Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’m exhausted,” Rumi said. She entered the black car with Mira and Zoey. They were returning home after a little fan meeting with fans, “but, if the fans are happy, so am I.”

The three girls smiled, after they released their new solo ‘Golden’ everything was going smoothly until the Sajaboys decided to release a "definitely not catchy song” days after theirs. That made fans divided causing everyone to argue about the best song of all and also made them lose some important amount of views, which was starting to make the girls feel more anxious than ever.

Zoey looked at Rumi with soft eyes. “I knew you were stressed about the ‘soda pop situation,’” The girl's smile grew bigger, “and we made it out successfully!”

“Although, we need to ask Bobby about them being at our fan meeting,” Mira said. Looking out the window.

“Yeah… that was definitely weird, but I think we managed.” Rumi’s face changed, now it seemed thoughtful, “we always do…”

Those last words made her earn weird glances, but she just shrugged and looked out the window. The city at night glowed and there were a few posters of them and some from the Sajaboys. This whole day was something else, something she didn’t expect and the memories kept replaying over and over again.

Wanting to connect with their fans. Be better for them because since the Sajaboys appeared Huntrix has been struggling to keep their fans, the fanbase they slowly built with sweat and hard work, so Bobby had the idea to make a fanmeeting, to show their fans their worth, to promise Huntrix won’t go anywhere and in addition boost their confidence especially Rumi’s.

At first, it was a fantastic idea. They were ready to make their fans happy, but they weren’t ready for the worst. The Sajaboys appeared at the venue and they were stealing half of the people. Leaving everyone shocked, and Huntrix furious. Rumi thought it might be part of her imagination for being sleep deprived, but she didn’t want to be defeated, not this time that was so important for all her fans.

The problem was fixed gracefully thanks to Rumi. Instead of making their fans decide for the one who likes best, they won’t make them choose. They sat together. Huntrix and the Sajaboys.

Jinu sat beside her, with his usual grin.

“Didn’t know you would share this with us,” He muttered, not letting the audience catch him saying anything, “I’m impressed.”

Rumi didn’t look at him, “You really should because I can't stand your face.”

He didn’t look pleased at all, he always liked to tease her at every chance he got. Shows, awards and now a fan meeting, but now it didn’t seem to work as well. His mouth was partially open like he was about to fight back, but he hesitated and that gave Rumi some satisfaction.

The time went by and the crowd of fans grew smaller and smaller. Rumi was definitely satisfied by her work, she made every fan, every person that approached her, smile, and not some fake smile, a genuine one.

“You must be a demon or something, an angel perhaps,” Jinu said. After long hours of silence between them, “Like, you made everyone smile for real.”

Rumi rolled her eyes, “You are just jealous.”

“I’m not.”

She looked at him, keeping her distance, “You are.”

“I would never be jealous of you, of all people.” He stared at her, with the same intensity, but he leaned in closer.

“You know I’m better than you, that's why.” Rumi felt anger flowing in her veins and she almost didn’t notice the proximity with Jinu.

“You claim I’m egotistic, you should see yourself.” He grinded.

Now Jinu felt satisfaction in Rumi’s reaction.

The stare was brief, but in her head all seemed in slow motion. What was she doing? Trying to recompose herself was hard after an intense interaction, but she moved quickly because a fan walked their way and they needed to do their duties.

The only detail they didn’t realise was the clicks of the cameras near them.

“Earth back to Rumi,” Mira said. Gazing at her. “Everything good?”

“Yeah… just tired, like I said.”

“I’m going to believe you this time.”

“Girls! Come on! The couch is waiting,” Zoey yelled from some meters away, entering the building. They both followed.

Once in the flat, Rumi felt much better, being with her girls was truly a blessing. Relaxing on their couch, watching stupid romance movies and eating delicious food was something she wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

“This is the best way to end this day,” Rumi said, even though it sounded like a declaration, and maybe it was.

Suddenly her phone rang.

“Unknown number?” Zoey asked. Rumi stared at her phone and felt confusion.

“Bobby called, and now he left some messages.”

All the girls looked at each other with a bad feeling, like something was about to go terribly bad or good. Only the messages would tell.

Bobby
Hey, sorry for the hour
I need to talk to you as soon as possible
Social media is about to exploit
Because of you and Jinu…

“What…” That was the only thing that came from Rumi’s mouth, Mira and Zoey took the phone and looked as confused as her.

