BEhind the scenes #7

Paying the price.

The atmosphere among the bachelors was rather gloomy, the absence of Yoongi leaving all the others very discontent. Only Namjoon was sitting there, sighing quietly as he was staring at the table in the middle of all the bachelors. Why were the lights so dim? No wonder this all felt even more tragic. Tragic and somewhat exhausting with at least one of the bachelors being in the middle of raging.

“What on earth is going on?! Why did we get separated contracts for Season 2 appearances when we’ve never talked about stuff like this happening?! And why did Juna sue MBC and now she’s working with Yoongi?! Where’s he even?! What is this all about?! I want answers!“ Hoseok was throwing his arms up in the air, Namjoon was pretty sure he would have attempted to flip the table if he could.

“Probably with Juna and the lawyers right now…“, Seokjin answered very calm and did as Namjoon. Looking unaffectedly into the middle of the round table. At least one of them didn’t loose sanity.

Jungkook was just chuckling the entire time, the whole ordeal nothing else then another play taken out on the mighty broadcasting systems. It would be better for him to leave this country. Namjoon had opposed to it first but seeing what kind of person the industry had made Jungkook to be, he just wanted him to be somewhere else where he could be the person he used to be. Then Namjoon looked back at Hoseok. Or maybe not. Loosing Jungkook would break Hoseok’s world into a thousand pieces. Namjoon doubted he could ever recover from the loss of his best friend. Hoseok was very… let’s say resentful.

“And what does it mean to us now that he lost the production rights?!“, Hoseok hit his fists onto the table’s surface, just to take the hands back immediately and breath out an unvoiced “OOOUCH!“.

“We just need to be more careful.“, Taehyung answered. “Some of you should have been more careful to start with. Guess why I never got too active. I don’t trust this whole Korean Media bull.“ He slightly shrugged and then leaned back into his seat. “Don’t want to tell you… oh wait, I want: I told you right from the beginning! I told you!“ The victorious smile on his lips was mocking each of them. Yeah. Caution. Namjoon was the one who should have been the most cautious. The situation they were in now and the Juna case were mostly his fault. Sometimes he wished he could turn back time. Just for once. Would it ever happen? Not in this life.

Namjoon cleared his throat. Whereas the saxophonist was low-key straining his patience, he had a point. “Taehyung is right. We just need to be more careful. There’s rules now and we don’t get white cards from Yoongi anymore. If one of us s up, MBC will show us ruining our own reputation on national TV. They are waiting for us to make mistakes. They are waiting for us to be something the whole nation can rage about. I mean, let’s be all honest. We all know that Korean media is not about congratulating people on their success or their happiness. They look for things to be angry at, to rant at, to make themselves feel somewhat better because someone else ed up. That’s what especially K-Netizens are about. So if you up… try to mention production issues. If you do, MBC can’t use the footage anymore. They can’t reveal stuff going on behind their own curtains. That might in some cases save your butts. You understood?“

“Why do you even know that much, Namjoon?“, Jimin wondered and raised an eyebrow, his eyes trying to tear out the truth of Namjoon by mere psychical pressure. “How come you always know more than us?“

Namjoon kept his silence. Sometimes there were things that the others didn’t need to know about.

Three things that were making people emotionally unstable. First, isolation. Second, boredom. Third, love. And you know what? This princess was sitting in a well, drowning in what was called the inability to choose the right person to be with. When Nara joined the program, little did she know that she would find not one, but two men that were making her head spinning like a ride in a magic pumpkin.

“Kim Seokjin. Pro: Handsome. Kim Namjoon. Pro: Handsome.“, she talked to herself while lying in her bed, the yellow pajamas biting with the red duvet cover. “Kim Seokjin. Pro: Awesome taste of fashion. Kim Namjoon. Pro: Awesome taste of fashion.“

“You know that men also have cons, just mentioning the positive points doesn’t bring you anywhere.“, Mihoon commented, slightly annoyed by Nara’s monologues. “And especially not if all the positive points are the same.“

“That, my love, is the problem!“, Nara exclaimed and threw her limbs into the air. “I have two men right in front of me that are both excellent in their own way!“

“In the same way.“, Mihoon corrected her instantly but Nara just ignored her comment.

