✓ UNDERNEATH IT ALL ━ nakamoto yuta

🎭 . . chapter four.

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❝ hae moonyoung gains negative reactions after a sudden anger outburst during press conference, which included belittling journalists and walking out. ❞

in the span of three hours, word about the incident spread fast. and it was safe to say that it was coming to the point where the situation already was getting out of hand.

as you flick through different news channels, you'd notice how they only spoke about this topic all at once. the internet was bombarded by articles expressing disagreement towards her words. even twitter contained too much bashful messages.

don't even get me started with the other employees in the office who think they're involved and are now badmouthing their own ceo (as if they haven't done that before).

yuta worriedly attempted to call moonyoung for exactly the twenty-third time that evening.

and yet there was no reply at all.

he tried to not overthink. maybe she just turned her phone off to avoid the internet's negativity. maybe she just fell asleep amidst the exhaustion. maybe she wasn't ready to talk yet. maybe she's just calming herself down first.

maybe everything was too painful for her to handle for now.

oh it's raining, he noticed after hearing heavy drops of rain hitting the structure from above, i hope she's home already.

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following the night, yuta was already so immersed in the book chapter he was reading. in his perspective, its excellence made him believe that he could finish its three hundred pages in one sitting. he couldn't help but appreciate the intricacy in the writing from a talented author with skills no other poet could—

three harsh knocks on his door.

this caused him to groan in irritation for both the startlement and the cause of lessening of his reading momentum, thinking it was another one of those useless enveloped messages from their subdivision's admin.

"for christ's sake, it's eleven pm and—"

but no, it wasn't that.

yuta shut himself up and softened upon seeing a female's figure that was too familiar to him, except her expression was now rather . . unrecognizable. an unusual presentation of physical dishevelment was set right in front of his vision.

he was so relieved to finally see her personally, but also pained after noticing the melancholy her overall appearance gave off.

it was his first time seeing her cry.

"moonyoung-ah," he began, "are you okay?"

he surely did regret asking a senseless question after coming to the conclusion that the girl was definitely far from okay, just basing from her physicality alone.

moonyoung was awfully drenched by the rain from head to toe, causing her to shiver while crossing her arms covered with denim sleeves in hopes for it to offer some sort of warmth. the reek of alcohol traveled her breathing range.

her eyes were bloodshot, attaining a similar color to the shade of her smeared lipstick that spread on her quivering lips.

and her gaze . . it was empty. behind the tears brimming her eyes, there was nothing anymore. no joy, sadness, nor anger. it was one where no matter how deep you'd look, you'd find nothing as a result of a devoid of emotions.

today she was different.

she didn't mind keeping up her usual smile of mischief, or her sharpened glance, or her bossy vibe, or anything she'd bring on a normal day.

today she was just . . herself.

"no."

a broken part of herself.

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━ 🗒 . . gabi's notes

NCT 2020 OT23 HOW ARE WE FEELING Y'ALL KABDJDJEBEHE