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The following days her life went back to its usual routine. She hadn't suffered any collateral damage, which couldn't be said for Jongin and Doyeon, pushed around by everyone, not able to fulfill their duties. None of them had posted anything on social networks. Especially Jongin, who usually spent hours doing Instagram lives, hadn't given any news to his fans. Online, on tv, on radio broadcasts, the main topic was always the two of them. Someone, mostly international fans, tried to defend their reputation, but in Korea their fans were against their relationship. Many of Jongin's fansites went in hiatus for an undefined timescale, Nebulae's ones had immediately closed right after the scandal. Not only Doyeon's, but even the ones of the other girls had lost hope for mercy, the group seemed lost without the center who had drawn most of the fans. Jongin got attacked online for dating a minor. On tv way worse assumptions were made, but Seulgi didn't care. As long as Doyeon got hate then everything was fine, everything was useful for a higher purpose. She didn't feel guilt. She would have never apologized to Jongin for something she didn't feel she had to apologize. The two of them would have apologized once thrown out of the agency, and she looked forward to that moment. Someone knocked on the door of her office, she looked away from her pc and invited whoever that person was to come in.

Her father wants you to attend the meeting at 2 p.m., he told me to inform you about this — her secretary, perfectly dressed, but with a tired expression on her face, after all she had worked way more than usual giving support to her father's secretary, bowed after giving her than information and closed the door.

That was the moment of truth. All the way to her father's office she felt as light as a balloon, she felt as if she was gently floating over the shiny marble floor. The meeting took place in a conference room of the management team. She arrived right after her father, but they didn't wait long before the two accused, with their managers, arrived and took place. Doyeon had a dreadful look on her face, she looked weak and older than she actually was. Her hair was tied in a low tail, she wore a white shirt and some dark trousers. Jongin was wearing a jumpsuit, he probably had spent the morning practicing knowing it was his last time doing it inside Dinasty's walls. It was surprising that he hadn't slightly changed, as if he didn't fell the weight of that situation, but his eyes, that never met Seulgi's gaze, were dark and lost. After some seconds of silence, almost embarrassing, the CEO, her father, took some papers from the clipboard in front of him. She was sitting next to him and she was looking at the two manager-idol combos who sat at the right and at the left of the table. She was judging them even in that moment. Even when they were judged by others. She never stopped.

Good morning. You all know why you're here and, you'll forgive me, this is not the place for a debate, but only for receiving what has been decided by me, Kang Jinyoung, with your managers. Decisions required a long time and thinking, the reasons behind them will be communicated to you to help you understand at best the positions of both parties — he took a breath. Seulgi didn't admire her father that much, mostly because she had never really paid attention and she thought that his only merit was giving her birth and allowing her to do what she wanted, but it was undeniable that he knew how to talk. When situations needed it, when he was given time to think, to organize, to evaluate, he was able to come up with great solutions and even when they weren't great he knew how to sell them. That was the reason behind his business success. And even Seulgi couldn't deny that. Money couldn't be made just like that.

Are we here just to be judged? — Jongin's voice was strangely calm, as if he had already accepted the actions that everyone blamed him for, but that he had never done. It was alarming how he could process anything that happened to him. They way he was always able to remain unperturbed, the memory of their discussion in her office and the way, in front of her meanness, he hadn't broken down, caused a thrill down her spine.

Gravity - a SeulKai novel ;Where stories live. Discover now