She was living a nightmare.

Ryujin couldn’t think otherwise. The worst, her greatest fear in the whole world, had happened. Her only faint hopes that he could convince the public that the photos were fake were crushed when she detailed those very photos. As soon as she could calm down enough to sit on the couch and, with trembling hands, review the web article, she realized she was screwed. There was no loss: she could clearly make out her and Yuna's features in those photos. The first ones she saw were taken from behind, but it didn't help matters because she had turned her head until her profile was recognizable when she kissed Yuna, whose features were also distinguishable.

There were photos from another angle. These were taken from the front and farther away than the previous ones, but the zoom of the camera the bastard had used was very powerful.

Not content with that, the bastards (there were more than one, judging by the different angles of the photos) also had a video. A ing video. Ryujin felt embarrassed, furious and indignant that they had recorded such a special moment for her. The moment when Yuna had become her and she had become Yuna's.

The fireworks. The ing fireworks had provided enough light to tell that Ryujin and Yuna had a spotlight above their heads. What was Ryujin to know that someone would use them against her? It was so unlikely that she could only shake her head in disbelief.

Ryujin and the rest were taken out of their new dormitory the same day they heard the news. They went back to their old dorms, and Yeji became their roommate again.

Yeji. Yeji had spent so many hours exuding anger that Ryujin feared she might even go so far as to hit her. She knew Yeji was incapable of it, but the look on her face was terrifying. Within two days of the news, Yeji had calmed down, but instead of relieving Ryujin, it made her feel worse. The look Yeji was giving her didn't contain anger anymore, it contained disappointment and sadness. Ryujin had failed her, and Ryujin knew well that Yeji didn't deserve to be failed.

No one came to tell them anything for a week. They were forbidden to leave the dormitories and the building. There were guards posted at their doors, and even at the front door of the building.

Ryujin had her phone, but all she did with it was look at the article over and over again wishing it wasn't real, until on the fourth day she stopped looking at it, feeling like she was going to go crazy. RYUJIN was trending number one on Naver, with YUNA in second place and ITZY in third. She didn't dare look up any of the words. If she tried, her heart would start pounding and she would start shaking. She hadn't checked Twitter or Bubble either. Her parents called, but Ryujin hung up on all the calls. She sent them a message, telling them she couldn't talk about anything.

“I'm scared, Ryujin,” was the last thing Yuna said to her before they were separated.

“I'm scared, Ryujin” haunted her every night before she went to sleep. The seven days she was blind would later become a haze filled with fear and despair.

On the eighth day, the group's manager came looking for them. Yeji peppered him with questions, but he answered none; he simply told them to follow him.

Ryujin, Yeji and the manager went to the administrative part of JYP. They entered a room, where the window facing the street had the curtains drawn and the window facing the rest of the cubicles on the floor with the blinds down.

Jisu, Chaeryeong and Yuna were waiting inside.

“Yuna,” Ryujin said as soon as she saw her.

Yuna jumped up and walked around the long table to approach Ryujin. Ryujin held her tightly in her arms, sinking her face into the hollow of her neck and breathing in the fragrance of her hair. For the first time in eight days, she found a shred of peace.

Someone cleared their throat, and Ryujin reluctantly pulled away from Yuna.

“Excuse me,” Ryujin said, turning to Yuna.

Yuna bowed her head.

“For what, Ryujinie?”

“For getting you into this.”

“I think we all deserve an apology too, Ryujin,” his manager said, annoyed.

Ryujin faced the others present. All of ITZY plus his manager. She looked at them one by one. They shared the same dead serious expression.

Ryujin knelt down and glued her forehead to the ground, listening to the others inhale sharply.

“I beg your forgiveness,” Ryujin said, raising her voice, “I truly apologize.”

Ryujin did not know how else to express her regret. A noise next to her interrupted her next sentence. She turned her head, seeing Yuna in the same position as her.

“I apologize to you too, unnies, manager-nim,” the girl said, and sounded truly mortified.

No noise was heard in the next few seconds.

“You... You didn't have to kneel, but I think that's enough,” the manager said.

