CHAPTER 9

Jisoo left the dorm as fast as she could without running.

She needed to get away from there… from the people she had tried so hard to please.

When they mentioned her parents, it felt like a stab on the heart.

She felt pathetic when she lost it so easily.

Maybe they were right. Nobody wants her here.

She should just quit.

Her brother was right.

Being a celebrity was not a place for her.

This was probably the dumbest thing she had agreed to.

Jisoo suddenly felt like crying and she didn’t stop it from falling.

She was too tired to fight it.

She took a cab and went to the place where it was the closest thing she could call home.

-----

During the maknae’s disappearance, Chansung defended Jisoo from his fellow members.

“Why can’t you like him hyung? He’s already part of 2PM!” He argued.

Junsu scoffed at him. “Part of 2PM? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Chansung’s jaw clenched hard, trying to control his temper.

“What has he contributed to us? Please do enlighten us if there’s something he had done for the group.” Junsu walked to the couched and sat comfortably. His eyes was challenging Chansung.

Junho went back to the bathroom to finish up with his teeth while the others sat on the remaining space available.

“He’s useless.” Nichkhun commented.

The former maknae was shocked at Nichkhun’s comment. He couldn’t believe that even the nicest one in the group also shared the same opinion as Junsu.

“He, too, knows his shortcomings. He acknowledges that fact. Even though he has the least contribution in the group, he’s working hard. I heard people from the company that he practices diligently. He trains until late at night. I’ve seen him late at night studying our performances.”

“Guys… He’s just like any of us. He’s trying so hard to be deserving as part of 2PM. Can’t you just accept him because he’s here to help us and not Jaebum hyung?”

“You’re out of line maknae! Jaebum hyung has nothing to do with this!” Taecyon hissed.

Nichkhun was suddenly by Taecyon’s side to stop if he decide to do something stupid.

Even at their popularity, they couldn’t afford an internal turmoil in the group. Their position in the industry was still sensitive.

Wooyoung’s usual passive face hardened.

Junsu’s glared at Chansung.

“Is he really? Isn’t he the reason from all the anger? And I’m not the maknae anymore Taecyon hyung.”

No one admitted. Everyone averted their eyes from him.

Just then, the house phone rang.

They all remained where they were.

It kept ringing and Junho got fed up and answered the phone.

He put in speaker mode.

“Congratulations for a wonderful performance! You all did great! By the way is Jisoo there?”

No one spoke. An eerie silence took over.

“He went out JYP.” Junho replied nervously. He was starting to sweat even though it was only a call from JYP.

“Where?” JYP inquired.

“We don’t know.” He replied shakily.

JYP noticed the unusual nervousness in his tone.

 “Is there something that I should know about?”

Everyone’s lips were shut tight. They were all scared to tell JYP what happened. No one wanted to receive the end of their CEO’s anger.

“Tell me.” JYP’s voice went from casual to commanding.

Still, no one stepped up to speak.

Their boss decided to pick one.

“Chansung. Since you’re closer to Jisoo nowadays, will you tell me what happened?”

“Junsu-hyung told Jisoo to go back where he came from-” Chansung was starting to tell everything when Junsu covered his mouth.

“Junsu. Let him finish.” JYP said as if he had eyes in the room.

Junsu was scared but obeyed without a word.

Reluctantly, he released Chansung.

Chansung looked smugged and continued. “As I was saying… Junsu told him that he’s not needed and everyone hates him. He also told him to go home and Junsu hyung mentioned something about Jisoo’s parents not wanting him. Junho joined in and Taecyon hyung stopping me from defending Jisoo. The other two did nothing and watched us. Jisoo seem to have lost it and left.”

“You’ve all touched a sensitive subject…” They heard a sigh coming from JYP in the other line.

“Is there something wrong with Jisoo’s parents?” Chansung curiously asked. As of the moment, he was the most relaxed out of the six.

“You could say that…” There was a pause. “To tell you the truth, what we told the public about his parents weren’t true. He was abandoned at a very young age. He was taken care by a neighbour who was also abandoned like him. I believe he was the one in Japan.”

