𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 | 𝘬𝘮𝘨

𝙭𝙭𝙭𝙫𝙞𝙞.

Jiyeon's legs bounced up and down as she sat anxiously. Her hand grasped Mingyu's and even though her boyfriend could have sworn she was cutting off his blood circulation, he didn't mind. 

The modern conference room hadn't changed since they had been there yesterday except for the absence of Mingyu's members. This time only Mingyu and Jiyeon were attendees while the rest of seventeen sat semi-anxiously at their dorm.

"Congratulations you two, the responses from the public are mixed--but mostly good." A sigh of relief escaped the couple's lips, fully taking in the words of HYBE's PR manager. HYBE had released the news of their relationship only about one hour prior but the two had been brought into the room for surveillance purposes. Mingyu was more than used to hate comments but seeing as Jiyeon wasn't and the public's reactions couldn't be predicted, the couple was exempt from checking social media. Sure, sitting in a boring conference room was annoying, but Jiyeon knew deep down that her confidence was thanking the circumstances. 

Jiyeon suddenly leaned forward. "So what now? Are we allowed to post or go places together?" Even Mingyu was glad she had asked that question seeing as Seventeen had never actually confirmed any dating rumors throughout their career so this was genuinely new to him.

The assistant manager took one more scroll through the comments under the confirmation post. "Well, it's about a 3/4 ratio with the reactions. There are a few hate comments as expected, but because of the mystery surrounding Jiyeon, a lot of it is just confusion. The remaining is overwhelming support--that's lucky." Mingyu nodded. 

"Should we post a photo on my instagram then?" This time the assistant to the left of the manager spoke up. "Seeing as Seventeen have such a good reputation, we'll let you decide that. Although, Jiyeon's instagram is public and people will connect the dots soon enough. Your comments will become pretty much an outlet for all the haters let out their anger towards the situation. Your decision should be based on whether you, Jiyeon, can handle that." Jiyeon's eyes dropped, her mind filled with contemplation. 

She was typically a strong girl who never let people's words get to her, but when it came to practically having thousands of people hating on her all at once, that wasn't something Jiyeon was sure she could handle. Mingyu, catching the hesitance in his girlfriend's actions went to speak. "We'll need a few minutes to decide, I'll have my manager notify you when we do." The PR team seemed to understand and with curt bows from them, Mingyu and Jiyeon were left alone. 

"Yeon, you know I'm okay with whatever you choose right? No pressure okay?" He brought his hands to her shoulders before hugging her. Jiyeon sighed as she leaned into Mingyu's touch. "I just don't know Mingyu. Part of me wants to just go 100% public and have that freedom I crave yet the other half is just scared. I'm good with maybe a few jabs from my family members or strangers at work, but getting hate from thousands of people? I'm not sure if I could take that." 

Mingyu brought her closer, his heart breaking with the fact that his own profession was hurting Jiyeon, it was affecting her negatively and even though she agreed to go public, Mingyu now wished she hadn't. If she was already stressing over whether or not to simply post a photo with him, then imagine if things like saesangs or paparazzi came into the mix. And by the growing screams and shouts coming from outside of the building Mingyu could already tell that it would be awhile until the public left them alone.