“Stand up,” Yeji said.

Ryujin stood up and helped Yuna up. They sat next to each other. On one side of the table sat Yeji, Ryujin and Yuna. On the other side Jisu and Chaeryeong, with the manager at the head of the table.

Their manager ran his hand through his hair. From that gesture Ryujin knew he was stressed.

“I need you girls to listen to me carefully,” he said.

Ryujin and the others nodded in response.

“I have no way to make this up, so excuse me if I'm a little abrupt,” he warned. “The article about Ryujin and Yuna's relationship attracted quite a bit of attention. It quickly went outside the circle in which dating scandals usually roll and reached the general public in Korea. Comments about it not being normal for two people of the same to be dating abound, and I'm sorry to say that they have more support than opposition…”

Ryujin cursed all those people and cursed their primitive minds.

“They don't pay attention to us when we release new music, but they are attentive to jump down our throats for stupid things,” Ryujin spat.

They looked at her, but Ryujin's eyes were fixed beyond the curtains. In several places out there, there would be people sitting behind a keyboard shooting venom at her and Yuna.

“Picking up the thread,” her manager said, "the voice of those people could be ignored if it were a small circle, but unfortunately it's not. It's a lot of people who think it's not right for two people of the same to be dating,” the manager snorted. “You know what Korean society is like: conservative, closed-minded... I don't know if their dislike can affect you as ITZY directly, since those people are generally not regular consumers of our product, but the company's bosses and investors are afraid that the whole society will label them as defending something "unnatural" like homouality. They fear that if they don't punish Ryujin and Yuna, the whole society will turn its back on them.”

Ryujin massaged her forehead, trying to ward off an incipient headache. She glanced sideways at her friends. They all wore worried frowns.

“To top it off, there's more,” their manager said. “Keep a cool head,” he looked at Ryujin. “Especially you, Ryujin.”

Ryujin had a feeling he would say something he knew would upset her. Ryujin clenched her fists, mentally preparing herself for what he was about to say.

“The original Dispatch article was changed the day before yesterday. Did you know?”

They all denied.

“Well, the reporter or reporters (not sure who published the article) added pictures and information. The pictures include some of Ryujin and Yuna holding hands while entering a place called Ansan Starlight Village.

“How?” Ryujin blurted out. “They've been following us for a whole year?”

“That doesn't make sense,” Yuna interjected. “Only my unnies knew we were dating.”

“Exactly,” Jisu said, frowning. “And I'm pretty sure neither of us told anyone outside of us,” she looked at Yeji and Chaeryeong, who nodded vigorously.

“I don't know how they did it either,” their manager said. “The reporter claims that Ryujin and Yuna have been dating since at least August 2020.”

“That's where you're wrong,” Ryujin thought. It was in September that they started dating. She was equally surprised and confused. They'd had them on file for a year. No, more than a year. What kind of crazy person did you have to be to insist for so long?

“That was the end of the article. The reporter didn't comment on it, but he or she knew what would happen if he or she released that information,” the manager said.

“I think I have an idea too,” Chaeryeong muttered.

“On the forums, someone dropped the idea that…” their manager swallowed. “That Ryujin had spent years manipulating and grooming Yuna so that, when she was older, she could take advantage of her.”

Ryujin saw red for a moment. The others let out indignant exclamations as Ryujin pretended to get up from the chair, but Yuna grabbed her arm and started whispering soothing words to her.

“Calm down, Ryujinie, calm down,” Yuna said in a soft voice. “You know it's a lie, you know I'm with you because I love you. You know it very well, Ryujinie.”

Ryujinie ended up punching herself in the thigh. It didn't hurt because she didn't use all her strength, and she wasn't stupid enough to leave a bruise. Yuna used both hands to cradle hers, tracing trails on the back and massaging it.

“I'm sorry,” Ryujin said, not knowing why. “Go on,” she indicated to her manager.

“Since there's "proof" that they've been dating for at least a year, users believed that comment. Those new photos wouldn't mean anything on their own, but considering the ones in the original article…”

“Those in the original article plus people's desire to do harm,” Chaeryeong said, her voice pregnant with disgust.

