"Explain," Mr. Kang said, crossing his arms. "Start from the beginning. You're dating someone?"

"I...yes," Soonyoung answered timidly. Mr. Kang rubbed his temple silently before speaking up.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Mr. Kang demanded.

"We just started dating yesterday, sir."

"It's a guy?" Mr. Kang checked. Soonyoung nodded, and the CEO sighed.

"Soonyoung, I don't personally have anything against your preferences, but you know that not everyone here is accepting of gays yet," Mr. Kang lectured him. "This scandal could ruin your career."

"Sir, the picture isn't entirely incriminating. They're only hugging in the photo. Friends do that all the time," Seungcheol spoke up, attempting to maintain peace.

"We can hold a press conference to rectify the situation," Seungcheol proposed. "Chan's debut is coming up, right? We can tell the press that Soonyoung isn't seeing anyone and then tell them about how he's been helping Chan out with the choreo for his debut song."

"I think we'll have to do that. There's no other way out of it," Mr. Kang sighed. "Seungcheol-ssi, you and Soonyoung-ssi will have to work together on the story you're going to tell the press."

"Of course, sir." Seungcheol nodded. Mr. Kang turned to Soonyoung.

"Soonyoung, you must be able to recite it perfectly at the press conference. If you make even the smallest mistake, the reporters will be able to spot it, and they'll use it against you," Mr. Kang warned him. "If you want to protect your career and your boyfriend, you cannot mess up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be careful from now on as well," Soonyoung replied.

"I trust you two. Don't let me down. Your career shouldn't have to end because of this little thing," Mr. Kang said. "I'll send some people from PR over to help you."

"When will we have the press conference?" Seungcheol questioned.

"We'll try and schedule it for tomorrow at noon. Doing it today afternoon would be too soon. We'll say that you had today off and were out with friends, so we couldn't have it today," Mr. Kang decided.

"Seokmin doesn't have a schedule, right? Go out with him for lunch and then hang around somewhere for an hour," Mr. Kang continued. "We'll have some people take photos of you to post online just in case. We'll begin getting things ready for the press conference. Work on your story while out if you can."

"Yes, sir," Soonyoung responded.

"Oh, one more thing. Your boyfriend won't cause any trouble, right? Can you ask him to keep quiet about the whole situation?" Mr. Kang told Soonyoung.

"Of course, sir. He won't say anything. He's not that kind of person," Soonyoung affirmed. "I'll still ask him not to say anything though."

"Good." Mr. Kang nodded. "You may go now then."

"Sir?" Soonyoung spoke up, and Mr. Kang raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for being understanding with me and not demanding I break up with him."

"I don't have time for this sappy crap, Soonyoung. Go." Mr. Kang shooed Soonyoung away, but Soonyoung smiled when he noticed the grin on his CEO's face.

♬

"Soonyoung-ah, you should go home soon," Seungcheol said. "You need to rest properly for tomorrow."

"Just a second, Seungcheol-hyung. I really need to memorize this," Soonyoung mumbled.

"Soonyoung-ssi, your manager is right. You should sleep," one of the PR department employees, Seo Ji An, interrupted. "You know, psychologists have found that people are more likely to remember things they've studied if they go to sleep immediately after studying those things."

"Not to mention, you basically already have everything down," Seungcheol added. "You'll be fine. We'll have some time tomorrow too, and you've basically got it all memorized already. Go home now and rest."

"I—" Soonyoung was cut off by a stern look from his manager, and he sighed. "Fine. I'll go home."

"Finally," Ji An joked, and Soonyoung glared at her playfully. He grabbed his bag and cleared his throat.

"I'm leaving then. Goodnight, everyone! Thank you so much for helping me with this," Soonyoung said. He put on a large coat and a wig in order to avoid the press he knew might be waiting outside the building.

"Save your voice for tomorrow," Seungcheol teased.

"Alright, I get it. I'm going. Bye!" Soonyoung waved at the other employees.

