After the roof scandal, the press hadn't stopped talking about Elli. ARMYs were divided, some saying the girl was dating Taehyung and she had every right to, others insulting her and saying she stole Taehyung away from them, even though it wasn't even confirmed—and they actually weren't dating. But the worst was that there was a huge rumour going around, a rumour that said Elli was caught in a love triangle with Taehyung and… Namjoon! A week had passed and people were still taking about Elli and her so-called love life. The poor trainee couldn't take it anymore; she was afraid to go out, because she was easily recognizable; she was afraid to go on the internet, because she didn't want to see new articles about her, and read all the mean comments from BTS' fans; she was afraid to meet Taehyung or Namjoon in the halls of their agency, because she felt guilty about the scandals.

Yes, it was a really dark time for everyone and Elli didn't know how to make things better. So the girl decided to go seek her best friend's advice. 

"Apparently, the rumours were already starting to spread even before the roof thing…," said Yoongi when Elli and him were sitting on his bed.

"Really? How do you know that?"

"I spend a lot of time on social media. Remember when you were seen with a mysterious man at the café? Well, fans have been suspecting he was Taehyung for weeks. People aren't fools, you know…"

Elli had no idea fans were still talking about that. The situation was even worse than what she thought. And she blamed herself, thinking she should have been more careful and that she had hurt people who had nothing to do with all this, like Namjoon. Even Takuya was targeted by the media. And soon, she thought, other people would be mixed to her own scandals…

As Elli hadn't said anything for a few seconds, Yoongi took her hand in an attempt to comfort her. 

"Elli, you know this isn't your fault, right?" he asked her with a concerned voice.

The girl didn't answer. Wasn't it her fault? Wasn't she the one who put her feelings before everyone else's careers? As if he could read her mind, Yoongi continued talking.

"You don't have any experience as an idol, of course you would make mistakes—but it's not such a big deal! People will forget about all this in a few weeks, don't worry too much. And you also have a lot of people supporting you! So when you debut, you'll already have a fanbase waiting for you!"

Finally, Elli looked up at Yoongi and was about to answer, but the room's door was opened and the two friends saw Seokjin come in. Suddenly, the atmosphere became cold. Jin glared at the Elli and Yoongi, picked up his phone that was left on his bed, and left immediately, leaving an electric impression behind him. Elli didn't understand why the man seemed so… mad. But Yoongi knew what was up, as always…

"He's upset about the Namjoon love triangle thing," he explained. "And before that, he thought I had an affair with the guy. So… we're both suspects to him."

Elli's jaw dropped. So now, even Jin was mad at her? Did he really believe those silly rumours? She would have never, ever, had an affair with Namjoon, especially since she knew he was kind of taken. (A.N: I dont' even ship them, I don't know why I did that)

"Yoongi, I feel like everyone hates me," Elli confessed with wet eyes.

"What? No!" the boy exclaimed, getting closer to her. "We all love you! He's just mad now but he'll realize how foolish he was later, don't you worry!"

In all honesty, Elli didn't know if she could believe that. She felt like her friends were slowly drifting away from her, and the worst part was that she thought they were right to do so; she thought, who would want to stay friends with a scandal magnet?

Outside the room, the members were all minding their own business. Taehyung was sitting on the couch, playing on his phone—but the only thing he was thinking about was of course the scandal. What was really awkward was that Namjoon was on the armchair near him, seemingly peaceful. Did he not care about being in yet another scandal? They hadn't had a chance to talk about it yet—well, more like Taehyung was too embarrassed to do it—so the atmosphere was pretty uncomfortable. Well, especially for Taehyung. Suddenly, Seokjin appeared in the living room. He stopped and glared at them.

"You are a disgusting man…," he muffled, staring at Namjoon.

The latter looked up from his phone with a confused expression. But Jin was already on his way out, so Namjoon got up to chase him outside.

The poor Taehyung felt guilty to have caused so much pain to his co-members and of course to Elli. He thought, he had no right to put her in such a difficult position, ruining her future. He shouldn't have let his feelings affect her life this way. 

"Feeling down, huh?" said a little voice by Taehyung.

