Clandestine

Thirty- One

"I don't know. I'm so sorry baby. We're trying to figure this out."

"They know Joon! How do they know? How could they know?"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Maya, I'm so sorry. They gave us no warning. I-I should have been there to protect you. I should have been there." I could hear the dryness in his own voice. The panic and stress that no doubt was riddling him as well. "I'll fix this," he all but seethed, anger and sorrow apparent in the strain of his words.

"It's too late. You can't fix this Joon! It's been done!" I sobbed. "It's over now. It's broken." He went quiet, the only sound being his bated breath and sniffling. He knew I was right.

There would be no more of the cozy home close to work. No more family dinners and holidays to plan for. No more settling in with a newborn in the quiet of the nursery we'd both frenzied over. That dream, that had felt so close, of some kind of normal life with Namjoon had been shattered with the first click of the camera and he knew it.

"I'll get you out of there," were his next words. "I'll be there."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

NAMJOON

We had just settled into normal when it had all been ripped away from us.

Our home.

Our life.

So many things I had promised my wife and had finally given to her were ruined in less than a day.

'In all seriousness,' she giggled. 'We have plenty of time to name the baby.'

'You say that now, but we're already halfway there. It won't be long now.' I smiled back at her, placing a kiss on her belly. 'And then there'll be three Kims under this roof instead of two.'

"How did this happen?" I seethed, standing over my place at the conference table.

"I understand that you're upset, Mr. Kim. We're trying to get to the bottom of all this," replied the CEO from the head of the table. The room was filled with select members of the PR department, managers, my bandmates, and many others, all trying to figure out how Maya's identity had been leaked. So few actually knew who she was which, if anything, should have made narrowing down who was behind the leak all the more easier. However, as we narrowed it down, it still wasn't making sense. Who would have a motive to do this?

"Could it have been a driver? Or maybe even a staff member at the dorms or the condo complex?" A PR member asked.

"It couldn't be. We've used the same drivers and buildings for years in most cases. If this was gonna leak, it would have happened months ago," added a manager. "Besides, it wouldn't explain how they knew the current address for most of those individuals. Mr. Kim bikes into the office on most days, especially since moving."

"My wife and I will have to relocate and now address the issue of our marriage without warning or preparation and all we can agree on is who it can't be? Unless it was someone in this room, we're just at a complete loss."

The room went quiet with the accusation.

"Mr. Kim, I can assure you that everyone here has your best interest at heart and would never jeopardize your family's safety-".

A prolonged, bored sigh rang out before the CEO could finish his statement. All eyes shifted towards Jimin.

"Is there something wrong, Jimin-ssi?" I asked. cheeks hollowing.

"Huh? Oh, no everything is fine," he responded, folding his hands overtop his crossed legs.

"Fine?" He nodded. "So, my pregnant wife had just been outed to the public, chased down by photographers to our home, and everything is fine?"