Too good to be true

CHAPTER 56

Hyung had my phone and responded to each call. I just had one thought in my head 'In your face SM Ent.'

Just as I finished my schedule I was greeted with shocked and surprised angry staff in the hotel. They looked at me like I grew a new head, like they did not know who I was all along. It's not everyday you can fight back with the company but this time I made it public. Manager hyung walked in and showed me the situation we were facing. The public was surprised as well. Many reacted with hate, saying they'd protest but the international fans and media were surprisingly not attacking. They were in support of our relationship and they were ready to fight back be it in protesting or by law. The media spoke high of me, about being a perfect boyfriend. A very good idol and human who's against racism and doesn't discriminate anyone. I was ecstatic reading these, not for the fact that they praised me. But because it became a social issue and received support from the general public as well. 'Don't be happy so soon Baekhyun' hyung said bringing me back to the reality. 'I've been receiving all the scolding from the company since morning. We're leaving tonight!' he said.

I felt sorry to have given him the responsibility, he's been my best man and hasn't complained about it since we became close. 'Tonight? What about Chen and Xuimin?' I ask 'They're coming as well. The event scheduled for tomorrow was cancelled a while ago.' 'What? Do the members know?' I ask for being clueless all along. 'Yes, and yes. Pack up right now, we're leaving in an hour. And you need to be in the office first thing tomorrow, sorry we need to be.' Everything is happening as I expected, well kind of. I quickly packed and we were out of the hotel and boarded our flight in less than two hours. 'I still can't believe you did this. Not after what you've gone through' Xuimin said putting the safety belt on. 'I'm just worried for you, it wasn't easy for me. You have a mountain load of obstacles to face from now on.' Chen said looking very serious. 'I know what I did, I don't regret it. She's someone I can't lose.' I said avoiding eye contact but stating my choice firmly.

'You keep thinking about the mistakes of your past, but you don't realise that she's different from your ex-girlfriend. Stop taking actions to replace your guilt from the past. And stop living in the past for God's sake.' Chen spoke with a much more serious tone. 'I love her Chen, I love her with all I have. If I think of a future it is with her. I want to marry her and stay with her and our kids for a very long time. I am correcting my attitude from the past. Not my feelings or the person' I said, rather shouted. I spoke out my feelings which I never did, I wrote the letter but I never uttered them. Right now, I felt so emotional I had tears, these were the words I had to tell her. I need to! We three were facing each other, Chen and Xuimin sat beside each other while I faced them. The only gesture they could do was pat on my shoulder. I couldn't use my phone, hyung basically had it the whole day and I could use it for a minute. Literally a minute, Larisa had sent a message but I did not get the chance to read it. he knew I'd be going for her, anything related to her for that fact.

Right now, the only thing I could do was nothing, yes basically look out the window and think. I decided to listen to some music and fell asleep just like that. Hours later we landed in Seoul and I was really happy I could see her again. Just as we parted ways with Chen and Xuimin, manager hyung grabbed my luggage and walked to his car. 'Where are we going? I can go home on my own. It's like 3.30am right now, go home and sleep hyung' I said trying to stop him. 'You're not going home, stay at the hotel until the issue is solved. You can't be with her right now.' 'Why would I do that?' 'Because that's what you should do to protect her. the only thing you can do now is to stay away from her. She doesn't need anymore spotlight, there are reporters waiting at your place. The second they realise your back, it's going to go crazy. Everything and anything you do now will impact her directly.' 'Alright, let's go to a hotel' I said and gave up.

Everything is so much hard, every single thing I do could affect her. I was really looking forward to meeting her but now... I inhaled and exhaled for a few seconds not being able to think straight. I chose this path, for the both of us so I have to be patient. Walking into the hotel room I tried asking for my phone, but hyung never gave in. Just after he walked out the room, I called her up from the hotel landline. I did not want to wake her up but I did not have a choice either. I needed to know if she's doing okay. 'I knew you'd try to reach out to her.' Manager hyung said as he barged into the room. 'Talking to her will not make things bad.' I said while holding onto the phone and I could still hear it ring. 'Baekhyun, you gave me the responsibility for this issue, so please don't make things harder than they are right now. I promise things will be fine and I'll get in touch with her and let you know about her.' he said indicating me to cut the call. Dejected I held the phone down and hyung just walked over to hug me.

