Living without Yoongi was difficult for Jieun. Being separated from him reminded her too much of how it was in the past. She wasn't sure if Yoongi was struggling to move on like her. If anything, she hoped that he was having trouble going through life just like her. The only sources she could get about his well-being was through the news articles, but he never said much about anything. The only times he would talk a lot was when he was talking about music.

Gradually as time passed by, the scandal died and people began to forget. If they ever remembered the news, they treated it like nothing. Sometimes, Jieun felt bitter about the situation. At the time, people were ready to destroy her relationship with Yoongi, and once they did, they acted as if they hadn't done anything. It was like they had wiped their hands clean and left the fault onto the two for having a clumsy relationship.

A few years flew by in a blink of an eye. Jieun managed to return to the music scene after developing her own unique style of music, which had garnered a lot of attention. As for BTS, all she knew was that they were continuing to climb up the ranks, accomplishing incredible feats that not many K-Pop artists thought that they could do.

I'm probably never going to see them, she thought. I'll probably never see Yoongi. He's a lot busier these days, anyway.

"Jieun."

She looked up and smiled when she saw her manager enter the van. He closed the door and passed her a few items.

"I need you to sign these before we reach our next destination," he told her.

"Sure," Jieun said, signing away. Over the years, she had become more obedient and quiet. She didn't complain as much as she would. People around her always told her that she seemed to have become more mature and more like an adult, but Jieun felt more empty inside. If anything, she felt like a meaningless doll on display.

After all, after losing touch with Yoongi, she didn't really see the point in a lot of things. For now, the only thing motivating her to continue the entertainment business was her fans.

"Are you excited?" Junghyun asked.

"About what?" Jieun asked.

"About tonight." Junghyun curiously eyed at Jieun. "Dream Concert."

Jieun tensed up. She had seen the line-up a few weeks ago. Many had doubted that BTS would make it to the Dream Concert since they were on their North American tour, but many were delighted to see their name attached to the list of rising stars attending the event. She knew that she would see Yoongi at some point in the show, but would it be possible to talk to him?

Probably not, she thought. "It's just another showcase. There's not much to think about it."

"Are you sure?" Junghyun asked. "Honestly, I was going to ask to withdraw you once BTS confirmed that they were going to appear, but I couldn't because I had already submitted all the papers by then."

"It's fine. You don't need to worry about me, Junghyun. I'll be fine," Jieun assured him. "Besides, it's not like we're going to have the chance to talk. I didn't even see him during rehearsals."

"Well, BTS is a busy group," Junghyun pointed out. "Have you been in contact with any of them?"

"None," Jieun said. "Jimin contacted me for a little bit, but I guess he got busy."

"Is that so?" Junghyun mumbled. "Well, he's been getting a lot more lines these days. Looks like he's been helping out with the lyrics here and there."

Jieun smiled. "Yeah. He's been working hard."

"Anyway, when we get to the concert, make sure to keep your image clean. If you see any BTS members, try to avoid them, okay?" Junghyun said. "It might not seem like it, but some people might remember your scandal with Yoongi and Jimin. You were already labeled a '' and '' because of that. Try to stay away from boys as much as possible, okay?"

Jieun scowled. Memories of hate comments flooded back into her mind. Of course, since she was a small and lesser-known idol, she faced more hate compared to Yoongi. What is that neither could do or say anything about it. She would receive letters of spite; some were even written in blood. It had been difficult going on talk shows because they would always bring up the scandals and address the comments, which she would have to smile through and say that it didn't really "bother" her when, in fact, it did. The comments had severely damaged her reputation.

"I understand," Jieun murmured. "Don't worry about me, though. I don't think there's going to be an opportunity for me to see them except on stage…"

• • •

Jieun had a tense expression when she encountered BTS behind the stage. She had just gotten to the concert and was shocked to see them already at the event. If anything, she had expected them to come a bit later, or just late enough so that she would be in her waiting room.

me, she thought. What should she do? How should she act? Should she even greet them? Of course she had to greet them. She already made eye-contact with them.

But what would she say? What could she say? Wait, was anyone watching them? If they are, then wouldn't they be suspicious over her behavior if she talked to them? No matter how much she thought, she could only think that it would be best to avoid—

"Oh. It's IU," Seokjin said.

Everyone except for Yoongi lifted their eyes. Yoongi pretended to be fixated with getting his microphone on. While the other members smiled at her, Jimin had a twisted guilty expression on his face. Jimin quickly looked away and pretended to be busy with his thoughts.

"Hello," Jieun said in a small voice, trembling a little.

"It's been a while," Jungkook said. "How have you been?"

"Good," she said shortly. She glanced up at Yoongi, who continued to avert his attention to anything but Jieun. She hitched her breath, realizing that he was ignoring her on purpose. With a shaky hand, she pointed at a random direction. "U-Um, I should go. I have to meet my m-manager."

"Oh, okay. Nice meeting you!" Taehyung exclaimed.

Jieun faked a laugh before scurrying away.

Once she was gone, all the BTS members glanced at Jimin and Yoongi. If anything, they had expected either one of them to greet her or say something. They even planned to excuse themselves if Yoongi or Jimin wanted to talk to her, but neither boys seemed to be interested with the idea of reuniting with the solo singer.

"She's grown a lot prettier," Taehyung commented.

