No More Dream blared in the spacious room, the boys hard at work dancing for their music video. We were at the tail end of the third day of shooting, and despite how exhausted they were from the long days they were still pouring all their best efforts into the shoot.
As soon as the director called a cut, the seven of them took the chance to relax the best they could, letting their tiredness show while there were no cameras filming. Stylists and makeup artists walked over to them to make sure they still looked perfect for the next take.
It was tough having to watch this. Three days of minimal sleep, almost non-stop up and go to get the video shot in the shortest amount of time possible. I wanted to tell whoever was in charge that the boys (and the staff, having to stay up for just as long) needed more time to break and rest. But this was the nature of this industry and no matter how I felt I wasn’t going to be able to convince them to do any differently.
The first two days, Sejin stayed here with me the whole time until I was comfortable being on my own. Today, he had other work he needed to do so I was by myself. I was feeling really drowsy by this point. I got even less sleep than the boys because I had to make sure I was up and ready before them to get them here on time. To be honest, there wasn’t much to “manage” at something like this, but it was still part of my job to make sure the whole thing was going smoothly, and to be here just in case the boys needed me for anything.
After one more take of the whole dance routine, the director announced that we were done. Relief washed over me, and I pried myself out of my chair to go to the boys.
“You guys did amazing,” I said as I approached them. “Let’s hurry up and get you guys ready so we can all go home.”
I felt a heavy weight on my back and turned to see Namjoon using me as a support for his exhausted body.
“Joonie, are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he responded. His voice sounded weak, contradicting his words. “The quicker I can sit down, the better.”
“Well, let’s go then,” I chuckled as I pulled him to my side and supported him with my arm.
The boys got changed out of their wardrobe and their makeup removed quickly, the staff not taking their time since they wanted to get home as well. The eight of us piled into the company van and I drove back. I dropped them off at the apartment before returning the vehicle to the company.
As soon as I parked the van, no longer needing to be alert to traffic, my body seemed to want to just fall asleep right there instead of making its way home. I started to close my eyes before I heard one of the van doors slide open, followed by the driver-side door. I looked to see a tired-smiled Hoseok standing there.
“Why didn’t you get off when I stopped at the dorm, Hobi?” I asked as I lazily unbuckled my seatbelt and gathered my belongings. I was a little upset with myself for not noticing he didn’t exit the van with the rest of the members.
“I wanted to make sure you got back home safely,” he responded as he put a face mask on.
“I’ll be fine,” I managed to squeeze out through a yawn.
He chuckled. “Yeah, sure. You looked like you were about to fall asleep in the car.”
We started walking our way back home. My exhaustion made it difficult to speak, but I forced myself to so that I didn’t fall asleep. “You guys really did well the past three days.”
“Thanks, noona,” Hoseok replied. “I hope the video turns out well.”
“Of course it will,” I turned to smile at him. While distracted, my shuffling feet tripped over something on the sidewalk.
Hoseok was quick to catch me so I didn’t fall. “Are you okay?” he asked as he turned to face me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just tripped.” I offered him a tired smile.
We resumed walking, but he kept his arm wrapped around me for support. We had a flight of stairs to climb once we got into our building, and each step I took felt like another 10 pounds had been added to my weight. At that point, I was really thankful for Hobi’s support.
When we arrived at our doors he watched me walk through mine first, wishing me a good night and telling me to get plenty of rest before he entered his own home.
I had fallen asleep so easily that I almost didn’t even remember going to bed. Needless to say, I slept really well and was ready to work the next day. Sejin and I reviewed the finalized pictures from the photoshoot done just prior to the music video shooting, and I couldn’t stop my mouth from hanging open, occasionally making a sound of amazement.
“What’s that for?” Sejin asked.
“What’s what for, oppa?” I responded, finding it difficult to peel my eyes away from the pictures on the screen.
“Your reaction to the pictures,” he responded, chuckling.
“Oh. I don’t know, they just look so…” I paused, trying to find the right word but being unsuccessful. “They look really good,” I settled on, even though that phrase didn’t do them justice.
Sejin let out a hearty laugh. “You’re not blind, you’ve always known they’re good looking boys, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah. Of course I have. But these pictures just captured their looks so well! Although, I still don’t get why they asked Namjoon to go with this kind of hairstyle. He doesn’t look bad, but I just think he looks so much better with how his hair naturally is.”