“And I am contemplating who would make a better man to be with! This is driving me nuts!“ Nara turned around on her bed and faced Mihoon directly, even then making sure she looked like a goddess. Mihoon shortly glanced at the woman and then tried to focus on the book in her hands again. “Okay, if this is not bringing me further, then how about this? From how you got to know Seokjin and Namjoon… who do you think is better at the private fun stuff?“

The bartender finally let go of her book to glance back at Nara, her face telling it all. That she had no clue what the matchmaker was talking about.

“Who do you think delivers better oral encouragement for example? I mean… I hate sports. But this is the only exception. Couple sports in bed is fun. And if I can’t decide on the personal stuff only, there must be something else that I can use to differentiate the two of them from each other. always plays a big role in a lot of relationships. It’s also a huge pro when I matchmake and I know that one of the clients is very good at . It makes things easier.“, Nara told her, sounding all professional again, yet her friend couldn’t help but frown. Mihoon even rolled her eyes and turned around completely, giving Nara the cold shoulder. “Hey, have you never wondered how Yoongi is in bed?“

A giant snort followed. Of course Mihoon was reacting to that. “Yoongi can’t be good in bed.“, she huffed.

“You think so? He seems overly tsundere, that’s true, but those usually are very interesting in bed. Are you sure?“

“Positive.“, Mihoon still insisted. “Because that guy has no balls.“

Nara instantly laughed out loud with her high pitched voice that reminded her of Seokjin straight. Pro: Same laugh. Anyway, she felt somewhat bad for Yoongi. If he just hadn’t been such an emotionally indigested moron things would look completely differently now and Nara might have been stuck in a very lively talk about the wonders of with Mihoon right now. Alas, Yoongi was an idiot. But at least Nara had another aspect to think about and a new goal. She would very definitely try to find out about Seokjin’s and Namjoon’s ual experiences.

Free time sometimes wasn't all that great. Especially when most of your friends were gone. Miso could sing a song about it.  As so often she was sitting in the living room, no TV, no smartphone, no PC and Internet there to distract her from the nothing that was surrounding her. She had expected it to be hard to be cut off from the outside world... but with neither the bachelors nor her closest friends being around... who would have thought life could be THIS boring? 

Miso was so desperate for distraction and entertainment that she even started making lists after noticing how Nara was making lists for each and everything. So what she was working on was the "Should I really date Jungkook?" list. One of the staffs had filmed her earlier and she even got asked about what she was doing but after 50 minutes of the only points on the list being a pro "Jungkook is handsome" and a con "Waaaaaay too famous", even the camera crew got bored by watching Miso. 

"What are you doing?" 

The girl was so much into her thoughts that she didn't notice how Yumi approached her and was now looking curiously over the vblogger's shoulder. She winced and looked up at the single- mom who blinked at her with a curious smile on her lips.  "Uhm... just something.", Miso answered very short-spoken and quickly turned the sheet of paper around, so Yumi couldn’t see it anymore. Not that there was something interesting written on to it anyway. The other female nonetheless had managed to get a short glance at it and now was smiling encouragingly at Miso.

“Thinking about how the show might turn out in the end?“, she asked.

Of course she did. Every day. What if Miso made it into the final? What if Jungkook was a Hidden Card? What if not? What if he kicked her out early and she got too emotionally invested? Miso didn’t want to be emotionally invested into a person that was only playing games… of course this all was getting her more popularity and that was exactly what she needed as a vblogger but also… was this all worth it? And talking about her occupation… how would her life look like after the show’s end? So many question to worry about. Actually, too many questions. And no answer anywhere to be seen. “Sometimes.“, she therefore answered. “What about you?“

“Pretty often, actually.“, Yumi admitted. “I wonder how my daughter will get along with Hoseok. I wonder if he will make a great daddy. I wonder if he wants more children. I wonder how we might cope with all of this. He’s a dance instructor. I’m a part-time music teacher and house keeper. What do we have to offer to our offspring? Endless love only? I wish I could give my kids more than just that… but then I imagine how we might sip coffee together in bed in the mornings, watch some documentaries and just enjoy being together. Then I don’t worry about those things anymore.“ She started smiling brightly, obviously deeply in love with the bachelor she was talking about. Miso wished she could have fallen in love just as much as Yumi did with Hoseok. But the worries were everywhere.