The latter jumped in surprise and turned his head to se Jungkook sitting next to him, with big eyes. 

"You can talk to me if you want," the boy added.

"I don't think that'll help but thank you…," Taehyung said softly.

"Are you and Elli dating?" Jungkook asked suddenly.

"Of course not!" 

"Do you wish you were dating her?" 

Taehyung did not answer. Instead, he sighed and looked away from the teenager who asked too many questions. Who cared what he wished? After all, that wasn't important—what was important was the group's and Elli's careers, and he didn't want to ruin them because of his feelings. Elli deserved someone who would treat her better than Taehyung did, who would show her more respect and who wouldn't make her life so hard. 

Before Jungkook could say anything else, Elli appeared in the living room. She had just gotten out of Yoongi's room. When she and Taehyung's gazes met, the awkward silence that followed felt different from the previous ones. There were no butterflies in their bellies, no blushing, no smiling—they just felt their heart getting heavier. Jungkook felt bad seeing the two people looking this desperate, but what could he do to help them? 

Elli couldn't say a word to Taehyung, so she left the apartment without a goodbye. When the door closed behind her and she was alone in the halls, walking fast to reach the outside, she felt a knot in her belly and tears coming to her eyes; when she was with Yoongi, she could imagine leaving Taehyung alone to save everyone from trouble and eventually move on, but when she saw the boy she liked in front of her, with sad eyes, knowing she could never be with him, she suddenly felt like it was impossible to forget him. On her way home, the girl thought a lot about the whole story. Why did she love Taehyung? He wasn't even her type. Was it because of all the time she had spent with BTS? No, because she could have as easily fallen in love with Yoongi. What was it that made Taehyung so special? Love is not a choice, she remembered. If it were, she would have chosen to not fall in love at all; it was unconvenient and made things complicated. But here she was, stuck with her feelings. Were they even mutual? 

When she finally came home, Elli immediately ran to her bed and throw herself on it, burying her face in her pillow and letting her tears escape. Even though she felt stupid for crying over a boy, the girl couldn't help herself. And at least, no one could take pictures of her there. However, someone heard her: Hyeri, of course. The latter carefully approached her friend and landed a hand on her back, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Elli, what's wrong?" she asked with a concerned voice.

The trainee sat up, wiping away her tears and looked at her friend with her reddened eyes.

"I feel so guilty," she answered. "I never wanted to create all these scandals. If I had just shut up and never told Yoongi about my feelings…"

"Hey, don't cry over this!" Hyeri exclaimed. "Why should you feel guilty? The people who should feel guilty are those who started the rumours. They should have minded their own business. Besides, everyone will forget about this in a few weeks. The public gets tired of scandals and needs to move on to new ones quite often."

"But… what about Taehyung? I mean… We can't be together for sure… At least before all this, I had a tiny chance…"

"You still have a chance, and a big one! Stop doubting, everyone knows he likes you! And you know it too!"

Elli looked down. Maybe she did.

"And the antis will have to learn to live with it. There are plenty of idol couples—okay, they're older, but so what? The haters are just comments on the internet. They'll get over it," added Hyeri.

"But… what about Jin? He hates me…"

"He hates Namjoon, you weren't even supposed they were together or whatever. Stop blaming yourself for everything."

The trainee nodded. Of course, Hyeri's words didn't arrange everything and the situation still . But at least, she had made Elli understand self-hatred wouldn't help anyone and that she needed to be stronger. 

***

Elli's friends were right: the public slowly started to lose interest for the scandals. However, people still suspected a love triangle between the girl, Taehyung and Namjoon. But that wasn't Elli's biggest concern; actually, it made her laugh a bit. What she wanted now was to find a way for her and Taehyung to be together. Yes, she knew that the boy didn't feel indifferent towards her and her confidence had been boosted in the past few days because of her friends' support. She was becoming stronger everyday because she had decided that, if she wanted to be an idol, she needed to stop acting like such a child and believe in herself more. Before, she thought a boy like Taehyung would never like a girl like her, but after the scandals, Elli realized that if other people could believe they could be a couple, then so could she.