“It fits the hip-hop style image,” Sejin responded with a shrug. “I’m not too fond of it either, but we’re not the stylists.”
“Speaking of that, can’t we still ask for some of the styles for We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2 to be up for debate? Some of those outfit choices are…”
“Going with the hip-hop style image,” Sejin repeated.
“I know, I know. But, can’t they take it from me that they’re just over-the-top and cheesy? Like, why on earth should Jungkook be wearing an American football helmet and padding?”
“You already tried talking to them about that, (Y/n). Did you forget?”
“No, I didn’t forget… I just hope I can still change their minds.”
“Look, I get it. I do. I’m not fond of it, either. But we need to make sure they stand out and by doing things a little extra, even if it may be cheesy, it’ll help make that happen. Just roll with it, okay?”
I groaned and threw my head back. “Okay, okay…”
After we finished reviewing the pictures, I went to the office café to eat lunch before we got too busy with meetings for me to have time to eat. I normally brought food from home for lunch but I didn’t give myself any time this morning, preferring to get as much sleep as I could to recover from the past few days.
I sat down at an empty table and put in my headphones to listen to the boys’ debut album as I ate my food. The music wasn’t a style I typically listened to, but it was my boys so of course I wanted to listen to them. And to be honest, the more I listened to it, the more I started to like the songs.
As I was finishing my meal, I saw someone sit down across from me. I pulled one of my earbuds out as I looked up to see who it was. I was glad I already finished my food because the sight would have made me lose my appetite.
“Hello, (Y/n)-shi,” the woman said.
“Hello,” I greeted back. “I’m sorry, but I don’t actually know your name.” I tried my best to not sound rude.
“Oh, I guess I’ve never properly introduced myself,” she replied. “My name is Son Haewon.”
“Hello, Haewon-shi,” I responded. Finally, I had a name to match the face of the woman who’s been giving me way too much grief. “How can I help you?”
“Oh, please. You can call me unnie,” she said with a smile I could tell was forced and fake.
Not wanting to start an argument, I decided to comply with her request even though using the word with her felt like ice on my tongue. “Okay, unnie. Is there something you needed?”
“Oh, nothing really,” she said, placing her chin in the palm of her hand. “I just wanted to chat. I feel like we started off on the wrong foot.”
Yeah, doing nothing but ridiculing me and giving me a large second-degree burn would kind of do that.
“How did the music video shooting go?” Haewon asked.
I was kind of taken aback by the attempt at small talk. Part of me wondered if she actually did want to try to make amends, but I primarily remained skeptical. “It went well. It was tiring for everyone, but the boys pushed through really well and I think it’ll turn out great.”
“That’s good to hear.” She paused for a moment, crossing her legs under the table. “By the way, I heard an interesting story the other day.”
“Oh?” I pretended to be interested.
“I heard that BTS almost lost their debut date.”
Where on earth did she hear that? Only the people who absolutely needed to know were told. As far as I knew, she was not one of the employees needing to be in on the loop of what was going on.
I pretended to not be sure of what she was talking about. “Where did you hear that?” I asked innocently. My suspicions that she was here to cause me more trouble were rising.
“From one of my coworkers. They said it was why Sejin oppa had been even more swamped with work up until recently.”
Yeah, because I totally wasn’t as well. “I’m not sure why you or your coworker were told that, but they are most definitely debuting on June 13th as planned,” I responded firmly. I didn’t like to make a habit of lying, especially if I was worried if it could come back to bite me in the butt, so I didn’t want to confirm nor deny that the date was ever taken away in the first place.
“Well, that’s good. But you did lose the date for a little while, did you not?” She seemed like she tried to hold back the smirk that inevitably flashed on her face.
This little… What business was it of hers? I really wanted to get out of this situation, but I wasn’t sure how. If I got up to walk away it’d be just as bad as giving her all the answers she wanted, and she would probably just follow me and continue to nag me anyway.
“It doesn’t matter because the date is set in stone and nothing is changing,” I replied, hoping that would put the issue to rest.
“You know, I figured that if he hired someone like you,” she emphasized the word, staring me up and down, “it must have been for a good reason. But seeing as BTS’ debut was almost ruined because of you, I’m not so sure.”