The air in the room shifted, the smiles and chaos long gone, now it felt tense and there was a kind of uncertainty, but they needed to know what had happened, so Zoey took her phone and made her way though social media and she couldn’t believe what her eyes saw.

“Ok, so, apparently fans are shipping you with him and it’s going like…” She lifted her gaze from the phone. “Like, incredibly popular, that’s why.”

“Why are you looking at him so closely?” Mira asked out of curiosity.

“I…” Rumi mutters. “We were kinda fighting, the usual,” She couldn’t face them, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. “And we got too close… I hate him and now everyone is shipping us.

She rubbed her temple, it was one of her worst nightmares, no, the worst nightmare of all.

“We got you,” Mira and Zoey reassured.

“First, we need Bobby to explain everything in person, then we make a solution,” Mira suggested and Rumi only nodded.

Everything was too much, while waiting for Bobby to arrive she only managed to scroll and scroll by social media. A lot of comments were about the ‘tension’ she had with Jinu, but she didn’t see any, the gaze they had on each other screamed hate and anger not an ‘I love you’ nor ‘I want you’, but the majority of fans didn’t think like her. Then Rumi turned her attention to the charts. Golden was above the Sajaboys song, which was good and the numbers increased quickly more than before and that terrified her.

This was against the teachings Celine had given her. ‘If you want to gain fame, you’ll have to work hard, not cheating or lying of any kind, just hard work.’ Those words lived rent free in her mind and Rumi’ll never forget them, but now she was failing. Failing everyone.

“I’m here!” Bobby screamed out of breath. He was notoriously rushing to get here. “Traffic was crazy, so sorry.”

“Don’t mind, Bobby.” Mira offered some water. “We need to know what to do, that’s all.”

“Well, it looks kinda complicated, but I had some talks over the phone with Gwi-ma Entertainment and they made me an offer.” He said. Drinking some water before he continues explaining. “Actually two offerings, they saw the reactions, we all saw and they said that it can be beneficious for both sides to create some kind of fake dating or to have Rumi and Jinu make a song together like a collab… what do you say?” Bobby looked at the three girls sitting in a circle, with thoughtful faces.

Silence invades the room. They haven’t had a situation like this before and making a decision was harder than it looked.

“Uhm, don’t know what to say,” Rumi’s face was pale and her gaze was lost in her thoughts. “What do you say?”

“I believe the song can be least dangerous, for everyone” Zoey suggests with uncertainty of her idea.

“Same here. If you’re going to fake date that bastard is going to take so much work.” Mira agreed.

“I think that’s the safest option too.” Bobby reassured.

“So, I guess that’s the one,” Rumi said slowly, looking at Bobby with fake confidence. “Thanks for asking.”

“Wouldn’t take a decision without your approval girls!”

“That’s why you’re the best!” Zoey cheered loudly, brightening the mood of the room.

“Tomorrow I will tell you how it went, and maybe I’ll take Rumi with me,” he added. “It’s that good?” The question was just for Rumi.

Rumi gave a half smile. “Sure, it is what needs to be done.”

“See you girls, take care.”

“You two!” The three girls said at the same time.

“Everything will be okay, we know that,” Zoey said and Mira nodded in approval.

“Yeah…” Rumi agreed. “Everything will…” She whispered to herself.

It was midnight and Rumi couldn’t sleep at all. She kept recalling the moment that changed everything.

That stare.

Jinu.

If she hated him before, now it wouldn’t go back. He ruined everything she had built carefully since she was a little kid. Her values and her career. Rumi didn’t want to be known because a man was being dumb and immature, but now everything was going downhill and she would fix it as soon as possible.

If it was necessary she would write all the song, do all the harmonies and just have that stupid handsome face sing the least interesting parts because he didn’t deserve it one bit.

On the inside she hoped that Jinu deep down would care about this situation and not be an absolute jerk.

Those thoughts kept her wide awake and even tears tried to go out, but she brushed them out. She needed to be strong, for her fans and for her friends. It wasn’t the first time she spent the whole night awake, but she tried to sleep anyway. Her body would fall asleep eventually.

Chapter Text

The sun woke her up. Last night Rumi didn’t even bother closing her curtains and now she was paying the price for that. The bed felt nice and comfy to stay in all day, but once she checked her phone, she knew that wouldn’t be possible.

Bobby texted her. The ‘Jinu situation’ was going to be discussed at twelve o’clock in his office. That made her drift her memories to yesterday's chaos, Jinu’s eyes felt like daggers on her and his smirk worse and now Rumi was going to see him again.

