Extra Chapter

A/N: You don’t have to read this, but a reader suggested I add another chapter talking about what happened to Seventeen after all of this and so here you go, if you’re interested :)

The hiatus was over as soon as Junghan fully recovered from the injuries he sustained after Ren had pushed him from the top of the building. The twelve members had to go back to work immediately. They had so many appearances to get to, so many shows to film, so many things to do. They were back on the packed schedule with little rest.

It was hard to pretend that everything was all right. It was hard to laugh and crack jokes and stay positive in front of the cameras. But they had to pretend it was the same as it was before, and it was hard. When the cameras were turned off, all of the members were actually so tired. The scandal had drained all of the positive energy they had before it.

For one, Junghan became the leader, and the members just could not manage the change. S.Coups was the leader of Seventeen, and Junghan could not even begin to replace him. S.Coups was the one that had invested his all in Seventeen; S.Coups was the one that knew all of s the most; he was the one who has been in the group the longest. Junghan was not the same.

Some of them still cried over S.Coups. They were not done mourning. They had three months of rest, but that was not enough for them.

There was still tension between the members that could not subside no matter what. Vernon and Mingyu were still on bad terms. Seungkwan and Seokmin as well. Joshua could not open up to the rest of the members like he did before, not after they all ganged up on him and accused him of being a traitor.

Speaking of traitor, Woozi, as well, was distant and aloof from the rest of this members. He felt unworthy to be among them, all of them. He was the reason that S.Coups killed himself, and he was also the reason Baekho died and he was also the reason that Junghan was hurt.

Woozi had cooperated with Aron and Ren three months ago and revealed Junghan’s address to them. He didn’t know why, but they told him that it was Junghan that killed Baekho, and Woozi believed them. And he was so angry, that he wanted to aid in the operation of avenging Baekho. Then he heard that Junghan was in hospital, and he learned later after calling Aron in prison that it was not him.

Woozi felt so guilty for everything. He wanted to quit Seventeen, he really did. But the pressure from Pledisboss was too much to bear. Woozi had gone into Pledisboss’ office imploring him to end his contract, but Pledisboss threatened to file a lawsuit that would definitely be too much of a burden for his parents.

Now, whenever Woozi was around s, he felt so sick. He didn’t deserve to be among them, among the “eleven passionate, kind-hearted and loyal.” S.Coups didn’t want him in the group, and he just felt like an intruder.

He was depressed. So depressed. Every day dragged in drudgery, and no member could get through to him, even the ones he was close to.

“Woozi, come on, what’s wrong with you,” Hoshi asked his friend, “are you still not over it?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be over it, Hosh,” Woozi replied.

“Are you talking about Coups or Baekho?” Hoshi asked. He was not so sure.

“Both,” Woozi replied honestly and then burst into tears. Hoshi would always comfort him when that happened.

Pledisboss had asked Woozi to start working on compositions. He gave him templates to work with, but Woozi’s creative muse was long dead now. Nothing came out of him. Nothing worked. He could no longer compose anything.

Pledisboss begrudgingly asked some of the company’s own composers to create the songs for Seventeen’s comeback. He would still give Woozi the credit for composing them though. It was a great marketing ploy after all.

Junghan also felt equally suffocated in his group. He had knowledge none of the other ten members had. Yes, there were only ten members. The other one is not a member, and Junghan would never consider him a member again.

Woozi was the traitor. Junghan had pieced it all together. His mom was the adulteress, and so Baekho was lying when he said that there was no traitor. Now why would Baekho lie about that? What other reason is there besides his attachment to Woozi? There was then the fact that Woozi stayed behind that day because of “diarrhea.” There was also the fact that Woozi told Aron and Ren Junghan’s home address.

Junghan had been giving Woozi the silent treatment ever since promotions started. Woozi didn’t notice, because he himself did not talk to anyone.

Junghan wanted to call Woozi out, to tell the other members the truth, but he didn’t. Revealing that there was a traitor also meant revealing that there is an adulterous mother, and Junghan did not want to subject his mother to suspicion again. He did not want to bring it up again to anyone, even if it meant letting Woozi get away with his betrayal.

The general public caught on to the relative lack of energy the members exhibited now when compared to before the scandal. They especially noticed the downcast Woozi, the more dispassionate Junghan, the less happy Hoshi, and the tenser environment between the members in general. Netizens seemed to believe that it was because of the death of their beloved member, but others believed NU’EST's earlier allegations that Seventeen simply were not close.

Pledisboss was also frustrated with the way things were turning out. Now that the scandal was over, the world suddenly seemed to lose interest? Seventeen was now more boring, and although they had a loyal fanbase, that fanbase did not seem to appreciate the fact that the guys were clearly not as close as they were before and that some of them clearly needed more “rest.”

And so he forced them all to act more lively like they had been before. He forced Woozi to smile and to act like he was close to s again. After these maddening fake filming sessions, Woozi felt so sick to the stomach that he wanted to kill himself.

At one point, he couldn’t handle it anymore.

“I quit!” he yelled as they were filming one of their shows. He stormed out of the room and building and just walked through the streets around until that sick feeling in his stomach subsided.

