Should've Held Onto You (CHA EUNWOO)

27 - Disbandment

There was only one time where Dongmin and I talked about the way we felt about each other. I remember clearly the look of worry and indecisiveness in his eyes. He was afraid to hurt me. It was the day before I left.

I swung my legs which hung off the tree limb we sat on, and he did the same. We were fifteen, but we loved each other.

"We're meant to be."

Those were the words he said, and I actually scoffed. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but the probability of us ending up together was nonexistent.

In his eyes were pools of worry, of desperation, of sadness, of love, of confusion and indecisiveness. He whispered, "Just say yes."

He needed to hear it.

"Yes."

He grabbed my hand from my lap, planting a kiss on it before holding it lovingly.

Then I left.

His eyes were like that now; so much emotion. But it'd been so long, I didn't process it the same. He was worried for me, yes, but how could he love me still?

He was also angry. "This is impossible."

"What?" We crowded around him as he read the article that was just uploaded.

Shaking his head furiously, he exclaimed, "They have a video from the practice room!"

"How could they even get that?" Minhyuk glared at the screen.

The video attached was taken from the practice room door, a low quality video seemingly taken from a phone, of Bin and I dancing from before.

"We don't have a lot of time to figure this out," Sumi pointed out. "We have until Thursday. We spend Winter Break out of town, and when we come back we have musical rehearsals along with Astro rehearsals. Not to mention, the formal. Who knows what they could do in that time, and we all know what happens to groups who are victims to scandals."

They all nodded, but I stood confused. "..What happens?" I asked hesitantly.

Sanha frowned. "Disbandment."

"What's there even to do?" I asked swallowing my fear, but sounding hopeless. "I thought it could be someone from our school, but then the video from Fantagio.."

"Think," Bin spoke, "They must have access to Fantagio. Reporters can't get in there, there's heavy security. It's either a staff member or a trainee. Either way, it spells bad news for us and them, not that we care about the latter."

"Wait!" Dongmin's eyes suddenly grew wide. "I know who it is!"

-----

All we could do was confront her. Nothing too serious has been reported yet, so maybe the fear of being discovered would send her into hiding.

Dongmin was off getting her, and the rest of us paced the practice room.

"Why are you so nervous?" Minhyuk asked us all. "We've found her. She won't mess with us anymore."

"I don't know," I answered, looking intently at the floor, "Something doesn't seem right."

"You haven't known her for as long as we have," Sumi pointed out, "It all makes sense. It's definitely her."

I said nothing, though a nagging feeling within me threatened to crawl out. Something still didn't seem right. It all made sense though, it had to be her. She could've easily obtained my phone number through mutual friends.

I didn't have anymore time to think and dwell on the confrontation to come as Dongmin walked in, and from behind him came a smiling Juri. Dongmin let her enter as he closed the door behind her, crossing his arms. Her smile fell as she saw all of our expressions.

"Next time, you should tread a little lighter," Sumi said with a monotone.

Confused, Juri asked, "What?"

"We know it's you, so you should just stop now. Stop before you ruin your own career." JinJin gave her a sort of pitiful look. He was always kind, even in situations where he maybe shouldn't be.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about.." Juri continued on.

"Why are you lying?" Moonbin stepped closer to her, "You're just embarrassing yourself. Stop writing the articles, stop sending the texts, leave all of us alone. Leave Miyeong alone!"

Juri looked dejected and sad at this point, shrinking away from an angry Moonbin.

"Come on, Juri," she turned hopefully at Dongmin's voice, but he continued, "Give it up."

"I-I.. What is going on?!" She asked desperately.

They began talking at once, trying to talk over one another, and Juri looked at everyone in more confusion and sadness at being bombarded all at once. She tried to listen in to catch what was going on, but she was getting claustrophobic.

"You guys!" I yelled atop everyones' voices. They stopped after a couple tries, and I continued. "I don't think it's her.."

"Miyeong, you're too nice. We can't let her get away with this," Minhyuk frowned.

I looked at Juri, straight in her eyes, which held sorrow. She was perplexed, she had no idea what was happening. If it were really the writer of those posts, or at least the person who provided the content, they would've given up by now. She looked at me in my own eyes, almost pleading with me. She wasn't a bad person.

"It's not her.."

"What?!"

"This has to end."

"Miyeong-!"

"It is!"

"Stop!" Dongmin yelled from the doorway, silencing them. "If Miyeong says it's not her, let's consider that it's not her. Do you have any idea who it could be then?" His question was directed at me, but I really didn't know.

Who would want Astro's disbandment and why? Also, why me? No one around me didn't get along with me, except, I thought, Juri. So... who?

It took me a while, but they waited. Dongmin's eyes never left my contemplating figure. I was trying harder than I think I ever tried in school. The thought would've made me laugh if it weren't for how focused I was.

Suddenly I gasped. It made sense.

-----

A/N- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1,000 READS!!! Although it may seem small to some people, I'm grateful to anyone who has ever read any of this story. Thank you all so much!