“What a great start to the day,” She thought. “Hopefully he doesn't arrive at all.”

Dragging herself out of bed was a challenge. Her mind didn’t stop for a second and that made every task ten times worse. Choosing an outfit was surprisingly simple, she didn’t want to impress anyone, something casual and comfy would do.

Once she left her room, she saw Mira and Zoey already eating breakfast in silence. Rumi approaches them quietly without the intention of breaking the comfortable silence between their friends. Mira looks up meeting Rumi’s stare and hands her a plate with some scrambled eggs and some toast.

The gesture was filled with worry and that made Rumi’s heart melt, “Thank you so much.”

“No worries,” Mira said.

“There’s coffee in the pot if you like,” Zoey added. She had a bright smile as usual.

Rumi ate in silence with her friends. She felt a boost of energy coming to her. Having Mira and Zoey by her side was truly an advantage.

“Are you meeting with Bobby?” Zoey asked once Rumi finished eating her breakfast.

“Yeah, at twelve.”

Mira studies her closely, “Just the two of you or Jinu it's going to be there?”

“Unfortunately.” Rumi fidgeted with her fingers, even if she didn’t like Jinu at all, all this situation was too much for her.

“Nothing, it's going to turn out wrong,” They reassured her. Zoey gave her a small hug to comfort her, “Although I don’t trust him at all” Mira murmured.

Rumi laughed, “Neither do I.”

Breakfast was actually really comforting and she would have preferred to stay there as much as possible, but she didn’t want to run late to the meeting. Even if she didn’t like it, it was business and if Rumi did things right, everything would turn right.

She said goodbye to her friends and went to the door. Rumi took a deep breath before opening the door and once she felt ready, left the flat.
Traffic was certainly a problem and it felt like ages to arrive at the meeting, but she only arrived a couple minutes late. Rumi rushed into the corridors, knowing the path from memory. She slammed the door open making everyone in the room jump and now she regretted that.

“I’m so sorry, there was a crazy traffic jam,” Rumi said. Her checks turned red from embarrassment.

“Didn’t think you were a person that arrives late to meetings,” Jinu said as a greeting, but the comment was brushed away thanks to Bobby.

“Glam you arrive, we were just starting.”

Rumi scanned the room and also greeted Jinu’s manager that she didn’t catch the name because of the nerves.

The first half of the meeting was their managers speaking to each other carefully discussing yesterday's events and looking at the offers set on the table.

“Looks like we’re here to just look,” Jinu muttered under his breath, but Rumi catched what he said.

“Yeah.” He changed his focus to her and seemed surprised, but he didn’t say anything else.

Which was weird to Rumi, Jinu always has something to say, doesn't he? She felt confused.

“Ok, sorry for keeping you waiting to speak, but we needed to be on the same page,” Jinu’s manager spoke, with a soft tone.

“Exactly, you were offered options,” Bobby said. Glazing at Rumi and she nodded, “Rumi chose the option of making a music collaboration and Jinu in the other way with the help of their manager agreed on both.”

Now Rumi was more confused than ever. “The two options?” She thought, “Was he crazy? He hates me.”

She looked at Jinu with a questioning look. He needed to confess his reasons, but he didn't look at her at all.

“Now we need an agreement,” Bobby explained. He had a strained smile and seemed to be sweating more than usual.

“First of all, why would you want to fake date in the first place?” Rumi asked Jinu directly. He smiled in her direction, “You basically hate me for no reason.” She whispered loud enough to make him listen.

He waited for a second before answering, “I thought it would be a great PR strategy, they like to ship us, so we would be giving what they want,” There was a pause, the room felt tense, “if you want we could only do the song, but I believe we’re losing and amazing opportunity.”

Rumi looked at her surprise, she had never listened to him give such a coherent explanation, but it also made her furious. She clenched her fists. He sounded too good to be completely true and Jinu also ignored her statement.

With a challenging tone, Rumi stated, “You’re hiding something, don’t you?”

“None of your business,” Jinu answered back with the same tone.

“I believe it is.”

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Jinu didn’t look back in her direction again and Rumi only felt confused and angry about the man’s behaviour. The managers hesitated in talking, but the meeting needed to conclude in something.

“So, the song would be the one?” Jinu’s manager asked both of them, trying to mitigate the tense atmosphere.

