Chapter 21

They refused to speak to her for the rest of the day. It was evident because they were often dismissive and would avoid her when she was near. She didn’t mean for this to happen. But it did and there was nothing she could do about it now. Her decision was final and now things can go back to the way they were before she even came around. “Hey Sungjae! Would you like to grab a smoothie with me?” she gave the maknae a hopeful smile when she saw him rounding the corner.

“No thanks, I’m fine,” the taller one replied monotonously then shut the door before she could say anything.

“Minhyuk, how about going out for drinks again? Just you, me, and Eunkwang,” she said to the visual when he came around.

“No thanks, I thought we were already done with nightclubs and alcohol,” he had said.

“But—“ he had already walked off before she could speak up. “But I just want to hang out with you guys before I’m really gone…”

Soon, she had come face to face with Peniel. “Hey…” she gave him a hopeful smile.

“Hey,” he greeted her drearily.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, you know,” she looked away from him.

“That’s fine, I understand,” he scoffed, “You just have to do what you have to do. In this case, you’re leaving and it’s completely understandable.” His voice was full of sarcasm from what Samantha observed. Soon, she started to become angry for his cold treatment of her.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” she replied. “I’m sorry for letting you guys down. But this is what I have to do and you, of all people, should understand that.”

The night before came flooding back to him. He soon thought about the almost-kiss they shared until she stopped him. Peniel clenched his fist in anger. “No, no, I get it now,” he said brushing her off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I should be getting back to work.” And then he walked off and disappeared into another room.

Samantha groaned in frustration. “No one gets it,” she sighed.

“No one gets what?” Dongwoon’s voice rang out thus startling her.

She shoved him. “What the hell did I say about scaring me like that?” she glared at him.

Dongwoon snickered. “I’m sorry, your reactions are pretty funny,” he said. “I couldn’t help it.” Then his expression turned serious. “What were you talking about just now? I kind of overheard you and Peniel.”

“Everyone in BTOB, even Jihoon, is mad at me because I’ve decided to leave them,” she sighed.

“You’re leaving?” he repeated.

“I thought I told you,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, I’m leaving. We’ll be parting ways when you guys head to Thailand.”

“You’re really gonna go through with this?” he asked.

“I got back in touch with him again, Dongwoon,” Samantha said looking away from him.

“Here we go again,” Dongwoon groaned. “What happened this time?”

“He’s injured,” she said. “I decided to just check up on him to see if he’s okay. We’ve been talking since last night.”

He crossed his arms looking at her. “I hope you’re making the right decision about this.”

“I know I am,” she insisted.

“What about Jihoon? Or Peniel?”

“How’d you know about Peniel?” she asked incredulously.

“I saw the way he brushed you off, he looked really hurt about something. I figured something happened between the two of you,” he mentioned. “Since we all hung out with Ailee, I noticed the way he acted towards you. I just had to be sure.”

“They’re both refusing to talk to me,” she said looking away. “Dongwoon, you know I can’t get involved with them because 1. I work for them and 2. Their fans won’t be okay with it. Especially the second one, it’s not worth it having to look over my shoulders every time I go somewhere and having a bunch of crazy fans throwing stuff at me and verbally abusing me. Remember what happened with you?” she mentioned.

“Good point,” he nodded as the memory dawned on him. Samantha had to leave the mall after work but a bunch of B2uties were following her to her car and she had to call security to her to her car. There was another instance where she couldn’t go outside to take out the trash without a bunch of those fans throwing eggs at her and such. She had to tell the B2uties there simply was nothing going on with Dongwoon but they had refused to believe that. She had to call Dongwoon, who in turn wrote a press release about his relationship with Samantha which in turn got the B2uties to leave her alone soon after. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“It’s fine, I’m not making a huge deal about it anymore,” she shrugged it off. “I just don’t want that to happen to me again. It’s scary.”

“Well, like I said, I’d rather have Jihoon or Peniel for you than Jeremy,” he said finally. Turning around to leave, he turned to his best friend again. “I forgot to tell you, Ailee is here.”

Samantha’s eyes widened. “Really?” she said.

“Yeah, she should be in one of the practice rooms,” Dongwoon pointed out. “She and Jihoon have a special stage together.”

“Oh, okay,” she nodded. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Yep,” he nodded. “But you should consider what I’m trying to say to you. You don’t have to listen but as your best friend, I don’t want you to waste your time with someone who doesn’t care about you than putting those good guys on the sidelines.”

She nodded as she watched him leave. “I have a lot of thinking to do,” she sighed to herself.

