Save My Love (SinRin)

Chapter 15: Breath of Courage

"Excuse me, I need to use the washroom." Sinb exited the room without acknowledging the permission from the two directors who continued explaining the proceedings of the show. Yewon exchanged glances with Joon who then promptly pretended to receive a call.

"Hello? I'm in a meeting." Joon whispered covering her mouth as she stood up holding her phone to her ear and motioned to the manager that she had to take the call. She followed Sinb to the washroom albeit she knew she might not find her there.

"Sinb-yah! Wait for me." Joon dashed, almost hyperspeeding to the direction of the young girl who did not care to look back.

The girl stopped at the entrance of a narrow passageway that led to an emergency exit and rested her back against the wall. When Joon caught her, she was silent, contemplating and about to sob.

"Don't let those tears fall." Joon demanded her in Korean making the girl flinch with what seemed like a sudden domineering tone in her companion. "Sinb-yah, I'm not going to ask because I know what's on your mind. But you have to pull yourself together and go back there. It's just a show."

"Eonnie, I know I wanted to forget about what I feel. But is it not too much if it happened this way?!" She replied not minding which language she used. "And it's not just a show! I have to see all that's going to happen and I'll even be a part of it. I know how it goes, we come and visit her to support her, help her cook, chaperone her to dates, help her surprise the husband... You've watched that show! I don't need to explain it to you!" There was a sudden shift in the younger girl's temper that did not surprise Joon. Sinb has the tendency to be impulsive with her reactions which often divided their fans' opinion of her attitude to the point of being criticized for not being mindful of the resulting behavior.

"Hey!" Joon yelled at the girl trying to jolt her out of her depressive reverie. "I know you feel a lot of emotions right now, but this is not the right time to sort them out. There is still a photoshoot and you cannot show up there in this state." The foreigner was very straightforward, almost emotionless as she tried to convince the girl. Fixated on the unresolved investigation, at the back of her mind she had a million things that troubled her about the company's sudden determination. Yerin's participation in the show will certainly isolate her more during filming and her separation from the entire group amplifies her susceptibility to be in danger since she will mostly be at different locations. Joon knew that soon she will be receiving her own briefing regarding a change in security strategy, but until then she will not fully comprehend the seemingly hasty decision of the group's company.

After a few deep breaths, the distraught Sinb went back to room and Joon followed her inside after a minute. The meeting, like promised by the directors was short. Yerin and Sowon were both in daze and inattentive throughout the briefing and kept staring at the folder somehow hoping that they just misread what was written. The discussion continued for a mere fifteen minutes and the girls were already on their way to the practice room for a quick lunch.

"I don't think I understood a single word from that meeting." Yerin spoke while swirling her folk through the chicken salad she could not make herself eat.

"I don't think I did either. I was just thinking about how you felt about it. Will you be okay?" Sowon was genuinely concern of how the other girl would handle being in a show that she explicitly objected joining even during their trainee days.

"You know I've never wanted to join in that make-believe show." Yerin was regarded by their fans as the most reserved of the members though she was the most physically affectionate. She never expressed fondness in concepts that were mature even when she came of age, and so compelling her to partake in such a show is making her go against her will. "What more now, eonnie?"