Yoongi and Jimin shot him a glare.

"That's true," Hoseok said. "I really like her song, too. Have you been listening to them?"

"Of course. I hear Yoongi play it all the time," Seokjin said. He glanced at Yoongi. "Do you really not want to talk to her? She'll be in her waiting room. You can probably talk to her there."

"No," Yoongi said shortly. "I'm fine." He turned to them. "I'm going to be in our waiting room."

With that, he walked away from the group. Hoseok sighed and shook his head.

"Looks like he's not going to take charge," Hoseok murmured. "Do you think Jieun is going to talk to him first?"

"I highly doubt it," Namjoon said. "Besides, after he read all those hate comments towards Jieun, he felt extremely bad about it. He's probably doing this for Jieun's sake, and Jieun is probably avoiding him for his sake, too."

"That's awful. The only way you can show love is to avoid each other. How said," Seokjin mumbled. He glanced at Taehyung, who turned around. "Where are you going?"

Taehyung gave him a cheeky grin. "I'm off to have fun!"

"Where are you going this time?" Namjoon asked.

Taehyung winked. "Girl groups. Duh."

The boys sighed, but allowed Taehyung to wander around. The rest returned to their waiting room, talking to each other while they went to the room. However, Jimin kept glancing over his shoulders, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jieun. When he didn't, he lowered his head and entered the waiting room, trying to figure out if there was anything he could do for her to make her happy.

Maybe I'll see her on stage, Jimin hoped. Maybe near the end, when we're all on stage, I can properly apologize and do something for her...

• • •

Hours passed by. The concert was filled with singing echoing across the city and lights beaming towards the sky. The blue sky quickly turned to the blackest night. Some audience members left, while others stayed to watch their bias group appear. Eventually, at the end of the event, all the idols gathered up on stage, holding microphones and singing the same song that expressed unity and dreams.

As they gathered closer to the center stage, Jieun found herself hiding behind a few of the larger groups. She was small, so it was difficult for her to push through to the front. However, she didn't really try to go for the front. Besides, BTS—being the more famous K-Pop group amongst the rest—would probably stand in the front, and she didn't want to be seen standing next to them or anywhere near them. She made sure to stay somewhere in the back, where she could comfortably hide herself from the cameras and from the eyes of the audience.

After all, this was for Yoongi's sake. If she had stepped up to the front, it would be a reckless move.

A few seconds into the chorus of the song, and Jieun felt something touch her hand. The touch seemed to have sparked something in her because she instinctively felt her heart skip a beat. She almost yelped, but professionally continued to sing with the rest of the idols. Slowly, she glanced down, trying to figure out who had brushed their hand against hers.

To her disbelief, Jieun saw Yoongi stand next to her. She felt her cheeks burn and she immediately looked straight ahead, forcing herself not to look at him.

Why is he here? she wondered. She tried to sing louder with the crowd, but the crowd only sang even louder, eventually covering her voice. She continued to blush and awkwardly look ed away with her sweaty hands swinging by her side. She gave him one more glance, only to see that he was still staring straight ahead with a neutral expression. Her heart sank. Is it really over between us?

As the audience erupted into cheers when the confetti rained down on them, Jieun felt something hold onto her hand. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She looked to her side quickly and saw that Yoongi was secretly holding her hand behind Jimin, who was standing in front of the two. Jieun tried to shake away Yoongi’s hand, but he held onto it tightly. Her brown orbs rolled over to see a small playful smirk on his lips.

A smile drew across her own lips as she looked straight ahead at the audience. It’s not over.

While the two enjoyed their secret moment, they failed to notice that there was one person watching them. Jimin, who had sensed that the two were doing something under everyone’s eyes, snuck a peek behind his shoulder. When he saw Jieun grin like never before, he subconsciously looked down at them holding hands. With a heavy heart but blessing smile, Jimin looked away, covering the two behind his back.

THE END

Author's Note: I'm pretty sure this was rushed, but I'm going to leave this story as it is so that I continue with writing another story. I planned on having a new IU story out (because of her MV and her albums—they're so beautiful like omg) by the time I finish this story, but I'm having trouble picking the second lead. I know that it's going to be a JungU story (BTS's Jungkook and IU), but I'm stuck with choosing the male second lead, which would be either Kim Soohyun (inspired by 'Ending Scene' MV) or Big Bang's G-Dragon (inspired by 'Palette' lyrics). I'm so conflicted about the second male lead because he'll play a very important role, so I'm spending my time carefully deciding who to pick (even though I said that I would write a new IU story ASAP when her album came out lol).

While I'm conflicting over that, I plan on writing a new story with completely new idols that I haven't written about. Kind of want to write about the AkMu siblings, but I'll think about it a little longer (maybe). I have this G-Friend story in mind (supernatural and action), but I'm still conflicted over writing it because it just has a lot of stuff and I really need to be dedicated to it (I learned this after—and still writing—Remember the Rhododendrons). I might start that during the summer, though.

Anyway, thank you for keeping up with this story until the end! Thank you for reading, subscribing, up-voting, commenting and supporting this story! I really appreciate it, and I'm pretty sure you guys are tired of the repetitive thank-you note I leave at the end of my story, but really, I'm grateful that you guys take your time to read this. Again, thank you very much! ^_^