Stolen Moments | Yang Jeongin

Fourty-Two

Jeongin had been quiet for most of the day, which wasn't like him at all. Usually, his energy was contagious, bouncing off the walls and lifting up everyone around him, but today... he seemed distant, deep in thought. I knew why. He had been watching me struggle, bearing the weight of the hate and stress, and it was eating him up inside.

He'd been talking to Chan and the others more often lately, and while I didn't pry, I had a feeling it wasn't about music or choreography. There was a growing tension in the air, and it felt like something was about to break. I just didn't know what.

I was in the middle of reviewing schedules for Dazz It's upcoming interviews when my phone buzzed with a notification. A Live. From Jeongin.

A cold chill ran through me, my heart skipping a beat. He hadn't mentioned going live, and something told me this wasn't going to be one of his usual cheerful broadcasts. With trembling fingers, I clicked the notification, pulling up the stream.

Jeongin sat alone in a quiet room, the familiar backdrop of his room behind him. His face was serious—far too serious for someone who usually smiled and joked his way through everything. My stomach twisted into knots.

"Hi, Stay," he greeted, his voice soft but steady. He paused, looking down at his lap for a second before raising his eyes back to the camera. "I know this isn't the kind of live you guys are used to from me, but there's something important I need to say."

I sat frozen, watching as Jeongin took a deep breath, his expression shifting from hesitant to determined. I knew that look. He was about to do something that couldn't be undone.

"Lately, a lot of you have been talking about my relationship with Minji," he began, his voice clear and steady despite the weight of his words. "And I get it, you're curious, you want to know what's going on. But what I can't accept, what I won't tolerate, is the hate that she's been getting."

My heart pounded in my chest as I watched him speak. I couldn't believe he was doing this—going against every single warning, every single instruction from management. He was walking into dangerous territory.

"If you're someone who claims to be a fan of mine, a fan of Stray Kids, but you're sending hate to someone I care about, then I'm sorry, but you're not Stay to me. I'm fine with people sending me bad messages, but leave Minji out of this."

His words were firm, unyielding, and the fire in his eyes sent a wave of emotions crashing over me. I could barely breathe.

"Minji doesn't deserve this. She's one of the hardest-working people I know, and without her, I wouldn't be here. She's given everything to this industry, and now she's getting torn apart for being with me. That's not fair. It's not right."

I blinked rapidly, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over. Jeongin wasn't just defending me—he was putting his career on the line for me, for us.

"And I'll say this as clearly as I can: I love her. She makes me happy. And I'm not going to apologize for that." His voice cracked slightly, the vulnerability seeping through as he looked directly into the camera. "I'm a human being too. I might be an idol, but that doesn't mean I don't deserve to be happy, to love someone. So for anyone who thinks that's wrong, who thinks I should be alone just because I'm an idol, you're wrong."

My chest tightened as I watched the comments flood in on the live, many of them supportive, but some of them still full of anger and confusion. Jeongin wasn't done yet though.

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze hardening. "I also want to say something about my company. JYP... they've been silent about all of this. They've watched the rumors fly, they've seen the hate Minji's getting, and they've done nothing. They've told me to stay quiet, to keep my head down and let it blow over. But I can't do that anymore. I won't."

He paused, and for a moment, I thought he might stop, but then he continued, his voice steady and resolute.

"If they want to punish me for this, fine. Put me on hiatus, take me off schedules, whatever. But I'm not going to stand by and let Minji suffer because of this. She deserves better, and I'm going to fight for her, no matter what."

The chat exploded with reactions, but Jeongin didn't seem to care. He wasn't doing this for them—he was doing this for us. For me.

"I love all of you, Stay, but if you can't support me and the people I care about, then maybe you need to rethink why you're here in the first place. I'm not going to be happy without her. And isn't that what we all want in the end? To be happy?"

My hands were shaking as I listened to his final words, his voice softening as he added, "I hope you can understand. I hope you can accept that I'm not perfect."

He glanced down at his lap again before looking back up at the camera, his eyes filled with a vulnerability I'd rarely seen from him.

"That's all I wanted to say. Thank you for listening." He ended the live abruptly, the screen going dark before I had a chance to process everything he'd just done. He didn't read comments, he didn't joke around, he just ended it.

I sat there in stunned silence, my phone still clutched in my hand. Jeongin had just gone against his management, against everything they'd told him to do, for me. He had put his entire career on the line, knowing full well what the consequences could be.

And yet... all I could feel was overwhelming love and gratitude.

Before I knew it, I was dialing his number, my heart racing in my chest. He answered almost immediately, his voice soft and worried. "Minji?"

"You didn't have to do that," I said, my voice shaky as I tried to hold back my tears. "Jeongin, you didn't have to—"

"I did," he cut me off, his voice firm. "I'm not going to let you keep suffering like this. You're the most important person in my life, Minji. I couldn't stay quiet anymore."

Tears finally spilled over, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. "I'm so scared, Jeongin. I'm scared I'm going to ruin everything for you."

"You won't," he said softly, his voice filled with a quiet certainty. "We'll get through this together. I don't care what they do to me, as long as I have you."

And in that moment, I knew—no matter what happened next, we would face it together.