“Did you ever think about the future? Would you give up your job for Jungkook?“, Yumi then asked.

“Giving up my job?“, Miso repeated the question and furrowed her eyebrows. “Why would I?“

Yumi nodded. “Yes, if we see it this way… being together for long most of the time ends with marriage. I can imagine some of the bachelors wanting to marry the woman they find here. I don’t know about Jungkook but thinking about his profession and that he’s on this program, it looks very serious to me. Would you participate in a show like this if you could ruin your whole career with it just to play around? That’s why I’m wondering… would you be able to drop out and be with him instead for the rest of your life?“

That was a deep question. One that Miso had tried to avoid. Because she had no answer for it and that was the reason how her list came to exist.  “I don’t know.“, she answered honestly and turned around the paper again. “That’s why I created this…“

Yumi looked at the almost empty space on the paper and nodded again. “You want me to help?“

“If you want to.“, Miso told her and Yumi started looking over the pros and cons with Miso together.

“You should have focused on other girls.“, Namjoon was criticizing Jimin’s current situation with the contestants. “You have no one left being somewhat invested in you! How will you manage?!“

Jimin shrugged, checking his phone instead. Namjoon exhaled loudly in annoyance looking up to the front of the car where Yoongi was sitting on the passenger seat, next to the driver, pretending to be busy with his own phone. Mister always busy. Jimin rolled his eyes seeing how Yoongi was checking emails that were already marked as read.

“Say something about this too, Yoongi!“, Namjoon urged him but Yoongi didn’t even look up from his phone. He didn’t want to have anything to do with Jimin, Jimin knew.

“He deserves it.“

To both of the others’ surprise he still answered and shared his opinion. Not to Jimin’s content, though. Jimin’s face contorted almost automatically. He deserved it. Was he freaking serious? Was he calling for a fight? Jimin knew that he could keep his quiet and nothing would happen. If he was the smart one to give in. But he wasn’t willing to give in. And he wasn’t all that smart, either.

“What do you mean by ‚I deserve it‘? You mean I don’t deserve anyone’s love? Is that what you want to say?!“, Jimin asked, very obviously enraged.

“You got it, Sherlock. Congratulations.“, he verified Jimin’s assumption, still indifferently, still focused on his phone’s screen.

From the corners of his eyes Jimin noticed Namjoon’s lips moving, mouthing ‚Don’t!‘ but heck, who was Namjoon to tell Jimin what to do?!

“Just because those who you’re into prefer me over you every single time doesn’t mean I don’t deserve some happiness! If I was you I would try to find the problem in my own actions instead of projecting all my anger onto someone else!“, the smallest of the bachelors barked angrily, Yoongi showing some mercy by looking up and turning around to face Jimin directly.

“It would make a difference if you weren’t one to steal things that you like.“ The coldness in his words lay heavy in the car and Namjoon gave up completely, the moment Yoongi directed his words towards Jimin, shaking his head and massaging his temples with his right hand, completely keeping his opinion to himself from that moment on, as if he was scared to get dragged into the fight. Jimin wished that Namjoon just for once was taking sides with him. He couldn’t be the only one thinking that Yoongi was the one wronging him and not the other way round.

“So now I’m stealing because you couldn’t keep your girls to yourself? Is it my fault that they preferred me over you?“, Jimin barked angrily and clenched his fists.

“Who cares, you’re the one being alone now. Use the opportunity to taste your own medicine.“ Without saying anything more, the producer turned around again and directed his eyes back at his phone’s screen.

Ugh. That was it? No more than that? He didn’t even see the necessity to defend himself or at least further elaborate on his problem? Yoongi only told Jimin to taste his own medicine and he wasn’t worth more than that?

Jimin snorted loudly and looked out of the window. “You feel superior right now, huh? As always… until what you call your girls at the moment again come to me. Just you wait. Wait and see.“ His words were very quietly spoken with much hatred, much spleen. Yet, loud enough to be heard by everyone in the car. And it worked. Because Yoongi’s eyes were drilling through Jimin’s body through the rearview mirror.

