Forever Young 영원히 젊은 Park Jimin

Chapter 18: Apology

Namjoon-oppa and Jimin-oppa stayed for a while, making sure that I was okay, but then they had to leave to tell the other boys about what happened and to talk to Bang-PDnim. As soon as the door closed behind them, my girls engulfed me in a group hug.

"You'll be fine now?" Jennie asked me.

"Yes." I answered, making them cheer as we broke apart.

"Thank you for putting up with me these past few months." I said when our laughter died down.

"That's what family is for." Jisoo-eonni replied. At that point I wanted to cry again because of the love I felt from and for my members, but I knew that if I cried, they would start crying too, so I held it in.

"So what's our game plan?" Jennie asked, referring to how we were going to convince Yang-sajangnim to allow me to go with BTS to LA.

"The boys said that they'll talk to Bang-PDnim as soon as he arrives at BigHit, so I guess we should do the same?" Jisoo-eonni suggested. "What time does Yang-sajangnim usually arrive?"

"I guess around 9AM?" Our maknae answered.

"So we'll talk to him at then." Jennie confirmed.

We all went back to our rooms to get ready for the day. Even though it was still early in the morning and I haven't slept yet, I felt energized and refreshed. I knew that I haven't been acting like myself lately, but I wasn't lying when I told Jimin-oppa and Namjoon-oppa that I didn't blame them, or any of the boys for that matter.

As soon as the rumors started, I texted Jimin-oppa, joking about how "our secret got out." I just shrugged it off when he didn't text back, telling myself that he was probably busy or something. When the rumors started turning into a dating scandal, I became so worried about him. I knew how detrimental dating rumors were to an idol's career, and I didn't want to be the reason why BTS would experience any hate, especially now that their career was really soaring.  I tried texting and calling Jimin-oppa just to check if he was okay, but he still didn't respond. At first I thought that maybe he lost his phone or changed his number, but when I tried to contact the other boys and they didn't reply, or that whenever I would pass by BigHit, they "weren't there", I knew that something was up. I admit, that did hurt my feelings a little, but what hurt me more was that they didn't check if I was okay- no call, no text, no anything.

As months passed the harassment from ARMYs got worse, so much so that they even started to harass my group as well. I remember asking Yang-sajangnim to exclude me from our performances at the university festivals just so BLACKPINK wouldn't get booed, but my group protested vehemently. They said that they would rather get booed than perform without me.

Because of the support that my members were giving me, I knew that I had to work a million times harder. At least if I gave a perfect performance, the haters would have less reason to, well, hate us. Also, after months of wallowing in self-pity and wondering what I had done wrong, I realized that there must have been a good reason why BTS wasn't talking to me. I believed that the boys were good people and that they wouldn't abandon me when I needed them the most.

And tonight, I was proven right.

It felt so good to see them again. The doubts that I've been feeling were quelled and it felt like a huge burden was lifted off my chest. It felt especially good to see Jimin-oppa. It took almost all of my self-control to not jump into his arms and cry because I was so happy, although he did spend the rest of his time in our dorm by my side, and just being close to him was good enough.

After showering, I got dressed, blowdried my hair and braided it so that it doesn't get in my face, and walked towards the living room. I joined Lisa and Rosé who were sitting by the counter, chatting with Jisoo-eonni and Jennie as they cooked breakfast.