I couldn’t stop a flabbergasted laugh from escaping my lips. “You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms.
“Oh, I don’t?” she responded. “Weren’t you the one who got the debut set up, and the one in contact with the agent from the broadcasting company? They called you to tell you it was revoked, didn’t they? How does it have nothing to do with you?”
How could someone be such a complete witch? She talked bad about me both behind my back and to my face. I’d be surprised if she had any friends, or real friends at the very least.
“What that company decided to do didn’t have anything to do with me, Haewon-shi,” I said. “And to be frank, what happened has absolutely nothing to do with you. I’m sure you have better things to do with your time rather than go poking around someone else’s business.”
She scoffed at me. “I’m your sunbae in this company and I’m also older than you. Just because you’re a foreigner” – she seemed to almost spit out the word – “doesn’t excuse you not using proper manners. You’re supposed to show me respect.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m fully aware of the honorifics and how important age and seniority is to Korean culture. But why would I show respect to someone who’s spewing out nonsense and has always been nothing but fully disrespectful and rude to me? Not to mention, that coffee gave me a second-degree burn that took weeks to heal so I’m definitely not thankful for that, either.”
“You’re such a rude, cheeky little brat, aren’t you?” Haewon pushed herself out of her seat as she glared at me.
“What’s going on here?” someone nearby asked.
I turned around to see Hoseok, and I felt relieved knowing my friend was there with me.
Haewon instantly changed, putting on a fake smile and let out a breathy laugh. “Nothing, we were just getting to know each other a little better. Weren’t we, (Y/n)-shi?” she tried her best to sound nice, but was so obviously fake.
I didn’t respond and just kept steady eye contact with her.
“That’s not what it looks like to me,” Hobi said as he walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
Haewon’s gaze moved to his hand, her smile fading from her lips.
“Is everything okay, noona?” Hoseok asked me with concern.
Haewon didn’t give me a chance to respond. “Did you know about how you almost lost your debut date?” she asked, emotionless.
“Haewon-shi,” I said as I stood up. “That wouldn’t be your business to tell them.”
“So they don’t?” she raised an eyebrow as she smirked at me. “They don’t know how they were almost ruined before they even started because of you?”
“We do know that we almost lost our debut date, actually,” Hoseok responded in my defense. His tone was firm and assertive, but not angry. “But we saw noona working her absolute hardest to do everything she possibly could to get us back on track, and it was actually because of her that we got the date back.”
Haewon’s smile disappeared once again, taken aback by how quickly and straightforward he responded.
Hoseok didn’t falter even a bit as he continued. “Not only that, but ever since she started working here, she’s always done everything she possibly can for us. You don’t know anything about how hard she works, you just don’t like her because you’re judging her age and the fact that she’s not Korean. But she’s one of the most honest, hardworking, caring, and amazing people I’ve ever known.”
His voice wasn’t angry; he was the type of person that it took a lot to make him angry. The only emotions I could feel from his words were ones of tenderness and care for me. If anything, the way he spoke felt stronger and more meaningful than words said in anger. “She doesn’t deserve you harassing her like this. We’re all so tired of hearing people like you giving talking badly about her and giving her a hard time when you know nothing about her.”
He grabbed my hand and gently squeezed it as he directed me towards the door.
“I wonder what kind of relationship you must have with them (Y/n)-shi, for them to always be protecting you like that,” Haewon called after us.
Hobi and I both stopped dead in our tracks, and I slowly turned around. “Excuse you?”
“I think you heard me,” Haewon said. I wanted to wipe the smirk off of her face so badly. “What do you really do with the boys, (Y/n)-shi?”
“It’s called having good friends,” Hoseok said as he placed an arm around my shoulders to turn me back toward the exit. “Nothing more than that.”
We finally made it out of the room and Hoseok walked me back to my and Sejin’s office. I couldn’t help but feel affected by her again. Yeah, I stood my ground and talked back to her. But now that we left and my emotions were calming down, I couldn’t help but be shaken up when I processed her words – it was as though she always knew exactly what my insecurities were.
When we arrived at the office, Sejin was not there so it was just the two of us for the moment.