Seokjin couldn’t remember when he saw the group of bachelors having fun together so much the last time. Even Namjoon had jumped into the foamy pool together with Yeonhee and bachelors and contestants alike were enjoying their own little party.

While Miso was dragged into the the pool by Jimin and Jungkook, Aejin was decorating Taehyung with a foam beard, Nara had soon decided to join Namjoon and Yeonhee and Yumi was of course carried around by super drenched Hoseok. The only ones remaining in the safety of the dry area were Mihoon, Minseo and Johanna. Mihoon rather because of her anger and Yoongi standing right in front of the pool, pulling chunks of his hair while watching the pool being completely messed up by everyone.

“You’re not going in?“, Seokjin asked Johanna, who was moving slowly towards the pool and came to stop right next to him.

“…no. Water…no…“, Johanna mumbled back at him and Seokjin immediately got her message. Right. Water and Johanna didn’t go that well together. He almost forgot. Thinking about it, it made it so much more interesting how different Mihoon and Johanna were but still they seemed to be attracted to the same person. Mihoon, the one that lived in water. Johanna, the one that was scared of water. Funny little world.

The longer they watched the colorful fizzy foam mess, the more Johanna seemed to be uncomfortable. Thus, Seokjin tried to somehow start a conversation that would warm her up a little.

“Jimin must have gotten super fresh bath bombs, they fizz like crazy.“, he mentioned and Johanna immediately looked up at the fashion designer.

“You know about bath bombs?“, she wanted to know.

“Just a little. Like there’s a chemical reaction between bicarbonate of soda and citric, that’s what makes bath bombs fizz and move across the water. So depending on the mixtures some are faster than others. Also, there are different kind of mixes. For example… if you put a bubble mix on one side and a ballistic mix on the other, that’s going to push the bomb and it will swirl and move like crazy.“ How he got to know about those bath bombs? Years of experience. “Do you know about the glitter they use in bath bombs? It’s made of vegetable-based lustres, usually.“

Johanna listened to what Seokjin had to say like a child that was listening to its favorite fairytale.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to know about stuff like this.“, she noted and Seokjin promptly started laughing.

“Are you telling me, you thought I was stupid?“

The girl looked startled and quickly shook her head in response. She was about to say something but instead her face just started glowing in a soft shade of red. Very gently Seokjin reached out his hand, the urge to pat the girl’s head too strong but it just took a second and a very brief glance of Yoongi to freeze the older one on the spot and take his hand back again. Yoongi had finally turned around and was now staring at Seokjin and Johanna, his reaction being a mixture of surprise and a very slight pinch of anger and jealousy.

Helplessly the fashion designer looked around, regretting the next moment as he suddenly met eyes with the contestant he was constantly trying to avoid. Minseo. Oh boy… the blonde woman was looking at him with those big, doe eyes full of guilt. Guilt that Seokjin wasn’t able to face. Seokjin was feeling the weirdest mixture of emotions ever since the accident happened. He wasn’t a friend of rough treatment, no, Seokjin and violence in general just didn’t go that well together. His face was shattered, it was hurting a lot, even now it still hurt from time to time and he avoided to look into any mirror almost as much as he avoided Minseo. How could a person that lovely have enough strength to shatter his face. It was just like this… Seokjin was a fragile flower while Minseo was a doe. In the end the doe would always trample on the flower if not even eat it. It wasn’t her fault. It was just how things were. Some people were just not meant to be.

And him in particular.

They were drunk. All of them. Well, not all. Mihoon was still sitting upright, it was a miracle even to Yeonhee how the woman managed to drink that much of pure Soju without even getting the same red face as everyone else among them. No beer, she had insisted. No fizzy drinks. So she stuck to good, old Soju.

“Let’s get back home.“, Yeonhee suggested, seeing how Miso and Hoseok were half-dead hanging on each others’ shoulders while Jungkook was propping his head against the tent frame to not fall of his chair any moment. Even Johanna wasn’t able to sit upright anymore, her head hanging on the table, her short hair being a little sticky from a former beer meets hair accident.

The camera crew nodded in approval and started to pack up. Mihoon got up first, but when she got up even almighty Mihoon was struggling a little. That’s what you got from drinking 8 bottles of Soju solo. She was insane for drinking that much. Yeonhee managed to drink 3 and then stopped so at least one person besides Mihoon would stay somewhat not completely wasted.

