relationship expires like; leaves a bitter aftertaste (pt 2)
there had been a tense silence for weeks. their members had commented more than once that the tension was so thick that it was nearly suffocating. they were in the same company. though they weren’t always together (comebacks thankfully kept them apart a lot), the times that they were in the same room was not a happy time. no one knew what happened between them. surely, they were always arguing but it was nothing like this. nothing this bad.
on either end, there hadn’t been a move made. but sohee couldn’t help but gag every time daehyun found an excuse to help poor trainee jongup. she averted her gaze, glaring off instead. it only pissed her off further that she was the only one who seemed visibly upset. but how could he be? he got his little piece of ass in the end.
sohee had managed to move out of the apartment within the month. to return everything to her dorms. it was hard to discern his shirts from her clothing. surely she had integrated an abundance of his wardrobe into his own. and she tried not to think of how the surfaces of what used to be their apartment was now made into his and jongup’s. the cheater and his side hoe. it was a much more pleasant way of thinking about things. that way, she couldn’t be as angry.
no move had been made about either of them. eventually, it seemed as if the issue was starting to die down. but both the groups were bumped together for a variety spot and jongup, a new addition to daehyun’s group, was eager to be next to his hyung and show off their close relationship. yet she was the only one to know the reason behind their supposed randomly affectionate touches.
(lord knows jongup just had grown used to being in daehyun’s lap)
everyone was eating it up like glorious fan service and sohee was the only one unfazed. no one questioned it but she knew fans were gonna ask why. for the most part sohee was vocal with everyone else from the company featured. besides those two. the atmosphere was somewhat content as long as they ignored each other. but it wasn’t until daehyun was asked about his predebut relationship with sohee and her group members (they had many photos together) that things had gone to utter and complete shit.
“she’s distant,” he remarked. “shy and more reserved in personality that it’s almost a bit standoffish. it’s hard being friends with her.”
sohee, who was possibly the brightest personality in the room, who took initiative to introduce herself first in social situations, who considered everyone’s well being before her own. sohee, who was also remarked as being the hidden leader of her group despite being the maknae. and there was a sunbae of royal saying that she was anything but off screen. with many other members in the company to witness.
her leader came to her rescue, adding that sohee and daehyun had such different personalities that they clashed a lot. they often got into arguments even over little things. which didn’t look good on sohee’s part anyhow. and she could only look up at the camera helplessly as her innocent, fun-loving image took a hardened blow.
and daehyun couldn’t be more smug about it. though he did a good job of hiding it until the cameras were off.
the articles came pouring in the minute the minute the episode aired. speculation that sohee was probably a rude person off screen to actually spark fights with innocent and caring daehyun. he was a senior. he held more power and was the fan favourite. and with that one comment he single handedly started to destroy her image.
she’s not an innocent maknae like we all think. she must be such a rude person off screen.
damage control was the name of the game. though yes, daehyun got a stern talking to for even saying anything negative about sohee – especially when it wasn’t true. their “petty fight” was going too far and was hurting the image. and though he released a statement that it must have been perceived the wrong way by viewers, many weren’t convinced. sohee was stuck in the midst of this. she wasn’t left much choice. for her to release a statement about how daehyun wasn’t all that pleasant to be around would only make it seem like she was reaching for stable ground. there was only one last thing to do.
“jisub sajang-nim i really need to talk to you.”
what she initially wanted to be a brief conversation turned into a three hour venting session. sohee had walked in with a full set of makeup but walked out with a bare face and red eyes swollen from tears. daehyun was called in just as she left and she mustered up the energy to toss him a smirk.
jongup was being let go of the company.
daehyun wasn’t allowed to contact him.
though the entire thing hardly seemed fair to him, seeing as jisub himself had come out as homosexual. “you understand what this is like, right?” he tried to claw for a reason for jongup to stay with him in his group. as long as he could still see him. jisub couldn’t offer a sympathetic shoulder. not this time.
“it’s on thing for a ceo to be put under spotlight for it. but it’s another for an idol to be problematic over sexual orientation. it’s best for jongup to take a break from the company entirely.”
the relationship was an expense the company couldn’t afford. not after daehyun harming sohee’s image. and she knew that as well as he did. when they saw each other in the empty practise room, their members having left to eat, he could only pass on a few words in her direction.
she wasn’t happy. hardly. she was still someone who was cheated on. someone whose heart was broken by someone she used to love and trust. so no, she wasn’t happy.
but at least she wasn’t the bitter one any longer.
