It’s not a matter of stopping the press completely, is it? No, it’s a matter of controlling it, because regardless of what anyone tries to do, the news will get out. 

Mr. Park had been right.

Of course, Eunji had known that he’d been right, but it had still struck her like a bullet through the heart when Bomi told them that the press was on their case. The moment the words left Bomi’s mouth, Eunji’s heart had dropped, and she had suddenly felt sick. 

Now, reading the article in front of her brought back that sickness and devastating feeling in her chest. She hated everything that the large computer screen in front of her was blaring at her with blinding brightness, yet she could not take her eyes off of it. 

They had chosen her as their cover picture. Despite wearing a mask, cap, oversized clothing, and even shying away from busy times, they had still captured her walking alone into the hospital. The picture was of her side profile, but it was still very obviously her. From her attire, Eunji knew exactly when the photo had been taken, but she couldn’t recall seeing any reporters that day. Of all the photos the press had captured of the other members, this one was of the best quality, and by how clear the image was, it both shocked and upset Eunji that she hadn’t seen the photographer.

She hated the headline even more: What Happened to Park Chorong? All Apink Members Spotted On Several Occasions Without Leader Outside Hospital.

As if the headline didn’t make things clear enough, the article itself delved deep into multiple theories and speculations that all assumed that something horrible had happened to Chorong. The responses were mainly a mix of worry and curiosity, but some were angry, demanding answers and a statement from Plan A.

Eunji’s eyes remained fixated on the screen, like the rest of the members, as though if they stared long enough, they could change the words on the screen. 

They only tore their eyes away from the screen when CEO Choi cleared his throat and folded his hands on his desk. The man, who didn’t look much different from when they had first debuted aside from some more gray hairs, was dressed in his usual suit and tie. He still had that sharp look in his eyes and his strong presence, but he looked admittedly much more worn out than the last time Eunji had seen seen him. 

“As you can see,” their boss said in his gruff voice, “we have a bit of an issue.”

“What can we do?” asked Bomi. She sat in the centermost chair across from the CEO―the chair that Chorong would have taken. Since they were attempting to keep the situation as contained as possible, they had gathered in the CEO’s office rather than the meeting room. 

The older man soothed down his dark slicked-back hair, looking very troubled. “Avoid the public eye. I’m not confining you to your homes, just be careful whenever you go out, especially when visiting Chorong. Tonight, when there are less hospital visitors, she’s going to be moved to another hospital into a room on the highest floor. We have hired extra security as well. The hospital has agreed not to give out her information if asked, with the exception of her family and friends, and any fans or reporters will be kindly turned away. They’ve also been kind enough to allow you all to enter the hospital through the back, as long as you call beforehand to let them know. They have given you this number to contact them.” CEO Choi reached across the table and handed them a slip of paper with a phone number written on it. 

Bomi accepted it, studied it for a second, then pocketed it. “Thank you, sir.” 

“Are we going to release a statement?” Eunji asked.

“Yes, but not now. I’d like to give you guys and Chorong’s family time to adjust before addressing the public. We also need time to prepare what to say.”

Eunji nodded. One wrong word and the situation could get nastier than it needed to be. Their fans were smart and were always quick to pick up things. It hurt her to keep them in the dark, but the CEO was right. They needed time before the accident was revealed to the whole world.

The older man surveyed them with serious eyes. “How are all of you?” Eunji knew that he probably didn’t mean to, but when he asked the question, his eyes had settled on Bomi, like he was expecting her to speak on behalf of the others. Just like how he’d inadvertently do with Chorong. 

“We’re getting there,” Bomi answered, ignoring the tension between Namjoo and Hayoung that they all certainly still felt. “It’s been slow and painful, but we’re helping each other through this.”

“If there’s anything I can do, please let me know,” he said. “Now, as for the driver...He’s agreed to come forward about what he’s done and pay all retributions. He’s been quite compliant since you spoke with him, Bomi.” As soon as those words left his mouth, Eunji felt like a ball had dropped in her stomach. Surely, she had heard wrong. Surely, the CEO had not just implied that Bomi had known about the driver and had even met him. But by the way Bomi had stiffened immediately at the mention of the driver, Eunji knew she had heard correctly.

“Is that so?” Bomi replied a bit stiffly. “I’m glad.”

Swiftly, the older member glanced around her at the other members with eyes that said, Later. We’ll talk later. 

Eunji didn’t know how to feel. A myriad of emotions were swirling around inside her right now: confusion, anger, betrayal, and some other emotions that she couldn’t find the right words for. They had brought up the driver several times in the past few days, and Bomi had lied to them and acted like she hadn’t known anything.

