This is bad.

Like really, really bad.

Who knows how much the fans heard of their conversation. It wasn’t like they were talking quietly or anything.

To make matters worse, the phones nowadays had extra sensitive mics built into them. A person could literally fart and it would be picked up by the mic clear as day.

Honestly if all they did was fart, that would be way easier to explain than this situation. 

Whenever fans received notification that any of the members posted anything, they'd be there with thousands of likes and comments within seconds. Not minutes. Seconds.

The same applied to whenever they did a live. It's been some time since any of the members did one so there's bound to be even more viewers than before, eager to see what kinds of shenanigans Red Velvet was up to. 

Half of the viewers probably even started recording the live on their phones as soon as it started, eager to post snippets online on various social media platforms to share with the rest of the world at a moment’s notice. And, knowing how fast information travels in the twenty-first century, whatever Joy does next could potentially lead to the creation of a BIG scandal. Maybe one of the biggest in K-Pop history; one that could ruin their group's image and bring even more unnecessary hate than they already dealt with on a daily basis.

Great. Just great.

The saying "any publicity is good publicity" wasn't always true.

It’s bad enough the tabloids wrote dozens of articles whenever one idol did so little as just breathe towards another (who just so happened to be a member of the opposite .) The same applied to when two idols wore the same shirt, necklace, or some other item because, apparently, that was a clear indication that both were dating and days away from tying the knot. Totally not because the item was mass produced for the public or anything. Nope.

Joy can’t even imagine what would happen if the media found out about her conversation with Yeri. It'd be all over the news for weeks. Months even.

Who knows maybe some of her exes would come out of the woodwork and try to get their fifteen minutes of fame by talking to the press, embellishing tales of a relationship long gone.

It's bad enough those sleazy news sites hired people to follow idols around everywhere, snapping pictures every two seconds for "evidence" of them doing something supposedly scandalous when they're just trying to live their best life. They hid in bushes, trash cans, high up in trees and other places with their super fancy cameras in hand, ready to take numerous pictures no matter what the weather conditions were, all for the next big scoop even if it meant invading privacy and ruining someone's life in the process.

Not like the press cared about how their actions affected other people. It was just business as usual for them; a sleazy way to get paid even if it caused numerous problems for the idols involved.

A while back in Joy's predebut days, one idol was followed for hours by a certain tabloid who thought she was sneaking out of her dorm to go on a secret date with some mysterious suitor. They kept tabs on her for hours while all she did was peacefully read a book at a cafe. While it was funny to read online at the time since they didn't get anything of value other than some candid shots of the idol indulging in her favorite pastime, it showed just how many hoops they would jump through for a glimpse into an idol's private life. 

The media really was frightening because you never know how they’re going to be. One day they’re singing praises for your work, the next they paint you out to be some sort of monster because you didn’t make a post about a person’s birthday because obviously that's the only way a friendship between two people can be validated in today's society.

Joy bites the inside of her cheek, a bad habit she did whenever she got nervous. Whatever she does next could have far-teaching consequences, not only for herself personally, but for Red Velvet as a whole. It's something that could follow them for the rest of their careers, or lives, even.

She wasn't the assigned leader of the group so she's not used to making super big decisions like this. The last time she did was when she accepted her last drama role, but at least then she was given enough time to mentally prepare herself before taking that leap of faith. This time it’s the complete opposite.

No pressure or anything.

The clock is ticking. If she doesn’t do something soon, or at least attempt to, it’ll be very apparent that the whole starting-a-live thing was a complete accident. No beautifully crafted statement from the PR team at the company, multiple payments of hush money to the press, or lying low by flying off to some faraway place somewhere and taking an extended vacation would be able to cover this.

Joy scrambles her mind, a million thoughts rushing through all at once, trying to think a way to save the day. It would be really suspicious if she just cuts off the live then and there without any sort of explanation. That would be the same as yelling "guilty!” without even saying anything. Nor could she claim that her account was hacked when the viewers probably already saw her face and heard her voice; two distinctive features that were not easily replicable without top notch, Hollywood level technology.

There's no way Yeri can do anything to help the situation either considering how the poor girl looks like she's going to scream any second now, and not the good kind like when she successfully beat someone online in one of her video games. 

If that’s the case, there’s only one person Joy can rely on to solve the problem: herself.

She puts her improv skills to the test by making sure the camera is facing her, and only her, because one look at Yeri would give everything away within a second.

There's no way she's going to let that happen.

The seasoned actress holds the phone up, looks directly at the front camera, puts on her best smile and waves at the thousands of viewers around the world currently watching and scrutinizing her every move.

You got this girl, she tells herself mentally. You’re THE y dynamite. Nobody else can pull this off but you.

No biggie. All she has to do is pretend everything is all fine and peachy; that everything was normal. She’s good at pretending since that was literally part of the job description of being an idol. She’s had to endure being asked invasive questions by tv show hosts, reporters, and the like all with a perfectly practiced smile multiple times throughout her career, even when she felt like telling them to back off. This impromptu live should be a walk in the park, especially since Joy had control of the camera this time around.

She has the power to take full control of the narrative and she'll be damned if she let anyone else do it.

“Hi luvies!” Joy says sweetly, trying her best to sound as natural as ever. The screen is flooded with comments in Korean and other languages. “Long time no see! Miss me?"

She can't keep up due to the massive influx of comments since she's only human and not a super computer, but based on all the hearts and crying face emojis, it seems like they all missed her too.

It was adorable. They were like little puppies, excited to see someone they love come back into their lives.

”Awww! I've missed you too! It's been like what?" She takes a moment to count the number of weeks it's been since they've wrapped up their promotions for their last comeback on her fingers. "Seven weeks? Since I last saw you all?" 

