After the news of Joshua and I dating all of our schedules had been canceled to help with damage control. Online a lot of fans were still surprised and upset that there was a dating scandal in Seventeen, yet alone within the group itself. At the end of the week our manager informed us that there would be a press conference to finally address the reporters and to set some things right.

I had no idea what was going to happen at the press conference but the only thing running through my mind was make sure Joshua got the least amount of blame possible. Both Joshua and I were going to be getting help with what to say to the reporters individually. The other members would be present at the press conference but only Seungcheol and Jeonghan would be talking and that would only be for a few minutes.

“So Skyler,” our manager said sitting down with me at a table in the company’s café. “Let’s go over what you’ll say to possible questions.” He handed me a folder, inside were papers with different answers I could give to possible questions.

“I haven’t told Joshua this or anyone for that matter,” I said while looking over the answers provided for me. “And I want this to be a secret from all of Seventeen.”

“Sure what is it?” he asked looking over at me. “I’ll make sure only the people you want to know will get this information.”

“At the press conference,” I said taking a deep breath. What I was about to do would change everything. “I want to take all the blame for everything. I want Joshua to walk away from this whole situation without losing fans or anything. I’ll do anything to make sure I’m the only one being punished for this whole scandal.”

“But Skyler,” our manager said shaking his head. “That’s going to pretty much sabotage your career as a singer. Are you sure you want this?”

“I never had dreams to be a singer,” I answered with a small smile on my face. “This is Joshua’s dream and I don’t want him to lose it. If it means taking all the blame for everything for his dream to continue I’ll do it.”

“Do you want to think about this for a few days?” he asked. “If you go through with this I’m pretty sure the only option will be for you to withdraw from the group. I think you should really think about this some more. Even though singing isn’t your dream you seem so happy performing on stage with all thirteen of them.”

I nodded my head as the two of us wrapped up everything for today. I left with a few days to rethink about what I was going to do. All I knew was I cared about Joshua too much to get him hurt by the public because of me.

When I got back to the dorm I was immediately grabbed by Joshua to our room. Once inside our room Joshua asked what had happened and I felt like for lying to him but I didn’t want him to suspect anything. Was I being selfish only thinking about him and not myself?

“I’m really scared,” Joshua said taking my hand in his. “The press are going to be hounding us with questions. But I’m glad I’ll be there with you. We’ll get through this I know it.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly already feeling my heart sinking. The hopeful look of determination in his eyes squeezed my heart painfully. “I’m a little tired so let’s take a nap.”

“Okay,” Joshua said smiling at me. We got under the covers of our bed, Joshua immediately finding his place in my arms. “I love you Skyler.”

I closed my eyes looking up at the ceiling feeling tears pricking at my eyes. Would I be able to leave all of his for him?

“I love you too Joshua,” I said quietly. “I love you too.” While Joshua drifted off to sleep I lied their awake some more as more tears fell down my face. Why did life have to be so hard for us?
The next few days I was constantly absorbed in my thoughts about what to do about the situation. I really wanted Joshua to come out of this whole scandal relatively unhurt by the fans and media, even if it meant taking the blame for everything. But then how would Joshua react to me telling him I wanted to take the fall for it all? Keeping it a secret from him was betraying him when he was so determined to get through this together.

Even though the two of us spent every waking and sleeping hour together my thoughts were always drifting and wandering away from what we were doing. All of us had been confined to the dorm building since the media was still waiting outside like a pack of hungry dogs. Even fans were still camped outside, waiting for the tiniest bit of news. If the situation were different I would’ve admired their dedication.

“Shall we order dinner now?” Joshua asked poking me on the cheek lightly. “It’s six already.”

“Sure,” I answered smiling at him as he pulled me out of my thoughts once again. “What do you want to eat?”

“I’ll be fine with anything you decide Skyler,” Joshua said wrapping his arms around me as he laid his head on my chest. The two of us were on the couch in the living room, oddly alone. Everyone was either in their rooms or somewhere else in the dorm building.

We eventually decided on fried chicken and we watched a movie while we waited for our delivery. The more I spent time with Joshua the easier my decision became. I called our manager and set up a private meeting in the practice room in our building.

“So you’ve come to a decision?” our manager asked as we sat down on the floor of the room.

“Yes,” I answered slowly. I felt bad for not telling Joshua any of this but it was the best for his career. But I knew that after I told our manager nothing would be the same. My time in Seventeen would be over and that would mean I’d be going back to Los Angeles. Because of that I didn’t know if Joshua and I would still be dating, probably not though. “I’ll take all the blame.”

“Are you positively sure?” our manager asked. “Once I tell the CEO this it’ll be all over. There will be no turning back.”

“I know,” I said with a small smile. “I’m prepared for everything.” Our manager nodded his head giving me a sad smile as he took out his phone and called the CEO. I listened as my fate was sealed and handed off to the CEO. They would know what to do and I would just follow along.

At the end of the meeting I was informed of what would happen this upcoming Friday for the press conference. The morning of the conference Pledis would issue a statement that was, “written” by me saying it was my entire fault and Joshua wasn’t to blame. Everything would be over then, and my contract with Pledis would be over. As one last parting gift from the company they’d agreed to pay for my plane ticket back to LA in exchange for the last paycheck they were supposed to give me.

I walked back to the dorm after the meeting feeling scared for Friday. Joshua was going to be mad at me no doubt but at least his career would be safe. He could continue being in Seventeen and eventually the fans would get over everything.

“Jeonghan we need to talk,” I said knocking on the door of his and Seungcheol’s bedroom. I closed the door behind me as I sat down on Jeonghan’s bed.

“What is it?” Jeonghan asked putting his phone done. I took a deep breath closing my eyes preparing to drop the news on my cousin. The weight of everything was too much to hold on my own and I needed to tell someone, so family first. I knew Jeonghan would keep it a secret until Friday.

“About the press conference on Friday,” I explained fiddling with his covers with my hands. “No one knows except our managers and the CEO but I’m going to take all the blame for the scandal so Joshua can continue being in Seventeen.”

“Holy Skyler,” Jeonghan muttered as he moved over closer to me. He grabbed my hands holding them in his. “What does that mean for you then?”

“It means I’ll no longer be a member of Seventeen after Friday,” I answered. “And I’ll be returning back to LA.”

“Skyler,” Jeonghan said shaking his head. “This is huge. You’re whole life is going to change.”

“My whole life has already been changed the moment I came to Korea,” I laughed. “My plan was to just spend the summer with you before studying abroad, it was never to be a part of Seventeen it just happened like that.”

Jeonghan nodded his head as he wrapped me in a tight hug. The two of us stayed silent as I kept him securely in my arms feeling some wetness seeping onto my shoulder. It was going to be hard on all the members because we’d grown so close. This had been one of the best experiences of my life. Not just anyone could say they got to be a member of a kpop group and be part of the process of getting popular.

“It’ll be alright,” I said after a while leaning back a little to look at Jeonghan. I wiped some of the tears from his face. “You guys have a long career ahead of you and I’ll be on the sidelines in LA watching and supporting you all. So don’t disband anytime soon.”

“We won’t,” Jeonghan said shaking his head. “And we’re never going to forget or deny that you weren’t a part of Seventeen. You’ll always be a member no matter what anyone says.”

I know this chapter was a little short but I wanted the press conference to have it's own chapter. Yeah so Skyler decided what he was going to do even if it was going to hurt him. 

Thanks for reading~ please let me know your thoughts. 

alsk20