chapter 153: behind the scenes

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<OST: Start - Gaho>

"Jieun-ah, are you alright?"

Jieun took a sip of water and nodded slowly as she looked up at Jungkook.

"Here-" Jungkook put a blanket around her, pulling it tight before tying a knot at the front. Holding her gently by her shoulders, he then squatted down on the floor next to her chair, so that they were both at the same eye level. "Do you need anything else? Something to eat...? Something to-"

"I'm okay, Jungkook-ah," Jieun finally managed to speak, holding on tightly to Jungkook's arm to prevent him from leaving her side. "I'm okay, so don't leave me."

"Ah, okay-" Jungkook finally realised what Jieun needed most in that moment - she needed him. He got to his feet slowly, spun around and took a seat next to her on the chair, resting her head gently on his shoulder and slowly patting her comfortingly on the head. "Everything is over now, it's alright..."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry...?" Jungkook tried to peer down at Jieun's face, but she turned away. "You don't need to be sorry, Jieun-ah - how is any of this even your fault?"

"I know it's not my fault, and that there's nothing for me to feel sorry about... but I still do-" Jieun let out a small sigh. "I feel like I ruined your first solo concert. It was all going so well... until that reporter brought me up... and I could see you literally freezing on stage. To be honest with you, I was so scared that something like that would happen... and it really did. It was like my worst nightmare was coming through... that's why I stiffened up the way I did earlier."

"That reporter... she came with a motive."

"Of course she did-" Jieun pursed her lips. "Like, she could totally have released a piece of news like this online, but she purposely chose this day - your concert day of all days - to drop a bomb like this. It was totally planned."

"Yeah, it was... but that wasn't what I was trying to say-" Jungkook thought for a while. "That lady... earlier when she stood up... I felt like she looked familiar. Only now do I remember who she is and exactly where I have seen her before."

Jieun sat up straight abruptly, glancing up at Jungkook with curiosity written all over her face. "Who is she?"

"She's not a reporter-" Jungkook paused dramatically. "Actually... she's a cleaner."

Jieun furrowed her eyebrows. "What...?"

"I remember seeing her clean our practice rooms before-" Jungkook elaborated. "She's a cleaner lady at BG Entertainment... I suspect that Yang sajang-nim might have agreed to pay her a sum of money to carry out a stunt like this... simply because she needs the money."

"But... why?" Jieun frowned. "Why would he want to do such a thing? Isn't he still slowly building up his company's reputation once more? Why does he have to do this to you... to us - I don't get it..."

"That's because you're way too kind-hearted, Jieun-ah," Jungkook explained. "Meanwhile, he is not. You have no idea how terrible of a person he is, no matter how much I have told you about him. For him, succeeding is not enough, Jieun-ah - he wants me and Jennie to pay the price of bringing his company down... that's the extent of his anger and hatred towards us."

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