teddy bear

chapter eight

Kaia gently laid a flower on each of the media team's desks. She had four bouquets in her office anyways, they were meant to be shared. Shared as an apology, sadly.

Everyone was gone. Bang was gone, the security was gone, the receptionists were gone. But Kaia stayed. Kaia and Jeju were the only two in HYBE at this hour.

Jeju was in Kaia's office, asleep. She had managed to sneak out of her office without waking her precious dog. He had such a long and exhausting day. He really deserved the rest.

Kaia stumbled into a filing cabinet, dropping the flowers on the floor. She took a deep breath, trying to still her vision. It was spinning everywhere.

Kaia has had a long day too.

4:38 am and she's finally finished everything.

Once she finishes placing these flowers on everyone's desks, then she can go home.

Scratch that. She needed to shower.

Double scratch that, she'll just get ready at HYBE in the morning.

If she got home soon, she would have a good two hours of sleep. Then she would have to get ready for the day.

Good news, she would only have to do the bare basics because the makeup team would be making sure she looked good for the Vlive. Even better news, they were picking out her outfit too.

As long as Kaia could keep her vision steady and drive home safely, she would be asleep soon.

"I'm so tired." Kaia mumbled to herself, walking back to her office. She took the stairs to keep herself awake. "Maybe.. Maybe I can sleep here." Kaia shook her head, leaning against the railing to keep herself balanced as she walked up the stairs. "I need to go home."

Kaia made it into her office, that part she could do.

Walking inside it without tripping was something she could not do.

She hit the rug, groaning softly, but relaxed. 'God it's so comfortable, so fluffy.' Kaia slowly ran her hand across the rug, not noticing how her body relaxed immediately. 'I could,, sleep...'

Kaia's eyes closed, her office door partly opened, her body on the floor, Jeju on the couch.

No alarm was set. No plans were made. Nothing was set in place to aid Sleeping Beauty.

All that mattered to her was that she was asleep.

--

Bang slowly swung the basket of goodies and gifts, a small bouquet of roses in his other hand. He had arrived to HYBE early this morning (6:30 am early) to set an apology gift in Kaia's office and to double check that the announcement HYBE made yesterday was settling well in the media.

It was a simple announcement, it describing Kaia and her job position briefly and that the company was excited to work with her. The future Vlive was mentioned too of course, that probably making everyone excited. Oh, and of course a warning that any harassment or derogatory comments against Kaia, the boys, or the company will be fought against with legal action.

Bang frowned when he saw Kaia's door slightly opened. He had made it clear to her that everyone locks their offices up before leaving every night. Why did she not do that?

Bang's pace quickened after he saw the door, instant worry in his heart. He knew this wasn't like Kaia at all. She wouldn't forget something important like that. Something must be wrong.

The basket and flowers fell to the ground once he opened the door the rest of the way. Bang immediately fell to his knees beside Kaia, pulling her into his arms as he called her name out over and over. "God no, please Kaia!" Bang immediately thought the worse after seeing the young girl on the floor. "Please wake up!" Bang hit her cheek gently, begging and begging for her to open her eyes.