Secret(Yeosang X Reader)

Loneliness

~two months later~

My job at JYP was very different from when I interned at KQ. Of course, it was more intense since it was a professional job. I had twice the amount of work, and very little free time. I worked longer hours, and it was pretty exhausting. As soon as I got home, I just wanted to eat and sleep.

But I was passionate about my work, and I was good at it. The music video crew loved working with me. I had proved myself to be a valuable employee and was doing well enough to support myself. I moved into a nice apartment and started saving up for a car. It really was a good life. I was living out my dreams.

The only thing missing was Yeosang. We were still together long distance, but things started to change. It was probably because Ateez went on tour again around the same time I started working at JYP. With Yeosang's hectic schedule and my workload, it became even more difficult to stay in touch with each other. Despite all our efforts from the past year of accepting our circumstance, trying to be positive, and staying strong, I began to feel increasingly miserable and lonely.

At least I did make some friends at work, so I had people to talk to. We grew close easily since we worked together all the time in the department which specialized in Stray Kids music videos.

Obviously, I didn't have the same freedoms I did as the lucky KQ intern. I realized the reason I was able to hang out with Ateez so much is because that was the whole appeal to college students. Hundreds of people participated in the video editing contest regardless of their major because they wanted to be around Ateez. KQ was simply looking for talent, and their options were instantly expanded the moment they announced the contest. So I had gotten what every participant wanted... I got what KQ had promised... a chance to befriend Ateez.

But now, there was no special treatment. I couldn't visit any K-pop groups on my own free will, and the only break I had during the day was my lunch break. Still, I did see a member of Stray Kids every once in a while simply because we worked in the same part of the building. I was surprised when they noticed I was a new employee. I honestly didn't think they would care, but they were kind and respectful to me when they saw me. I only had brief encounters with them, but they always made me feel welcome at the company which is something I was grateful for.

***

One evening, I went out to dinner with one of my coworkers who was around my age. Her name was Sunhee, and we had become instant friends since we began working together.

After we sat down and ordered our food, Sunhee started an interesting conversation.

"Girl, I've been so jealous of you lately!" she exclaimed out of the blue.

"Why? What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, you know..." she said, lowering her voice. She glanced around the room before continuing, "With all the attention the members of Stray Kids are giving you, you must feel like a queen!"

"Wait, what are you talking about? I rarely see them," I replied, even more confused.

"Oh... Well there's a rumor going around that some of the members are totally whipped for you. I'm surprised you haven't heard."

"That's weird... I mean, they're friendly to me, but we don't talk much. I just see them in the hallway sometimes. I wonder how the rumor was started."

"Hmm... Maybe it was started when someone said they overheard Minho talk about how pretty you are... or was it Hyunjin? I don't remember who it was, but apparently someone heard something and now a lot of people know."

"Oh, yikes... Should I be worried? I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

"What, like you might be dating one of them? Because I don't think it's come to that. I wouldn't stress about it."