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

INTRO: WHAT AM I TO YOU

Jimin ran an anxious hand through his hair. "I should have done a better job of getting Tae Hyung off the topic of first loves, especially when I noticed you listening to the conversation... It wasn't right for me to bring up past emotions that you probably don't even reciprocate, anyways..." He shook his head, taking a nervous sip of water. "Aigoo, I'm awful at conversations like this."

Hae Mi cracked a sliver of a smile. "I don't know why I reacted the way I did, if that helps the situation at all." A straight up lie - she knew exactly why she had to get out of there; she didn't want the rest of the group to know exactly how she felt.

"That does help," Jimin said, trying to get Hae Mi to look at him. "It was silly, really, why I ended up saying what I did."

Hae Mi didn't reply, but waited for him to continue on.

"If there is one thing that I regret in this life, it's the fact that I let you and I fall out of touch."

That statement caught Hae Mi's attention. She jerked her head up to look at him in surprise. Here she had been thinking she was the only one feeling that way. Here she had been thinking that she was insignificant enough that this world star would have forgotten about his childhood friend. Never in her dreams could she have had imagined that Jimin had been feeling many of the same things she had.

"Sure, my parents had tried to keep us talking to each other, but after I began training at Big Hit and saw that you had the beginnings of a booming dance career, I figured it was best that I didn't become a distraction for you." He paused again.

She let out a quiet laugh. "And there I was, hiding away because I was jealous that you had become a trainee, which made me ungrateful towards my dance company..."

"You were jealous of me?" Jimin was surprised at the thought.

I was jealous of the thoughts of the girls that would be falling head-over-heels for you, like I was. Am? But she couldn't very well tell him the truth. And this is how Hae Mi's second lie of the night came to be. "I had wanted to return to Korea to become a trainee, but my parents wouldn't allow it with the dancing career they had already invested so much in. And now I'm twenty-one years old - wait, no, twenty-three here - and am far too old to become a trainee now."

They were dancing around the true topic of the conversation and Hae Mi didn't know if she should be grateful or worried about the conversation to come.

"We were both so foolish," Jimin muttered. "Here I was, not wanting to distract you from your career and there you were, being jealous of me. We should have just talked it out - maybe then we wouldn't be in this situation."

Suddenly feeling bold, Hae Mi found herself saying, "And what situation would that be?"

Jimin was growing shy and bashful as the conversation drew near to the area they both wanted to avoid. "I wish I could've told you that you're my first love in a more private setting. Having Tae Hyung reveal it was everything I didn't want."

"I understand completely."

Hae Mi watched Jimin as he appeared to have an internal struggle with himself. He had always been an open book to her and it seems that the waning years between them hadn't change that at all.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

Jimin shook his head.

"You're wondering if you're my first love, aren't you?" the words were no louder than a whisper of a thought, but she still knew what he wanted to hear.

He wasn't even surprised that she knew what he wanted. Jimin gave a single nod.

The truth lay inside her like a virus. It longed to be free and in the world, but Hae Mi had come too far. She had retired from her dancing career and moved an ocean away, a country away, from her family. She was taking leaps and bounds in her career at Big Hit Entertainment. Telling Jimin the truth now would lead to an imminent relationship that would lead to a disaster to both of their careers.

So Hae Mi did what had to be done. She chose to protect both of them versus lead their careers down the path of destruction. And so, her third lie of the night was born.

"No," she said. "You're not."

*****

Hae Mi's phone angrily buzzed and rang her out of her sleep the next morning. Twenty messages. Nineteen of them from Kyung Eun. One from Bang PD. Without looking at the messages, Hae Mi knew what they were about. The tabloids. It was always the damn tabloids.

"Jimin Seen Chasing After Girl."

"BTS Dinner Gone Wrong?"

"Get the Latest on BTS's First Scandal Involving Park Jimin and Jaemi Lee."

Hae Mi groaned and climbed out of bed, preparing to boot up her laptop. Her thumb hovered over the call button to clear things up with Bang PD.

[Emergency meeting at Big Hit in an hour.]

At least Kyung Eun had her back. Well, apart from the fact that the message was sent forty-five minutes ago and it would take Hae Mi over an hour to get across Seoul and to the company headquarters. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't quite shake off the conversation that had happened the night before with Jimin.

Lying to his face was painful for Hae Mi, but the true hurt came after she had watched just how much her confession had taken a blow to his pride. He had worked to quickly hide the emotions he was feeling, but Hae Mi had read how disheartened and upset he was by the fact that Hae Mi didn't reciprocate his feelings of potential romantic attachment.

"I'm sorry that I don't feel the same way oppa. I really am. But I think it's for the best that we just remain friends. Besides, we have years of things to catch up on..."

She had tried her best to soften the blow, but there was only so much a person could do or say in order to make news like that easier to bear.

[I'm going to be late. ETA over an hour from now.]

Bang PD was going to have her ass for this, that much was certain.

*****

This was one of the hardest chapters to write, emotionally. Do you think Hae Mi made the right call or was it a mistake on her part? Stay tuned to see how her decision plays out!

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