Chapter V

Support

*This ficlet takes place before chapter 14 on TWT

“Wonderful wrap-up, everyone! Thank you for your great work!” Han Hyunsik announces to the room at large, even as he goes straight to Jonghyun, pulling him into a tight, quick hug. Jonghyun grins over the producer’s shoulder, right at the camera one of the staff is holding, and gives Hyunsik’s back two firm clap before they separate. “Don’t spend too much time abroad, we need people like you.”

"Damn right you do," Jonghyun winks at him and laughs as Hyunsik punches his chest playfully. He’s still grinning when the man turns around to bid everyone else goodbye, leaving Jonghyun to the mercy of the still-fawning staff. He doesn’t understand why these people seemed so amazed by his, well, existence. They keep saying good stuff about him, right to his face, almost every day, and he’s quickly running out of nervous chuckles and half-assed, embarrassed, slightly-awkward responses to give out.

He likes these people, really, they’re way more relaxed than the folks he works with in Japan, and they’re more open to his—occasionally—unorthodox ideas. It’s just that sometimes they’re too nice that it’s kind of tiring to deal with. Still, doesn’t mean he’s happy leave.

So he takes his time to say goodbye personally to every staff he’s close with, before heading out of the studio and into one of the practice rooms. Ever since Taemin heard that he signed a deal with SM Entertainment, he’s been introducing him to some of his idol and dancer friends, and some of them are actually really fun that Jonghyun finds himself seeking their company every now and then.

That finds him here, standing in front of practice room 3 and huffing in annoyance when he sees them still moving about to the thumping beat, being shouted at by the instructor. Jonghyun checks his phone for the time, because if it’s still early, he’d most likely wait. He doesn’t feel like eating alone tonight.

A message from Ryu, his old college friend, catches his attention, and Jonghyun notes the time—4:16 PM—before opening the message.

Just a head’s up; they’re still treating JK like a damn celebrity. This is just in case they’re chasing u w/ questions

Jonghyun frowns at the message, confused as to why Ryu is giving him a warning about his ex-fiancée being a celebrity for cheating and bankrupting him; something that happened years ago. That’s not exactly news—oh. Jonghyun pauses as he looks at the link pasted underneath Ryu’s message, his thumb hovering over it for a few seconds before pressing it.

He regrets it immediately.

The link takes him straight to a gossip site, and the headline is about Jaekyung, who just had her second baby with the she married. He scrolls down the page and looks at the picture, taken from her Instagram account, of her and her new baby, with her husband in the background. Jonghyun chokes on air, breath coming in fast and ragged as he stares and stares and stares at her happy face, at the ring on her finger, at the baby in her arms, because how dare she—

“Whoa, big guy,” a familiar voice says, and Jonghyun is almost unaware as someone plucks the phone out of his hand. He can’t stop seeing the image of her, though, even without his phone, because it’s etched into his brain. She’s smiling. She’s