Y/N

It's been a couple of minutes since we left the restaurant and none of us had exchange any words. I had my eyes down on my feet with a childlike pout etching on my lips. My heart felt heavy about how the reunion turned out but remembering how Baekhyun came to my rescue... Maybe I feel a little bit better now.

He must've want to distract me from thinking about what happened earlier at the restaurant but when he's about to open his mouth to speak, I did it first. "I know, I'm ugly. You don't have to say it."

A hint of surprise flashed past his eyes as he stole a glance at me before bluntly saying, "I hate you."

My bit my bottom lip and tilted my head away from him to look outside the window of his car.

"I hate your guts, your confidence, every time your threats really scared me. I hate seeing you excited over something that makes you happy while I'm miserable all by myself. And most of all, I hate that you're my manager." he paused to clear his throat and continued, "But I never thought you're unattractive and ugly."

I dug my teeth deeper against my lip to stop myself from catching my breath, nearly sobbing at the harshness of his words included in the first statement. I blinked my eyes rapidly to refrain my tears from forming at the thought that despite hating every fiber and inch of me, he at least never thought I'm not good-looking.

Too overwhelmed, I never said a word, spending the entire journey with us covered in deafening silence.

We arrived at SM and the first person who greeted us upon our entrance is Lee Sooman. Baekhyun and I walked up to him and bowed to show respect to the elder.

"Just in time..." his voice trailed off and his eyes travelled down on the dress and heels I'm wearing and then at Baekhyun's casual outfit, which I just realize that we have matching colors for our set of clothes. We looked like a couple on a date. Sooman looks at us knowingly, ridges appearing on his forehead.

Needless to say, I explained, "I came here straight from a lunch reunion with my classmates from highschool." then I glimpsed at Baekhyun as a cue for him to give his answer.

Sooman rotated his head to look at him and twitched one of his brows up as he waited for him to speak.

"I came to pick her up." he nonchalantly answered.

"Okay," he gives us a satisfied nod. "Just making sure."

I know what he meant by those words and that satisfied nod also means something. He was suspicious of our matching colored outifts and thought we arrived at the company building after a date; he's satisfied to the fact that his suspicions weren't true at all. If that's how Sooman reacted to us wearing something that one may mistook us as a couple, imagine if he knows I'm in love with Baekhyun. I'll be fired right in front of him in a second.

We followed behind Sooman and he led us to the conference room. For a second, I was contemplating to go inside that room, thinking that something might happen again. Every time I step a foot in the conference room, unfortunate things would follow after. It is where our showdowns happened; fought with Baekhyun and confronted him with his attitude; where Kyungsoo invited me to his concert only to miss it; where we both are when he knew I was his fan.

There were staffs seated on the chairs surrounding the table and has been waiting for Baekhyun and I to arrive before starting the meeting. When I took a seat and so did Baekhyun, the meeting started right away.

It was about a concert for the clothing brand he's a co-creative director at, that will be held overseas. I was listening and everything they discuss goes inside my brain. But as the meeting progressed, thoughts outside the discussion started invading my head.

Baekhyun had the chance to have me fired. He could have lied and say that we went out for a date to provoke Sooman and fire me right in front of him, he can smile at me if that would really happen and I won't care. He had all the days while I'm away to tell Sooman that I am his fan and kick me out as Baekhyun's manager without meeting him personally, he can mock me for that and I'd still be fine.

Was it because he had seen me being treated lowly by someone? Is that why I wanted to get away from him? He had seen me at my lowest caused by his doings but seeing me in that state because of someone feels different. I have been trying to be tough around him, being able to defend myself to put him in his place. And then he suddenly sees me like that? I couldn't even defend myself. I could bravely fight him, the person that I love the most, but I can't fight for myself from someone who doesn't even mean that much to me.

How ironic. Doeun has been throwing hates at me since high school and I can't even fight back while I got to take one of Baekhyun's happiness from him when he's only making my life miserable for months now.

I didn't know that my thoughts were bothering me too much that I started drawing their attention to me. Someone stepped up to break me out of my reverie.

"Y/n-ssi?" I shakily averted my gaze to the person who called me. "What songs of Baekhyun should he perform for the concert?"

"I choose? You're letting me choose?" I clarified, pointing a finger to myself, just to be sure that he's really letting me pick the songs Baekhyun had to perform. He nodded so I proceeded. "Uh... Any of the title tracks of course. UN Village? Candy?" then I grinned awkwardly, hoping for them to just agree so we'll be done here.

