AN ) Series is almost over !! I almost abandoned this project but im reallt happy to be doing this !!
"Don't think too much, just bust that kick!" With a grunt Y/N hit a high kick
After the press conference fiasco, Y/N had locked herself away from everyone and forced herself into practice.
"I havent seen her like this since she debuted." Lisa explained to Jay, confused when she screamed at him to get out,"When she debuted, many didn't like her— As a result, she'd lock herself in the dance rooms for hours."
Jay nodded, but looked slightly worried as he watched Y/N do another high kick.
"Thats expected." Jay turned around,"Tell Noona I say hello."
"I will." Lisa smiled, a tight one that didn't reach her eyes
She adjusted her earrings slightly, a clicking noise snapping as Jay turned the corner.
Y/N didn't win the name "Ace of HYBE" by sheer luck, not at all. In fact, Knetz were calling for her contract to be terminated.
In those days she'd lock herself in the dance rooms, thinking up new songs and dances while pleading with managers not to cut her.
After all, she had no group members to bounce her worries off of.
And Lisa wasn't her friend anymore.
Lisa was her assistant, her technical team.
And Y/N was a lonely girl.
Over time she hardened into a shell of loneliness, rolling her eyes and scoffing at rookie idols who thought they'd be the one's to break the cycle.
"Scandal?" Y/N sniffed, annoyed that some rookie would be dumb enough to make that mistake,"It's like they don't even care about their careers."
Lisa would nod supportively, adding her own insults to Y/N's disdain.
"Those girls were so lazy," She'd scoff,"Whining whenever they were yelled at."
Y/N would nod and then walk away to go back to the studio
So now what?
Shes under fire just like she was back in those days, and now she did what she did best :
Shut everyone out until the world is forced to love her.
Except, Lisa wasn't there to gossip or to just repeat what she wanted to hear.
"Scandal," Y/N stood there, looking in the mirror,"How could I be so stupid?"
Clicking.
Clicking.
Clicking.
"Whats that noise?" Y/N asked to nobody in particular, looking around as she spun to see the camera following her
"It never does that." She hissed, walking out and heading downstairs.
Niki and Jay decided to come and look for her, only to be met with an empty practice room.
"Noona?" Jay called out, not paying attention
"She's clearly not‐" Niki paused, looking around as he heard that familiar noise
"Whats that?" Jay asked, because he had heard the same noise when he was walking away from Lisa
"You too?" Niki responded, visually getting brighter as one of his teammates finally caught on
"Camera?" Jay raised an eyebrow as he locked onto the cylindrical piece of machinery
"No shot." Niki muttered as he turned to go find Y/N
"If we're both right," Jay caught up to Niki as they knocked on her practice room
"Love me and hold me, just wanna touch you for a minute!" Y/N huffed, hitting a jump right as they opened the door
"Noo‐" Jay started before Niki hushed him, giving him a glance that said 'let her work'
Y/N shuffled the way she did when she first started isolating herself, cold and sharp. As if any room for movement was forbidden.
"Noona." Jay stepped forward, putting his foot down as she finished dancing
"This room is off limits." She whispered coldly, turning around to look at them both,"Who let you in?"
They 3 of them stood there quietly, all you could hear Y/N's bated breath as she raised an eyebrow.
Then slowly, Jay crept forward.
"We need to meet you outside the agency." He started,"Niki and I, we have some stuff to show you."
Y/N rolled her eyes,"Show me now."
"Can't." Niki interrupted,"There's eyes on the walls."
"You sound like my uncle." Y/N held her hand up,"And, based on my current situation, I can't exactly been seen with Niki."
The dating scandal.
The rumor that grew legs and ran far away.
But what even was the rumor about?
Simple.
An anonymous Twitter user leaked stolen footage of Y/N and Niki edited to look intimate.
The most damning piece?
The ice rink. Where Niki could smell her parfum.
"Noona," Niki stepped forward,"Forget about rumors for now, this could actually put an end to them!"
"Alright." She exhaled,"But, i will not sacrifice my career over this."
