✓ NETWORK LOVE ━ nct 127 af

❑ chapter thirty-nine.

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( song of the day :
imagine - ariana
grande )

yet another scandalous batch of stolen shots from what the friend group liked to call networkly's ripoff dispatch was sent to everybody in the office.

this time, there were two pictures.

the first consisted of jungwoo and kiki at the near subway branch, his hand gently placed on her back as she leaned on his shoulder. it was during that time when she needed comforting because of her resignation thoughts.

the other was seoyeon and johnny's, which was them inside his car by the stoplight. his hand drooped on her shoulder as he looked at her dreamily.

there were no reporters who came, since the two pairs weren't really in the highest positions, but the hurtful gazes of the other employees were still judgmentally pointed towards the main subjects.

who did this? and why?

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kiki and jungwoo met each other at a secluded area in the office so no cameras could possibly reach them. just to be safe, they also kept an adequate distance.

awkwardly, jungwoo rubbed his neck in the middle of the silence. he could already sense the melancholy reach the entire scenery. it worried him very much.

"are we still friends?"

"of course we're still friends!" she shot him a small smile for temporary comfort. but the next statement definitely did wash away that relief. "but we do need to physically distance ourselves from each other to avoid the rumors. it's for our best."

"that means no more lunch with each other then?"

"no walks with each other too."

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seoyeon was waiting by the lady's room, already panicking because of the current situation. never has she been included in such a big office scandal in the entirety of her serving until this. she kept fidgeting with her sleeve because of the immense worry.

her phone was gently kept in her hand, already dialing johnny's number for about the hundredth time without getting a response.

at times like this.

she decided to go to voicemail, her voice already growing frail.

"i need you."

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