Chapter 76

The event was held at a grand mansion that belonged to Miranda's in-laws since it was practically their event. Miranda was just in charge of the planning. Yongguk and the guys were to perform on the outdoor stage that was set up in the backyard, which had a breathtaking view along with a huge swimming pool. As soon as Annie and her friends took notice, they were amazed since it was not often they came across a place so extravagant. Other workers were moving around the place, setting up and soon, the friends laid their eyes on the food table. Eying one another knowingly, the friends made a beeline for it. Annie rolled her eyes as Daehyun immediately helped himself to a plate. “Isn't eating before a live performance bad for his vocal chords?” Annie asked, furrowing an eyebrow in confusion.

“It's Daehyun, Annie,” Lucy pointed out. “He still manages to keep his voice in check even during the worst possible scenarios.”

“If you say so,” Annie mused as she watched Daehyun fill his plate up with delicacies.

Youngjae scoffed, standing beside Annie. “Go figure,” he remarked watching his best friend along with the girls. “Where there's food, you can bet your Daehyun will be there.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“Yeah,” Annie, Lucy, Jongup, and Zelo replied at once.

Before long, Annie turned to face them. “Where's Bang?” she asked curiously, glancing around.

“He should be on his way right now,” Youngjae answered. “Himchan should also be on his way.”

“You mean they didn't carpool?” Annie asked curiously.

Youngjae shook his head. “Not that I know of,” he said. “All I know is that Yongguk hyung had a few things to take care of at the studio and Himchan was on his way to grab a few things from his place before coming here.”

Annie frowned, “I see. So now that we're here, what now?” she asked, staring back at him expectantly.

“Well, since you and Luce are the roadies,” Youngjae glanced from one girl to the other, smirking. “We're gonna need you to carry our stuff to the back of the stage.” he picked up his duffel bag before handing it to her.

Annie grunted at how heavy it was. “Good Lord! What the hell are you carrying in this thing? A dead body?” she whined.

Youngjae snickered. “Quit whining and get to work!” he barked back.

“Geez, bossy much?” Annie sneered, then proceeded to make her way backstage leaving Lucy and Youngjae alone.

“Luce, I'm gonna need you to check with the sound guys to get our mics ready,” he instructed her.

“Who died and made you leader?” sneered Lucy.

“Since Yongguk hyung isn't here yet, someone's gotta be,” Youngjae shrugged matter-of-factly.

A male figure cleared his throat, garnering their attention. “I'm already here,” a deep voice announced from behind. Both Lucy and Youngjae turned to come face to face with Yongguk, who was seemingly rattled at the moment.

“Right on it,” Lucy decided to do as she was told by Youngjae before walking off, making her way to the stage.

Youngjae turned to Yongguk. “Where have you been?” he asked right away.

“I was kind of caught up with something at the studio,” Yongguk replied glancing over his shoulder. “And I may have brought someone along with me...”

“Hey Youngjae!” a very attractive female emerged from behind the older guy.

Youngjae's eyes widened. “Jieun noona,” the surprise was evident in his tone.

Youngjae shot Yongguk a bewildered look. Yongguk shrugged. “Turns out, Jieun is performing for the event too,” he said, glancing back at her.

“Yes, Miranda personally asked me to help out and I couldn't refuse,” Jieun added. “And when I heard that you guys were performing too, I just had to stop by the studio myself for confirmation. Conveniently, me and Yongguk were already heading in the same direction and he decided to give me a lift. Right, Yonggukie?” She playfully elbowed him.

Yongguk scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Right,” he chuckled nervously before turning to Youngjae, who was now glowering at him. Yongguk glowered in return.

“Annie's backstage, just so you're aware,” Youngjae emphasized matter-of-factly.

“Is she?” Yongguk raised his eyebrows.

“Who's Annie?” Jieun asked curiously.

It was now Youngjae's turn to raise an eyebrow. “You didn't tell Jieun about Annie?” he scoffed.

Yongguk shrugged innocently. “I-I didn't have time,” he replied sheepishly.