Walking into the practice room, she had brought the two of them some bottled waters. They were working on their dance number and Samantha was quite impressed. There was undeniable chemistry and she now understood why fans shipped the couple before her. Samantha felt a tugging at her heart but had to remain strong. Jihoon and Ailee looked better together. Their fans would be okay with it. Ailee will take care of him and they’ll be happy together, she thought. “What do you think?” Ailee asked the taller one.

“Not bad,” he gave her a boyish grin. “We should take a short break.” Then his grinned was wiped off when he spotted Samantha.

Ailee turned to look in the same direction to find her best friend by the door. Ailee grinned and made a beeline towards Samantha. “Hey!” she hugged Samantha. “I totally forgot you were here!”

“Yep,” Samantha smiled pulling away. “You guys are doing a good job!”

“I guess,” Ailee replied sheepishly. “We’re still trying to perfect it.”

“Hi Jihoon,” Samantha greeted her dorm mate as he made his way to the door.

“Hi,” he said dismissively then exited the room. He refused to look at Samantha.

“What’s up with him?” Ailee wondered.

Samantha shrugged, “Beats me. Anyways, I have something to tell you,” she started to say.

“Yeah, shoot,” Ailee sat down on the floor gesturing for Samantha to join her.

“I’m gonna be leaving you when you guys are in Thailand,” Samantha finally said.

Ailee took a moment to digest that bit of information. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked with a hint of caution in her voice.

“I started talking to him again,” Samantha said.

Ailee’s eyes went wide. “What?! How--?”

“He got injured and I decided to check up on him to see if he was okay…” Samantha looked away from her best friend. “Let’s just say we continued to talk into the morning.”

“And then you decide to make that impulsive decision to leave,” Ailee finished. “Really, Sam? After all you’ve worked for? It’s kind of selfish if you asked me.”

“Well, I didn’t intend for any of this to happen!” Samantha exclaimed.

“How did the guys react?” Ailee asked.

“They’re upset,” Samantha replied sheepishly. “Actually, they’re really pissed. And Jihoon is pretty pissed too.”

“I noticed,” Ailee replied matter-of-factly. “His expression said it all when you came in.”

Samantha sighed. “I know…” she groaned. “I screwed up, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t screw up, yet. Just help them understand where you’re coming from, I mean do they know why you’re leaving?”

Samantha shook her head. “Only Peniel knows,” she answered.

“So you haven’t been honest with them?” Ailee cocked her head to the side.

“No,” she shook her head looking down.

“Maybe it’s time to tell them,” Ailee advised her. “They should understand. Jihoon, of all people, should be able to understand. So you should start with him first.”

Samantha nodded finally. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed. “I’ll talk to them again tonight. Jihoon is first on the list.”

“I wish you luck,” Ailee smiled. “But I still don’t think you’re making the right decision.”

“Of course, you’d say that,” Samantha rolled her eyes. “Who put you up to it? Dongwoon?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Ailee assured her. “You deserve so much better.”

“Right, of course,” Samantha nodded. “You know, instead of prying into my personal life, what about you?”

“What about me?” Ailee furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’m just saying, you’re gonna be in my position someday,” Samantha pointed out.

“Right,” Ailee scoffed, “Like that’s gonna happen anytime soon. I don’t have time for that nowadays.”

“You and Jihoon look good together,” Samantha pointed out. “And your fans are okay with it.”

“What are you trying to say?” Ailee narrowed her eyes at Samantha.

Samantha shrugged, “Oh I don’t know…  How about instead of prying into my situation, you should just consider yourself? You deserve to be happy too.”

“Really,” Ailee looked towards the door. “I was starting to think Jihoon might have eyes for my best friend and I don’t see him that way.”

“I can’t get involved with Jihoon and you know it, Amy,” Samantha said.

“Why not?”

“Because it would be complicated,” Samantha answered. “It would be okay if it was you instead of me.”

“Better him than Jeremy if you ask me,” Ailee said.

Samantha rolled her eyes. “Here we go again…”

Later that night, Samantha knocked on Jihoon’s door. “Who is it?” his voice rang out along with his footsteps could be heard from the other side as he opened the door. “Oh, it’s you. Can I help you?”

“I was thinking maybe we can grab a cup of coffee or something?” Samantha suggested averting her eyes from him.

He stood still. “Just coffee?” he asked and then she nodded. “Okay, I have another schedule tomorrow so don’t make me stay out all night.”

“I promise,” she gleamed.