The Rules

Chapter 75

The boys came home that evening and were anxious to talk to her about her meeting, Yoongi knocked on the door.

"Come in." they heard her call. When they walked in she was sitting on her couch with her eyes closed.

"Hey there, how was your meeting?" Namjoon said as he and the guys put down their bags and came in. He could tell she has been sitting there for a while, deep in thought.

"Oh, I don't know." She gave them a tired smile.

"Did it go poorly?" Jungkook asked as he stroked her hair. "What happened?"

"Is Su with you?" she asked

"He came back with us, want me to call him up?" Jimin pulled out his phone.

"I think so," she said as she leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. The boys all looked around at each other concerned as Jimin shot off a text.

Su knocked and came smiling, he looked around the room and his eyes fell on her. She looked exhausted and he knew she was replaying the day in her mind. She looked over at him, not taking her head off the couch.

"How bad was it?" she asked him directly.

He just laughed, "well, it's not what they expected, but it was true to who you were."

Jin spoke up, "Anyone want to share?"

Ami started, "I showed up to meet Park, but the meeting was also with Chi, Han, Ko and Mun.. and Mr. Su."

All their eyes popped out of their heads. "All 5 directors were there... Wait, and Su?" They were all looking at her and then back at him.

"We were at Hybe the same time she was today, I was walking down the hall and Director Mun stopped me and asked me to sit in on a meeting. They wanted my opinion." He just smiled. "I get asked once in a while to do this, they want my insight when they are interviewing people or have meetings." He explained to them. They didn't know he did that.

"So, did you know you were going to her meeting?" Tae asked, still shocked.

"Not until I walked in the door." he looked over at her. "I hope I didn't make you nervous."

"Actually, it was a little comforting." she said, "Once I figured out you weren't there to bounce me out of there."

He just smiled at her.

"So, how did it go then?" Hobi asked. Namjoon was just sitting next to her, watching her as she was recapping the day.

"I guess fine, at least it was until I told Director Ko that the business model that he had been working on for artists like me would not work." She said, closing her eyes again.

"I'm sorry, what?" Yoongi was staring at her. "You told them their plan for you was going to fail?"

"No, she told them their entire program was going to fail. I think my favorite line from the meeting was, "You can't put a square peg in a round hole." Su recalled smiling.

"Well, I'm sorry! Their plan was fucking stupid! It wasn't going to work." She said exasperated.

Namjoon finally spoke up, "Can you guys please explain what exactly happened."

Su and Ami recapped the meeting for them. The boys just sat there, trying to grasp what she had said to them.

"To be fair, and to her credit, she was right. Their model wouldn't work." Su shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

"I just can't get over how easy and frankly you spoke to ALL the Directors of Hybe," Hobi said, looking at her and then back at Su.

"So, did they ask for your opinion then?" Namjoon asked. Ami looked over at him.

"They did." He replied.

"Anything you can share?" Yoongi asked, they all wanted to know.

He thought for a moment, then said, "I gave them my honest opinion based on the meeting. You appear to be hard-working, and detail-oriented, she won't just tell them what they want to hear, but ask questions with the intent of understanding. She wants what is best all around, not just for her, that you understand there is a bottom line involved, but there needs to be joint buy-in and respect for the longevity of an artist. That you are true to who you presented to them, and that you are wildly talented, but would give it all up in a second if you thought your privacy was in jeopardy."

Ami just sat back and nodded in agreement.

"You did well today. You really did." Su said to her. "They rarely get real feedback that contradicts their ideas or opinions. While I'm sure it was hard to hear, you need to know they did hear you. Ko said before I left he was going to have to re-look at his plan for that entire department. I would have been disappointed if you just went in there and rolled over for them." He said kindly to her. "And the song you sang at the end, was phenomenal."

She looked over at him and met his eyes with a smile, "Thank you."

"OK." he said standing back up, "I need to go, have a good evening."

"Thank you Mr. Su." they all said to him. He closed the door behind him as he left.

"Right. Have you eaten yet?" Jungkook asked her. "No." She looked over at him.

He stood up, and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder, "well then, let's go eat." He smiled as he made his way across the hall.

"Ahh, Kook!" She giggled as she landed on his shoulder. They all heard him smack her on her ass as she laughed.

"I can't believe she said everything she did to the directors," Hobi whispered to Yoongi on the way out. "She really is a dom," Yoongi smiled at him. Hobi just shook his head in agreement.

He tossed her on the couch as Tae brought her over some wine. "Here," he said with a grin.

"Thanks," She said smiling as she took a sip.

They had learned with her that if she started to overthink they needed to either change her location or feed her, so she would snap out of it. If not, she could spiral and that was always hard for them to watch with her.

"How was your day, Jimin?" she asked as he sat down next to her. She reached over and started running her hand through his hair. He loved it when people played with his hair. She liked to love on the boys as much as they liked to love on her. It was such a comfortable feeling.

"Long, the day was long," he said as he closed his eyes. He could feel her nails running along his scalp and it felt so relaxing. "Sorry to hear that." She said sincerely. They sat together for a while, as dinner was being made. He eventually fell asleep and Ami got up to go help in the kitchen.

"I see you lulled Jimin into a nap," Joon said into her ear as wrapped his arms around her from behind. "He was tired," Ami replied, leaning back into him.

"Everyone is tired." He sighed.

"You guys need a break, I wish we could go on a vacation." She said as she walked over to see what Jin was cooking in the kitchen.