Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 34 - Hyun Nam

When Hyun Nam arrived at the SM building after going through all that traffic, it wasn't like how she left it. Reporters, media, paparazzi, fans, haters. She couldn't differentiate them. All of them were shouting and screaming, pushing one another to reach Jeno who was walking on his way back from the park. They had devoured both the back and front entrance completely. Pushing through the crowd wouldn't work, Hyun Nam jumped onto a nearby bench and shouted Jeno's name as loud as she could. Expecting that her voice would drown in the sea of screams, Jeno's eyes went to Hyun Nam who was standing up on a bench. He said a word to his manager before he disappeared into the building. The pushing only increased, people tried to get shots of Jeno from the outside and they were doing anything they could to do that.

One minute Hyun Nam was standing on the bench, the other she was tumbling down because of a reporter who climbed on the same bench and unintentionally pushed her off. She found herself in the hands of one of Jeno's bodyguards who quickly helped Hyun Nam leave the crowd and around the building. She didn't know where she was being brought to but it was definitely away from the mob. The bodyguard led her to another door next to the SM building. When he opened it, the door revealed some people from the staff walking around or sitting down talking to one another. Eyes were one her as she passed the staff entrance and into a kitchen where chefs took a quick glance of Hyun Nam before continuing their dishes.

She breathed a relieved sigh as she stepped into the SM cafe but she couldn't relax yet because the bodyguard brought her to the elevator. He whispered a simple 'yes' to his earpiece before leading Hyun Nam out of the elevator as it arrived on the floor with the practice rooms included as one of the rooms on it.

"In the practice room," the bodyguard briefly said, then left her. But he paused midway and gave her a small smile before entering the elevator. Hyun Nam went to find the practice room with the help of the signs on the wall and on the ceiling, she only went once when she accidentally met Jaemin with Kangdae. She didn't clearly know how many practice rooms SM has but she went inside the one she was familiar with the most, and to her luck, she found Jeno there with Jaemin.

"Hi," Hyun Nam said quietly before shutting the door behind her, she still felt guilty and was scared by the intimidating presence of the two guys in the room so all she could do was stare at the floor. She was too scared to do anything, thinking that Jeno was mad and that he must've told Jaemin who would obviously be pissed off, too.

"You got some apologizing to do," Jaemin said, which made Hyun Nam frown even more. But when she waited for a scoff from Jaemin or another remark, she noticed that Jaemin was talking to Jeno and not Hyun Nam.

"I'm really sorry I didn't acknowledge your feelings, Hyun Nam. I truly am," Jeno said, walking closer to where Hyun Nam's standing.

"No, no. It's me. I'm sorry. I made it all about me when you were the one clearly not okay right now," Hyun Nam refused to accept Jeno's apology because she knew Jeno didn't have to. Both of them ended up in a big apology fight trying to take the blame until Jaemin had enough.

"Okay, I don't know the full story, I don't really know who's wrong, but to end this, let's make it a tie. Come on," Jaemin said and put his arms on both Hyun Nam and Jeno who smiled at Jaemin before smiling at each other. As they reconciled, the door opened to reveal Jeno's manager and a girl beside him. She smiled at Jeno, giving a little wave to him. But she seemed to be distracted by someone else in the room, Hyun Nam who was still in Jaemin's arms. Hyun Nam didn't know why the girl was staring at her but she smiled anyway. Before the girl could smile back, the manager closed the door before saying, "Head to the meeting room now please, Jeno." The three went outside the practice room to follow Jeno though they weren't going inside the meeting room. Through the glass, Jaemin and Hyun Nam peaked inside and they could see familiar staff members from SM but also serious people (looking like their lives were literally in black and white) in suits.

"They look scary as f-"

"Lawyers," Hyun Nam immediately recognized one of them. She was one of the lawyers in her father's group. Her father has a group of people that he calls his 'Defense Team'. It includes lawyers, police, etc.

"I'm guessing that's the girl from the incident," Jaemin said, pointing towards the girl who was staring at Hyun Nam in the meeting room. Before they could see anything else, one of the lawyers cast a sharp eye at them, making them disappear from the window.

"Hey, it's been a while since I last saw you. How are you feeling now?" Jaemin asked as they walked away, heading towards the offices. Hyun Nam had to show a pass on her phone that she was an executive official to one of the security guards to let her in before she answered Jaemin's answer.

"I'm feeling way better, I have a lot of things going on so they distract me," Hyun Nam said, her thoughts drifting away as her mother's face appeared. Feeling that he was making Hyun Nam sad, Jaemin immediately changed the subject.

"It's been a while since I last saw you with Kang Dae. How is he doing?" Jaemin asked, he must be out of luck today because he's been asking the questions Hyun Nam dreads to answer.

"He's fine, we just haven't been talking that much anymore," Hyun Nam replied swiftly before they took a turn and found themselves on the balcony. The Seoul streets look beautiful in white, the snow had stopped falling for a while, allowing cars and people to proceed on their way.

"I thought you two were in a relationship," Jaemin laughed as he leaned on the railings, taking in the view, and by his sparkling eyes, he must've felt the same way as Hyun Nam seeing Seoul in winter.

"A lot of people think that, I quite understand your view though. We're always together and everything, he's even close with my dad," Hyun Nam replied to Jaemin but the hint of disgust made him turn around. He tried to see hints on her face but he hid it very well. They talked on that balcony for a few minutes, taking in the cool afternoon breeze. The sun was setting soon and they were there to experience it, sunsets in Seoul were beautiful, that's why Hyun Nam had her window facing the west. They didn't realize that 2 hours had passed until they noticed how the traffic started worsening, signaling that people were coming home from work.

They walked back to the meeting room and found that the meeting was ending. As the people came outside, Hyun Nam smiled at the lawyer she was familiar with and to her surprise, the lawyer noticed her as well and greeted her with a smile before leaving.

"This is Minju. The witness who will be saving my life in my case," Jeno said, introducing her to Hyun Nam and Jaemin. She smiled brightly and shook their hands.

"It's very nice to meet you. Do you remember me?" Minju asked Hyun Nam. She had a history of forgetting people's faces and names, she didn't want to seem rude but she actually didn't know.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just really bad at names. My memory is of a 70-year-old grandma," Hyun Nam said, which fortunately led to a giggle from Minju and not a hurt face.

"I was in the same school as you, I was your senior. I don't know if you know Winter here? She's from Aespa, she also went to the same school," Minju said and Hyun Nam started to remember her vaguely. The girl who was always with Winter. They were inseparable. She remembered Minju approaching her on her first day to ask her to try out for Student Council positions but Hyun Nam refused because she didn't know if she would be leaving any time soon.

"You've grown up to be more beautiful. Look at you, working in SM and having a really handsome boyfriend," Minju smiled. Hyun Nam didn't think to correct the 'working in SM' part but she was confused as to who Minju was saying Hyun Nam's boyfriend was.

"Oh, are you not?" Minju said, pointing back and forth from Hyun Nam and Jaemin. They looked at each other and laughed, shaking their heads reassuring Minju that they weren't just because Jaemin had his arm around Hyun Nam's shoulders when they first saw Minju. Both Hyun Nam and Jaemin didn't know they were staring at the same person while Minju apologized continuously for her mistake. Jeno was standing there hiding his own little smile as he stared at his two friends.

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