Youngjae gaped at the older guy before scoffing. “Wow... unbelievable, hyung,” he shook his head before walking off.

“What was that all about?” Jieun sneered before turning to face Yongguk with a cheeky grin.

Yongguk didn't seem to regard her question as he watch Youngjae make his way towards the stage, only to run into a clearly concerned Lucy. Clearly, things were not looking so great and the event hasn't even started yet.

Lucy saw the whole exchange and did not hide her curiosity once Youngjae was alone. “Who's that?” she asked, referring to Jieun.

“Where's Annie?” Youngjae dodged the question, glancing around.

Lucy furrowed her brows, pointing backstage. “She's helping the other guys set up,” she replied, giving Youngjae a serious look. “Don't dodge the question, Jae. Tell me, who's the chick with Yongguk?”

Youngjae sighed. “That's Jieun.”

“Okay, that's nice,” Lucy remarked, clearly no stranger to Youngjae's dismissive tone. “Thanks for telling me her name. Not that I care. But seriously, Jae. Who is she?” she asked in a demanding tone, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. He won't get out of this so easily.

Youngjae knew it too. Eventually, he relented. “Yongguk hyung's ex-girlfriend,” he finally said.

“Hey!” Annie exclaimed, dropping Youngjae's bag onto a nearby chair once she spotted Himchan preparing for their performance backstage. “You're here!”

He gave her a brief smile before straightening his wardrobe in front of a mirror. “Yeah, I got here early,” he told her.

Luckily for them, they were alone. The others were probably wandering off elsewhere. The mansion had a huge backyard, so of course they couldn't be too far. The place gave everyone a reason to explore. To top it off, the guests hadn't arrived yet so this would be a perfect opportunity for Annie to talk to Himchan.

With a deep breath, Annie made her way over to him then stood behind him. He looked up at her through the reflection of the vanity mirror. “Look,” she began, irritation growing in her tone, “I don't know what I did wrong to upset you but if I upset you in any way. I'm really sorry.”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Why would I be mad at you?” By the tone of his voice, Annie was unsure if he was being sarcastic or not. She couldn't tell. He kind of scared her at the moment.

His eyes bored into hers, prompting her to focus elsewhere. “I don't know,” she shrugged innocently. “You've been kind of avoiding me... I was worried about you, you know.”

He sighed, softening. “You could have at least told me what was going on,” he reasoned. “You had me worried for days. She still won't tell me anything.”

Annie looked back at him, sighing in relief. He wasn't angry at her much to her relief. From his last statement, she knew right away who he meant. “I don't know what to tell you,” she sighed heavily. “I'm sorry.”

He stood up from his seat to turn to face her. “Don't be,” he said softly. “It's not your fault.”

She took a deep breath. “I don't even know what's going on, honestly,” she told him.

He placed both hands on her shoulders. “I know you don't,” he told her. “And I didn't mean to take out my frustrations on you. So I'm sorry for being a on my part.” He looked away sheepishly.

Annie chuckled. “That's a relief but there's no need for an apology.”

He soon looked back at her, grinning from ear to ear. “We're still friends, right?” he awkwardly asked, clearing his throat.

Annie scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I never said we weren't,” she said before shifting the subject matter. “We should put our worries aside for tonight. I wouldn't want your show to be a disaster.”

“Right,” he chuckled, removing his hands then proceeded to settle back down onto his chair.

“Now, as your acting roadie, did you need anything special from me?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.

“I thought a roadie is in charge of carrying our stuff?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Pretty much but you guys were doing my job for me,” she pouted. “It kind of makes me feel like I'm not needed.”

“Well you're here to support me and the boys, I think that's good enough,” he assured her.

“You think so?” she perked up with a hopeful grin.

He chuckled and nodded. “Of course,” he said.

“There you are!” Daehyun's voice rang out, startling them.

Annie turned to face him with an annoyed expression. “Yes, I am,” she half sang, gritting her teeth. “What do you want?”

“What kind of roadie ignores the other bandmates?” he whined, entering the room. “You can't just help Youngjae and ignore us!”

