sour (nomin)

16

Jaemin had a bad feeling about how management was looking at them, even worse than how he felt in this same position only a few weeks ago. 

"So as we all know, you two have royally messed up," the main manager says calmly.

"Luckily, every article is down already and there is, as of right now, no rumors spreading over the internet about it. That doesn't mean you two are safe, though. Now, on to the elephant in the room, are you two actually dating?" The man asks, disgust evident on his features.

"No, not now, not ever. Jeno thought that being nice in public would be good for us, sir. I didn't push him away, I'm terribly sorry it had to come to this," Jaemin says as politely as he could.

"Well it wouldn't matter anyways, Jeno you're getting a girlfriend," Jaemin felt his heart drop at those words as he quickly looked up to a confused looking Jeno.

"With all due respect sir, I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now. I'm trying to focus on promotions and our music," Jeno says with evident urgency.

"You'll be able to focus on promotions just fine, but you'll also have to have a girlfriend. this time though, you won't cause us all to almost lose our jobs. That's final, Jaemin you may leave, Jeno we will be discussing who your new girlfriend is and how you will show it to the world," Jaemin felt tears threatening to spill over for reasons he could not comprehend.

He got up, thanked his manager, and scurried out of the conference room not wanting to have yet another meltdown where he shouldn't be having one. 

-

Jaemin walked through the door to the dorms, slamming it behind him and falling to the ground, not trying to hide his sobs anymore.

He knew he shouldn't be crying, he knew he shouldn't care, he knew he didn't have the right to be sad, he knew there were so many instances where he could've said something but didn't, he knew there was no way he could tell Jeno even a sliver of the truth now, he knew it was only a fake girlfriend, he knew all of that. Though it didn't help one bit. 

The fact that he hadn't slept in what felt like weeks was catching up to him, which made his cries even louder, as he wanted nothing more than to curl up with his mother and tell her everything wrong with his life.

Jaemin didn't flinch as a hand started rubbing his back at a soothing pace, it comforted Jaemin, as the person didn't ask questions or make any move to stop, they simply sat and endured Jaemin's pain with him.

After a couple minutes of painful sobs, Jaemin finally looked up to see Mark already looking down at him with a pained look.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mark asks quietly, his tone of voice making it obvious that he wasn't pressuring Jaemin to utter a word. 

Jaemin nodded his head slowly as he sat up to rest his head on Mark's shoulder. He knew they were in an awkward position, sitting in the middle of the entry, but he couldn't care less at that particular moment.

"He's getting a fake girlfriend," Jaemin says in a whisper. Jaemin himself could hear how in pain he was just by his voice, he knew he hadn't been honest with himself lately and how he pushed everything aside, but he never thought anything that wasn't physical pain could hurt that bad. 

He hears Mark sigh, which caused a whole new set of tears to make an appearance, this time falling silently. 

"It's just a fake girlfriend Jaemin, these things happen all the time. Nothing will happen between them, it's just a part of being an idol," Mark says sadly. 

Even Mark knew how bad this could turn out for Jaemin, but he didn't dare voice it. 

"Come on, you haven't slept in forever, you need to rest," Mark says as he pulls Jaemin up, leading Jaemin to his room.

Jaemin felt numb as he brushed his teeth and changed, with the help of Mark. He felt like a child being put to bed as the rest of the members filed in to the room, none knowing what had happened but none caring, as they just wanted Jaemin to feel comfortable.

Jaemin had asked Mark to not tell anyone, as he knew Jeno would tell them all sooner or later, he also didn't want the I told you so's to be thrown in his face so soon. 

"Are you sure you're not hungry? We have interviews tomorrow morning, you should eat something," Haechan says sweetly.

"It's not even lunch time, I can wake up for dinner. Now can I please go to bed, I love you guys," Jaemin says as he closes the door on the boys with a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes. 

He falls on to his bed, not attempting to cover himself with blankets, letting the tears flow in silence as he slowly let sleep overtake him. 

AN: short again, anyways. Exciting!! comment and tell me what you think!! ly