cherry club 🍒 minsung

fifteen (TW: suicide attempt)

[ neverland ]

CEO Park sat in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His thin lips stretched into a disappointed frown, and Jisung shrunk into the chair cushions. Chan shuffled next to him, avoiding Jinyoung's eyes by toeing at the carpet. They both knew what the emergency meeting was about, but neither dared to speak first. Jisung had left his house with a weary smile from Changbin and a glare from Felix. He wasn't sure why the duo decided to have the long-overdue discussion about their failed relationship at his house, but the morning company calmed his nerves.

"Jisung, I appreciate that you spoke up on Instagram," Jinyoung began passively. "Your statement took some of the heat off of Minho's situation, which is great for him, but did nothing for you. Videos of your gigs at the club are surfacing, and the rumors are getting more frequent."

Jisung nodded, gnawing on the inside of his cheek. He saw the videos circulating on Twitter and read the shipping comments. It made him wonder if the fans would care if they exposed their relationship- whatever was left of it, at least.

"Our best course of action to preserve your reputation is to stage a relationship with a fellow artist in the company."

Jisung didn't like that, not one bit. Jinyoung sensed his hesitation and leaned his elbows onto the desk.

"If you don't do this, we will have to drop 3racha from our label. I called in a favor from Choi San, another openly bisexual actor at the company. He agreed to date you until the rumors die. 3racha has done exceptionally well with the preorders on your physical album, and dating a member would tremendously boost his popularity. Do you have your phone?"

Jisung lifted his hips to wiggle his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants and set it on the desk. Jinyoung opened his contacts list and typed a number, saving the name as San.

"I expect to see a public appearance in the headlines by next week if you wish to keep your job. Now, Chan." Chan's posture straightened, and Jisung eyed the new contact in his phone skeptically. "Thankfully, all of Felix's claims have no evidence. I would like you to make a public statement denying the allegations, say what you need to. Our PR manager will call you later this evening to formalize a statement." Jinyoung leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You are celebrities now, boys. This reckless behavior is intolerable. That was your warning, now get out of here."

Chan abruptly stood, chair tipping onto the carpet, and fell into a perfect 90-degree bow. Jisung gave the CEO a curt nod and left Chan to fix his chair, anxiously tapping his leg on the hallway floor. San's number stared at him like a persistent demon on his shoulder. Minho didn't care about him anymore. He hated Jisung. He hated him like he hated his druggie parents, maybe more. There was no relationship for Jisung to try and salvage anymore, and he made sure of it with his stupid Instagram post. Minho left Jisung's life as quickly as he entered.

Jisung clicked the phone icon on San's contact and held his phone with twitching fingers. The man picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" San greeted curiously. Jisung found his voice pleasant enough, but it wasn't the pretty drawl of Minho's voice.

"Hi, it's Han Jisung. CEO Park told me to contact you about the... you know, fake dating thing."

San laughed, and Jisung slumped against the wall. "No need to be nervous, Jisung. Should we meet up soon? Are you doing anything for lunch today?"