“Well, I was about to help you guys out after I dropped off Youngjae's bag but then I found Himchan back here,” Annie pointed out.

Daehyun shifted his attention over to the older guy, his eyes widened. “Hey, you're early,” he remarked.

“Didn't want to run into traffic,” Himchan remarked before shifting his attention back to the mirror.

“Great idea,” Daehyun added.

“Where are the others?” Annie asked, looking past her best friend.

Daehyun looked over his shoulder. “They're coming,” he said. As if on cue, the curtains flew opened with Jongup and Zelo emerging from behind Daehyun. “There they go.”

“Great!” Annie beamed, before making her way to them. “I'll just head outside to help the others.” She announced before making her way out the door, only to be stopped by Daehyun. She looked up at him in confusion. “What do you think you're doing?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” he said innocently, “Am I blocking your way?”

“What do you think?” she countered back.

“I take that as a yes,” he pointed out.

“Dae?” she said flatly, seemingly annoyed. “What's going on?”

“What do you mean 'what's going on', Annie?” he chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

“If I didn't know any better, Dae,” she began. “You're hiding something from me.”

He laughed hysterically. “What? No!” He shook his head. “You're so silly, Annie!” he exclaimed loudly. “Now why would I be hiding something from you?”

Annie soon shifted her attention to Jongup and Zelo. “Help me out here, guys?” she looked at them expectantly.

“We can't do that, noona,” Zelo immediately said.

“Why not?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Daehyunnie hyung instructed for us to not help you,” Jongup chimed in.

Annie sighed in exasperation, rubbing her temples. “Dae, please just stop,” she said pleadingly, frowning at her best friend. “We have a show to run and you're being really childish right now. So can we please handle this like adults and just move aside so I can exit without beating the crap out of you?”

Daehyun thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “I'm sorry, Annie,” he said. “No can do.”

Annie rolled her eyes, staring back at him flatly. “You asked for it,” she muttered before pushing past him to no avail since Daehyun was a lot stronger than she was. “What the hell, Daehyun?!”

“I'm doing this to protect you, Annie,” he countered back.

“Protect me from what?!” she exclaimed.

Before long, Annie soon spotted Lucy and Youngjae making their way to them, arguing. “I'm telling her,” Lucy firmly stated.

“Not right now, Luce,” Youngjae tried to reason with her. “Just wait until the show's over and then you can tell her.”

“Well, I'm not about to sit back and watch him hurt her,” Lucy barked back. “I thought we were her best friends. Isn't it our jobs to tell her these things?!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Annie finally asked.

Lucy and Youngjae froze, swallowing hard. They finally turned to face her. Daehyun loosened his grip on her, sighing heavily. Annie finally pushed past him, standing before her other two best friends. “What's going on? Is there something I don't know about?” she asked, glancing from one friend to the other.

Lucy glanced at Youngjae before turning to Annie. “Ann, there's been a change of plans,” Lucy spoke first. “Turns out, our boys actually have someone to perform with them...”

“Really?” she furrowed her brows in confusion before grinning slightly. “That's great, isn't it?”

Youngjae's lips formed into a thin line before giving her a curt nod. “Mhmm,” he hummed without another word.

He's being very curt and brief, Annie noted, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him. Something wasn't right. They really are keeping something from her. “Well are you gonna tell her or am I doing it?” Lucy asked impatiently.

“Luce, I told you this isn't a good idea,” Youngjae grumbled.

“What isn't a good idea?” Annie chimed in.

“She has to know,” Lucy finally said, looking at Youngjae one last time before reaching over to grab Annie's hand. “Come on.”

“Wait, Luce!” Annie called to her. “Where are you taking me?”

Lucy ignored her, proceeding to lead her away.

“Wait!” the guys called out to them, following closely behind. “There are other ways to go about this, Luce!” Daehyun's voice rang out.

Lucy rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “I think it's time for you to see for yourself, Annie,” she finally said, shifting her gaze towards Yongguk and Jieun.