"Yes ma'am!" Jay grinned as he grabbed Niki to get the rest of the team on board
And the way yall treat Lavender Brown is CRAZY. Like, she was just a teenage girl with her first boyfriend and suddenly you people pretended she was overly childish??? She was 16 and was in whatever she thought love was and she behaved accordingly
the worst writing crime you can ever commit in my opinion is watering down the dirty talk because you’re self-conscious that it sounds like it’s from a bad porno…..i cannot stress this enough……leave it alone. the moment you tell yourself he would not fucking say that you’re doomed. people will say almost anything if their dick is hard enough
AN )) its been forever, I dont have a chapter schedule so this is what yall r finna get and this one is significantly shorter for a reason
"A media campaign," Lisa explained to the groggy boys, Y/N had them back on their trainee schedule again,"Is what makes idols legends."
"Can we be legendary at sleeping?" Sunoo yawned as he let a sleepy Heesung snore on his shoulder
"Sadly not." Lisa smiled, although it seemed very rehearsed as she wrote stuff down on her clipboard
"Lisa-Noona,"Jungwon exhaled,"What are we even doing on this media campaign?"
"Well," Lisa began, actually looking them in the eyes,"We need an EP full of songs with Y/N as a feature or the other way around for some songs. Then we'll have choreo and fansigns."
Pretty soon Lisa would list an entire 3 week itinerary for HYBE's resurface campaign.
"Speaking of Y/N," Sunoo yawned,"Where is she? I don't see her being woken up at 5 AM."
"She's a senior so she gets later times, dummy." Sunghoon responded curtly
"That'll be it!" Lisa chirped, leaving with a smile while her earrings glinted a rather suspicious red
"So," Niki stretched,"We have work to do."
"Yeah."
The itinerary was packed for the next 3 weeks was quickly paced. Dance practice daily alongside multiple song recordings, plus the additional TV appearances and fansigns.
Weverse raved with the announcement of a collaboration between the Ace of HYBE and ENHYPEN, the first time in ages that KNetizens were being kind.
"Y/N-ssi is taking on all 7 of them? This is gonna end really good!" A comment read.
.
.
.
.
Lisa sat at her computer, switching between actual work and her defaming scheme.
"Perfect." She slid back from her laptop as she had the 3 files ready to be leaked to the press in a matter of weeks.
.
.
.
Dance practice was the first nightmare, recording had gone surprisingly well— Although Sunoo did nearly pass out after holding a high note for 12 seconds— but dancing was not going well.
"Now lift!" The choreographer, Taehyun, called out,"You drop her and we have a problem!"
Niki and Sunoo had to lift Y/N into the air like a throne for a solid 5 seconds during her chorus.
"Noona," Sunoo whined,"No disrespect, but you're heavy!"
Y/N proceeded to hit him as they next chorus hit and they had to shuffle between members to execute it properly.
"Now, hand shuffle!" Taehyun roared through his megaphone
"Sunoo,"Niki clenched his teeth as Y/N's chorus hit and they had to hold her up,"Keep her steady!"
"Hyung!" Sunoo glowered,"She's heavy and she's moving!"
"Shut up!" Y/N smacked Niki with her fan, the first time she'd done anything to him since the ice skating rink
Niki didn't say anything, except he noticed the cameras panning over to him and Y/N whenever they had to dance together.
"And cut!" Taehyun called out, clapping his hands together,"You all did great, tomorrow you'll practice in full costume and begin singing!"
The group began a loud chatter, Jungwon sharing sweet popcorn with Jay while Y/N handed out water to a very thirsty Sunoo.
Niki was detached, contemplating whether or not to share his suspicions with the group.
"Those cameras never move," he mumbled,"And Lisa's earrings, that red isn't the red of rubies."
He stood up suddenly, looking into the camera as he saw the same exact shade of red that Lisa had on.
"That's it!" He yelled, earning some stares from Jay and Heesung,"I knew it!"
"Niki," Heesung poked,"Do you need something?"
"N-no." Niki sat back down and kept talking to himself.
"I have to find out what she's really doing." Niki whispered to himself as he took a waterbottle from Heesung
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.
.
"Hello my angels!" Y/N grinned, standing on a purple-LED stage in Seoul,"I'm so excited to preform tonight! But, I have some friends with me!"
