BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 62: the dilemma

<OST: Like a fool - 2AM>

Hoseok and Chungha's words of advice rang in Jieun's head as she flopped down onto the couch, mentally drained.

'You need to leave, before it's too late.'

'It's dangerous, Jieun-ssi. And the longer you stay there with him, the more and more dangerous it gets.'

'You've done enough, now let us take over.'

Jieun had no idea what to do. On one hand, she knew that Hoseok and Chungha were right. Now, she might already have developed a bond with Jungkook that was hard to severe. She had made him slowly begin to trust her, slowly tear down his walls around her. She might find it hard to leave him now, but if she were to stay any longer, all the more she'd hurt him. She might hurt him so bad that he'd never trust in anyone ever again, and she absolutely didn't want that to happen.

On the other hand, she wanted to stay by his side. She wanted to stay by his side and care for him, help him with his sleep, do his makeup for him, watch him grow as an artist, as a person. Since when did she start to care so deeply for him? Jieun had no idea. But now, it felt to Jieun like she could give up anything for him, even if that meant her opportunity to go on TV, even if that meant her entire career. Jieun felt like she could give it all up, just for him.

She needed to make a choice.

Was it worth it though? For someone like him, who was like a block of ice? Was it really worth it? Sacrificing all the progress she had made in the past month, working towards her goal? What if she gave up everything for him, and it turned out that he didn't care one bit about her? What if she gave up everything, and he still found out about her past anyway? He'd still be hurt the same, no matter how much she'll explain. Perhaps, Hoseok and Chungha were right - she was already in too deep, it was all too late.

Jieun sighed as she lay down on the couch in the living room, her head in a complete mess.

Click!

The door opened and in came Jungkook.

"Oh, hey-" Jungkook waved. "I'm home."

Jieun could barely muster the energy to smile or wave. "Hey."

"What have you been up to all day?"

"Oh, um-" Jieun pursed her lips, motioning around vaguely. "Just some general cleaning, and stuff. Why?"

"Right? You were home all day-" Jungkook smiled as he took a seat next to Jieun on the couch. "I knew Seokjin-hyung must have seen wrongly."

Jieun swallowed hard. "Huh?"

"Oh, it's nothing-" Jungkook said nonchalantly as he poured a glass of water for himself. "When we were on the way back to the office earlier today, Seokjin-hyung thought he saw you walking out of some news company building."

"Hm?"

"I know right?" Jungkook scoffed as he took a huge gulp of water. "It sounds ridiculous to me as well. He must be getting old, considering he's starting to see things."

"Huh?" Jieun let out a nervous laugh as a cold sweat formed on her forehead. "Oh, yeah. That's ridiculous, I was home all day."

"News company?" Jungkook laughed. "You're the clumsiest person I know, how can you possibly be a news reporter, am I right?"

"Huh?" Jieun was trembling so much, but she tried to conceal it. "Yeah, me? A reporter? That's crazy."

Jungkook smiled as he put down his glass. "I better get washed up. Tomorrow is the music video shoot for 'Decalcomania'... you know, right?"