One year ago

The sound of loud banging came from the front door, and Suzy opened it to an enraged Minho.

"You haven’t been answering my calls for days!"

Suzy turned her back on her boyfriend, now facing the living room. "I'm not in the mood to talk with you right now, you should go."

"Tell me what's wrong instead of shutting me out!" Minho shouted, veins throbbing in his neck. "Talk to me!"

"You want to talk?” Suzy clenched her jaw, throwing Minho a steely glare. “Fine! Who’s that girl you were with at Do Hwan’s party?"

"How did you..." guilt flashed across Minho's face, then quickly replaced by indignance. "She was just a friend, it doesn't matter."

"Just a friend? The last I heard, a friend doesn't try to stick her tongue down your throat!"

"She was drunk and nothing happened!” Minho defended.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“You're being ridiculous, Suzy! Plus, it wouldn’t even have been a problem if you went with me in the first place."

Suzy scoffed at him shifting the blame. "Are you saying that I should drop my work every time a friend invites you to party?"

"No! But this wasn’t the first time you chose your work over me. You’re always busy, we barely see each other, and sometimes – I don’t feel like I have a girlfriend anymore!"

Minho breathed deliberately, failing to control his rising temper. “And instead of communicating like a mature adult, you just shut me out every time there’s a problem! I sent you hundreds of messages, and not even one reply.”

Minho’s accusations pierced like a twisted knife in the wound, and Suzy found herself lashing out. “Well, that’s how I am and what you signed up for in this relationship – if you can’t handle it, then leave!”

“And now you’re doing it again, Suzy. Grow up and stop acting like a child!”

“You know what, I don’t ing care. Get out!”

That wasn’t the first time they fought. And in the aftermath, Suzy thought it was just like any other fight – some time to cool off, and soon they’ll kiss and make up like they always did.

But she was proven wrong, this time was different. After a few days, Suzy received a text from Minho, officially putting an end in their relationship.


 

‐--------------------------------------

Present day

"And cut!"

Chaeyoung breathed a sigh of relief, ecstatic at how smooth sailing today’s filming went by. Most scenes were done in one take, and judging by the director's approving smile – she must have done a good job.

"Chaeyoung, your acting skills are getting better each day!" Eunji, her co-actress who shared the last scene, praised as they walk away from the set.

"I still have a long way to go though" Chaeyoung smiled shyly. "But it’s all thanks to Suzy unnie."

"Suzy?" Eunji’s face fell, previous cheerful demeanor long gone. "You're still hanging out with her?"

"Yes? Unnie has been giving me acting lessons almost every day” Chaeyoung explained, confused at the sudden harsh tone. “She's really patient, and excellent at explaining her craft."

Eunji stopped dead in her tracks and the atmosphere turned ice cold. "Chaeyoung, I’m warning you again – be careful of Suzy. She's the type to pull the rug out from under you. For all we know, she's just approaching you for her own benefit, be that to steal your role or other selfish reasons.”

Chaeyoung's mind filled with indignation for Suzy at those words. As much as Eunji is a respectable sunbae, what she said crossed the line.

"No, Suzy unnie is not –"
 

"Chaeyoung."

Heels clacked along the floor and Chaeyoung turned to the source. Suzy was walking towards them, with such a commanding presence as always, and the butterflies fluttered in Chaeyoung’s stomach.

“Unnie!” The blonde’s eyes lit up, a goofy smile spreading on her face.

"What's taking you so long?" Suzy crossed her arms and raised a perfect eyebrow, which was meant to be intimidating, but just made her even more attractive in Chaeyoung’s eyes.

"Sorry! We were just talking about – " Chaeyoung faced to her side, only to see Eunji already walking away. "Uh...never mind! Let's go!"

Chaeyoung closed her distance with Suzy, arm bumping slightly on the actress’s shoulder as they walk. She’s not even sure where they are headed to, but at this point, wherever Suzy goes, Chaeyoung will follow.

And soon, they arrived in the parking lot. Suzy motioned her to go inside the car, but not before opening the door for her – simple acts like these making Chaeyoung's traitorous heart leap.

"I found a place that served really good Thai cuisine. I heard mango desserts are also their specialty. Let’s eat there first.” Suzy explained while she drove.

“Okay!” Chaeyoung grinned, mouth-watering at the prospect of tasting those flavorful dishes. She once mentioned in passing how much she craves for Thai food, coincidence or not, she’s glad Suzy was taking her to one.

Traffic came to a standstill after some time, and Chaeyoung took this opportunity to steal glances at Suzy’s side profile. She suppressed a smile at the grumpy look, which was always the case when the older girl is hungry. That must have what pushed her to look for the blonde at the film set.

Chaeyoung’s gaze lowered, lingering on Suzy lips. She suddenly remembered the night before, and her face grew hot at her past actions.

Up until now, she still didn’t know what pushed her to give Suzy a kiss on the cheek. But regardless, she's thankful that the actress didn't get mad. Chaeyoung would hate to overstep any boundaries again, especially when Suzy seemed to be not comfortable with skinship as she never initiates one.

But still, Chaeyoung really really wants to kiss Suzy again.

Friends do that, right? She and other Blackpink members do all sorts of skinship all the time. Heck, Jennie even demands to cuddle with her to sleep most nights – insisting it was perfectly platonic.