“How do you convince people not to believe any of it?” Jisu asked.

“You can't, because they're all sheep,” Yeji spat out the words, surprising Ryujin once again. The contempt in Yeji's voice was thick.

Just like the one Ryujin felt.

“Those who say it's not right for Ryujin and Yuna to be a couple argue, among other things, that since they are public figures, they might 'confuse' children about their uality,” their manager said, grimacing.

Ryujin let out a laugh that was more like a bark. She pinched the bridge of her nose and focused on Yuna's fingers on her hand, though they stopped as soon as their manager spoke.

“It doesn't make sense,” Yuna said. “None of it makes sense! How can you believe that? It's nonsense!”

Yuna had raised her voice almost to a scream. She fell silent, her cheeks flushed with rage.

Ryujin understood it all. Her friends were expressing perfectly what she was feeling: disgust, worry, frustration, anger.

Chaeryeong snorted.

“There's them and their…” Chaeryeong fell silent, lightly pounding her fist on the table, “them and their backward way of thinking.”

“That's right, Ryeong,” Ryujin said. “That's right.”

“That's all that's circulating for now,” their manager concluded.

The people in the office fell silent. Ryujin was processing the information. She felt disappointed that the people who supported ITZY could believe that she had been suggestive of Yuna. Did her personality in front of the camera give room for them to think that way about her? Did the fans trust a rumor more and not everything they knew about their artist?

“Calm down. You don't know how MIDZY reacted,” Ryujin thought.

“That's too many bad things,” Yuna said, and her voice was tinged with fear.

Ryujin turned the chair to face her. She used her free hand to Yuna's face.

“We'll get out of this,” Ryujin said, trying not to let her voice show the uncertainty she felt.

“They're demanding that the two of you get out of the public eye,” their manager said quietly, almost as if he didn't want to be heard.

“They may want to, but they don't…”

“JYP executives are considering firing them both.”

All eyes turned to the manager, who sank back in his seat.

“No, no, no, no,” Ryujin said. “They can't be serious!”

Yeji, Yuna, Jisu and Chaeryeong joined Ryujin's protests, creating a growing din in the office.

“Drink water,” their manager said when they stopped. He held out several bottles. “I told whoever told me all this that they were crazy to do something like this. The initial thought was to throw them both out, but to do such a thing it is preferable that they disband the group at once. A three-piece group makes no sense. I'm getting sidetracked,” their manager stood up and paced up and down the office. The initial thought was that, but then they realized they couldn't. Then they thought about kicking out Yuna alone,” their manager raised a hand when he saw that they were going to protest, “but most people resent Ryujin, because of what I told you a while ago.”

“What jerks,” Ryujin said. “Forgive me for swearing today, Yeji-unnie.”

Yeji waved a hand, not looking at her.

“Never mind.”

“What then?” Jisu said.

“I don't know,” their manager said. “They are still thinking about it. They're also waiting for the dust to settle, but the topic has even come up on portals like KBS and Dong-a Ilbo. I'm not going to lie to you girls: this looks bad. I don't want to burden you, but I want you to be aware of everything.”

“Can't we do anything?” Yuna said in a whisper.

Their manager's face twisted.

“The executives won't listen to you. They only think about numbers and more numbers with a won next to them,” for the first time, their manager hinted at contempt in his voice. “You’ll have to go back to your rooms. There are a lot of reporters outside the building day and night. I have nothing more to say to you.”

Ryujin and her team left the office, finding the guards waiting to them to their rooms.

“I don't want to get away from you,” Yuna said at her side. There was pleading in her voice.

Ryujin clenched her fist, wanting to grab Yuna's hand and run away from there.

“Be strong,” Ryujin said, wanting to say something more intimate. She couldn't because there were several unknown people nearby.

She gave Yuna a smile and allowed the guards to her, with Yeji at her side. The trip passed in silence, which was even greater when Ryujin closed the bedroom door behind her.

Ryujin sat down on her bed and plunged her hands into her hair. Her efforts to prevent a headache proved futile, as the dull ache she felt showed.

