'They're letting you go'
You stared at the guy in front of you and then to Mark before laughing.
'They're firing us?' you said incredulously. 'Thats-'
'Not Mark' JYP tapped his pen against the desk and shook his head. 'I'm really sorry ____-ah. I tired to help but…' he sighed again and rubbed his eyes vigorously. 'They've decided to replace you…'
The sentence hung in the air like a bad odor.
'With who?'
'… i'm not sure yet but I will tell you as soon as I know' you nodded knowing he would.
'I don't understand… w-why did they fire me?' you frowned across at your boss and laughed when you started feeling nervous. Mark had taken to looking anywhere but at you as though he knew something you didn't. 'Did I do something wrong?'
At this JYP leaned forward. 'No no no you have done nothing wrong. Believe me you have been perfect and I tried to tell them they're idiots if they think they can make the show better by changing it like this'
'But…'
'They already made they're minds up. I'm so sorry ___-ah. I wish there was something I could do'
You swallowed the lump in your throat and shook your head.
'No don't worry, it's fine. It's not your fault'
'Why don't you take a break for a while. Maybe a week or two. Absolutely no activities' JYP suggested.
'I only had one thing'
'I'll cancel it. Tell them you need some rest. You're be right back after it. Okay?'
You nodded and got up to leave.
'I'll speak to you tomorrow ____-ah'

Lying in bed you felt the heaviness of the situation crash down on you. You'd ran through every show you did with Mark trying to find something that would justify them firing you but there wasn't anything. Not to your knowledge anyway. Mark had said more risky things than you had so you just couldn't understand.
Is it because I'm a girl? you though frowning.
You rolled over and assumed the role of a starfish. With Mark at the dorm you could sleep how ever you wanted although you're not entirely sure you liked it this way or not. But at this moment in time he was better off at the dorm than with you. You couldn't help feeling angry towards him. Call it jealousy or whatever you wanted but there were a thousand chances you could snap at him at any minute.
What really made Mark better than you. You always thought you balanced each other out. When you were little your parents would always laugh at how loud you were in comparison to how quiet he was. But you always let him speak when he wanted it. Its not like you overshadowed him. Especially at the age of 14 when Mark grew to the height of a tree it was physically impossible to over shadow him.
A smile made it's way onto your face and you picked up your phone to text you boyfriend. You made it all the way to finishing the text with your thumb hoovering over the send button.
You were happy now but what happens when you see him tomorrow? What if he thought you were in a better mood and came round. Hes came over later in the past.
You sighed and threw you phone down onto the bed without following the message through.
No communication was probably best for a while.
One thing you were really worried about was what the hell you were supposed to do with all you free time.

*************

It was the end of the day before you heard a thing from JYP. You'd cleaned the bottom half of the house and was about to check on your food when you phone rang.
'Hello… did you hear anything?' you asked listening to him breathing.
'____-ah where is Mark?'
'He's at practice'
'And you're at home yes?'
'Yeah… whats wrong?' you sat down on the edge of the sofa and tried to calm your breathing.
'The person whose replacing you…'
'Yes go on' you held you breath and squeezed your eyes shut.
'The person replacing you… is Jackson'
A shudder ran down your spine as you opened your eyes again. As they were focusing you realised your hands were balled into fists but you couldn't relax them.
'____-ah?… I want you to stay positive. Losing this has opened up other possibilities for you. There are other people who want you as a host. As soon as news got out I've had calls all morning about you. Stay positive okay?'
'…yeah' you were a second late on the reply and you heard JYP sigh. 'Whose phoned you?' you pressed.
'Well you already knew Jimin is leaving Afterschool Club and they're looking for a girl host to do the show with Eric and Kevin. I put that in a definite pile. I've had casting agents on the phone for you to do a drama. They're on the maybe pile. Arirang have called so many times I've lost count. Can you come in tomorrow and we'll talk more about it?'
'Yeah sure… totally'
'Say 10am?'
'I will be there' you smiled through the phone and said your final goodbye before hanging up. You put your head in your hands and within seconds the waterworks were on full blast.
Of all people to be replaced by it had to be someone who you already felt threatened by.

You reached for the tissue box that had a permanent home on the coffee table now. Since yesterday you had to place one in each room because if you thought to hard about the situation (and you always did) then tears were bound to fall. You'd become to tired though. In 24 hours you'd lost your spirit for doing just about anything. Even cleaning which you usually some what enjoyed felt like a chore now.
The fire alarm went off bringing you back down to earth and back to the fact that you had food in the oven.
'' you raced to the kitchen and swung the door open. Smoke billowed out and you looked at the remains of the meat you were cooking. 'You know what? It's fine. I shouldn't be eating that crap anyway. Ramyun it is' you cracked a window and started boiling some water in a pan. 'Lets see if I can burn this' just as you began wafting the smoke out the window you heard Mark calling your name.
'Why does it smell?' he came round the corner and gasped wide eyed. 'Yah what were you doing?' he grabbed the tea towel from you but you resisted.
'I'm not a child Mark. I know how to use a towel'
'You burnt a perfectly good piece of meat'
'Stop!' you launched a plaster cup at him. 'And if the house had burnt down would you still be pissed about the meat!'
'Of course no-'
'Whatever' you slowly stirred the noodles clockwise before dumping them into a bowl. 'I thought you were staying at the dorm?' you asked without taking your eyes off your food. Mark shifted awkwardly.
'I thought you might need me'
'Not really' you shook your head and dropped down on to one of the stools that surrounded the breakfast bar.
'____-ah you can't blame me for something that was out of my control' he tried.
'I'm don't blame you' you confessed.
'Good' he smiled and you finally looked up smiling brightly.
'I blame Jackson'
'What?' his grin dropped turning into a frown.
'Jacksons at fault here' you stated clearly and smiled again. 'He's the reason I didn't get up this morning and head to the studio with you. He's the reason I was fired'
'You can't honestly think Jackson…' he laughed in disbelief.
'Why? Because they decided to fire me, not Jackson? Because they're the ones who chose Jackson to replace me?'
'Yeah he's got nothing to do with it. He's feels awful about it ____-ah'
'Then why didn't he turn it down' You laughed again and shook you head while stirring your cup of coffee.
'Because…' his sentence trailed off and you waited patiently for him to put one together. 'He…'
You slid off the stool and dumped your bowl in the sink once you'd finished your ramyun.
'On the contrary to what you think Mark he doesn't feel that awful. Why would he, he got to have his own show with you. He got his Markson show. If he felt as bad as you're saying he would have turned the job down. I wish I could say it was for publicity but do GOT7 really need it'
'____-ah please. I'm so sorry'
'Why are you apologising? You just said you weren't to blame?'
'I know but I love you. I don't like seeing you hurt' he looked genuinely hurt and you clicked your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
'Did you know?'
'What?'
'Did you know about me getting replaced?' you watched Mark swallow hard and part of you broke.
'They said the ratings w-'
'Did. You. Know?' you stared at him from across the room with eyes that still weren't dry from crying most of the day.
Mark looked at you, begging you to stand down but you remained adamant. With a sigh he nodded his head.
'But I-'
'Thats all I needed to know. I'm going to bed' the boy you'd slowly started falling in love with since age 5 had watched you walk head first into a trap without giving you a single warning sign.
You didn't think you wanted to be in a room with anyone let alone him. Going to the JYP building tomorrow was going to be difficult.
You curled up in bed and waited to hear the front door slam. Mark could talk all he wants but surely he'd take the hint.
After an hour of waiting and hearing nothing you felt your lids grow heavy and eventually you fell into a silent slumber.