Shock formed on everyone’s faces.

“Jisoo has been alone for almost half of his life. He did not want to be pitied. That’s why we altered his family background.”

Guilt was the first thing Junsu felt. He wanted to take what he said back. He never experienced the pain Jisoo had experience at such a young age. All his life, he had a family that was why he was careless about his words to him. He never expected this.

Everyone even Chansung didn’t expect this.

They have never seen him cry nor get angry. All the time, Jisoo smiled. There was no trace of pain but their discovery of the truth made them rethink of their actions.

“We didn’t know.” Junsu guiltily said.

“Fix this.”JYP ended the call.

“Nichkhun hyung.” Chansung called.

Nichkhun looked at him.

“He’s not useless. In his own way he did support us.”

“What do you mean?”

Chansung took a deep breath. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone but I think it’s time to tell.”

The car stopped at the only place Jisoo felt at home.

Neon lights decorated the front of the club with a big sign ‘NEON’.

From the looks on the outside, nothing has changed.

Before entering the club, she checked her phone for messages. She found a couple of them.

Gikwang and Yoseob’s messages were full of concern and worry. She decided to send a message assuring them that she was fine even though it was a lie.

There was also a message from Chansung and their manager. Those two, she ignored.

Jisoo got in easily.

No one recognized her. Everyone was busy with their own thing.

Somehow, it made her feel relaxed.

She entered the private lounge that Jin had given her full access.

No one was there.

PERFECT.

Using the lounge’s facilities, she took out the lemon liquor out of the top glass cabinets and took a small shot glass.

After what happened those past few days have shaken her up.

She really needed the drink to forget about things.

She filled the glass up to the brim with the liquor and drank it in one shot.

The citrus taste and the bitter after taste made her feel good. The taste was a good diversion to take her mind off things.

One shot wasn’t enough and she decided to take another one.

This time, she was already feeling the effects of the alcohol. The heat was feeling her body and it felt good.

2 glasses of the liquor was her usual limit when stressed out but for some reason she felt like taking another one.

“Bad time?” Jin, the owner of the club, said.

Sooji/Jisoo didn’t notice him coming in. She was caught off guard that she almost dropped the bottle.

“You could say that.” She answered simply. Her mood was a wreck that she wasn’t ready to tell anything to anyone.

Jin nodded in understanding, sensing she wouldn’t say anything. “Don’t go out of this room if you drink that third glass. I won’t be happy if something happens to you in my watch. You’re brother would have my head.”

She chuckled and nodded.

He didn’t stay long and left.

When the door closed. Her eyes stayed on the empty glass that she was about to fill with the drink. She thought about what Jin said.

Even she knew her alcohol tolerance wouldn’t make it pass more than the second glass she just took. Anything more would mean she would be gambling on the outcome.

With that in mind, she changed her mind and laid on the couch to pass some time.

A couple of hours passed and suddenly her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the name on the screen.

JYP.

Without hesitation, she answered. “Yes, JYP?”

“What happened?” She realized that he already knew what happened.

“It’s nothing. I was stressed and lost it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the tension she was feeling. “I’m sorry it won’t happen again.”

“I should be the one who should apologize in behalf of the members. It’s tough and I feel that I didn’t prepare you enough.”

JYP’s sincerity caused her to unconsciously smile. “Mushy JYP. You have done what you can and we can’t expect things to go our way. I just need a little more time to pull myself together.”

“I see. You still need to go back. It might be too much but you still have responsibilities.” The JYP she knew was back in his serious self.

“I will.” She obediently replied.

==============

Chansung wanted to go out and search for Jisoo but Junsu stopped him. It was still his responsibility as the oldest among the group.

Junsu got hell from their manager who just came back from a short errand.

No one said anything and kept quiet until they retired into their respective rooms.

Even the harsh Taecyon didn’t say anything and went to sleep soon after Chansung told them the real story.

Nichkhun regretted his past actions towards the new member. Before, he dislike him but because of what JYP and Chansung revealed to them, he couldn’t do it anymore. He was blinded by Jaebum’s sudden leave from the group that he placed all the blame on the Jisoo. He realized too late that the maknae had nothing to do with it.

