It was a particularly bright morning in Seoul City, with the sun gleaming so magnificently that Jaebum had no choice but to awake from his slumber. On a different kind of day, he would have revelled in feeling the warmth radiating through his windows and onto his face, but he had just endured a heavy night of partying and drinking and as a result, having his eyes forced open was the last thing he wanted. If he could just have at least one more hour of sleep-

“Wakey wakey,” a feminine figure sang, appearing in his view. “No more sleep for you.”

The exhausted man groaned as he ran his hands over his face. “Can’t I stay in bed for just a little while longer?”

“Absolutely not,” she shook her head, a hand over her lingerie laden hip.

Jaebum suddenly grabbed her free hand, yanking her onto the bed and rolling on top of her as she shrieked with laughter. “Not even if it’s with you?” he asked suggestively, showering her neck with multiple kisses before ending with a light one on the tip of her nose.

“As tempting as that is, not even with me.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before pushing him off her and getting out of the bed. “You have a busy day today and we need to get you out of this,” she signalled with her hand, “hungover state. We’re heading to the gym in 15 so get your out of bed.”

Jaebum sighed loudly as he knew there was no way he was getting the extra sleep he needed now. Ideally, he wished he could cancel everything he had scheduled and just spend his Saturday in bed, but Heejung was indeed right in saying that he had way too much to get through, a lot of which had been planned weeks ago, for him to simply drop it all. On top of that, this was his chance to rebrand himself and turn his image around after the last few years he’d had and bailing on everyone and everything would not help him at all. God knows he needed the chance.

Nine years had passed since his debut and to be honest, Jaebum was living the dream career-wise. GOT7’s popularity had catapulted both globally and domestically, with the group finally perfecting the formula required for Korean engagement, as well as continuing to build an even more solid international fanbase. The group remained together and strong, although more emphasis was now being placed on solo activities.

Members were thriving doing their own thing, and Jaebum was most certainly no different. Three years ago, the group had enjoyed their most successful domestic year yet, with all three of their comebacks, almost entirely spearheaded by Jaebum’s writing and production, becoming major successes and earning the group their first Artist and Song of the Year daesangs. Since then, Jaebum had been well in demand, producing hits for other artists as well as himself, and his profile and name had greatly risen in the country. However, so had his notoriety, and that’s where things got a little dicey for him.

Jaebum was known for being a recluse of sorts during the early days of his career. The overwhelming majority of his time outside of work was spent either in the studio perfecting his craft or soaking up inspiration from his favourite neo-soul and r&b artists. This was an aspect of him that fans adored of course, but as his star and recognition as an artist, writer and producer grew bigger, members of the general public began to mistake his preference for being alone and a few misquotes as being arrogant or having a superiority complex. With a hotly anticipated solo debut in the works and growing pressure from his company to embody the bright, people-person image their artists were known for, Jaebum decided to become something he wasn’t and transform himself into that of a social butterfly. This change had a momentarily positive impact on his public perception, as he was constantly seen liaising with his fellow celebrities and even commoners at various social gatherings, but as a man who lived life on one extreme or another, this new lifestyle change eventually took quite the turn. As quickly as his debut album became a roaring success and his fame grew even bigger, so did his infamy. Regular hangout sessions with his now wide network of friends quickly turned into multiple nights of hard-partying per week. News speculating who he was seeing became as buzzworthy as whose music project he was working on next. Jaebum was now known as THE reigning, rebellious playboy in the industry. One whose dedication to his craft remained as strong as ever, but a playboy none the less.

The media, unsurprisingly, ate this side of him up, doing their best to sensationalise his every move. He was headline-worthy news after all; articles about him generated a lot of talk and opinions, which as a result kept journalist constantly writing about him, but Jaebum absolutely hated it. It would come as no surprise that there was an unspoken level of hostility between him and the media. He avoided interactions with them like the plague.

Which would make his present-day situation all the more ironic, as he was currently prepping for a day spent talking with, you guessed it, the media.

After a hard year consisting of blood, sweat and a lot of soju, his first full album was finally complete, and the anticipation was hot. Jaebum, call it cocky if you will, was more than confident that his name alone meant guaranteed success for the project – his music was far too loved by the public for it to be anything but – and therefore having to engage with the media he liked to avoid wasn’t necessary. Ultimately though, he knew he had to get back in their good graces for the sake of his public image moving forward, and aside from that, this project meant a lot to him. The album was heavily inspired by things he had experienced in his personal life and he wanted the chance to be able to speak about the context of his songs in a personal, unfiltered way that the public would hopefully connect to.

Which was why he had an especially unique collaboration with a media publication that was due to begin later on today.

Jaebum couldn’t help but breathe an even heavier sigh.

Here goes nothing.

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2 weeks ago

Freedom had never tasted so sweet for Jennie as she made her way out of Incheon airport. After what seemed like an eternity in the sky flying from Paris to Seoul following a hectic succession of fashion weeks, she was finally about to take on the last leg of her journey, a car ride back to her apartment in Gangnam, where she would, at last, be able to fall into the comfort of her bed. She felt like a walking zombie and she knew she looked it too, hence why her head-to-toe Chanel fit was completed with a pair of sunglasses large enough to cover half her face. Her body, eyes, and even skin were screaming for rest, rest that she hadn’t properly had for the last month, and she knew better than to not give in to her body’s wants given her past experiences.

As she exited the automatic doors of the airport, she was greeted by a contrastingly bright-eyed Jisoo, whose arms immediately opened up at the sight of her. “You look like high fashion death,” she exclaimed as Jennie approached.

Jennie let out a tired giggle as she embraced her best friend. “I recall only asking fo