Playing with Fire: A BLACKPINK Story

Chapter 32: Loyal Until the End

The vacation had to come to an end eventually. Though the tour was mostly over, there were still a handful of shows at the end of 2019 that stretched into the beginning of 2020. In the meantime, there were plenty of things for the girls to work on. Between the endorsement deals, modelling bookings, and all the other opportunities they had, I knew they were also starting to think about their first full-length album.

It was a bit surprising to me that they hadn't released one yet, since they had been around for quite some time, but I knew the kpop industry worked differently than most. That was something I was going to need to get used to if I was planning on sticking around. Which I was.

It also complicated my position as their bodyguard. I was beginning to realize that now all the craziness had calmed down, they didn't really need a dedicated bodyguard. Especially not one of my caliber. Every day, the four of them were almost always doing something different, and I couldn't be in four places at once. Nor could I just spend all my time around Jisoo. It would make people suspicious.

So I split my time between the four of them and I stole moments with Jisoo whenever I could. It was the best life I could imagine for myself. It was something I had never expected.

Today, it seemed like I was going to be spending the day at The Black Label building with Rosé. The girls had been coming here more and more recently, which initially struck me as strange since they weren't technically Black Label artists. It made sense when I realized that Teddy was in charge of The Black Label, and that even though they weren't part of it, they still did work here.

Rosé didn't tell me why we were going there, and I didn't ask. I never wanted them to be in a situation where they would have to choose between their contractual secrets and telling things to me. It didn't bother me. They had their job to do. I would just let them do it.

Oddly, though, we seemed to be in one of the production rooms by ourselves. Rosé was fiddling with guitars and asking me to make minor adjustments to equipment, which I could only do if she provided very specific instructions. I was impressed at how much she knew. She had a habit of surprising me and other people like that.

Eventually, everything seemed to be set up the way she wanted. "What's the plan?" I asked when she sat down and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

She gave me that innocent smile of her. "Well, I thought maybe I could do a little work on a song that I've been writing. And I thought you could be here for it."

I chuckled. "You're not trying to give me a producer credit, are you? I revoke all my rights."

She laughed. "Well, I was going to offer, but since you're so against it..."

"What have you been working on?" I asked.

She looked a little embarrassed. I thought back to our late-night conversations, the times she couldn't sleep, the music she had played for me.

"You know I'm always going to support you," I said. "What is it?"

"Well," she said slowly. "Solo music." She hesitated and then spoke quickly as if she was trying to explain herself. "I know it won't come out for a long time! But I just have some ideas bouncing around my head and I want to get them out. The more I work on it, the more I can make sure it's perfect for when it eventually happens."

"That's fantastic," I said warmly. I had wondered in the past when the rest of the girls were going to get solo music, since only Jennie had a song right now. Of course, the rest of them did covers, but it wasn't the same as making your own song.