I can’t do this anymore, Woozi thought. He really couldn’t handle it anymore. He did not feel worthy enough to be a part of Seventeen, and he felt like he was just dragging the entire group down.

He decided to tell them. He decided to tell s that he was the traitor that night. Maybe that would at least alleviate that strain he felt in his chest, just a little bit. Maybe the members would hate him so much that Pledisboss would be forced to kick him out of Seventeen. That would be a good thing, even though the prospect of s hating him seemed terrible.

The night, after he was reprimanded by the managers and Pledisboss for walking out, Woozi called in the 11 members for a meeting to make his confession.

“Guys, I’m so sorry,” he bowed to them all, “for everything. And I’m not just talking about what happened today.”

“What’s wrong Woozi?” Hoshi asked sympathetically.

“You know back when NU’EST were releasing their statements, they said there was a traitor. Baekho lied when he said there is no traitor. The actual traitor was me. I was the one that told them about S.Coup’s affair, and I was the one that sent the pictures. Baekho lied to protect me,” Woozi looked down at the floor, too ashamed to face them and see their reaction.

There was a long silence as everyone processed what Woozi had told them.

“So that’s what S.Coups meant when he said we were eleven,” Dino pointed out.

“I thought this whole thing was over,” Seungkwan groaned, rubbing his head, “why would you do that, Woozi?”

“I did it to save myself, and to make sure the rest of NU’EST stop targeting us,” Woozi answered.

“Well, good job, ,” Vernon spat, “you caused him to commit suicide.”

That was the one thing that Woozi hoped not to hear from them. It hurt him more than anything else did. It was true. Seungcheol’s death was on his head, and he would never ever forgive himself for it.

“Honestly,” Mingyu continued the attack, “you’re the reason he’s dead, Woozi. You ruined him.”

Woozi eyes began to well with tears.

“ you,” Wonwoo spat.

“I lost all respect I had for you,” Seokmin added.

“I knew from before,” Junghan said, “and I agree with everyone. You’re the reason we’re in this mess. You’re the reason your boyfriend is dead. You’re the reason S.Coups is dead…”

“Stop!” Hoshi yelled, diverting all attention from Woozi towards Hoshi. Hoshi was silently crying. Seeing one of his best friends chastised and accused of killing another one his best friends was too much for Hoshi to handle.

Woozi looked on to Hoshi sympathetically, smiling at his friend.

“Woozi is not the reason S.Coups is dead. Coups committed suicide. Blaming Woozi for that is just cruel and unusual. I know why he did it, and Woozi has nothing to do with it. Coups went crazy before Woozi’s betrayal. Stop doing this to him, please.”

Hoshi’s tears silenced everyone, and Woozi took advantage of that silence to just slip out of the room and cry alone and in peace. Hoshi trailed behind him, asking that no one follow them.

Woozi left the room, the dorm, the entire building. Hoshi followed him silently.

Woozi eventually stopped in the street, turning to face Hoshi, “you didn’t have to defend me. I know it’s my fault he died.”

Hoshi shook his head, sniffling, “it really isn’t. It’s more my fault than it is yours, Jihoonie.”

“If this is about you leaving the door open the night of the fire then that is nothing compared to what I did,” Woozi answered.

“It’s not that,” Hoshi said.

“Then what is it?”

“I can’t tell you,” Hoshi replied.

“I know you’re saying these things to make me feel better, and I appreciate it so much, I really do. But, I’m a lost cause, Hosh. I’m evil. I’m terribly, terribly evil and I don’t deserve to be among the rest of you. Even Coups didn’t want me…”

“Jihoon…”

“Do you know the bus route to Mapo Bridge?” Woozi asked.

Hoshi abruptly turned his face and looked at Woozi straight on, solemnly; Mapo Bridge for being a place to commit suicide.“You’re not thinking of jumping it, right?” His voice was stern, and his eyes were uncharacteristically piercing.

“I honestly can’t live like this anymore,” Woozi said, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his sweate.

Hoshi’s eyes widened. It looked as if Hoshi had just seen a ghost. He shook his head and grabbed Woozi’s wrist and pulled him back towards the dorm, “no. I’m not letting it happen again. Not to another member,” Hoshi said.

“You can’t change my will to die, Hosh,” Woozi said.

“I can, and I will. If it means keeping an eye on you for the rest of my life, I’m doing it.”

“But why?”

“You’re my member. You’re my friend. I don’t care that you betrayed us, that doesn’t change the fact you are part of the best thing that has ever happened to me. Seventeen is right now, but it’s still precious to me and you’re part of it.”

“I’m not. S.Coups didn’t want me to be a part of it. I killed Seventeen. Can’t you see that? I’m the reason that Coups is dead!”

Hoshi shook his head, “no, Jihoon. You’re not. I am the reason he’s dead. And I’m going to tell you because I trust you.”

“What?”

