Milk in My Tea

3. Whole

Namjoon’s POV

After our lesson with Quinn, we went through the rest of our schedule without any hiccups. The members and I had discussed the lesson between locations, and even talked about the simple words she had taught us for the day. I knew the answers to every question Quinn had asked us during the lesson, but I kept quiet, doing my best to let the others participate.

Quinn texted me around 7 pm to tell me that we could have dinner at her apartment. She mentioned that she wanted to wait until Niah got home from work so that we could all eat together, so I shared the news with Yoongi-hyung. Of course, he immediately agreed to having dinner at Quinn’s place.

When we finally arrived back at the company, we all piled out of the van and went our separate ways. Yoongi-hyung and I went to his studio to play around with a track for a while, in an attempt to kill time before heading over to the girls’ place.

At 8 pm, our CEO walked into Suga’s studio with our manager in tow. I glanced at Yoongi-hyung, who gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as we both stood to bow in greeting. Suga turned away when he realized they were there to speak with me, putting his headphones over his ears to give us privacy.

“Namjoon-ah, we’ve got a proposition for you,” Our manager said, taking a seat on the couch. Our CEO followed suit while I remained standing, examining their expressions. They both looked a bit nervous and I knew right away that I wasn’t going to like whatever was about to come out of their mouths.

“What is it, Hyung?” I asked, glancing between the both of them for more signals. Sure enough, my CEO was tapping his fingers on his knee, a tell that I had picked up from him after our years together.

“We have a new trainee that’s going to debut soon. We talked with the PR team about a good way to gain publicity for her debut and-”

. I definitely didn’t like where this was going.

“After Yoongi-ah revealed his girlfriend to the public, our group’s popularity increased,” Our manager added, and I fought to keep my face passive as they continued.

“So what if we announce your girlfriend next, Namjoon-ah?” My CEO questioned, and I put my hands behind my back to keep from shouting at them both.

Scratch that; I was going to *hate* this.

“Hyung, I don’t have a girlfriend.” I replied quietly, squeezing my fingers together behind my back.

“That’s why we’re giving you one! We’ll announce that you’re dating our new trainee during her debut and she’ll gain lots of ARMY in support!” Our CEO tried hard to sell his absolutely awful idea and I wasn’t buying it for a second.

“Or they’ll bully her and hate her on sight,” I deadpanned, trying not to roll my eyes at this terrible idea.

“Namjoon-ah, you’re normally so optimistic! I think it’s a good idea,” Our manager added, and I was squeezing my hands behind my back so hard that I was sure I would lose blood flow in my left hand soon.

“I don’t even know our new trainee’s name,” I told them both, hoping to convince them that this idea was horrible.

“Well, of course, you two can get to know each other,” The CEO said, as if that was the easiest thing in the world.

“Namjoon-ah, you don’t even have to actually date her. Just show up at her promotional events and smile in pictures together. We can take care of all the rest.”

“It’s still not right!” I cried, struggling to hold myself back. I took a deep breath and tried again, “We would be lying to ARMY and everyone else, for publicity. And what do we do when we 'break-up'? It could turn into a scandal.”

Both men nodded, and I prayed that they were actually listening to me, “Just think about it, Namjoon-ah. That’s all we’re asking for.”

“Hyung, I don’t think is beneficial to BTS or me. I don’t want to lie to anyone about the person I love,” I told them both sincerely, as Quinn’s beautiful face came to my mind immediately, “This could hurt a lot of people I care about. It could damage my reputation and our new trainee’s, as well as BTS. That's a risk I don’t want to take.” I pushed out a breath, finally easing up on the tight grip I had behind my back, “Can’t we get PR another way?”

“Namjoon-ah, just think about it, ok? We’re not agreeing to anything right now, but how about meeting her first?” My manager asked, and I grit my teeth in frustration. They were actually trying to push this awful idea.

Our CEO stood up, patting my shoulder gingerly, “Just think on it for a day or so. We can discuss it more later. It’s too late in the evening and I haven’t had dinner yet.”

I bowed, keeping my lips sealed because I knew I wouldn’t say anything nice to either of them. After both men left the room, I plopped down on the couch in annoyance.

Yoongi-hyung spun in his chair, sliding his headphones off, “What the ?!”

“My thoughts exactly,” I grumbled out, burying my head in my hands.

“Are they serious? They can’t be serious.” I looked up as Yoongi-hyung came over to sit on the couch beside me, “Namjoon-ah, you can’t let them force you to do that.”

“Hyung, I’m not sure I have a choice.”

“Well, it’s a stupid idea.” Yoongi-hyung shook his head, and then he stopped suddenly, grabbing my arm in concern, “, and what about Quinn? If she finds out, she'll kill you.”

I groaned, “That’s what I’m worried about. We're finally speaking to each other again.”

Yoongi-hyung made a sympathetic sound at the back of his throat, patting me on the back, “What are you going to do?”

I rubbed my temples, unable to give Yoongi-hyung an answer. I had no idea what I was going to do but I had to come up with a way to get out of this before my company ruined my love life.

Since I was so frustrated and annoyed, Yoongi-hyung suggested that we leave the company and head over to the girls’ place early. I readily agreed and we ventured out into the cold, taking a taxi to their side of town.

Before Yoongi-hyung and I stepped into the girls’ apartment, I made him promise not to tell a soul about the meeting. Since I still had time to convince my superiors that their plan was insane, I didn’t want to worry anyone prematurely. I also knew that telling Quinn would be the final nail in the coffin for our relationship, if I could even call it that. Yoongi-hyung agreed that we should keep the conversation to ourselves until we knew for sure what was happening. I was incredibly thankful to have his help.

I rang Quinn’s doorbell, standing in the hallway with Yoongi-hyung right behind me. We waved at the camera cheerfully, and Niah’s face appeared, looking more tired than usual. She had changed her hair again, to a short braided bob that really suited her face. She still had jewelry in her hair and it looked really cute.

“Hey guys! I hope you weren’t out in the cold too long,” She said warmly, opening the door to let us both in. We came in and removed our shoes, sliding on the slippers that had been laid out for us. Yoongi-hyung put his arms around his girlfri