“You knew.”

Ryujin rolled her eyes to the front. Yeji was sitting in the chair at the small table.

“You knew,” Yeji repeated, her voice expressionless.

“What do you mean?”

Yeji raised her hand and let it hover in the air for a moment, then dropped it against the table.

“You knew even before I told you what would happen if your relationship became public,” Yeji said in the same neutral tone.

“She's upset,” Ryujin thought. Sure, how could she not be?

“Yeji-unnie, I…”

“I told you several times,” Yeji interrupted, eyes focused on the table.” Chaeryeong told you, Jisu told you, you knew.”

“I know, Ye-”

Yeji punched the table, making it jump a little. Ryujin gasped and straightened up.

“Did you know that, Ryujin? Did you already know that?!” Yeji half shouted. Her neutral tone had vanished, replaced by one filled with reproach. “Then why did you let them get captured you two?”

Yeji fixed Ryujin with her cat-like eyes, though they looked like those of a tiger, of a much more dangerous predator.

“Answer me, Ryujin,” Yeji said in a demanding tone.

Ryujin wasn't too surprised that Yeji exploded like that: during the week they had been locked up, Yeji hardly spoke to her. She had kept everything to herself, but the new news had blown her up like a balloon that had been supplied with too much air.

Yeji pounded the table again, snapping Ryujin out of her rambling.

“Speak, Ryujin. Explain yourself, excuse yourself, tell me something,” Yeji said. Her demanding tone seemed to merge with something else, but Ryujin couldn't sort it out. “You were doing well, Ryujin. You were hiding it so well that I overlooked you holding hands in front of the cameras more times than necessary,” Yeji's eyes widened, as if an epiphany had come over her. “Is that it? Should I have put you two back on the road? Speak up, Ryujin. Say something.”

Ryujin didn't know what to say. What had possessed her during the fireworks display was something she couldn't describe. It had been a mixture of passion, joy, love and a feeling that nothing mattered. Nothing except Yuna.

“I can't explain it,” Ryujin said. “I'm being totally serious about this: I can't explain it.”

Yeji shook her head.

“Try it, Ryujin,” she said. “I command you as your leader.”

“You don't have to order me. I owe you an explanation, I know, but it's just that…” Ryujin sighed deeply, ordering the words. “At that moment, Yeji-unnie, at that moment that the cameras caught something possessed me.”

Yeji frowned, causing deep vertical wrinkles to appear on her.

“Yuna told me something (I won't tell you what even under torture) that made me lose control. It was something so beautiful what we both said to each other that…”

Ryujin clicked her tongue. She couldn't explain it. She couldn't explain what she had felt when Yuna had told her that she was her and no one else's. It was like explaining colors to a person blind from birth.

She looked Yeji straight in the eyes again.

“Love, Yeji,” Ryujin said. “I let love possess me.”

Yeji said nothing. They held each other's gaze for a long time. Ryujin felt ashamed of her own words, but she could do no more.

“I don't want to make you angrier, but I can't explain it any better,” Ryujin said in a determined voice. “If you don't know how love works, it's not worth trying. It's like explaining sounds to a deaf person: you can't.”

She kept eye contact with Yeji until she couldn't anymore. Ryujin averted her gaze to the door, tapping the floor with the toe of her shoe.

“All right, Ryujin,” Yeji said slowly. “I'll take your word for it and believe that something else led you to neglect yourself that night.”

Ryujin looked at her with a frown. Really? Yeji believed her?

“I won't say I understand you,” Yeji said, “but my instinct tells me to believe you.”

Ryujin nodded her head. Her headache had been intensified by the conversation, but it seemed to subside a bit.

“Thank you, Yeji-unnie,” Ryujin said, relief in her voice.

Yeji nodded curtly and went to the bathroom.

---

“Sit in that chair,” Jisu said. Or rather, she ordered.

Yuna heeded her. All this time she had known she was in serious trouble, and that Jisu had remained silent the week they were locked up seemed like torture to her.

“Remember that time we talked in the cafeteria? When you and Ryujin were fighting,” Jisu said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

Yu