Jinyoung sat on the living room couch, right leg bouncing nervously; the bracelets that always covered his right wrist felt heavier than usual, and he was itching to remove it. Jaebum sat calmly on the other side of the couch, although his crossed arms and tight jaw showed his true feelings. Sure enough, his fellow member didn’t take the news of blackmail very well, however Mark’s offer was reasonable enough. 

Which was why Mark was standing awkwardly to the side of the living room with their manager, who was explaining the ground rules. That must have meant he disagreed to the first plan they had— to pay him off in whatever amount he wants; but why? Regardless, the journalist looked quite serious, although the nervous tapping of his finger against his thigh gave him away. 

Jinyoung scoffed— he asked for this, he should have expected that it would be dealth with seriously.

He broke the news to them as soon as he returned to the apartment. After some tiring moments that may have included being scolded about heading out alone, their manager and Jaebum came up with some conditions. Jinyoung would like to say he helped, but they pretty much shut him out of the conversation, like he wasn’t in the same room. Which was extremely unfair; even if he was the one with the tattoo that led to this whole mess, he was also, quite frankly, one of the people to be followed by Mark Tuan. 

The terms laid out were mostly what Mark asked for, with added re-arrangements from their side. The 3 days would be given, however 24/7 access won’t be permitted all the time. Even so, Mark was asked to stay in the apartment with them where they can at least monitor what he’s working on. Certain schedules will be followed for the backstage photos, as well as interview times. The group should be open to actually posing for some photos, because, as their manager said: all publicity is good publicity. 

Jaebum strictly required not to be followed, which means most of Mark’s time will be spent with Jinyoung. After all, he was the talk of the town.

Alongside all of these, they were also in charge of going through whatever photos Mark will use, and the final article. They won’t change much, provided Mark keeps his word about respecting certain things. Especially the photo, which Mark had promised he would delete as soon as the three days were up. It’s in a file in his laptop, but he won’t show them in case they decide to tamper with it. 

“I see,” Mark said, nodding. “How are we documenting this agreement?”

Jinyoung almost scoffed again at how professional this guy was acting, but Jaebum silenced him with a glare.

Again, totally unfair.

“I don’t deserve this,” Jinyoung hissed at Jaebum, voice barely above a whisper.

Jaebum’s expression turned amuse