I sat in a chair, placing my elbows on my knees and covering my face with my hands.
“Are you okay, noona?” Hoseok asked, placing a gentle hand on my head.
“I can’t believe she would suggest that there’s something other than friendship between me and you guys,” I said, trying to focus on that rather than my insecurities. “That’s so appalling that she would assume that.”
“She was just trying to get under your skin, that’s all,” Hobi comforted. His voice sounded so calm and soothing.
“I can deal with her saying anything else to me,” I tried to convince myself as I lowered my hands, “but her trying to bring you guys into it just crosses the line,”
“It’s okay, noona. Anything she said was meaningless and you know that.”
“I know.” I sat back in the chair and sighed. “I just don’t get why she won’t leave me alone. You’d think we were teenagers in school with the way she just keeps…”
“Bullying you?” Hoseok finished for me.
“Yeah, I guess it is bullying.”
“You guess?” Hoseok seemed bewildered that I’d say that. “What else does she have to do for you to see it as bullying?”
“It’s not that, it’s just… It’s weird to use that word when we’re talking about a grown woman and not a teenager.”
“I guess some people just don’t grow up.”
“She said what?!” Jin exclaimed in shock.
After returning back to the dorm, Hoseok decided to tell the rest of the group about what happened at the cafeteria. Part of him had wanted to wait for (Y/n) to tell them together, but he also didn’t want to make her think of it more than she had to. He could tell that whatever that woman said had bothered her more than she let him know.
Yoongi and Taehyung had pointed out the woman to the rest of the members when they would come across her at the company, so even though none of them knew her name – until today – they all knew her face. That was why Hoseok knew he had to intervene when he saw their noona being confronted by her in the cafeteria.
“Wow, she’s got some nerve to make that kind of assumption out in the open like that,” Namjoon said.
“That’s absurd,” Yoongi added. “How can her brain automatically think that’s what’s going on between us, just because we’re being good friends to her?”
“Noona really needs to tell Bang about this,” Taehyung said. “There’s no denying that she’s full on bullying her at this point.”
“I tried telling her that,” Hoseok said. “But she said she still doesn’t want to. She’s sure that she’ll leave her alone from now on, for whatever reason.”
The group was obviously frustrated when Hoseok told them that.
“One of the really wonderful traits about her is that she likes to see and hope for the best in people,” Jin said. “But that’s a fault of hers, too. With this Haewon woman, it’s severely misplaced hope. If anything, she’s showing that she’ll do anything in order to keep bullying her.”
“I know,” Hoseok said with a frown.
A ringtone sounded from Hobi’s phone, and he looked to see it was Sejin calling.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hey, Hoseok-ah,” Sejin replied. “Sorry for asking, but Bang PD-nim is requesting if you could come to the company. He said he needs to speak with you.”
“Oh, okay.” He was surprised at the request. “I’ll be there shortly.”
“Who was that, hyung?” Jimin asked as Hoseok hung up the call.
“Sejin hyung said Bang needs to speak to me.” He got up to get ready to leave. “Maybe noona did decide to talk to him after all?”
He got ready quickly and made his way to the company, glad it was a quick walk. When he got to Bang PD’s office, he was happy to see (Y/n) there as well. She turned to him as he opened the door and gave him a small smile.
“Hello, Bang PD-nim,” Hoseok greeted as he entered.
“Hello, Hoseok,” Bang responded.
“What’s going on?” Hobi asked as he took a seat next to his noona.
“The events of what happened in the cafeteria this afternoon were brought to my attention, so I needed to speak with the two of you regarding what happened,” the CEO explained.
Hoseok processed the sentence for a moment. “Wait, so it wasn’t noona who came to you about it?” He turned to see her response, and she shook her head. He suddenly felt sick, worried what that woman could have said to try to get (Y/n) in trouble. “Noona didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Don’t worry, Hoseok,” Bang said. “I just needed to get your sides of the story. While there are cameras, there’s no audio so I didn’t know the nature of the conversation. I already got (Y/n)’s statement, so if you would please tell me about your side of the encounter, that would be appreciated.”
“Well, I had to stop by because I left something in the dance studio. On my way back, I walked past the cafeteria and heard noona’s voice,” Hoseok started. “It seemed like something was off, so I walked in to see that woman basically glaring at her and asked what was going on. I found out she was claiming that it was noona’s fault that we lost our debut date for a little while, so I defended her. After that, we walked away together.”
