The Rules

Chapter 58

The award show contacted her the next day inviting her to perform in the show. Ami thanked them for their offer, and that she would get back to them in a few days. The news about a possible performance was buzzing online.

She knocked on the door of Mr. Su, she wanted to have a real conversation with him about her performance. If she chose to do it, it could change a lot of things for her, the guys, and the team. She needed as much input as possible before she agreed to it

"Hey there, I wondered if you would be stopping by today," he said with a grin. "Congratulations are in order I hear."

"Ha, well, thank you. It was a surprise, I assure you." She smiled as she sat down.

"Should we get into it?" he said as he pulled out a notepad. "Let's work backward. What's the absolute thing you don't want? Let's list them out and then work back up."

"Absolute worst thing is that my relationship with him is discovered. The backlash for him, I don't want that. Next, my friendship is known with all of them. I have seen how that can go online for both sides. Then my identity leaked. If it was leaked, connecting me to them might be easier than it is now, but still may be possible to keep it on the down low... But, I am an employee with Hybe, so there may be some issues there." Ami had come prepared with her thoughts.

"OK. Let's look at how likely these issues are. Starting with number one, how many people know about you two?" He asked her.

"As far as the relationship? You, me, Pak, and them. That's what I know." She sat back in her chair, "Oh, and their manager? We might have to ask them if they have informed anyone else."

"I have told no one else on our staff here of how close you are, we can follow up with the guys. OK, What about your friendship with them? I think the net is a little wider here." He started a new column. They named off some more staff members that know she is close with them because they work security in the building and know she lives there. "Jaks the producer." She added. "But again, I haven't shared that with anyone else."

"Seriously? No friends or your family?" He looked at her curiously.

"No one." she shook her head.

"OK. On top of these people listed. Who else could identify you if they saw you on TV?" He turned to a new page in his notebook.

"In the country, Jae and Ji-Hoon. My old boss, maybe 10 people from work, but I haven't worked there for a while, and we only connected through work projects. Anyone I have worked with here." She was thinking.

"No other friends? How is that possible?" He sat back looking at her. While a private person, she also didn't exclude people. She worked well with everyone on his team and made everyone feel comfortable. It seems odd she didn't connect more with people outside the boys.

Ami sat back and thought about it. "Well, I met them literally on day 2 of moving back. About a week later I reconnected with my old friends and got a job with them. They ended up sharing with me who they were..."

"Wait, you didn't know who they were when you met them?" Mr. Su had never officially heard the story, although he knew how they 'met', he just assumed she knew 'who' they were.

"No. I actually never listened to a lot of Korean music when I lived in London." She laughed. "So when we met it was on neutral ground. I just thought they were 7 friends that lived together. They didn't share that with me until they felt like I wasn't a crazy person. Then, it was ultimately my choice if I wanted to stay friends with them, based on all this." She said, waving her hand around. "It kind of went on from there."

"It must have been hard for you to push your other friends away. RM told me how you instantly blocked Jae the day after without even talking to her again." He didn't realize how small she kept her circle. He watched her as she sat and reflected on her old friends.

"Whether I am friends with the boys or not, my standards for friendship are pretty firm. Don't trick or lie to me, be a good person. Not too high of standards if you ask me."

"So what about international friends or family that would recognize you?" He asked, getting back to the task at hand. "The internet has a long reach."

"Mmmm.. just my Aunt and Uncle really, I don't think too many family friends would. Some classmates in England, but it's been a while. There seem to be enough people that someone would try and expose me, but I think I have an idea." She looked at him and smiled.

"Of course you do," he said smiling, and they got to work.

That evening she invited them over to her apartment, she wanted to talk to them about the show and what they thought.

"So, as you know I was invited to perform." She started. "You also know what that can mean if I do. I spent the day talking it over from a logistical standpoint with Su, and we think we have come up with a plan that would minimize revealing my identity, but as you know, nothing is 100%. The best case scenario is I perform and in the end, no one knows who I am still. The worst case is someone connecting me to you all or to working here. What we DON'T think will happen is someone connecting me to you in a relationship." She looked at Namjoon. "The only people that know about us are here in this room, Su and Pak. Unless there is someone else you told? I have told no one."

They all looked at each other, "Our manager knows we are all good friends with you, but I haven't told him we are in a relationship." Namjoon said.

Ami asked. "Does he know I sing?"

Yoongi spoke up, "The only people who know you put out albums are in the room, Su and Jaks. I haven't shared that info with anyone." No one else had shared it either.

"Do you think we would need to give him a heads up if this is something I did? The main reason is how it will affect the BTS machine. I know you all would be fine, you tell me over and over, but it is more than just you seven. I have to consider that." She sat back, crossing her arms and looking at them. "Everything your team does is very calculated. I don't want to blindside them if things go sideways."

Jin spoke up, "People do things all the time that could affect us, lots of it just rolls away after a while, why would this be any different?

"Those people aren't working for the company or living across the hall from us. If her identity is found out, she can't live here anymore. For her safety, she can't." Jimin said softly, it was finally sinking in. It wasn't just the inconvenience of people knowing, it was a safety issue.

They all sat there silently. "Well, you aren't moving out. I don't care what happens." She heard Yoongi say quietly. She looked over at him, and he was looking at her with a look she hadn't seen from him before. It was soft and caring but full of worry for the future.

Hobi saw it too and spoke up, "You said you and Su were working on a plan?"

She looked over the Hobi, "It has potential, we have a few things to figure out, but I think it could work."

"Do you have a backup plan?" Namjoon took her hand and smiled, he already knew the answer. "Always." she looked at him with a wink.