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❝ ᴇɴᴇᴍʏ ❞
Seowoo gasps in realisation. The fragrant smell she caught a whiff of was that of a soap — not just any soap, but one that is specially imported into South Korea for only a few privileged people, which narrows the list of suspects down to only one person in the company, who diligently scrubs their skin with it to play it off as a natural scent that their fans adore — and that person is Lee Yoomi.
"Yoomi-" Jimin sharply inhales, shocked that his best friend had the guts to ruin his other best friend's opportunity.
His phone rings and he curses when he sees the name on the screen. "It's the chairman," he hisses, excusing himself out of the room while planning what to say.
"I'll be right there," Jungkook says. His phone is propped against a wall so Seowoo can talk to (and watch) him while he puts on his outerwear and grabs his things.
"You don't have to," she asserts, "go practise, Kook. Your comeback is approaching and you're severely underprepared.".
"Of course I have to. You're my noona," Jungkook huffs, briefly folding his arms before pettily picking up his phone, "I'll practise in your building. You'll come watch, right?".
Seowoo puts up a front, smiling and nodding happily to please the boy as he ends the call.
"The chairman is ruthless," Jimin groans loudly, "he said he clearly reminded me not to mess up, like, I know! Long story short, I told him it's not me, it's Yoomi and she's supposedly "on her way here right now".".
Seowoo blinks repeatedly, "so what? She doesn't know why she's being called to rush over?".
"I guess not," Jimin shrugs. "Isn't it better this way, though? We can confront her when she arrives. Then, we'll get to hear everything upfront," he logically explains, earning a nod of acknowledgment from the girl.
"Hey guys!".
Both Jimin and Seowoo simultaneously turn their heads to the door behind them. Yoomi walks in, looking perfectly innocent and incapable of doing any bad at all.
Jimin quietly scoffs and mutters swears under his breath. "Stop with the act," he hissed and the idol is clearly taken aback. Her eyes widen as though she has been wronged- or found out.
"What are you talking about?" She angrily huffs while the mild scent of her soap still lingers beneath heavy spurts of perfume.
"Don't act stupid, Yoomi. We know you're the one who messed with the system. We know you're the one who deleted the audio files. We know you're the one who's trying to ruin our Seowoo's future. What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought we were best friends.".
Once Jimin's anger dissipates, Yoomi's forced expression falls, revealing a blank look of indifference.
"You're right, Jimin. We were best friends," Yoomi snarls. She inches towards Seowoo and pushes at her shoulder with a finger, "until our dearie over here started thinking big — beyond what she is capable of, and that's great! Good for her, hm? But she's ruining my life!".
"How am I supposed to continue selling myself as an all-rounded idol? I've only been in the industry a few years and suddenly, this is it? This is the end of my career?" She hysterically cries out.
Seowoo's face goes white and her lips turn pale. She wobbles and stumbles and has to grip onto the table behind her for support. She is shaken and disturbed by the fact that her greatest enemy was also her best friend.
She has encountered situations like this before. She thinks she should be able to handle it, but it never gets easier.
"Yoomi- Please calm down," she tries to speak despite the idol pushing and shoving her. She gives her a moment before she finally breaks and screams, "Yoomi! Just stop!".
"I get that it was selfish of me to want to go my own way, but I never intended to leave you or ruin what you are," she sobs loudly, "I only wanted to be like everyone else. Why do you and Jungkook get to be on stage but I can't? It's unfair and it's a huge blow to my self-esteem because I know it's because I don't look the part.".
Yoomi removes her hands from Seowoo and remains quiet, but her eyes are still locked on and glaring at Seowoo's wavering ones.
"We devised a plan for us. I hate to admit that it would hurt your reputation a little, but your life as an idol would still persist."
Yoomi scoffs, "and what do I do? Dance to backtracks for the rest of my life? I can't sing and you two know that. But you- You're the actual all-rounder between us. You can sing, rap and dance. I feel unjust too for having to fake my talent in front of my fans. You're not special, Kim Seowoo.".
"So you agree that we're in this together? That we're facing the same dilemma, which would only continue to trouble us for the rest of our lives unless we do something about it?" Seowoo sternly questions the idol standing before her.
She shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath to calm herself down, then huffs, "you may not know it but while you were selfishly thinking about yourself, I was thinking about us. That fact alone says a lot about you.".
Seowoo walks out of the room, intentionally moving a distance around Yoomi, and Jimin follows quietly behind her, slamming the door shut once he is out.
Right outside the door stands a concerned Jungkook with his eyebrows furrowed and eyes sore from worry. Seowoo looks up at him with wet eyes and red cheeks and he does not hesitate to wrap her in his arms, channeling as much of his love and warmth as she needs to her.