“Ge…me…a… diver….“, Hoseok babbled, half-asleep.

“Can you…?“, one of the staffs asked, as if he was waiting for Mihoon and Yeonhee to carry the bachelor to the car but both gave him a warning facial signal to just mind that business himself and so the first few staffs were starting to carry and drag the cast out of the tent with only Jungkook remaining left behind.

Mihoon was about to follow the others but Yeonhee stopped her.

“We can’t leave him all alone here.“, she said and Mihoon threw a skeptical glance at both of them.

“And that’s my problem, because…?“, Mihoon returned.

“… can’t you just help for once?“, Yeonhee demanded and Jungkook suddenly let out a loud grunt.

The two women looked at the idol with raised eyebrows and rolled their eyes almost in sync. So much to handsome, perfect idol. Right now he was nothing more than a drooling kid, wasted and maybe even on the verge of vomiting all over the place.

“…get…all the cameras away from me… nobody….can see me like this… not… since Yoongi can’t protect me anymore…“

In contrast to Hoseok, Jungkook didn’t have a very bad slur in his voice. He was talking slowly but graspable. And he managed to get the attention of both contestants instantly.

“What do you mean, Jungkook? Yoongi protects you?“, Yeonhee asked the drunk youngster who only moved his lips.

“Not anymore… listen…when I speak… not anymore.“

“What is he talking about? How did Yoongi protect him? Jungkook, talk!“, Mihoon suddenly started to urge the boy and moved next to him to roughly push against his shoulder.

“…staaaaawp!“, Jungkook grunted and moved his head like a propeller. His voice got a little louder, a little more oriented. “I don’t know!… he just lost the production rights!… Nobody can edit out all our mistakes anymore… nobody…“ As he spoke he slowly drifted back into drunk dreamland and left Mihoon and Yeonhee with nothing more than assumptions.

“Jungkook! Jungkook! Tell us more! I need to know more!“, Mihoon kept on pushing him but Jungkook didn’t react anymore.

Pretty much of pressure coming from someone who just a few hours ago had declared that she wasn’t interested in Yoongi at all. So much to that. Yeonhee had wondered the entire time why Mihoon was suddenly so pissed at the bachelor. Jungkook’s words must have triggered her somehow. And it must had something to do with the problem that had occurred between Mihoon and Yoongi.

“Production rights and editing? That means Yoongi was a puppet master? Is he the producer of the show?“, Yeonhee tried to count everything together. “But how could he have lost the rights for the show then? And why is he still here?“

Mihoon remained silent, staring at Jungkook. She gave up shaking the poor guy but still didn’t look satisfied with what he had confronted them with.

“…I wonder what’s all behind this.“ The bartender completely ignored what Yeonhee had to say and instead walked away, leaving Yeonhee and Jungkook behind.

Yeonhee sighed as she watched Mihoon walk away but also… little did she know what was going on in the woman’s head. She must have had her reasons to be the way she was. As much as Yeonhee had her reasons for why she was how she was.

For a little longer Yeonhee watched Jungkook peacefully snoring, sighing as she was thinking about her own relationships with the bachelors.

“I wish you could have told me some more about Namjoon… don’t you want to wake up and tell me some hints like you did about Yoongi?“, she asked the bachelor but as expected he kept on sleeping.

“Hmm… maybe next time then.“

“I tell you, they’re mobbing me!“

Aejin was pissed. So. Pissed. First, Taehyung was doing all those cute things for Yumi and Yumi only. Then, he didn’t even take her seriously when she was talking about her problems. It was as if he had directed his attention fully to other females. Even after things were looking just perfect to Aejin. Being the Harley Quinn to his Joker. Just being Aejin to Taehyung. Had she fallen for him? Probably. Yes. Definitely. Otherwise she couldn’t explain to herself how her love cell was going rampant in jealousy mode. And Taehyung wasn’t helping bettering her mood at all.

If something, then this was far from how she had things expected to go when she caught him right after the two-on-one date. He had looked so happy at first, appreciating how she had sought for his attention but now she kept on acting as he didn’t care or at least didn’t understand what was bothering her.