He didn’t deserve to be called the ‘nicest guy’ in 2PM when Jisoo deserved it more.

He couldn’t sleep.

It was already four in the morning and Jisoo was still out. It worried him.

Nichkhun made a decision to wait for the guy’s return.

With a jacket on, he set out of the dorm and went down to the lobby.

Just a floor down the dorm, he saw the security guard making his rounds.

He decided to ask just in case Jisoo came back already. “Excuse me Ahjusshi but have you seen a guy this tall come in?”

The guard paused for a moment and then nodded afterwards. “Ah yes. I think I saw him going to the rooftop. Poor guy. He looked exhausted and depressed.”

Nichkhun bowed his head and thanked him before rushing towards the rooftop.

The door was open and he feared the worse. He ran faster until he reached the top.

From there he saw a figure with the back facing him.

Relief spread across Nichkhun’s body and slowed down. As he got nearer, he knew it was Jisoo.

He tried to approach Jisoo without a noise but his foot slip, causing the younger one to turn around.

“Ah! Nichkhun hyu-sunbae? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?”

When Jisoo fully faced him, Nichkhun saw the tears staining the idol’s cheeks.

Jisoo tried to wipe them with her hands but her eyes were swollen from all the crying she did.

Her face caught Nichkhun off-guard. All the while, he and the rest of the group only thought of Jisoo as someone who isn’t easily affected.

They thought wrong.

“I’m sorry” he bowed in front of Jisoo. This took the maknae by surprise.

Jisoo didn’t speak and waited for him to continue. “Your parents… We heard from JYP.”

“Oh” Jisoo flinched at the mention of her parents. Even her brother only mentioned the painful memory of their parents when necessary.

She guessed it was unavoidable.

“It’s no one’s fault. I am the one who should be apologizing” She said as she was standing up.

Nichkhun stopped her. “No. You don’t. We’re the one at fault.”

Jisoo sighed. This was going nowhere. They were both trying to take the blame and she was sure no one stop saying sorry if it continues.

“I think we should start over.” She suggested.

Nichkhun smiled and agreed. “Okay.”

The younger one began. “Hi. I’m Park Jisoo. Please guide me.” She put her hand out and waited for Nichkun.

Nichkhun shook her hand and introduced himself. “Nichkhun Horvejkul. Nice to meet you Park Jisoo. Welcome to 2PM” He flashed his signature smile.

This caused Jisoo to comment. “You’re really a good guy…hyung.” She tested saying hyung and was relieved that he wasn’t mad about it.

Instead it made the older laugh.

“Come on. We better get some sleep. The others will wake soon.” Nichkun ruffled her hair and the hang his arm around Jisoo’s shoulder.

Jisoo beamed in happiness. She felt like a kid with her brother.

“Sorry for causing a lot of trouble” She shyly said.

Nichkhun made a sound and put his weight on Jisoo.

“Hyung!” she exclaimed. His weight almost made her fall forward.

“Stop apologizing.” Nichkhun warned.

“Yes hyung.”

“Jisoo” He called.

“Yes hyung?”

“You’re on cooking duty starting tomorrow.”

Jisoo laughed.

In the end, they didn’t hate her that much.

They still dislike her but somehow, she knew that they were changing and so was she.

There was hope.

Soon, that dream she had will finally come true.

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WOO! I finally had the time to write this.

I think this was the shortest update I made.

For those who wanted to know why I made this story... I decided to make this out of the blue and honestly even I forgot why. Probably because of my love of gender-bender genres and 2PM's popularity in 2009, has made me decide to make one.

Trivia: My stories are usually influenced by soap operas (unintentionally.) - For some reason, after making a story only then will I realize that I saw one of the scenes in my story in a soap opera that I found not to my taste (I hate it when that happens^^)

Tell me what you think guys... or ask whatever questions you want^^

If there are any mistakes... do tell me^^

Thanks for all who have supported this story.

Try to check out my other stories.