Hyejoo thankfully didn't have a serious physical injury. There was nothing broken and barely any scratches. If anything she just had a few bruises on her legs when she fainted and hit the ground, but other than that she was good. Nothing some rest and proper nutrition couldn't fix.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about her mental state. She was stressed beyond belief, fearing that sooner or later rumors would spring up from the depths of hell and tie her with the ion business her (former) company was involved in. And although it wouldn't technically be a rumor, it wouldn't be the whole truth.

But she didn't want to talk about it. If anything came to light she wasn't going to set up a press conference and talk about what her duties were. She only catered to men, thankfully it never got to anything ual, but it was still traumatizing for her. Having the constant fear that at any second any of the drunk older men would snap and try anything with her. 

She grew restless and anxious. Even if she wasn't out being the date of a rich conglomerate at a fancy hotel for the night, she always had that constant fear. Jiwoo did everything and anything she could to help but her hands were tied as well. Even now that she didn't have to do that any longer, the fear wasn't gone. If anything it only grew bigger.

It was to the point her chest felt constricted and her lungs were fighting to get oxygen. It's been a long time since she had an anxiety attack, but she could always recognize one when it was coming. Jiwoo was currently driving her to the company to sign paperwork and terminate her contract for good. The closer they got to the building though, the bigger the familiar building became in her line of vision, the faster her breathing became.

Finally, Hyejoo couldn't hide it and keep quiet any longer. The young girl didn't even realize Jiwoo had pulled over and was now at her side trying to calm her down.

"Hyejoo! Hyejoo, breathe in. Sweetie, stay with me." Her manager (if she could still be called that) was trying to calm her down.

Jiwoo was grasping her shoulders firmly and looking her in the eyes. Hyejoo still couldn't quite focus.

"Hyejoo, listen to my voice. It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you. Breathe in and out slowly."

Everything was spinning and it felt like the ground was going to swallow her whole. Jiwoo's voice sounded so far away but she could still make out what she was saying. Her eyes were unsteady and her whole body was trembling. Still, she fought that feeling of losing herself among the nothingness and tried to slow her breaths.

"That's good. You're doing good. Look at me and do what I do."

Jiwoo was speaking to her slow and firmly so she could focus solely on her voice. The redhead then proceeded to demonstrate slow breathing exercises. Breathing in, holding it for three seconds, and then breathing out.

Hyejoo followed the best she could, the more she repeated the exercise the better she got. After several repetitions, her hyperventilating had reduced to slow shaky breaths, and after a few more times, she breathing had come back to normal. Hyejoo was still a little shaken up but Jiwoo gave her a small smile.

"You're okay. You're okay," the woman said and proceeded to bring her in for a hug.

She'd been with Hyejoo since debut and had gotten so attached. She didn't know what she would do without her in her life. She can't imagine going one day without her. In just a few months their relationship had changed so much. Hyejoo was like the little sister she never had and she felt so bad when she couldn't do anything against the company executives back then.

They had her by the throat and but Jiwoo would never forgive herself for never speaking up. From this moment on she swore on her life that she wouldn't do the same mistake. Because Hyejoo was way too young when she got to experience how cruel and unfair the world was. Because girls like Hyejoo never had a happy ending and it was bull. She deserved a happy ending.

"If you don't want to come you don't have to. I can go and get the papers myself and then we can go back to the apartment. You can stay with me for a few days. It's not a big place, I only rent a room at a college dorm, but we'll figure it out, okay?" Jiwoo held her face firmly.

The idol nodded with red eyes and gave Jiwoo a pouty look. The longer she looked Jiwoo in the eyes, the tearier she became. Throughout this whole mess, besides Chaewon being her anchor, Jiwoo had been a tremendous support for her. Hyejoo still didn't realize it but she had so many people to count on. Things would never be like they used to.

—☆★°•°•°★☆—☆★°•°•°★☆—

Go Won was currently inside a meeting room all the way at the end of the long table, now in full Loona attire (thanks to Jungeun). Haseul, the young CEO, on the other end of the table. Sooyoung and Jungeun were here as well (although technically Jungeun had no business here because she was just the stylist and makeup artist. But she was still part of Loona's team so she needed to be present). They sat confidently at the table by Go Won, one by each side.

But it wasn't just the four of them. Jaden had also been called and he dropped whatever he was doing to hurry over. Journalist Jung Jinsol had been called as well, along with detective Vivian Wong. They were seated in the middle seats with lots of space between them to not make the big table seem so uneven.

(Go Won didn't have to sit that far away but she insisted. Said something about making it look like a dramatic scene from a business drama. Haseul wanted to smack her on the head but now was not the time).

"First and foremost, I think we should address the on-going issue this reveal will bring. This won't end for a long long time, and follow-up stories will need to be written accordingly," Haseul began the meeting.

Journalist Jung Jinsol was diligently taking notes, as expected.

After Haseul finished speaking Jaden took control. He was the company's lawyer after all, with an entire legal team under his disposition. "As promised, Journalist Jung Jinsol," at the mention of her name Jinsol stopped taking notes and looked up, "will be rewarded for her services. However, we now have a new problem ahead of us with this on-going issue coming to light. To make things easier, let alone preferred, we would like it if you continued to write the official company statements we release."

The blonde woman was speechless.

"In other words," Go Won stepped in this time, "you would be the company's official journalist under Jaden's guidance."

This was one of the many things Go Won came to talk to Haseul about, and surprisingly the CEO had agreed to the idea. It really would be more efficient if Jinsol joined their team officially. The blonde couldn't believe it. Being offered a job by Eden entertainment, and to work alongside Jaden Jeong. This was (quite literally) the biggest career break Jinsol would ever have in life.

"The pressure is big and the work would be tedious, but you would be joining a company that values it's workers and takes all of their words into account." Haseul, as any CEO would, was doing the usual persuasion.

"We were also very impressed with your work. At least I was," Sooyoung added with a smile. "Having you on our team would be a great asset."

Mainly because Sooyoung would no longer have to fight and bribe numerous reporters and journalists for trash articles they write. It would make so much stress from her life vanish.

"You don't have to give us an answer now of course but just think abo–"

"Yes!" Jinsol cut Haseul off. She didn't even let her finish her sentence. "I would love to."

Everyone at the table smiled, even Vivi who hadn't said a word and had only been listening. Haseul had the widest smile of them all. "Great. Jaden will have your contract ready by the end of the day."

"Welcome to the team Miss Jinsol," he greeted.

"Now that that's settled, we can move on to the second thing on the list." Haseul's smile was wiped off her face in a second and a glare was directed directly across the table. "Don't think I've forgotten about that stunt you pulled a month ago." She was talking to Go Won. "That sudden appearance at the basketball game? There's still no explanation for it. Things have grown quiet but there might still be dumb rumors out there by hungry paparazzi and they will release anything for profit."

"I already apologized how many times?"

"That's not the point, Go Won."

"Okay then let's just do it again." The fake blonde shrugged.

"What?" Haseul looked taken aback. "Are you out of your damn mind?"

That was rhetorical because it was established long ago that Go Won was a wild troublemaker and would always remain as such.

"Just hear me out. Does anyone know the exact date of when the basketball game was?" Go Won looked around.

Jinsol raised her hand, still not sure how these meetings worked. Everyone looked her way and she took the awkward silence as her cue to speak. "August 10th." She knew because she had written an article about it as well.

"Exactly. And today is the 7th. It's about to be an official month. What if I do another random public appearance at something big? Making it look like I'm doing it as