So it must be okay with Suzy too?

No! Chaeyoung, respect her boundaries!

But Jennie did say physical affection is normal between friends.

Preoccupied with an intense debate with herself, Chaeyoung didn't noticed that Suzy has been calling her multiple times already.

"Chaeyoung."

Her inner monologue came to a sudden halt when Suzy touched her cheek, palm gently guiding Chaeyoung’s gaze back to her.

“Is everything okay?” the older girl’s touch burned like scorching hot iron on her skin, effectively melting Chaeyoung’s brain into puddle.

"Y-yes!” Chaeyoung croaked out, last few brain cells working hard to think of any excuse. “I was just…uh…thinking about something Jennie unnie said!”

“Jennie?”

“Yes! You know me, always distracted” Chaeyoung weakly joked.

"Clearly. You don’t even realize we’re parked at the restaurant already."

"Oh no, sorry!" Chaeyoung panicked, looking down in an attempt to unbuckle her seatbelt — only to be stopped by Suzy's hand that remained unmoving on her face.

"Umm…unnie?"

Suzy's eyes bore into her, staring right into Chaeyoung’s soul. A few seconds of silence, and Chaeyoung swallowed a lump in .

"When we’re together, I want your attention to be on me and just me only. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes."

"Good."

Suzy’s thumb softly brushed on Chaeyoung’s cheek, giving a satisfied hum and proceeding to unbuckle the seatbelt for her.

‐--------------------------------------

"I’m sorry, please don't leave me!"

Suzy cried out as she jolted awake in cold sweats. She took a few deep breaths, routine already familiar with how frequent her nightmares have been.

Hearing a buzzing sound, she looked towards the bedside table and noticed her phone vibrating. Opening it under the dim light, Suzy’s mind went into panic upon seeing 54 missed calls from her manager Jihyun.

Another call came through, and Suzy answered it in an instant.

“Suzy! You finally picked up!” Jihyun shouted, voice almost manic. “Something terrible happened. You…you’ve been involved in a scandal!”

"A scandal!?"

"Yes, I sent you a link – open it now! Everyone in the office is panicking right now. Don’t go to the filming set later. Your work activities are also cancelled for the day – no, scratch that, at least for the week."

The link opened to a post from an alleged staff who worked with Suzy in the past. The anonymous post accused Suzy of mistreatment and bullying, detailing some occurrences such as –

'After a slight mishap, she threw boiling hot coffee at me, not even caring the slightest at scalding my skin. She also humiliated me in front of other artists, throwing a lot of ugly words as I bow my head in shame.'

An audio clip was also included. And although quality was poor and sound muffled, Suzy’s voice can be heard in bits and pieces –

"…are you stupid?" You useless piece of…if you can’t handle such simple instructions…just resign…”

Suzy felt bile rising in , rage clawing its way out. "These are all lies! I don’t know where they got the audio clip, but I never did that! Jihyun unnie, this person is lying!”

"I know, I know – I believe in you. But our problem is with the general public – they’re taking this person by their words.”

"That’s ridiculous!"

"And it's really bad now. The audio recording is pretty damning, basically a nail in the coffin for any statement we make."

"So what now? We’re just allowing this person to ruin my image? What do we do?"

"I’ll be having another meeting with management soon. But the company executives…umm…they are pressuring you to issue an apology first."

"Apology? No, I refuse! I didn't do anything wrong!" Suzy yelled, knuckles turning white at her clenched fists.

"Yes, I also insisted that. But their priority is calming down the crowd first. Many are now instigating to boycott your current projects, and this has severely damaged your current brand endorsement deals. Even the drama’s production team are considering to remove you from the cast."

“H-how…how can they do that?”

“Just give me time to talk with our partners please. And stay away from the net. There’s a lot of sentiments there and…they’re not very kind. Just treat this as a break first and wait for my update.”

Suzy didn’t hear Jihyun, already deep in various hate messages and death threats directed towards her online. Hundred thousand of strangers – who have never interacted with her before – all inciting to destroy everything she has worked hard for.

Suzy couldn’t breathe. Her whole body shook in rage at the accusations, teeth biting the inside of her lips to the point of tasting blood.

Her vision disfigured as waves of panic hit her, the world starting to dull away.

‐--------------------------------------

The doorbell shattered the stillness in her apartment, but Suzy didn’t even bother to look towards the source.

It was followed by a few knocks, then a familiar voice.

"Unnie, I know you’re in there. I'm not leaving until you open the door."

Opting to ignore Chaeyoung, Suze remained curled up on the bedroom floor. She's not sure how many hours or days have passed – just her alone with a numbing darkness, refusing to see anyone since the scandal broke out.

She has cut herself off from the outside world, her phone completely turned off. Jihyun have been frantic, knocking on her door so many times, until eventually leaving when Suzy won’t budge.

And Chaeyoung? The girl has also tried so many times to reach out, only to be met with the same radio silence. And here she is again, in her nth attempt, never understanding Suzy’s message to just give up.

Suzy sighed, going back to the prison that is her own mind.

Time flew forward, and the wall clock suggested that a few more hours have passed. Suzy’s thoughts began wandering to the blonde whom she has refused to see so many times.

For someone so soft, Chaeyoung can be crazy stubborn.

At that realization, worry