Jinu took a deep breath. “I believe so.”

“Yeah,” she said.

Jinu leaned relaxed in his chair staring at the managers expecting some kind of plan while Rumi was lost in thought, everything was too weird, the bad kind of weird, the one that involves Jinu in most cases.

“So, we would like you to have all the creative freedom of the song, but we need a deadline for it,” Bobby explained. Giving concerned looks by Rumi’s way, but she didn’t notice right away.

“A month will be enough,” Jinu said.

“What…” Rumi muttered, “Like a month appears to be too much, but I believe it isn't as much as we thought.”

The room grew silent, they all were thinking hard in a solution.

“I understand,” Jinu started, “but, if we don’t do it now, the hype would go down and the effort on the song will too.”

“We don’t even know each other, how are we supposed to write a song within a month?” The question changed Jinu’s expression to an unreadable one.

The managers looked at each other and didn’t say a word, they didn’t dare to. It was a ‘problem’ for them to solve.

“We can’t write a bad song, it needs to be good regardless,” Rumi thought to herself. She felt like there wasn’t enough air in the room, she needed some minutes to breathe. To be far from him as soon as possible.

“You also hate me and you want to spend more time with me, what a surprise,” Jinu muttered with the intention of Rumi hearing that and she did.

“A month and a half,” She suggested with her eyes staring directly at the floor, the statement was rumbling in her mind like crazy. “What was he up to?”

“That would be great,” The managers agreed and Jinu only gave a nod she didn't see.

“Thank you,” Rumi said, “I really need to go.” She rushed through the door leaving Jinu shocked.

“Why is she running?” He asked himself.

Jinu left the room without a goodbye. Rumi ran fast and almost lost her path, but he was able to catch up with her. She went to the bathroom.

“Should I wait?”

He stood leaning against the wall. He would wait what it takes because her attitude was far from normal and curiosity got the best of him.

Rumi stood in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. Breathless for the running. Studying her face, she saw that her eyes were missing their brightness at all and felt like tears would come out, but she tried looking at the ceiling to stop them. She won’t cry even if it's the worst nightmare of all. She just agreed on something she wasn’t ready for, but quitting was not the answer.

“What do I do?” The mirror was far from clean, but it reflected her emotion clearly. Disappointment, “What would Celine say if she knew about this?”

She would scold her, saying Rumi was betraying everything she taught her with love and hard work.

Her breathing was starting to get more intense, but she actively tried to think good things and especially that Celine won’t say something of that kind, she raised her after all and she must love her.

Rumi went out of the bathroom and thought the hallway was alone, feeling glamthat she escaped the meeting as soon as possible because that place felt too tight somehow, but looking at her right she caught the least person she wanted to see.

Jinu.

“Why are you following me?” She asked. Her expression was completely changed, she frowned.

“What a way of greeting me,” Jinu tried to joke, but she seemed not in the mood, “I’m curious, just that.”

“You shouldn’t, not your business.”

“It’s my business now”

“You can declare that out of nowhere.”

“I can,” He said, softly this time and that amazed Rumi, “you looked like you’re about to cry.”

“I’m not,” Now she felt confused. Actually she didn’t know how to feel. What was happening with her?

“Look, I won’t push this further, but…” He started, but mid-sentence voice wouldn’t come out, “but, because of you we’ll see each other more often than we thought,so we need to get along.” Jinu tried to recompose in his usual attitude, but now something didn't look right to Rumi.

“Try acting nicely and I would reconsider, because you’re a jerk.”

“Glam I’m not alone, although that hurt a little.” Jinu’s smile was sarcastic.

She just rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna leave now.”

Rumi didn’t expect him to answer that, she just started walking with her eyes locked in the lift. She really wanted to be far from him for a while, but it felt like his eyes followed her everywhere.

“At least, give me your phone number,” Jinu said, without looking at her and she tried to imagine how he looked like, “You know, it would be easier to talk about the song.”

Yeah. The song.

She approached him again and showed him her phone. Jinu wrote the numbers real fast and called her.

“Why did you call?” She felt confused about Jinu’s actions in general.

“If I write you a message you would know it’s me instead of another person.”

“Makes sense,” She murmured, “but, I’ll hope it isn’t you.” She whispered as low as possible.

“I think you need to act nicely too,” Jinu answered, with a raised brow.

“I’ll think about it,” Rumi began to panic, so she just ran to the lift and disappeared from Jinu’s intense gaze.