'Just hold on okay? You can meet her most probably after the last concert, if it's still on' he said and patted my back. I felt much worse for being totally isolated from her. 'It's been two months since I saw her hyung. I just wish she's doing good. She's got the flu and the last time I talked to her I basically shouted.' 'I understand what you're going through. You'll hear about her by 12pm tomorrow. I promise, for now go sleep.' I agreed to him only because of his promise. I wish she would have picked up the call but I just had to let it go until things quiet down. Sleep was something that came to me instantly, but now I couldn't lay on the bed also. For the next 4 hours I felt restless and switched on the T.V hoping to get distracted. I felt immature, dumb and blamed myself for all the clueless incidents. I need to prepare myself for the meeting tomorrow, so I grabbed my laptop and started looking into the public's interest and the social issue. I need to show them numbers more than anything else, the profits are what they want and I'll give them that.

I looked into the past incidents, the problems faced then and the present perspective of the people. Fan sites were going crazy, I collected the data from them and categorized them based on national and international views. There were many setbacks but the important part was many were willing to step up to show support. Reading them brought me so much happiness and hope that SM could be convinced of not messing with our relationship. I know she said she didn't want to sit back, but no man would bring in pain to the woman knowingly. The meeting starts at 10am and it's 9 right now, I washed my face and changed into a better outfit and walked out the hotel with a pen drive just hoping for things to go well. Maybe talking to her would have made me feel better but not happening anytime soon. I waited in the meeting room with hyung while the staff started filling in. Soon enough the meeting started and I waited for the right opportunity to bring up my presentation.

'You have always caused trouble to the company, be it small or big. From releasing spoilers to taunting the company all have been observed and noted.' I burst into laugh, 'You're kidding right? So, what now? You'll ask me to pay a hefty amount or blackmail me with my relationship?' I asked looking them in the eye. 'Don't be so laid back, it's not as simple as you think.' The director said. For the next hour the discussion went on and on, talking not just about me but about my staff who were dragged into this mess. I was patient all along but when the topic of firing them came up I couldn't take it. 'I've got something to show you. It needs to happen right now' I said and grabbed the nearest laptop and opened the presentation. 'Like Larisa said, you look at the profit and loses right? I've prepared some data to support my actions. To show you that what I did brought in a lot of good.' I started explaining the PPT.

I basically had the data of positive comments and videos from over the world and Korea. I showed them the news of the protests and black and brown community contacting me to join hands about the issue. The topic was a top search in Seoul just under 24 hours and I took up the past example of Cube entertainment when they kicked out their artists for dating and the company lost almost half it's stocks. I explained the bad part too, the negative thoughts and death threats. But I showed them the positive image the company gained by supporting their artist and standing up for the black/brown community. Since SM's stocks could be viewed by the public, I showed them the graph of increase in stock investment within 30 hours of releasing the letter. 'Stop it, we get what you're trying to say. You can leave, we'll decide and let you know about it' I did not want to leave, rather I sat down and let them know I wasn't going anywhere. 'The only option you have right now is to take legal action on the people showing hate, and whoever was responsible for releasing the news.

And one more thing, you cannot fire my staff. You better not' I said and got up to walk out the room. I simply walked out from there only to sit outside while they decided what to do. They could see me and I could clearly see them, their expressions said they were convinced of what I showed. Although they won't agree cauz of the ego they carry around they'll come around eventually. 'When did you prepare all this?' Manager hyung asked me as I never looked away from the meeting room. 'In the hotel, I couldn't sleep' I asked leaning forward and waiting. Just 15 minutes later we were called in and 'So, what did you decide?' I ask standing at the entrance. 'You won't have to break up, nor are we firing the staff. But you will be paying us a hefty sum for the damage caused. Also, you cannot meet her until the concert is over' I nod in agreement and waited for the bomb.

I'm pretty sure there's something else too. 'And?' I ask 'That's all' the director spoke. 'I'm willing to pay the amount, but what about the mental distress Larisa and I had to go through? Don't you think the company has to pay for that? Also, I'm not going to hold back on going out with her. Be it anywhere in the world' Let's just say they agreed to my conditions and I smile as I walked out the room knowing I won the battle. I just need to wait 3 more days before I see her. But right now, all I could think of was the strength and courage she gave me.