Despite the millions of questions forming in her head that demanded answers, Eunji collected herself, pulled up a poker face, and looked straight ahead. Thankfully, all the other members shared the same desire to not cause a scene in front of the CEO. They all kept silent, pretending that a bomb hadn’t just been dropped on them, as CEO Choi continued on with the meeting, but if they were anything like Eunji, everything their boss said from then on became a dull buzz in their numb minds. The only thought swimming in their heads was the fact that Bomi, who had been so adamant on their familial bond and trust, had deliberately and consistently lied to them.

After the meeting, they all walked back wordlessly to the practice room with a thick curtain of tension following them. It was only when they had returned back to the suffocatingly large practice room that Bomi finally said, “I know you’re all confused.”

Hayoung scoffed indignantly, “How could you tell?” 

“I’m sorry―” 

“When did you meet him?” Eunji interrupted abruptly. Bomi looked at her wide-eyed, like she was surprised that the rude tone had come from Eunji, of all people. 

“Eunji-ah…”

“When?” she demanded again. Eunji didn’t care if this was unlike her and that she was blatantly disrespecting her elder. Bomi had lied to them, and she wanted answers. All of her patience and soft-heartedness had been wiped away, and there was no way in hell that she was going to keep playing the kind-hearted supporter.

For the first time since the accident, Bomi’s hard exterior cracked, revealing her guilt. “Around a week ago.”

“Around a week ago...,” Eunji repeated to herself. “When you were supposedly taking a walk by the Han River?” 

Bomi flinched and bit the side of her lip. “Yes.” 

“You lied to us.” Not a question. Just stating a fact.

“Not entirely,” the older member explained. “I was taking a walk by the river when the CEO called me.”

“Oh, spare us the details!” Eunji cried, throwing up her hands. “Sure, maybe you were actually taking a walk by the Han River, but that doesn’t defeat the fact that you lied to us!” 

“All those times we asked about the driver,” Hayoung muttered, “you didn’t say a thing. You even denied knowing anything!”

“I know, and I really am sorry.” There was pain and some pleading in Bomi’s voice, and for a moment, Eunji wanted to forgive her right away and apologize for hurting her. Seeing someone she loved like this in no way brought her pleasure. But Eunji stood her ground, regardless of how much it crushed her inside. She wasn’t the one who had lied to all of the members.

“And what, exactly, is ‘sorry’ going to achieve?” their maknae asked sharply. 

“Why didn’t you call us?” Naeun’s first words since they had returned to the practice room were quiet, but still very clearly upset. “After the CEO called you, why didn’t you call us?”

“I wanted you guys to get some rest,” Bomi answered. “I didn’t want you guys to have more to worry about.”

Eunji could tell that Bomi was telling the truth and not just some sad excuse for her actions. Still, it was a very bad reason. “You don’t get to say that. You barely had any rest the night before, while the rest of us were able to have a full night’s rest. You sent us home, so you know full well that you were the one that was lacking in sleep the most.” Eunji didn’t mention that she hadn’t been able to get any sleep either that night.

“We would have come,” Namjoo said. She was holding the bag of fried chicken that Bomi and Naeun had brought, but they were likely never going to get to eating it. Not together, at least. “Rested or not, we would have dropped everything to come.”

“I know.” Bomi dropped her head, almost as if in shame.

“So, then,” Hayoung said bitterly. “Tell us all about him. What’s his name? What’s his job? Is he married? Since CEO Choi mentioned that the driver’s been very compliant since you talked to him, I’m assuming you’ve become very close to the man that almost killed Chorong-unnie.”

Bomi looked like Hayoung had just landed a blow to her stomach. Even Eunji was taken aback by Hayoung’s harsh words. 

“His name is Kim Junwoo,” Bomi replied after she recovered. “I don’t know the answers to the other questions.”

Namjoo rolled her eyes. “Why do I find that hard to believe?” 

“I’m telling the truth. I know it must be hard to trust me right now, but I’m really not lying.” 

“Okay, let’s assume you are telling the truth,” Eunji said. “What made him run the red light?” 

“He had just gotten a call saying that his mother had collapsed, and he was rushing to get to her. That’s why he didn’t notice the red light.”

“How ironic…”

Naeun had mumbled those words to herself, but Bomi had caught them. “What do you mean?”

Naeun looked straight into Bomi’s eyes and with an unfaltering gaze, she replied flatly, “He was on his way to help someone who was hurt, but instead hurt someone else in the process.” 

The quiet girl rarely ever spoke out against the others, and at her blunt statement, hurt flashed in Bomi’s eyes. “That’s hardly fair!”

“Don’t tell us what’s fair or not!” Namjoo snapped. “You lost that ability the moment you first lied to us!” 

“I did it to protect you!”

