witnessing all this with his jaw dropping.

We eventually got home, all of us gathered in the living room, still shook by the sudden news. I just stayed quiet the entire time, afraid to speak out a word that may hurt anyone's feelings, including mine.

Karina noona and Giselle noona is on the phone, arguing with god knows who. Winter noona, trying her best to hold in her tear beside me, holding my hand.

"Are you okay Y/N? You haven't spoke a word" Ningning noona came to comfort me.

It took a moment for me to answer her "Noona..." I called her as she hummed. "Am I a burden to this group?" I felt like a problem that never should've happened.

"Hey no you're not. You never are" Ningning noona sat down closer to me to close the gap between us. "You are literally the opposite of that" She said with a smile while rubbing my back.

"I feel like everything just goes downhill whenever I'm with you guys. It's like I'm dragging you guys down with me" I thought back of the hate letters, comments and threats that I have received ever since I joined aespa.

Karina noona who had just finished her business on the phone with Giselle noona noticed me and Ningning as she immediately approached me, hugging without a thought.

"Y/N Jagi. Listen, the situation may look bad right now but trust me, I will fix this" Karina assured, gripping me tighter. "For us, for you" She continued.