Caught in a Lie (Jimin's Heart #1)

WHERE YOU FROM

Apparently, being sighted outside of BTS's dorm and consistently being at Big Hit Entertainment was enough to make Hae Mi a popular subject across various tabloids. Her name was plastered on countless websites - Korean and worldwide - and they worked well to make her feel small inside.

"Mystery Girl Seen at Big Hit Entertainment."

"New Female Trainee at Bit Hit Entertainment?"

"Mystery Girl Spotted Outside of BTS Dorm."

"[BREAKING] Jaemi Lee, World Dance Champion, Confirmed 'Mystery Girl' at Big Hit Entertainment."

"Jaemi Lee - Why is She at Big Hit Entertainment?"

Within a matter of days, it had escalated, as the netizens pieced together who, exactly, she was. But they couldn't figure out what she was doing there. Bang PD was taking his time in cultivating a reply, which didn't help matters in the least. Not to mention, everyone was making sure to ignore the previous statements that Bang PD had taken on no female trainees at Big Hit Entertainment. All that mattered was there was a new girl at Big Hit Entertainment and the fans did not appreciate her being so close to their beloved BTS.

Hae Mi was mindlessly munching on her meager lunch and scrolling through the scathing comments left on the bottoms of the articles about her. After spending the morning doing conditioning with the trainee's (It was their least favorite day of the week, which meant Hae Mi had to deal with the attitudes of an army of teenagers), it was another blow to her pride to see her name being tainted on the internet.  Both activities were draining and exhausting in its own right, so she looked forward to joining Kyung Eun and working with BTS in the afternoon, seeing as the trainees had vocal lessons to catch up on.

Kyung Eun snatched Hae Mi's phone away from her. "You're looking at these? Again? How many times do I have to tell you to ignore the netizens?"

Hae Mi shook her head. "It's a toxic obsession of mine, I'll admit, but I can't seem to tear myself away from the articles. What's weirder is that I never cared about these articles when I was a dancer, but now that I am a choreographer, their words..." She trailed off, not quite sure where the thought was taking her. Nowhere good, probably.

Kyung Eun took it upon herself to turn off Hae Mi's phone for her. "I know that this situation is rough and that Bang PD is taking his time in replying to the media, but you really have to stop looking up these articles. They aren't good for your confidence and that is exactly what I need right now if you're going to work on creating the choreography for BTS's next comeback."

"Wait, what?" Hae Mi sat there, stunned as she looked at her supervisor. "You want me to create the choreography for their next comeback?"

"We've all seen the talent that you have and even BTS has been singing your praises ever since you had that mini dance competition with them. They're actually disappointed every time I walk into the rehearsal room without you in sight," Kyung Eun shook her head. "In all my years of working for Big Hit, I have never seen them take to a choreographer that quickly."

Hae Mi would like to argue otherwise - BTS was pretty close with some of their American choreographers - but the flattery of the comment outweighed those thoughts. "When can I get started?"

"As soon as the demo track has been finished," Kyung Eun replied. "I believe Nam Joon and Tae Hyung are working on it right now, so I would think they would be done with production within the month."

Hae Mi nodded. "I can't wait to take on the first challenge of my career here."

"Is producing choreography going to be more challenging than working with the trainee's?" Kyung Eun joked, stealing a bit of Hae Mi's kimbap.

"Probably not, but I haven't created a new routine in a while, so I might be a bit rusty."

"Sounds like a challenge that you are ready to accept," Kyung Eun checked her watch. "BTS should be ready soon, they're just finishing up their latest schedule now. Want to head over to the rehearsal room?"

"Sure."

Hae Mi packed up the remnants of her lunch and left her things on her tiny desk. Kyung Eun was right, there was no need for to be looking at her phone at the nonsense the tabloids were publishing when the biggest thing she needed to worry about was doing her job. Bit Hit Entertainment was giving her a chance by placing her in a position high up on the food chain and she certainly was not going to let that chance go to waste.

Since Hae Mi was already dressed in her dance clothes, the two dance directors made a beeline for the rehearsal room. Before conducting a practice, there was nothing more important than making sure everything was prepared and ready to go. Company laptop hooked up to the sound system. Cleaned floor and mirrors, so no injuries would be had and the idols would be able to clearly see themselves as they practiced.

"I'm going to be leading the group today," Kyung Eun said as she fiddled with the sound system. "But since you have proven to know BTS's choreography even better than some of the members, I want you to be watching for any corrections that need to be made. Don't go easy on them, either. We want them to be challenged and up to date with all of their routines."

"Got it," Hae Mi nodded. "Will the backup dancers be in this rehearsal too?"

Kyung Eun shook her head. "Since this is a practice to maintain BTS's knowledge of their choreography, the backup dancers won't be joining us today. Once we get closer to their comeback and end of the year, we'll probably be calling them back in."

"Sounds like a plan," Hae Mi said as she finished sweeping the floor. It was truly amazing as to how dirty the rehearsal space could get to be after seeing one conditioning practice in the morning.

BTS's manager stuck his head into the rehearsal room. "We just returned from their schedule. BTS is changing and then they'll be right in."

"Thank you," Kyung Eun replied. "Hae Mi, can you help me set up the camera? Bang PD wants to see how the boys are doing with this practice."

"Sounds good." Hae Mi grabbed the tripod and the camera and set it up in the middle of the mirrored wall, right where Bang PD would be able to observe the entire room and see all of the movements the members would make during the rehearsal.

"I'm also going to have you lead off with stretching the group and then I'll take over with the choreography part. From there, that's when you'll be adjusting the group's movements and making sure everything is meeting the expectation standards Big Hit has put in place for the group." Kyung Eun handed her the clipboard outlining the practice itinerary for the day.

Hae Mi was skimming over the document as BTS entered the room.

"Noona!" V called brightly, smiling as he saw Hae Mi in the room.

"Welcome back to BTS rehearsals," RM said as he ushered the members inside.

Hae Mi grinned at the group as she handed the clipboard back to Kyung Eun. "It's good to be back. But I promise Kyung Eun that I wouldn't be easy on you all today, so prepare yourselves."

Standing behind the rest of the members, Jimin stared at her in wonderment, as if doubting the image his eyes were feeding him. Hae Mi worked hard to ignore his expression.

"Well," Hae Mi clapped her hands together. "Shall we get started?"

*****

What do you think of the attention on Hae Mi and Big Hit Entertainment? It was really hard to put her through the chaos of the paparazzi world, so I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts about this event.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please vote and comment, and give this story lots of love. :)