The Plan
Ｈｅａｒｔｆｅｌｔ ＲｅｍｅｄｙTaemin had heard about this room. When DBSK had planned to disband, when Hankyung had his lawsuit....every time something major had happened, the people involved were called up to this very room. Those who never entered the room were fortunate, and until this day, Taemin and Krystal had never entered the Boss’ office.
“Sit down.”
They heard a monotonous voice coming from the black leather wheelie chair, which was turned around to face the view outside of the window, so they couldn’t see the owner of the voice. What else could they do but to follow the order they were given. Taemin sat on the comfy, velvet chair on the left while Krystal sat on the one on the right in front of the brown, oak desk. They noticed the name tag displayed there, which read Lee Soo Man. The chairman of SM Entertainment. He turned around with an edge of coolness to it, making it look unnecessarily dramatic...
Slapping an open magazine page to reveal the pics (again) to them, Lee Soo Man leaned forward with his hands folded together onto the desk, staring at the two of them. Taemin absentmindedly leaned further back in his chair.
“Can either of you possibly give me an explanation about this?” He asked while jabbing the picture with them on the Carousel, enjoying themselves. "And make it quick because I don’t have a lot of time to deal with this kind of stuff.” He said 'stuff' as if he were disgusted with the word. Or the cause behind it.
Taemin rapidly blinked his eyes, then risked a side glance over to Krystal, who was simply staring back at SM’s chairman. “It’s a rumor, sir. Nothing else.” She said it with so much easiness that the chairman looked like he had been slapped across the face.
“I am aware of that. But the media is pressing for good, solid answers. Whether you two are dating or not. Can you give it to them?”
If that were to happen, then Krystal would have to reveal her secret. So the only other solution was to make up a big convincing lie. She could only stay silent, but with a tight jaw. And Taemin didn’t dare open his mouth, but sat like a well-behaved kid. He noticed Krystal was tightly clasping her skinny jeans near her knees.
Lee Soo Man reclined back into his chair and, surprisingly, stretched and asked for one of them to turn on the lights. Taemin nodded his head and dashed over to the light switch, then back to his seat with lightening speed. Now that it wasn’t so dark, he felt more at ease. “Excuse me for asking, but why do you keep it so dark in here?” He tentatively asked. The chairman rubbed his forehead and chuckled. “Just for the effect of it. Works, doesn’t it?” Lee Soo Man was actually a pretty nice guy, but as the CEO of an important company like SM, it couldn't hurt to act like serious and strict now and then.
Taemin sighed inaudibly in relief. He had really thought this man was a scary person. Krystal, on the other hand, scoffed at the man's comment.
“And what effect was it supposed to have?” She asked indignantly with her arms folded, wiping the smile off of the man’s face. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he replied, “Never mind that. I wanted to congratulate you two!” He stood up from his chair, walked around the desk, and shook both of their hands enthusiastically.
Taemin’s mouth dropped while the man was shaking his hand. Huh? This man approves? W-what’s happeninnnng ~~......
“Mwo??!” (What??!) Krystal had scared both of the guys with her loud voice, making them jump.
Standing up and going into her rebel mode, she continued as if she were spitting fire. “Is this how you’re going to take care of the situation? Aren’t you going to prevent it from going any further?!”
Taemin stood up too, then placed his hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. “Soojung-ah, don’t accuse him~~ It’s already too late since the rumor has gone so far.” However, she gave him an icy glare, causing him to let go and making him jump again, but this time it was his stomach that had jumped instead.
Lee Soo Man was surprised. “Didn’t you want this to go public? Since you were out in public after all...” But his words drifted off since he noticed Krystal was directing her glare at him now.
“No! We’re NOT dating! It’s all a big misunderstanding!!” Just like what most things were. Like liking someone when you had a small itty bitty hope that they would feel the same for you, but it isn't true after all. A big misunderstanding. And like most misunderstandings, they would lead to more.
From the side, Taemin exaggerated his ‘breathe in, breathe out’ movements for Krystal to copy. Krystal did so and snapped out of it, finally realizing her mistake. She sank back down into her seat, giving Taemin an apologetic look for glaring at him earlier when he was simply trying to help. After seeing her apologetic expression, he relaxed a bit and figured she was just stressed. Then Krystal hid her face into her hands, wishing that all of her problems would go away.
Lee Soo Man was back in his chair, spinning back and forth, as he was in thought. Momentarily, he suggested his plan. He leaned forward on the desk again, giving the two a serious look.
“How about this...Keep pretending you two are dating.” He lifted his hand to signal for Krystal and Taemin to stop any shouts of disapproval; they both had been ready to object, but were immediately silenced. “Hear me out first. Become a couple for a while, but then publicly announce you both have broken up and then will continue like before all of this has happened.” He spun his chair around to face the window, then slyly added in, “Plus, if this has reached hot news today, then this will certainly bump up your groups’ popularity.”
Out of the corner of Taemin's eye, Taemin saw Krystal looking ready to strangle SM's CEO. He held Krystal back with as much as his strength would let him.
Eottoke (What to do)..Soojung is so violent!!
She sat back down again, blowing a strand of hair away from her face. She knew it; this man wwanted to use them as his pawns. And for his own advantage. Sure, it was for their groups' benefit, but that would automatically benefit him even more. But Taemin believed the CEO was purely helping them out, so he listened intently to the rest of his plan. Lee Soo Man turned around, obviously not realizing what had just happened behind his back, and folded his hands together on his lap. “And don’t worry. Whatever happens afterwards, we’ll take care of.” ‘We’ meant the company.
Taemin decided to speak up. “Everything wouldn’t be the same after all of this...”
Pushing her hair back, Krystal added in, “This won’t be forgotten by the fans and media.”
Lee Soo Man nodded his head. “Since SHINee will be heading to Japan soon enough, they’ll be staying there for a few months. Who knows. Maybe longer. So until then, that’s when you two...” He pointed at the two of them. “...will act like a couple. Hopefully, gossip will pass by the topic of you two after a year.” Krystal noticed he looked almost proud of himself for thinking up this plan in mere moments. It wasn’t the best plan, but what else could they do? Trying to clear up the misunderstanding would make it worse, wouldn't it? Kind of like trying to convince your friend you don’t like a certain someone, but your friend believes you do anyway.
Taemin surprised her by answering first. “I’m in!” Lee Soo Man nodded his head, glad to see this plan seemed reasonable. Krystal bit the bottom of her lip. He looked over to Krystal, hoping for another approval to his plan.
What had she got herself into? In less than a week, things have changed drastically. It was taking a turn...either for the worse or for the better; one never knows which will be the outcome.
Here goes nothing...
With determination in her eyes, she said with one hundred percent certainty.
“We’ll do it.”
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Article Reference cr: allkpop, smtownjjang
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