As he left the room, he checked his phone for any messages from Jihoon, frowning when he saw that there were none. He had messaged Jihoon hours ago after his talk with the CEO to check in on him and explain how things had gone at the company, but Jihoon hadn't replied to any of his messages, just leaving them on read. Soonyoung sighed and moved to put his phone away when he saw the screen of his phone light up, notifying of an incoming call.

"Hey, Seokmin-ah, what's up?" Soonyoung greeted, answering the phone. "Hey, man, thanks for earlier by the way. I mean, I know the CEO would've made you do it if you refused, but still—"

"Soonyoung-hyung, has Jihoon-hyung contacted you? He's not home yet," Seokmin frantically said, and Soonyoung's heart stopped.

"His shift was supposed to be over three hours ago, right?" Soonyoung checked.

"Yeah, but he still isn't home yet," Seokmin worried. "He usually texts me if he's coming home late or staying in the overnight room, but he hasn't said anything. What if something happened to him?!"

"Don't worry, Seokmin-ah, I'm sure he's okay," Soonyoung reassured him. "Hey, I'm at the company still, so I'll go to his office and ask his coworkers about him, okay? Maybe he was just too tired or busy to text you. Stay home in case he comes back, okay? I'll text you if I find him."

"Okay," Seokmin agreed shakily. "Thanks, Soonyoung-hyung."

"No problem. I'm hanging up now," Soonyoung told Seokmin. Immediately after he ended the call, he received another call from Wonwoo.

"Wonwoo, I was just about to call you," Soonyoung said. "Did Jihoon leave work yet? Seokmin and I haven't been able to reach him all day. We're so worried that something might've happened to him."

"He's at my place," Wonwoo answered, and Soonyoung let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God. Can you send me your address?" Soonyoung requested. "I'll come get him, so just text me your address—"

"Um, I actually just called you because when I called Seokmin, it said he was talking to someone else," Wonwoo interrupted. "You guys work at the same company, right? Can you go tell him that Jihoon's at my place?"

"Huh? Why can't I just get him?" Soonyoung questioned.

"Are you serious?" Wonwoo replied hotly. "Do you really think Jihoon wants to see you right now? After the news that just came out?"

"He doesn't want to see me?" Soonyoung asked in a quiet, broken voice.

"Would you want to see the person that you like and that you thought liked you after finding out that they're actually dating someone else?" Wonwoo retorted, and Soonyoung blinked in confusion.

"What?" Wonwoo didn't know about the two of them? Jihoon didn't tell him?

"Look, can you just tell Seokmin that Jihoon's with me?" Wonwoo repeated.

"I...alright," Soonyoung conceded. He probably shouldn't be seen with Jihoon now anyways. "I'll tell him."

"Thank you," Wonwoo sighed. "I'm hanging up."

"Alright, thanks. Bye," Soonyoung said.

Soonyoung frowned. He hoped Jihoon was doing okay. Soonyoung sent a text to Seokmin telling him that Jihoon was at Wonwoo's place and then opened up the final draft of what he had to say at the press conference tomorrow. He would make sure to do well at the press conference in order to protect Jihoon and their relationship. He read the script out under his breath quietly as he walked towards the exit.

A/N: hey! sorry it took so long for me to update guys. there's just been too much going on lately. i hope the fact that this chapter was really long kind of makes up for that though? hope you guys enjoyed it! what'd you guys think? was it okay? ik it started getting kind of shitty at the end lmao i wasn't rly sure how else to write that part so that's the best i could do rn. let me know what y'all thought in the comments tho! sorry again for the wait.

linked song is "she's mine" by vav bc it's such a bop! i love it sm. vav is a pretty cool group too i gotta get into them more. ziu is my bias atm (ayno's my bias wrecker tho) bc what a cutie! also all the vav dudes are super tall? like wtf h o w like i think the shortest member is 5'11" or 5'10"? smh anyways yeah ty guys as always for supporting this fic and being understanding. y'all are amazing :) have a great day! ily all! thanks again! bye <3