“How?“

That was all that Taehyung had to say. How.

“Didn’t you notice? When we had the party together Nara was attacking me!“, Aejin explained. “And Miso did, too!“

Taehyung frowned at her. He seemed to think intensely about it but he didn’t look very committed to her problems and finally grimaced, letting out a loud “Eh? They did? Can’t imagine.“

“What? But you’ve been there when it happened!“, Aejin insisted.

“I don’t really listen to people fighting. Well, rather girls fighting. Very exhausting. Very bothersome. Not my style. You want some candy?“ He looked for something in the limousine and found a bag of candies he offered to her.

Aejin angrily shoved the bag away. “No, thanks!“ She rather had Taehyung really listening to her problems instead of ignoring them willingly. He could have protected her. But he didn’t. Wasn’t she worth enough to him to take action? Or was he even looking after other girls? After all, he had been way too sweet and caring towards Yumi today. Maybe that was it.

“Hey Taehyung, what am I to you?“, the female asked him and crossed her arms, attempting to stare a hole into his forehead.

Taehyung chewed on one of the candies, his big eyes looking as always. There was no surprise, no warmth, neither was there coldness coming from them. He just looked… like always.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?“

FRIEND-ZONED.

Did… did he just…?

“Friends? Just friends? Fine. Then this friend will leave now! Thank you!“, Aejin huffed and threw the door of the car open again to hop out. She rushed outside, secretly hoping that Taehyung would stop her. And when she was a little away he really stopped her.

“Aejin!“, he shouted after her and the girl stopped quickly.  She turned around with much hope and Taehyung looked back at her, halfway reaching out of the car. “You’re welcome!“

… oh my god. This just could not be real.

Things had changed a lot since Yoongi wasn’t the one behind the entire show anymore. Not only did the bachelors act differently. Also the conditions and dynamics had changed completely.

This was not what Inguk had signed in for.

When Inguk had signed for this, Yoongi had convinced him to be a part of something big, something good. He had promised so much and yet, here he was, not enjoying anything anymore. Maybe that was because things had taken a grave change. Maybe it was also because a certain someone was missing. Or better said, he missed a certain someone. But Inguk didn’t feel like calling her. He had to respect her decision. She had left on her own. She had wanted a cut. She had moved on. But why did he keep missing her that much?

Inguk’s mindset had changed a lot from when the show started to now. He had been excited when they started, now he was just waiting for the show to finally end. And it was hurting him every time he saw the girls having to leave. When the bachelors were all too busy to check on the footage of MBC, Inguk had been - and still was - able to watch what the girls were up to. What they were talking about. What their fears and dreams were. Seeing Minseo leave hurt especially much.

It was pathetic and tragic to watch at the same time when Minseo packed her stuff and left the mansion for good. She was crying the entire time and the other girls were following her until she opened the main gate and walked towards the car that was picking her up to bring her back home.

The MC was waiting for her in front of the car, the camera staffs following them like greedy ventures. s. Just leave the poor girl be. Someone broke her heart. After she broke his nose. Ha! That irony. It should have happened in a different order.

“Inguk…“, Minseo was addressing him when the driver was getting her suitcase and stowed it in the car. “Thank you… for everything.“ The girl was sobbing and sniffling, the eyes all red and puffy. Poor girl. Poor, poor girl. “…can you… d-do me a favor?“

“Anything.“, Inguk answered, feeling utterly responsible for how Minseo was feeling.

“Can you… please tell Seokjin…that I’m s-sorry?“ The request was barely spoken, when Minseo broke into another bunch of tears and sobs. “I-I didn’t see him around… after the elimination… I couldn’t apologize… properly… I feel very b-bad about it…!“

Haaaaa… Seokjin, that little . Why was he lacking manners all of a sudden. He could at least bid her farewell like a gentleman, giving her the opportunity to take her goodbyes and also apologize. Inguk wanted to punch Seokjin in the face, too, just as a punishment for being a .

“I will.“, the MC promised and the contestant nodded and got into the car.

Inguk looked over to the door where some of the other girls were watching Minseo leaving, the typical ones crying as always.

Again he was reminded that it was good that Jiho had left. This was the best for her. She deserved peace. She deserved happiness. This place wasn’t promising any of those.

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