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

STIGMA

It had been four days since Hae Mi and Jimin's disastrous conversation in Busan. She had been doing everything in her power to avoid BTS and all of its members while at Big Hit Entertainment, but it appeared her luck was running out. Racing through the hallways of the company with folders and information for Kyung Eun, she dodged her way around groups of producers and overly-energetic trainees.

Today was the day of the quarterly evaluation. PD Bang would be beginning to finalize his decisions on who would make it into the newest debuting group and who would ultimately be cut. It was a day charged with nerves for everyone in the company and Hae Mi was doing her best to balance out those emotions with the ones she tried to leave behind in Busan.

Pushing the office door open with her hip, she did a little spin to avoid dropping folders from her precarious pile. The management teams were scrambling around, gathering together forms that were flying off the copy machines; folders of the trainee's profiles were being passed around and added to Hae Mi's pile as she walked by, heading in the direction of Kyung Eun's desk. As the team leader of the office space, it fell to her supervisor to attempt to keep the proceedings in somewhat of an orderly fashion.

"Here is your half organized pile of trainee profiles, as requested," Hae Mi trilled as she set the pile down in front of Kyung Eun. "I was given profiles as I walked past desks, so honestly I have no idea what is and isn't in here."

Kyung Eun buried her face in her hands. "I expect no less from the management team of Big Hit." She released a strangled scream. "I'll go through and figure this out, hopefully before evaluations start in an hour."

Hae Mi stepped away and slid into her desk chair. Sitting there, she brushed her caramel locks - she had gotten her hair done Monday night, the blonde wasn't looking good anymore - into a quick ponytail and booted up her laptop.

"Do you need me to do anything else?" she asked. As the assistant dance director, it felt like she was getting the short end of the stick, especially since she just got off her suspension on Monday.

"Not at the moment," Kyung Eun said with a sigh. With a schedule in one hand and the stack of folders next to her, she glanced between the paperwork apprehensively. "There is something that I need you do to this afternoon, though."

Hae Mi glanced at the clock on her computer. 10:52 AM. "I have the feeling I might not like this."

"You're probably right," Kyung Eun mused.

Seeing as the dance director was Hae Mi's only true friend in Seoul, let alone the country, Hae Mi had confided in her about everything that had been going on with Jimin. She felt that it was her duty to report the miss-happenings to Kyung Eun, in case any new scandal were to erupt because she breathed on Jimin wrong. Not only that, but she needed advice badly. With every wrong decision she made, she felt that she was digging herself a bigger hole with no way out.

Hesitant, Hae Mi asked the fateful question, "What is it that you need me to do?" Almost instantly, regret began pooling into her core.

A familiar clipboard was handed her way. "I need you to run BTS's rehearsal's for the rest of the week since I'm going to be in evaluations all day today and tomorrow." Kyung Eun glanced up. "I'm really sorry, but this is your job and seeing him again was going to happen sooner, rather than later. You know that, right?"

As much as she hated to admit it, "Yes, I know..." She pouted. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually wish my suspension was good for one week more."

Kyung Eun shook her head. "You're awful, you know that right?"

"I know," Hae Mi teased, trying to appear more confident and lighthearted than she actually felt. "Well, I guess I should go survey the room and get everything set up. Good luck with evaluations today."

"Thank you, Hae Mi. And good luck with running rehearsal," Kyung Eun replied, appearing distracted as she began working on the pile in front of her.

Tapping the clipboard along her knuckles, Hae Mi got up from her wobbly desk chair and made a beeline for the office door, stepping around any employee that tried to hand a new project her way. Once in the black, white, and beige hallway of the office area, Hae Mi let out a deep sigh and steeled herself for the disaster that was hurtling her way.

How could she face off with Jimin? She knew it was going to happen regardless, but an inner part of her still hoped that she wouldn't have to face the mistakes she made over the weekend. Nevertheless, her feet still carried her towards the door of the rehearsal room, sealing her fate.

Peering into the white room, Hae Mi was relieved to see that BTS had not yet arrived. At least she would have a few minutes to compose herself before facing off with Jimin once more. The thought of it alone sent a queasy feeling shivering through her stomach as she bent over the laptop, queuing up the music for the rehearsal of the day.

Containing a scream, Hae Mi set to calming herself down through dimming the lights in the overly white room and loosened up her limbs, stretching them out, and mentally attempting to block out the probable pain and torment that was coming her way.

Distracted by her general thoughts and stretching, Hae Mi barely noticed it when knuckles rapped alongside the open door.

Heart pounding, she whirled to greet whoever was there.

"I was told I would find you here," Suga said, leaning against the open doorway.

"Yeah," Hae Mi replied, momentarily relieved that it wasn't time for her fated fact off with Jimin. "No surprise there, right?"

Suga stepped away from the doorway and approached her, arms crossed, black hair lightly mused from nervous fingers.

"Did you need something?" Hae Mi asked as she stretched out her hands, forcibly placing a personal bubble between herself and the imposing idol.

"Mm," he mused, "I do. Can we talk?"

The three scariest words in any language fell upon Hae MI's ears. Can we talk? There was never a more feared or anxiety-inducing opening to a conversation than those three words.

Cornered, Hae Mi didn't know how to react. Although "Sure," might have rolled off her tongue, but every nerve ending in her body was screaming at her to run away and not look back. But there was no running away from her future. Not as long as she was employed by Big Hit Entertainment.

*****

And now Suga is getting involved? Things must really be heading south if Yoongi is pulling Hae Mi aside to talk to her. Stay tuned to see how this plays out!

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