“S.Coups told me he was going to kill himself, you know, just like you’re doing right now. I didn’t do much to prevent it. I just informed the CEO and thought that was all I had to do. But then he died, and I felt like for so many reasons. I could have prevented it, Woozi. I could have talked him out of it, but I was too chicken to do it. I wasn’t there for him when his depression was spiraling out of control. I thought I could leave it to his psychologist, as if some psychologist’s words have more weight than a friend’s. I made a mistake, and it led to his death.” At this point Hoshi had to stop because he was crying too much.

Woozi felt like he had to comfort his friend somehow, the only thing he could think to say to him is the cliché: “it’s not your fault.”

“You don’t understand,” Hoshi continued, “he sent me a note. I found it in my pocket two days after he died. He told me that died for me.”

“What?” Woozi asked, shocked.

“Promise you won’t tell. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“He… he said that he died to take the blame from me because he thought I set the fire. But I didn’t. I swear I didn’t,” Hoshi said.

Woozi froze. He tried to organize his thoughts. Ren and Aron had gone to him in Busan and told him they were sure that it was not S.Coups that started the fire, and they thought it was Junghan. But when Woozi found out that it was not Junghan, he just accepted that it was S.Coups.

But if it wasn’t S.Coups, and it wasn’t Junghan, and it wasn’t Hoshi, then who was it?

“Where is the note?” Woozi asked Hoshi.

“I destroyed it,” Hoshi responded, “he told me to destroy it or else the police would put me in jail…”

Woozi blinked. Hoshi was an idiot. An utter and absolute idiot.

“We need to report this to the police,” Woozi said.

“No! No, you can’t! They’ll think it’s me, and they won’t believe in me like you do. Plus, I destroyed the note. They’ll think that’s suspicious.”

“But who is it that set the fire then?” Woozi asked in frenzy.

“I don’t know, Woozi. It’s probably some NU’EST anti-fan or something. Let’s just not bring it up again, okay? Please, let’s forget about it.”

Woozi’s face softened. The fact that Baekho’s killer is out there unscathed was bothersome, but Woozi really did want to put it behind him. He would not tell the police either, because he did not want to jeopardize his friend Hoshi. The last thing he wanted was to put more of Seventeen in danger by betraying their trust.

“Now, you know that Coups didn’t die because of you. He chose to die for me. You don’t have to feel guilty anymore, Woozi. Now would you please let go of any thoughts of suicide?”

“I… I don’t know,” Woozi said.

“The members will come around. Woozi, you’re the face of Seventeen, and you can’t leave us anymore. I don’t think they would want that either, no matter what you did.”

Woozi sniffled as Hoshi brought to his chest and hugged him. They stayed that way for a good two minutes.

“You won’t do it, right?” Hoshi asked, pulling away from the hug, “you wouldn’t put me through mourning again, right?”

Woozi smiled up at his friend and shook his head, “no, I won’t. Thank you, Hoshi.”

Hoshi let out a sigh of relief and hugged his friend again.

Hoshi and Woozi went back to the dorm, where the rest of the members confronted Woozi. The confrontation consisted of some verbal insults, more accusations, and a lot of questions. One of those questions was: “whose mother was it?”

“My own,” Woozi answered them, because he knew Junghan did not want people to know.

-

Junghan was the first person to forgive Woozi a few days afterwards. Joshua, Dino, Seokmin, and Minghao followed soon after. The rest eventually gave in and also forgave him.

Woozi felt like the happiest person in the world when Vernon finally relented and said he would forget about it.

It did take a long time to restore his relations with the rest of s. It took more than a year, actually, but within that year, a lot of great things happened. For one, Seventeen got their first win. They all dedicated it to S.Coups and left the trophy on his grave. Also, it was almost back to normal. The tension subsided, and Seventeen were back to the way they were before: energetic, positive, close, passionate...

The members trusted one another again. They were able to joke around with one another again, to act freely in front of each other again. They were able to work in unison again. It took time, but it happened.

Their albums sold millions. Their songs topped the charts. Seventeen become huge, one of the biggest groups of K-Pop.

Woozi went on to composing again. He took lessons, and vowed to never take credit for any song that he didn’t fully compose. He did it all for Baekho. He wrote a lot of sad songs, songs that represented his own heart.

You left this world, you left me me cold and broken,
I want to remember you, but only your scent is my token.
I miss you, my first love, I miss your large arms around me.
I adore you, and I miss you so much you see.

Among all of the songs he composed, there was one that was not like the others. One that was motivated by something else. It did not have the melancholy tune that most of Woozi’s recent compositions contained, rather there was something of a lifelike venom towards a certain someone.

I don’t know who you are, but you’re somewhere out there,
You injected in my life too much sadness to bear,
God will find you. God will take you to hell.
God will burn you black, and he’ll torture you well.
It maddens me the ease with which you can kill,
So when you burn in hell, laugh at you I will.
I will join you in hell, for many sins I have earned.
But even hell is a heaven if I can watch you burn.

A/N: DUDE, who else died when they saw Baekho+Woozi interactions during the ISACs? Just me? ok;;

Also PLEASE watch this video ok thank you

And if you want to check out the one-shots I wrote for those who guessed the culprit, there's one here and another here .

ANDD hope you enjoyed this extra chapter! :)