“Who said we need protecting?” Namjoo fired back. “We’re adults, Unnie. You being the oldest here doesn’t suddenly make the rest of us incapable of making our own decisions. We had the right to know about the driver, but that was taken away from us without us even knowing! We visited Chorong-unnie every day in the hospital, and it killed us not knowing who put our leader in that hospital bed or why they did it. Do you know how hard it was for all of us to go on every day not knowing the full story?” Bomi tried to speak, but Namjoo just glared at her and continued, “No, you don’t. You wouldn’t know that pain, because you knew. You knew what we wanted so badly to know,  and you still kept it from us!”

“You were all not in the right state of mind to meet the person who put Chorong-unnie in the hospital,” Bomi tried to explain as calmly as she could, though Eunji could tell that her patience was thinning. “Even if I did tell you, what would you have done?”

Namjoo pointed a condescending finger at the older member. “And you were in the right state of mind? I’m sorry, was it not also your leader and friend who was hit by a speeding car? Or are you implying that you don’t care about Chorong-unnie as much as we do?” 

“Namjoo-ah!” both Bomi and Eunji cried at the same time. That was too far, for both Bomi and Eunji. Those words had been like a trigger. Whatever had been holding Bomi back snapped, and she glared at Namjoo with furious, blazing eyes that she had never directed toward any of the members before. Even though her eyes were not directed toward Eunji, Eunji still felt the heat of their gaze. Hayoung and Naeun felt it too, by the way their shoulders went rigid, and Namjoo certainly felt it as well. Some of her boldness faded away, and she looked like she wanted to take back the words that had just come out of . 

“Yes, that was also my leader and friend who was hit by a car. I live with her, for God’s sake! Everytime I see Chorong-unnie in that hospital bed, a part of me dies inside. I feel as though my chest is shriveling up, and it gets incredibly difficult to breathe. Every night before I go to bed, I pray for her wellbeing―as well as all of ours. I have preached time and time again about how we are a family and how I love each of you girls like my sisters. So don’t you ever suggest that I don’t care about Chorong-unnie again!” By the end, Bomi was shouting, and her cheeks were bright red.

Namjoo didn’t reply right away; she only took a deep breath, like she normally did in times of stress. “Were you ever going to tell us?” she eventually asked.

Bomi also took a deep breath, then replied with a much softer voice, “Of course. I just couldn’t find the right time to do it.”

“You wouldn’t have had that problem if you had just called us after CEO Choi called you,” Naeun uttered.

“It’s been over a week,” Eunji added coldly. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities.”

“I know, and, again, I’m sorry.” Their main dancer rubbed her temple tiredly as she tried again to explain, “When the CEO called me, you were all still shaken up by the events of the previous night. I didn’t want you to meet the driver in that state, so I thought it would be best for me to go in and meet him alone first.”

“You didn’t want us to meet him because you were scared of what it would do to us or of what we would do to him?” Hayoung asked in a bitter tone.

“I…” Bomi chewed the inside of her lip apprehensively. “Both, I guess.” 

“God, Unnie, did you think we were going to lose control and jump on the man the moment we laid our eyes on him?” Namjoo exclaimed.

“You don’t need to be protecting us like that,” said Naeun. “In fact, it’s slightly demeaning that you don’t trust us enough to control our own emotions.” 

Despite her anger, Eunji couldn’t help but feel bad for Bomi, who seemed to increasingly shrink back with each opposing argument. They were all ganging up against her, like a pack of predators seizing their prey, and she had no one to lean on for support.

Just like how it’s been the past few weeks, Eunji realized with guilt. During this time of suffering, Bomi had constantly been there for the other members, but she herself had no supporting shoulder, and it showed in this argument. 

“We don’t need you to protect us. We don’t need you to decide what’s best for us. You are not our leader,” Hayoung said. “We don’t need you to act like Chorong-unnie.”

This time, Bomi didn’t bother hiding the hurt in her eyes. Immediately, the leader-like authority that she had adopted crumbled all around her, along with all the barriers she had put up around herself. Now, all her vulnerabilities were all too evident.

You are not our leader. We don’t need you to act like Chorong-unnie.

That must have felt like a stab through Bomi’s heart.

“You know, a while ago I said that our company might have been hiding information about the driver from us,” Hayoung continued in her stone-cold voice. All of a sudden, the maknae looked so much bigger than Bomi. The tension in the room felt so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

Hayoung must have noticed Bomi’s devastated expression, but she still went on to say coldly, “I never would have thought that it was you who was actually hiding things from us.”

With that, Hayoung swiveled on her feet and stalked out of the room, leaving a stunned and horribly broken-hearted Bomi staring after her, looking like she wanted so badly to run after the maknae and piece together what had been broken. 

But Bomi only stood there, as still as a statue, with the fragments of the members’ trust scattered all around her like the broken pieces of what had once been beautiful.