Reunion

"I see… so… you DO like her after all." Dowoon said as he plopped down beside me on the couch.

I was in Alpha's recording studio. With me was Mark-hyung from GOT7, Hyungwon-hyung from Monsta X and Dowoon-ie from Day6. I was closest to them in this company ever since we trained together a while back. Dowoon and Hyungwoon-hyung were troublemakers back in our trainee days. That's what delayed their debut.

"How many times do I have to tell you Dowoon-ah? He liked her WAY before they debuted." Mark-hyung explained.

Hyungwon-hyung chuckled. "That's a long time to like someone. Are you sure that you just 'like' her? It sounds way more like love."

"Love, huh?" I sighed.

I already know that I did love her. It was evident and clear. It just wasn't the time to tell her yet. Well, I don't when the right time to tell her is. Her popularity was still climbing and I'm also trying to put Alpha back in the map since BTS and Seventeen were starting to pick up the pace. So it'll be hard on the both of us to make time for such a thing as "love". Besides, she probably hates me. Twice was still mad about me going on hiatus. Because of that, they only got to do one comeback this year. It highly affected their popularity. Good thing that JYP was really good at promoting its artists. Otherwise, they would have surely fallen behind especially since Blackpink made their debut this year.

Mark-hyung slapped his thigh. "Right! By the way, JayB-ya. Don't you have to prepare for Inkigayo?"

"I will. I have to get to our stylist by 4PM for my hair and make-up." I replied as I was trying to make changes for the song that I was working on and finalize it.

"Uhh… JayB-ya… It's ALREADY 4PM…" Dowoon-ie informed.

I snapped my head to them before snapping it on the wall clock. My mouth gaped at the sight. It really is past 4PM. "Oh crap!"

After saving the file, I immediately shut the computer down and prepared my things. The rest of them just watched me panic. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Don't you 'hello' me. Where the heck are you?!" I turned to see who the caller was and saw that it was my manager.

"Sorry, hyung! I was working on the song and lost track of time." I explained.

He sighed deeply. "Just get your ass here. PD-nim's pissed."

After hanging up, I immediately grabbed my backpack and rushed to the door.

"Don't forget your wallet, JayB-ya!" Hyungwon-hyung reminded as he waved it in the air using his hand. I grabbed it and said my thanks before rushing towards the dressing room downstairs. The last thing I want right now is to be late on my first TV appearance this year.

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"What took you so long?!" My manager was fuming the moment I entered the dressing room.

"Sorry! There were a lot of fans outside so I couldn't come inside directly." I tried to reason out.

My manager sighed deeply. "What are those guards doing outside then? I'll give them a piece of my mind later."

His reaction really surprised me. "You don't have to, hyung. There were REALLY a lot of fans outside. Like… a lot, and there were only a four guards stationed there. Ever since the company announced my return, the fans have been eager to see what I've been up to. Please don't blame the guards."

He rubbed his temples trying to sooth himself. "Fine. I won't do anything since it's the company's fault for not foreseeing this from happening. We'll schedule a surprise VLIVE from you soon to handle this situation. For now, just wear your outfit for today and have your make up done already. Inkigayo's car will come pick you up."

"Aren't you driving me there today?" I asked him.

Our manager shook his head. "It's the last Inkigayo episode so it's a special episode. You see that suit?" He asked pointing at the suit. "It's one of your special suits. You're wearing it today since you'll be walking down a mini-red carpet for the show."

"This is actually a big event?! Why didn't you tell me?" I was surprised with the sudden news.

He turned me around while pushing me towards the changing room. "I didn't feel like I need to. Now enough chitchatting and go change. The car will be here in less than an hour and we still have to get your hair done."

Changing up to my new clothes, I barely recognized myself. It's been a while since I wore an outfit this stylish. I've only been wearing plain and dull corporate suits this past few months. Although they were very expensive suits, compared to this one, I feel like I suit this well. No pun intended. I was wearing a sangria-colored velvet suit since the theme for today was shades of red. Underneath was a white long sleeve polo with a sangria-colored tie. For my hair, it was going to be moussed up so I'd look more like a corporate man rather than an MC.

