Protection||Jay

chapter ten

hana was at home now and had eunbi on facetime.

"i just don't get it. like why would he—"

"hana!" eunbi exclaimed, "you've been ranting about jay blocking you for like the last fifteen minutes. you said it was nothing, but you're making it a big deal, so tell me. what's really up?"

"nothi—"

"hey hana," jaemin spoke, peeking his head in her room, "want anything to eat?"

"no i'm fine. thank you though," hana smiled.

"um hana," eunbi called out once she heard hana's room door shut, "maybe all this is happening because um .. here let me just send this to you."

in an instant, hana received a text from eunbi. clicking on it, it took her to an instagram post.

"no way. this is some joke right?" hana chuckled.

"um i don't think it is hana .. i'm scrolling through twitter now and it's all over twitter too," eunbi replied.

"so jay's career is like at risk because someone saw him with a girl?" hana asked, "and that girl is me?"

"when did i even—" hana began, trying to think of the last time she hung out with jay, "oh no."

"just my luck," she sighed.

"what's wrong?" eunbi asked.

"the last time i was with jay, we were at the park. something happened and we ended up being really close to each other, which is why it looks like jay is kissing me," hana explained.

"but seriously? all of this over a rumor? it's not even that serious," she mumbled.
—
guilt filled hana's mind throughout the night, causing her to have a restless night. she tried everything she could to sleep, but she couldn't bring herself to do that.

instead, she threw a hoodie on and slid on some shoes, leaving the apartment.

her legs took her to the door next to hers and she knocked on it.

it was quite a while before the door was opened, revealing two boys with messy hair and a face that looked like they just woke up.

hana gasped, "oh i'm so sorry. i thought someone else lived here. i'm sorry for disrupting your night."

"who's there?" a voice asked, another male walking towards the door.

"ah! you're the girl that was with jay right?" the male asked, "i'm the guy that walked up to him."

"ah .. right," hana replied.

"did you need something?" the male asked.

"let her in," another voice spoke.

all heads turned to look inside the apartment, showing jay.

"please come in then," one of the males spoke, making way for hana to come inside.

"um .. i guess you can just follow jay. he's in that room," the boy from earlier directed her.

"thank you," hana smiled before knocking on the room door and stepping inside.

she shut the door behind her and turned to see jay lying on the bed. his hair was a mess and he had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept for days. he had a laptop and phone opened on his bed as well as a stack of papers placed on the nightstand next to him.

"jay .. you look .. terrible," hana accidentally spoke, covering her mouth, "sorry that's not what i meant. i meant—"

"it's okay," jay managed to smile, "i know i look bad."

"are you okay?" she asked, still standing by the door.

jay sighed, running his hands through his hair, stopping midway to hold his head up.

"um .. i wanted to come and apologize," hana began, "i didn't mean to disturb your night, but i'm really sorry for making your life much more complicated."

"you know about it?" jay asked.

"well my friends .. they mentioned it to me," hana explained, "i'm sorry. i should've never—"

"it really isn't your fault," jay spoke, "i was the one who got close to you like that. you probably weren't even aware something like this would happen. i should've been more cautious."

having no idea of how to response, hana walked closer to his bed and bent down by his laptop, "um may i?"

jay nodded and hana turned his laptop around to read what was pulled up. the more she scrolled down, the further her jaw dropped.

"isn't this a bit absurd?" she asked, "all because a rumor of a relationship?"

"i'm so sorry," she whispered, continuing to read the comments.

"wah .." she mumbled, turning her head to the stack of papers.

she picked them up one by one and read each note, her anger and frustration rising after each one.

"why did you keep all of this? you should've thrown them out," hana angrily spoke, crumpling the papers up and throwing them into the trash can next to her.

"hana," jay spoke, getting out of bed to walk by her, "it's okay."

he grabbed the rest of the papers and notes on his desk and tossed them in the trash can before walking back to his bed.

"i-it's okay?" hana asked in disbelief, "jay, your face is literally screaming 'i'm not okay. i haven't slept for days. someone help me' and you say it's okay?"

before jay could reply, there was a knock on the door and a frantic boy entered, "jay, our manager is here .."

jay's eyes widened as he hurriedly got out of bed and grabbed hana's hand, pulling her into the walk-in closet in his room.

"hana, i'm going to need you to stay as quiet as you can in here okay?" jay asked in a whisper, "i'm so done for."

he ran his fingers through his hair again and walked out of the closet, shutting the door tight.

"wow he must be under a lot of stress," hana mumbled to herself, immediately covering her mouth when she heard a deeper voice in the room.

"the situation seems to have gotten even more out of hand, so pd-nim has asked to see you tomorrow," the voice spoke.

"i wish i could help you on this one, but there's proof of it and i don't have a say in it this time," the voice added, "get some sleep. you look like you need it."