"Anything else?"

Why can't you just let Baekhyun decide? I whined inside my head. "Well if you want something that may lift up the mood, Poppin' and Bethca will do." Baekhyun seemed convinced by that when he nodded his head, confidence lingered in his eyes. "If it's really up to me then I'd like to include Ghost."

"What-"

Baekhyun intervenes, "Crush those out from the list, I don't like them."

I shifted my head to look at him in surprise. As expected, he never liked anything that comes from me. I pried my eyes shortly after, looked down and jutted my bottom lip for a small pout. No one argued with his decision and continued with the meeting.

Few discussions after, the producer concluded the meeting. I stormed out of the conference room almost immediately and Baekhyun followed after thanking the staffs and whatsoever involved in the meeting.

We were making our way to the exit when I came into a halt and swiftly twirled to face him. "You had your chance,"

He smugly rose one brow.

"You wanted me out of your life, you don't like me, you had your chance. Sooman stood right in front of you, tell him the truth that I'm your fan!" I blurted out desperately. "Lie and tell him we went out for a date, that'll make him fire me in no time."

"If you're doing this because you're embarrassed that I've seen how you couldn't fight for yourself and you want to avoid me for that, try harder." he crossed his arms. I was caught off guard. How did he know what I really felt from the situation earlier?

"I-it's not that," I lied. "You didn't even liked the songs I suggested for you to perform. Seriously? Why did you all asked for me to choose the songs only for them to be crushed out of the list?" and I rolled my eyes at him and walked off first with the biggest pout on my lips.

So what if he had seen me being unable to defend myself from Doeun's hates? If he didn't want me to leave this job despite hating me, then I'm going to continue ruining his life (as what he calls it). That will be the last time he'd see me that way, I'm going back on my feet and fight the hell out of him because he signed up for that.

----

We arrived at the recording studio where the making for Kyungsoo and Baekhyun's collaboration song will take place. I've been waiting for this day, so I'm pretty excited to see two of my favorites sing together.

Waiting inside were the producers, Kyungsoo, and a man that I guess was his manager. As soon as he saw me walking in, Kyungsoo smiled brightly at me. Ah, my heart! I chanted inside my mind as Baekhyun and I approached him.

"Nice seeing you again, Y/n-ssi." Kyungsoo holds out a hand for me and I quickly accepted it. "This is my manager by the way, Seoho." he introduced, jerking a thumb behind him where his manager stood idly.

It was his turn to offer a hand. "We've talked over the phone before." I took his hand and shook it, amusement then taking over his expression. "I really can't believe one of the nation's soloists has a girl as his manager."

Baekhyun scoffs from behind me. "What's so special about a female manager? It's not like I'm the only one who had such kind of someone sticking around me."

"Oh, it seems like Mr. Byun Baekhyun here didn't see what he had," Seoho chuckles. "You aren't the only idol whose manager is a girl but most of them, had a married one or a little older." he even pinched the air to show the quantity of his words.

"What makes this special? Though Miss Y/n is young, she can do her job better than I do, I must admit." he carried on and that caused for my blood to rush their way up to make my face red.

"Seoho and his words." Kyungsoo chortled and shook his head in disbelief. "Shall we start now?"

Baekhyun shortly hummed as a respond and went to follow Kyungsoo while Seoho and I stayed behind. Even when Baekhyun wouldn't see it, I did a small 'hwaiting!' gesture for him and Kyungsoo as they stepped inside isolation booth.

Seoho and I sat on the couch placed on the further back of the control room. We could still see our artists from the isolation booth and it's really fascinating, considering that it's my first time going inside a recording studio. When I got hired as Baekhyun's manager, he was done recording for his comeback songs and I didn't have the chance to see him record his collaboration with Ahn Jinyeong before, for I have to stay at home because of my broken leg.

With my lips slightly parting, I watched how Baekhyun intently observe the lyric sheet in front of him. I realized something. These past few weeks, ever since he never saw Jian again, he had been showing less of his bright and childish side and is always looking serious and irritated. I'm afraid that it will affect his career if he remained that way any longer.

That's when Sooman's intention of hiding the truth from Baekhyun, makes sense. If he's being like this when I restricted Jian from meeting him, how much if he knows that she never felt the same for him? He dwelled for years since she was fired and the next thing he'll know is that she never loved him and even used him for money? I'd surely be enraged if I were Baekhyun, which will affect how I'd act around people.

I'm keeping what I know to myself, that's it. No matter what will it cost, I will never tell him that to break his hea