C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N
I want to pretend that I don't know
But I can't stand it anymore

The cup of tea was a lifeline in her shaking hands. As soon as she laid eyes on her, Erin knew just what to do - being English, the kettle was on within a minute and she had guided her to the sofa, politely ignoring the wanting glances Aeri shot towards her bedroom door. She had retrieved her laptop and sat the two down, wasting no time in opening up YouTube and playing the video everyone but her seemed to know about.

And now the lilac haired girl was staring at the blank screen, unmoving, whlist Erin sat cross legged facing her. She didn't know what to think. But now she understood why people were giving her such weird looks, and why Jackson had said what he did.

jyp mute singing live

The video was shaky and shot from what looked like a crack in the door, but both her and the boy next to her were clearly visible. Jiho was playing guitar, sitting on top of the table with his side facing the camera, whilst Aeri stood opposite him. Both were completely oblivious to the recording going on.

In the description, both her and Jiho's names were written next to the song title, but nothing else. It was the comments that she had to stop reading, after looking at a few. People complaining she was looking for attention, calling her names, rallying people against her. Some were just surprised and confused, and there were one or two that actually complimented her, but on the whole all she could see seemed to be... negative.

"Are you ok, Aeri-yah?"

Blinking back to the present, the lilac haired girl glanced at her unnie. Though the two didn't exactly speak, Erin was nothing but friendly and polite. And she took care of her. Aeri nodded slightly, still in shock at what she'd just witnessed, taking long and slow sips of tea to calm her nerves.

"Ignore the horrible comments. People will be like that on the internet because no one can hurt them back," she practically spat, glaring at the screen. "They don't know anything about you. You can do whatever you want with your voice."

She gave the honey brunette a tiny, tired smile of thanks, and the girl's sour face softened.

"Look. Tomorrow, it might be a good idea if you stick with someone. After that is the JYP concert, and things will probably be fine afterwards, ok?" Erin rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, giving her a smile. 

Oh... the concert... she had almost forgotten, after watching the video. I don't think we can use that song now. Oh God, what are we going to do? She had already started chewing her lip as Erin looked at her in concern, eyebrows furrowed.

"Aeri-yah?"

The younger quickly typed into the YouTube search bar and turned the screen around to show her.

Jiho-ssi and I will have to change our song now that everyone knows it

She frowned. "Why?"

Why? Aeri pursed her lips. It wasn't stated in the rules or anything. But their performance was meant to be her eventually showing herself and her talent, and with something everyone had already seen... something... that he might have seen as well... Her thoughts slowed down as she came to that revelation. Had Jungkook seen it? BigHit had ties to JYP. If the JYP trainees and whoever had seen it, then most likely people in BigHit had too.

Not to mention the video now had over 10000 views, and climbing.

This performance was meant to be special and now it's not, she finally typed out, looking down as she fished her phone from her pocket. She had gotten Jiho's number after their first meeting so they could schedule practice, and now she was amazingly glad she did - sending him an urgent text to meet at JYP, the lilac haired girl stood up from the sofa and bowed low in thanks to the English girl.

"Aeri-yah... don't push yourself too hard. Take care of yourself. I worry for you," she said sadly, standing up with her. "You know, I'm always here to listen. This is the first time you've let me talk to you properly."

...Erin? She blinked in surprise, feeling her cheeks redden as the girl looked at her sincerely. She... Did she want to be her friend? Really? Erin was nice to everyone, so when she spoke to her she always thought it was just out of politeness. Thank you... thank you so much... she could feel her eyes pricking but she rapidly blinked any threatening tears away, refusing to cry. She didn't want to leave the comfort of the brunette, but all of her free time had just been robbed - and so without any thought, she threw her arms around the girl's neck and hugged her tightly for a few mom