Curiously, Annie followed her gaze, clearly stunned at the scene before them. Even though Yongguk seemed a little miffed, she had to admit he did suit the pretty girl. The pretty girl appeared to be about her age, maybe older. Annie wasn't sure. It was just unsettling as she watched on. She would playfully shove Yongguk and they'd laugh together like they were in on an inside joke. She was chatting with Miranda as if they were old pals or something as well. Who was she? Curiosity began to take over but Lucy caught on in time, reading her best friend's mind.

“That's his ex,” Lucy told her.

“His ex?” Annie's eyes widened. That made sense, given the fact that Yongguk was laughing with her.

“Yep,” Lucy nodded. “She's going to be onstage with the boys.” She paused before turning to face Annie apologetically. “I'm sorry you had to find out this way.”

“She's really pretty,” was the first thing that came out of Annie's mouth. “Prettier than me.”

“Annie,” Lucy said sternly. “Don't say that.”

Soon, Yongguk's eyes met hers. He gave her an apologetic look. Annie swallowed hard, looking away from him. Before long, Miranda turned to follow his gaze. “There she goes!” she perked up. “Annie!” She motioned for her to come.

“Great,” Annie muttered under her breath.

“Keep your chin up,” Lucy advised her. “Show them you're not affected. You got this.”

Annie breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at her best friend. “Thanks, Luce,” she said. “You're the best.”

“Just doing my job,” Lucy beamed proudly. “I'll stand by and watch. If I sense something's wrong, I won't hesitate to step in.”

Annie chuckled. “I'll keep that in mind,” she nodded. With a deep breath, she soon made her way to her employer.

“Nice of you to join us, Annie,” Miranda said as soon as she reached them. Miranda soon turned her attention to the pretty girl next to Yongguk. “I'd like for you to meet someone. This is Song Jieun. She'll be sharing the stage with Yongguk.”

Turning to the pretty girl, Annie politely extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, I'm Annie.”

“Hi, I'm Jieun,” Jieun politely greeted her, shaking her hand before turning to Miranda. “It's so nice of you to ask me to sing for a good cause, Miranda. It's nice to be sharing the stage with Gukkie again.” She glanced at Yongguk, playfully elbowing him.

Gukkie? Annie was clearly seething at this point. What a nice pet name, Bang...

Miranda chuckled. “Well, when you agreed, I had to ask Yongguk here to join in on the fun,” she glanced at Yongguk. “It'll be just like the old times. I mean you guys did have a bunch of chemistry back in the old days.”

The old days, Annie thought. That makes perfect sense.

“Didn't you two date during those times too?” Miranda asked, adding more fuel to the fire.

“I'm surprised you remember,” Jieun chuckled, astonished.

“Well you guys make a handsome couple,” Miranda remarked.

“Oh Miranda,” Jieun giggled, glancing back at Yongguk. “You're too kind. But that was so long ago.”

“Who knows?” Miranda smirked knowingly at Annie. “Maybe some sparks will fly tonight.”

Annie's jaw clenched. So this was her plan all along. What the hell, Miranda? I helped you when no one did and this is how you thank me. She clenched her fist angrily but tried her best to conceal it nonetheless. Yongguk seemed to catch on right away as he gave her a pleading, yet apologetic look.

“I doubt that will happen, Miranda,” Yongguk butted in when it was necessary. The look in his eyes was unreadable but he seemed pretty agitated. “Jieun and I have clearly moved on.” He firmly declared, giving Annie a reassuring look.

Jieun's eyes widened, glancing from Yongguk to Annie. “That's right,” she said, nodding in agreement.

“That's a shame,” Miranda remarked. “Well, I'll leave you two alone. I have some things to discuss with my nanny. Please excuse us.” She gave them a brief smile before turning to Annie. “Come, Annie. Follow me. We need to have a talk.”

When Miranda was serious, it made Annie shudder but anything sounded better than being near Yongguk at the moment. Finally, she nodded, then proceeded to follow Miranda, brushing past Yongguk without acknowledging him.