She gave a twirl before calling them out,"Boys, introduce yourselves!"
"I'm Niki," He smirked into the mic,"Your favorite member."
The crowd let out a laugh at his haughty joke.
"I'm Jungwon," He took the stage,"The leader of ENHYPEN. We are so lucky to be preforming with Miss Y/N, or as we know her— Y/N Noona!"
To that the crowd let out a roar and that was the cue for the music to start playing as Y/N skipped across the stage in her purple shorts and jelly platforms
((AUTHORS NOTE :: ALL LYRICS ARE MADE UP AND NOT AFFILIATED WITH ENHYPEN IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM))
"At first you don't succeed," Y/N sang, her voice like honey as they got into formation,"Try again and I'll have you at my feet."
Heesung shuffled forward as the rest followed suit,"Maybe I'll put you on replay and hold you all day."
"Kindly restore me to whatever we used to be," Jay responded as Niki and Sunoo got ready to carry Y/N,"And don't you dare say 'sorry' to me."
Y/N sat back and let them raise her up as the lights changed into yellow.
"Everyone knows better than you," she breathed into her mic,"And yet you think you rule me?"
Niki looked up at her, his eyes oddly sincere for a stage act,"Sincerely me, only you. Do you what's true?"
"I belong to you!" Sunoo belted, putting her down and starting back the group dance
Lisa stood behind stage like all staff members before snapping a photo of Niki holding Y/N up.
"Golden." She mumbled, her voice a happy whisper as she put her phone away.
Y/N ended the chorus and stood tall before Niki and Sunghoon.
"Thank you all for coming to our concert!" She beamed,"Please make sure to come to our next one!"
They all walked to backstage to take off their mic-packs. Sunghoon's tape was stuck to his face and Heesung was struggling to take it off.
Y/N sat alone while sipping on some punch, trying to regain her energy from 3 hours of working.
Niki sat down next to her, their first conversation in ages.
"You did great for a rookie." She sighed, letting herself relax as she shook off her platforms,"I'm serious."
"Thank you." Niki whispered as he helped her take off mic pack, his fingers gentle with the tape as he watched her wince
Lisa walked by just then, her red earrings in full view as she grabbed some diet soda.
"I get so thirsty on set these days!" Lisa laughed as she handed Y/N some,"Y/N, are you alright? You look tired!"
Y/N smiled as she took the soda,"I am Lisa, but its great I have you taking care of me."
"Of course." Lisa assured her, she looked at her watch and made a scene,"I have to see an executive! I'm sorry Y/N, later!"
But Niki knew better than that, so he gave some excuse about needing the bathroom and followed Lisa.
"He's onto me." Lisa muttered as she took a right
Niki followed quietly as she took a right, then a left.
"Where's one place where he can't be...?" Lisa hissed, walking through backstage.
She stood in the bathroom, watching to see if he'd left.
"She's stalling and I don't have time." Niki muttered, walking away just as Lisa left the bathroom for her laptop.
Lisa took off her heels and ran downstairs to sit in a closet.
"If I clip this," She cut the image of Niki looking up at her
"Then add this," Then the photo of Niki adjusting Y/N
"Perfect." She smiled cruelly as she pieced together the collage of Y/N and Niki :: skating rink, training room, and backstage,"This is a perfect media storm."
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.
The next day, Y/N and the boys had a fansign and interview event in Busan.
"Y/N Noona!" A fangirl asked, her eyes full of vindication,"Is it true?"
The 8 of them held their breaths, that was never a good question
"What?" Y/N asked, playing her role as Unnie perfectly
"That you're secretly dating Niki Hyung!" She squealed as she pulled out the printed Twitter post
"This is taken out of context." Jungwon took the microphone suddenly,"These are baseless rumors designed to target these two, right?"
He looked at them, giving them a way out of this predicament.
"Yes." Y/N answered, her voice shaky,"This is a rumor and whoever designed this should be ashamed."
Niki looked down at her shaky hands and nodded alongside her,"There's no relationship between us, we're just colleagues— Can a man and woman not be friends?"
That lead to the crowd discussing between themselves but nonetheless the 8 were shaken.