The impromptu live host winks at the audience. What she says next will definitely melt their hearts. "But don't worry! We got to meet each other again. The stars aligned just right today."

She laughs at her own cheesy line. Wendy would be proud at how flawlessly she delivered it (if she's not already watching, that is.)

Some fans ask Joy where her better half was. Her mind automatically zeroes in on the only person she'd ever consider giving that title. "Oh? Yeri?" As if on cue, her eyes drift towards Yeri for a second, who's covering with both hands in an attempt to prevent any noises from coming out. "She's over there."

The maknae furiously shakes her head, clearly signaling that she does not want to participate in the live (which isn’t surprising considering the situation.)

Joy gets the message loud and clear. In that split second, she hopes that her eyes convey the message for Yeri not to worry her pretty little head about anything and that she's got this all in the bag. As much as she loves teasing her fellow devil, to do so right at this moment would be too cruel, even for her own taste. There was a time and place for everything; this is not one of them.

As the older one, and the person who somehow managed to get them into this mess in the first place, she has a responsibility to solve this problem to the best of her abilities.

And she intends to do that. No matter what.

“But she doesn’t have any makeup on and doesn’t want to appear on camera," Joy says with a laugh. Technically Yeri did have makeup on her lips, but telling a white lie was necessary sometimes in life, especially in a situation like theirs. No harm, no foul. 

She's such a good liar it's almost scary.

Almost. 

Some ask if she can convince Yeri to join the live, if only for a few moments. One says to bribe her with food. Another one suggests buying Yeri some exclusive Ariana Grande concert merchandise to get her attention and promise to buy her more if she agrees to participate.

Even though fans only knew one side of them, the side that they let them see, they were surprisingly spot on with how to bribe the little devil to do something. It was a pretty effective method that has worked in Joy's favor a few times in the past, but she doubts pulling the same stunt would work in a situation as "unique" as theirs.

"No, no. That won't work. But take it from me." Joy moves a hand to the side of and brings the phone closer to her face, as if she was telling the viewers a deep, dark secret only known between her and them. "She looks just as stunning without makeup as she does with it," she whispers loudly enough for the audience, and Yeri herself, to hear.

From the corner of her eye, she can see Yeri give a silent sigh of relief. But her look of relief quickly turns to one of embarassment because she decides to look towards some interesting object in the opposite corner of the room which is conveniently facing away from Joy.

It's the truth though. Joy always thought Yeri looked beautiful without makeup, even if the girl in question didn't really think so herself. She always made it a point to remind her even if the younger girl called her annoying and acted like she didn't care.

That statement drives the chat wild and Joy can't help but smile smugly, knowing that she was one of the few people in the world that got to see Yeri's beauty on a daily basis. She thanks her past self for choosing to go down the path of an idol, even if the job came with its own unique challenges and restrictions. If it wasn't for this job, she never would have met her partner-in-crime.

A life without Yeri wouldn't be life at all.

It's a surreal feeling realizing that there's so many people taking time out of their day (or night) just to watch her. Some fans are probably staying up way past their bedtime just to see what’s going on even though they really should be sleeping. Others are probably in a time zone way different than hers and are watching it sneakily while they’re at work, school, or even on the toilet. 

It never ceases to amaze her just how many people take the time to watch idols like her do random things whether it was eat food, sing songs, or just talk about whatever. She's not really doing anything besides talk to the audience (and look pretty while doing it) and there's over twenty-thousand people all around the world watching her every move right now.

If Joy just made faces at the camera and didn't say anything, she's sure there'd still be a lot of people that would stick around until the end of the live, even if they had time constraints of their own like school, work, etc. It'd be a bit unusual and sort of awkward to do that, but the fans had such a deep sense of devotion that they'd roll with it.

One viewer asks out of nowhere what she was talking about earlier and it takes every fiber of Joy's being to keep her face still and not scream from the top of her lungs. Up until this point, nobody had mentioned anything regarding her earlier conversation with Yeri.

How much did they hear?

What percentage of the viewers were actually fans and not reporters in disguise digging for information?

She doesn't know and honestly it's terrifying.

Damn it.

Joy considers just ignoring the question, but soon others join in and ask variations of the same thing. Other members of the audience tell those users to mind their own business, arguing if she didn't want to talk about it then she reserves that right to do so. Other people continue to spam comments asking her to say hi to their respective countries.

Not saying anything would most likely draw more attention to the topic than casually addressing it. She figures acting like it's no big deal would produce better results in the long run rather than ignoring the question altogether.

She's been acting well the whole time without any problem. She can continue to keep up the charade a bit longer. In comparison, this stream is short compared to the hundreds of hours she spent going through scenes from all her dramas combined.

If anything, this could be considered an extended acting lesson of sorts.

“Oh that?" Joy says casually as if her conversation with Yeri wasn't something that could cause all hell to break loose. What should she say? That it was a script or something to that effect? 

Actually the more Joy thinks about it, the more appealing the idea becomes. She doesn't have to specifically state what she was doing. All she has to do is vaguely refer to something and the fans' imagination will fill in the blanks with numerous theories. They would essentially do the work for her.

"That...." Joy trails off and waits a few moments to add a feeling of suspense before continuing her explanation, "Was a little something I’m working on.”

Yeri looks like she’s going to scream any second now but, thankfully, the camera isn’t on her. At least unless Joy somehow manages to tap the wrong button and switch the live to the rear camera, but there’s no way she’s going to let that happen. She’s being extra careful with how she’s holding the device that could potentially lead to her downfall.

Thousands of hearts and comments flood the screen. Although she can’t keep up with every single one that pops up, it seems like saying that really got their blood pumping. They seem excited about the possibility of her working on another project, whatever that may be. They’re throwing out guesses left and right: a web drama, video game, commercial, and o