As soon as they were gone, Jieun turned to Yongguk, grinning knowingly. “So, you have moved on,” she pointed out, astonished.

“That's right,” Yongguk nodded, slumping his shoulders.

“She seems really nice, Gukkie,” Jieun remarked, glancing in Annie's direction.

“She really is,” Yongguk pointed out, sighing heavily. “As you can see, Miranda's not very fond of her.”

“Yeah, if I remember correctly, Miranda's not fond of anyone,” Jieun muttered sneeringly. “She wasn't fond of me before. Not sure why she's being so nice to me all of a sudden. My manager talked me into doing this and since it's for a good cause I may as well have done it for the cause itself.” Which was true in this case. Jieun had stopped by the studio for confirmation and out of convenience, she decided to hitch a ride with him since they were already headed in the same direction nonetheless. Out of politeness, Yongguk complied.

“That's why most of us are agreeing to this,” Yongguk glanced knowingly at his group, all of whom, including Lucy, were peaking from behind the curtain trying to remain as discreet as possible.

“You have all day to convince her we're over, Gukkie,” Jieun reminded him.

He sighed in exasperation. “I know,” he grumbled, running a hand over his tired-looking face.

“Heck, I'll even help you out,” she offered.

He was taken aback by her offer. “How?” he asked, raising a brow.

Jieun shrugged. “Not sure, but it's worth a shot,” she said flatly.

“Not sure if that sounds like a good idea, Jieun,” he said. His tone was oozing concern for the outcome. “You see the guys looking over at us? Dae and Jae are not very happy with me at the moment.” He looked over at the guys.

Waving slightly but they, particularly Daehyun, chose to brush him off. Youngjae gave him an awkward wave along with Jongup and Zelo. Even though Daehyun and Annie were constantly at each other's throats, he now realized the love they had for one another. Daehyun's dismissive behavior was evidence of his unconditional loyalty towards her and Yongguk respected him for it. His eyes soon met Lucy's, who was not pleased. It was understandable because Annie is, after all, her best friend.

“Who's the girl?” Jieun made eye contact with Lucy, who didn't hesitate to glare at her.

“Annie's best friend,” Yongguk replied. “Her name is Lucy.”

“I get the feeling, she won't like me,” Jieun prognosticated.

“Maybe,” Yongguk said.

Soon, another figure emerged from behind the curtain, furrowing his brows in confusion. “What the hell is going on out here?” Himchan asked, glancing at the group of friends. They didn't seem to acknowledge him. He then followed their gaze before making eye contact with Yongguk and Jieun.

“Kim Himchan!” Jieun exclaimed excitedly as she made her way over to him.

“Jieun,” Himchan's eyes widened, he was clearly not expecting this.

She soon pulled him in for a hug. He returned it awkwardly. “Surprised to see me?” she asked teasingly.

“Of course,” he chuckled awkwardly, glancing at the others. So now it made a lot of sense, he thought. He found himself wondering about Annie's whereabouts but decided not to pry for now.

“Just so you're aware, I'll be sharing the stage with you guys,” she beamed excitedly, glancing at the others. “Isn't that exciting?”

“Oh, sure—you know it,” they murmured. Their tone, however, was anything but enthusiastic.

“Well, now that it's been settled, I'm out of here,” Lucy announced, glaring particularly at Jieun.

“What?! Where are you going?!” the others whined, particularly Daehyun and Youngjae.

Lucy shrugged nonchalantly. “Not too far.”

“You can't just leave us!” Daehyun shouted. “You are like the worst roadie ever!”

Zelo cleared his throat, tapping Daehyun's shoulder. “Uh hyung? Didn't you say the same thing to Annie noona?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Daehyun sneered, glaring at Lucy.

“I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the show,” Lucy remarked, shrugging dismissively. “I feel like my work's been done.”

“The only thing you did was check the sound system,” Youngjae remarked. “If anything, you're far from done.”

Lucy shrugged dismissively once again, choosing to ignore him. “In the meantime, I'll just hang with Annie,” she announced.