Well, our stylists outdid themselves today. It was really good. But it looks a little loose on me. I guess I've lost so much weight these past few months. Joy and Kei were right. I shouldn't have neglected eating properly. My muscles became leaner so I look skinnier now. It's like I really DID go through depression. This means I'll have to work out more and ask our dietitians to give me a new diet plan. It's a lot of work but I can live with it.

As I was having my hair done, a person entered the salon and was almost pushed down by fans. She sighed deeply as she entered the room. She greeted everyone in the room and bowed deeply. I didn't mind her at first since I was focusing on giving instructions on the make-up. Suddenly, she brisk walked towards me and patted my shoulder from behind me.

"Who's this?" I asked.

She then slowly revealed herself from behind me. "Hi, JayB-ya! It's nice to see you again."

The person who greeted really surprised me. She grew her hair and dyed it somewhat between purple and dark red. I smiled at her. "Jisoo-ya, you've changed so much. How are you?"

Since the make-up artist was done, I stood up and gave her a hug. She giggled in response. "I'm definitely great. It's really nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see YOU. You dyed your hair." I said while touching her hair.

She smiled shyly. "Yes, it was to fit the concept of 'BOOMBAYAH'."

I ruffled her hair. "Well, it suits you, kid."

She grabbed my hand and moved it away. "Why do you keep doing that when we're the same age?"

Because I'm way older. I got relive puberty twice. Well, I'm not going to say that of course. Her response made me chuckle a bit before I started pinching her cheek. "That's because you are."

"Whatever." She said as she massaged her now reddish cheeks.

"By the way, I heard that you've been missing out on the 95 line meetings. You can't keep doing that, you know?" I crossed my arms and pretended to be disappointed.

She rolled her eyes. "Look who's talking? You haven't been going there too. You didn't even go to our debut."

"I had a VERY valid excuse. Well, what's your excuse?" I rebutted.

We probably look like a couple who're arguing right now based on the reaction that we're getting from the people around us. They were covering their mouths as they giggled and snickered quietly. Jisoo was still adamant about defending herself. "HAH! Excuse my ass! I was busy with promotions too, you know? Since our so called 'producer' decided to leave us after giving us our debut song! We had no choice but to take every TV show appearance we could get just to survive!"

"I've already forwarded the demo songs for your first album to your company. You're welcome by the way." I smirked at her.

"Just keep lying and make excuses, will you? That's what—wait, what? Really?" She turned to me with a surprised look.

I raised an eyebrow. "You think, I'm lying. What do you think I did the past few days the moment I came back? Sleep? I was busy catching up, and I still have a LOT to catch up on. I already told your company that after this album, I can't write for you anymore."

She looked a bit disappointed when I said that. "You're busy with trying to make a comeback for Twice and Alpha, aren't you?"

After giving her a nod as my response, she gave a heavy sigh. "Well, no surprise there. To be honest, ever since you left, Alpha and Twice have been struggling with their popularity. Don't get me wrong, it didn't go lower, but it didn't rise either. It was just stagnant. Having you back would really be helpful."

"Why do you care so much about other groups? Shouldn't you be focusing on your group? You're rookies after all." I asked.

She smiled. "Even though we're all technically competing, we're still all friends who are just trying to survive this industry. Besides, our company just signed a deal with a soda company for our first CF so I think we're gonna be fine."

Just then, someone cleared their throat. "Excuse me? Sunbaenim?"

Jisoo and I turned to the person who was shyly approaching us. He bowed and introduced himself. "Hello… I'm Kim Doyoung from NCT 127. I will be your co-host for today."

Jisoo then stood beside him slapped his back. "What are you being so shy about? It's just JayB-ya! Come on! Man up!"

"But noona… he's THE JayB from Alpha." He explained in a whisper which was just loud enough for me to hear it.