“There’s something else I need to ask,” Bang said. “The staff in question, other than saying that (Y/n) was harassing her, claimed something else as well.”
“Wait, it definitely wasn’t noona doing the harassing,” Hobi said. He couldn’t let her boss think for one second that she wasn’t the victim in this scenario.
“I believe you two, no need to worry. I was just stating what the original claim was. But the other thing she was sure to mention is that she believes there may be… well, she called it ‘inappropriate’ relations between (Y/n) and the members of BTS.”
“Oh my gosh, seriously?” (Y/n) frustratingly ran her hands through her hair. “I promise you, there’s absolutely nothing of that nature going on between us.”
“I also attest to that, Bang PD-nim,” Hoseok said, probably equally as frustrated at the claim as his noona. “As we were walking away, Haewon made a comment implying that she thought there was something more going on between noona and us because of how we keep defending her and helping her. I told her that we’re just being good friends and there was nothing more than that.”
Bang PD seemed to be in thought for a moment. “I believe you, of course. I didn’t believe for one second that (Y/n) would have any kind of non-platonic relationship with any of you without notifying me about it. But also, you make it sound like this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened, Hoseok.”
(Y/n) lowered her head, remaining silent. So Hobi spoke up for her. “It isn’t. She’s been bothering noona – or rather, bullying her – for a while now.”
(Y/n) looked rather uncomfortable as Hoseok admitted that for her, but he didn’t want this to remain hidden anymore. Especially now that Haewon has shown she’ll do anything to try to get her in trouble.
“(Y/n)-shi,” Bang said, turning his attention toward her, “is this true?”
Hoseok placed his hand in (Y/n)’s for support he knew she would need.
She sighed. “Yes, it is, PD-nim. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, and to be honest I didn’t even know her name until today.”
“What else has happened?” their boss asked.
When his noona hesitated again, Hobi decided to be her voice for her. “Back in December, Haewon had intentionally poured a hot cup of coffee on her in the hallway. She got a second-degree burn from it. Yoongi hyung was with her when it happened. And then in, I believe it was February, she tried to cause trouble when she saw noona with Taehyung in the main lobby but was unsuccessful because he defended her. And now, today happened.”
“And it’s not much,” (Y/n) started, “but my first encounter with her was when me and Sejin oppa were in a meeting and she did have a negative comment or two to say about me. She seemed to hold a grudge against me because that was when I had the idea about using social media and her idea from earlier that same meeting was rejected.”
“Has she made any comments to you about your ethnicity or anything like that?” PD-nim asked.
“Well, not directly,” she replied. “But in a way. She has mentioned my age or ethnicity as negative points when talking about me. And she did use the word ‘foreigner’ with me today, emphasizing it in a way that sounded really rude.”
Hoseok squeezed his eyes closed. They had all known that those things were a part of it, as he had stated while he was defending her today. But hearing his noona have to confirm it made his heart hurt.
“Okay, I think that’s plenty information for now,” Bang PD said. “I can’t really take action for the coffee incident since it was so long ago, but I’ll see if we still have the security footage for it to look at what happened. You’re not in trouble for anything that happened today, (Y/n), don’t worry. But I need you to promise me that if this woman does anything else, you tell me. Workplace bullying isn’t tolerated here, and I won’t let it continue. Do you understand?”
She slowly nodded. “Yes, Bang PD-nim. I understand.”
“Good,” he replied. “You two can go home now. I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
“Thank you, PD-nim,” Hoseok said with a bow. He waited for his noona to say goodbye before walking out of the room with her.
There was silence as they walked home together, but before entering their separate doors (Y/n) broke it. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Hobi.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, noona,” he replied as he gently pulled her into a hug. “You know we’re here for you whenever you need us.”
He felt her smile against his chest. “I just hope this is the last time we have to worry about her,” she said.
“I hope so too,” Hoseok replied. “I wouldn’t count on it, though. But of course you’ll have us with you. And next time, she’s not going to be getting away with it anymore.”
Real name: Kim Nam Joon (BTS)
New name: Kim Asher
Occupation: Dishwasher/student
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