Yongguk cleared his throat. “Not sure if that's possible. She went off with Miranda somewhere,” he told her.

“I bet you had something to do with it,” Lucy sneered, firmly crossing her arms over her chest.

Daehyun scoffed. “No kidding,” he muttered, glaring at the older guy.

One by one, the group began to diffuse with Lucy walking off first, followed by Daehyun, then Zelo, and then Jongup. Youngjae sighed heavily before shaking his head, walking off in a different direction. Soon, Himchan, Yongguk, and Jieun were left alone in awkward silence. “Well,” Jieun spoke up first, breaking the silence. “Talk about a warm welcome.”

“I didn't know about this, I swear!” Yongguk exclaimed, raising his hands in defeat as he turned to his best friend.

“I know you didn't,” Himchan replied reassuringly believing his best friend. “No one did.” He glanced ahead, a dark glint besotted onto his piercing eyes. “She planned this all along.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Jieun chimed in finally, she eyed the guys curiously.

Himchan and Yongguk glanced at one another before replying at once. “Nothing,” they said. It was best to keep Jieun out of the loop. She wasn't ready to find out about this. Not that it was any of her business anyways. Either way, both guys were sure she's had enough drama for now.

“I need you to watch Danny while the event is taking place,” Miranda instructed her. Her tone was as icy as ever and it made Annie shudder.

“But—“ Annie's voice wavered.

“But what?” Miranda's icy stare bored into hers. “Do you have something better to do than your own job?”

“Well,” Annie cleared , kicking her foot against the marble floors of the mansion. “It's my day off and I promised my friends I'd help them out.”

“Well as of now, you're on call so any day is fair game,” Miranda firmly stated. “I thought we discussed this on your first day. You are to make yourself available anytime, any day. That's what you signed up for and I'm paying you to comply nevertheless. Unless you choose to question my authority. You don't mind, do you?” Annie knew she couldn't refuse since Miranda had an obligatory look to her.

What the hell was her problem? Why was she being so hostile and bitter? Annie wondered. She's worst than her old self. Is it the hormones talking? “Not at all,” Annie said, shaking her head. Her lips forming into a thin line.

“Good,” she smirked. “He's right upstairs. I expect you to keep him up there until the event is over.” She finally said before turning to leave. Before long, she turned around once again. “One other thing.”

Annie looked up to face her employer.

“Whatever's going on between me and Himchan,” she began, “Stay out of it.”

Annie's eyes widened. “I'm sorry?”

“I know you spoke to him,” she firmly stated. “He came into my office to demand answers from me but I had him escorted out without an answer.” She informed. So that explained why he was angry that next day. “Now, as much as I'd like to provide an explanation, it's gonna have to wait until after the event. Then, all those questions left unanswered will be answered. So there's a whole other reason I needed you to stay with Danny tonight, Annie. If you stuck with your friends, then tonight would take a disastrous turn and we wouldn't want that now, would we?” She paused momentarily. “Now, I advise you to go upstairs. Danny will be expecting you.” She finally said, then proceeded to leave.

Annie grew silent as she watched her employer leave without another word. I was only trying to help...

A/N: Hello again! Here's another update for you guys!!!! Now this chapter will be divided into two parts because it's a long one... I hope you like it! Jieun's appearance is going to be the last cameo for now. I'll try to update soon. I took a break working on my school work to finish this chapter up. Now don't mind the minor errors, I'll come back to fix them later lol. I kind of rushed through this chapter. Just a few more chapters until I can officially say goodbye to Annie. I can't say how many chapters are left since anything is fair game. Annie is like a scapegoat to Miranda's little games. So basically this was punishment for Annie for talking to Himchan. I mean what choice did she have? He is much more of a friend to her than Miranda is. And you guys kind of know that he's not mad at Annie. Annie's a scapegoat so he had to take out his frustrations on her. Of course, I couldn't just end their friendship. They had an emotional roller coaster throughout this story. Annie's pissed at Yongguk... Ay, ay, ay... Anyways, happy reading! ^^