Jisoo face-palmed and sighed. "Right. I forgot that you were a hardcore fan of Alpha."

It made me chuckle before stretching my hand out to him. "Hi Doyoung-ssi, nice to meet you."

"Now that's settled, I'm going to go change into my dress." Jisoo said as she turned around and started making her way to the changing room.

"I guess you should get ready too." I told Doyoung.

He nodded slightly. "Ah… yeah… um yes…"

I was about to turn around when he called me again. "Ah… JayB-sunbaenim."

"Hmm? Oh and just speak informally to me. We're friends now after all." I told him with a smile.

He must've been so happy himself as he started rummaging inside his bag and got a pen and notebook out. "Ah Yes! You can talk informally to me as well."

He stood there grinning and must've forgotten why he called me. "You wanted something?"

He shook his head to snap out of his daydream. "Ah, right. If it isn't too much trouble. May I ask for your autograph?"

It took me by surprise. It's the first time that another idol was asking for an autograph from me. He must really be a fan of Alpha. I smiled at him before taking out my instax camera from my bag and asked one of the stylists to take a picture of us. As soon as it printed out a copy of our picture together, I signed the back portion of it which made him really happy about it.

"Hyung! Thank you so much!" He excitedly said as he bowed deeply.

I patted his back before giving him a smile. "What are friends for?"

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"Hyung, we're almost done with our roles today. Do you have plans after?" Doyoung asked as Inkigayo went into commercial.

Before I could answer, Jisoo interrupted by answering for me. "We have to meet up with the other 95 line. They're throwing a party for Kei-ssi and JayB-ya's comeback."

"Oh I see. Next time then." It was obvious that he was disappointed.

"Don't worry. I'll call you next time to hang out. Let me have your number after the show. But I also heard that your members are joining us later on. Why don't you go with them?" I assured him. He gladly smiled and nodded in response.

Jisoo then pulled me to the side. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure. What's up?" I replied.

She turned to the side to see if anyone was looking. I could see that she was anxious. "Did your company tell you that IU-sunbaenim was performing today?"

I was curious as to why she asked that question. "No. Why? But I know that she'll be performing today for her last week of promotions."

She looked at me with concern written all over her face. "Are you okay with that? I mean… you'll be seeing her and interviewing her before she performs."

I chuckled. "I was wondering why you look so anxious. Don't worry about it. We're in good terms now. I'm pretty sure she won't freak out that I'm here."

"You have no idea, do you?" She looked at me as if she was struggling to say something.

"What are you talking about?" She was starting pique my interest.

She sighed. "Kim Jinbo-ssi… A lot has changed this year. Okay? You've been gone for almost a year. I'm saying this because I'm your friend. I won't reveal much since it's not my secret to tell. But sooner or later, you'll find out."

I laughed nervously. "You know I hate riddles. What's this about?"

"30 seconds to LIVE!" The director yelled.

Jisoo then turned to me. "You'll find out soon enough. I hope you're going to be fine once you find out about it."

"Wha-" Before I could ask her, she immediately walked back to her post and smiled as if we didn't talk about anything.

IU-sunbaenim then walked towards my co-hosts as I joined them too. She turned to me and smiled. I gave her a slight bow to greet her. She did the same.

"How are you? I hope you're not nervous." I asked her.

She pouted cutely and shook her head. "No. Not at all. I'm just excited to finish up and head home to sleep."

Her response made me laugh. Suddenly, my conversation with Jisoo popped up in my head again, and my curiosity got the best of me. I was about to ask her about it when the director signaled or us to be ready. I ignored my thoughts and just focused on interviewing IU-sunbaenim today. As the countdown towards the LIVE was almost zero, I turn to see IU-sunbaenim waving and smiling happily at someone behind the camera. When I turned to see who it was, I couldn't see the person clearly because of the lights. But after focusing hard on that area. I saw who the person was and my eyes widened in shock.

Jeon Jungkook?

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