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"Young Mari, you're in a hell lot of trouble!" The woman behind the desk told Mari, once she swiped her ID and entered her company. Mari was confused; cocked her eyebrow and looked at the woman. "I don't quite get it...", she mumbled but continued to waltz through the lobby until she reached the elevator.
Sora did tell her yesterday, that there was something they needed to talk about. But until now, Mari didn't know what Sora meant. Quietly the singer rode the elevator to the second floor where Sora's office was. Once the door opened she bumped into her Stylist, Hong Jisung.
"If this ain't our main moneymaker, Ahn Mari!" Jisung called and pulled the singer into a warm hug. She cocked her eyebrow at the older male and looked at him. "Why is everyone acting so weird today?" She asked and Jisung quickly let go off her and rubbed his neck. "I bet you're going to find out in a hot second," Jisung mumbled and looked at Mari.
"I hope you didn't eat a lot this morning, otherwise you're going to feel very sick in a while," Jisung warned and ruffled her long brown hair once more. Mari followed her stylist with her eyes while the man entered the elevator. "Oppa!" Mari called and Jisung looked up — the doors of the elevator slowly closing. "What do you mean?" She asked the second the doors closed.
She sighed and started making her way to her manager's office.
She could hear Go Juyeon yelling from inside the room. She could also hear Sora speaking politely to the Co-CEO, trying to explain something. Mari took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The voices immediately stopped and Sora called Mari inside.
The singer opened the door and entered the office with a bow. When she lifted her head, she saw Sora, Juyeon, their CEO Ok Taecyeon and an office worker from the PR department. Mari looked around nervously until Sora stood up and asked Mari to take a seat at her chair.
"I can stand, it's okay," Mari said but Sora shook her head and motioned for Mari to sit down. The Canadian lass sat down and looked up. Go Juyeon's face was tinted in a dark shade of red, and his forehead was glistening in sweat. Mari gulped while her eyes drifted over to her CEO. Ok Taecyeon had his hands folded in his lap and looked more relaxed than Juyeon. But something about his eyes was worrisome.
"Sir" Mari said towards Taecyeon, "It's nice seeing you again!" She smiled brightly and Taecyeon gave her a small little smile before Go Juyeon exploded. "HOW DARE YOU!" He yelled and Mari flinched. "Juyeon-sshi!" Taecyeon warned and Juyeon took a breath as well.
"I told you last night that we have to have a little chat, right?" Sora said and Mari nodded. "This chat is sadly not a positive one..." Sora continued and looked down. Mari didn't understand — until Go Juyeon threw an open box of condoms onto the desk.
Mari's face turned pale and she stared at the box in shock. She remembered the day she and Mark had bought them in case they needed them. They had opened them to see how many were in there and even opened a condom to play with it.
Mari gulped and stared at the little character on the box. She completely forgot about the condoms.
"Can you tell us what this is?" Juyeon asked and Mari clenched her fists, unable to say something. "T-These are c-condoms." She said while looking at her hands. "Yes, they are!" Juyeon said, getting louder again. "Juyeon-sshi", Taecyeon warned again.
"Mari", Sora's voice was soft and Mari dared to look up. She saw the distress in her manager's face and sighed. "Why do you own condoms?" She asked and Mari bit her lip. She was unable to say something. A big, fat lump was in her throat.
Since Mari didn't answer, Juyeon lost his temper. "Hand me your damn phone!" He yelled and jumped up from his chair. This time it was no use — Taecyeon couldn't stop the short-tempered man anymore. Mari was helplessly fidgeting around with her purse until Sora took it away from her and took out the phone.
With a glance at the lock screen, the manager sighed and handed it to Taecyeon — not Juyeon.
All of a sudden it went deadly quiet in the office. Mari only heard her heart pounding in her chest. Her biggest secret was out in the open, just because she forgot to tidy her own flat. Her face had lost all of its color and she was staring at her CEO.
Taecyeon sighed and turned the phone around, the display facing the table. "Mari-yah", he started and Mari looked up. "Y-Yes Sir?" She asked. "You know you're on a dating ban until April 2021, right?" - "Yes, Sir." She whispered and looked down. "You violated this rule." The CEO continued and Mari nodded. "I know, Sir." Mari breathed out, unable to look up.
"There has to be a punishment for this." He said and Mari nodded. "All your schedules for 2018 will be cleared. We can't let you promote Dark Clouds and you won't perform at the Basket Case Festival. We'll also terminate your contract with Basket Case to the end of this year." Taecyeon stood up.
"Sora-sshi, please make sure to cancel every one of her promotions. Donghee", he looked at the PR guy, "please write a statement over this. But remember to leave out SM Entertainment and Mark Lee's name." Taecyeon looked at Mari that was barely reacting.
"I hope you learn from this", Taecyeon said. "Also, break up with him. It will not only hurt you and your career, but his as well." And with these words Taecyeon left the room. Go Juyeon and PR-guy Donghee right behind him.
As soon as the door closed, Mari bursted out in tears. This was horrible.
