oblivious | surene

the leader trap

november 2015

the parent trap, but instead it is joohyun and junmyeon.

"Oppa! You're finally here!"

Junmyeon walks into the restaurant with Red Velvet's Joy waving at him to go over to her table. Why is Sooyoung here and where is Baekhyun, he thought. As he walked closer, he got a good look at who was sitting next to her.

"Sungjae?! How've you been?" he asks as he gives a quick bro hug to the BTOB member.

"Just the usual. Schedules and practices. Nothing much. We all have to meet up again to hangout soon though. It's been a while." Sungjae responds.

"For sure. Kyungsoo and Hyunsik have been making all these plans without including us." They laugh. "Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" Junmyeon asks, giving a suggestive look to them.

Sungjae didn't say anything and instead just gave Junmyeon a cheesy grin. Junmyeon had an idea on why the two are hanging out.

Sooyoung and Sungjae have been on We Got Married for almost half a year and have gotten very close, even outside the show. Although everything about them screamed "couple", there hasn't been any labels established by the two.

"Have you guys seen Baekhyun? I'm supposed to meet him here," Junmyeon says, trying to give the couple their alone time.

"Actually you're supposed to meet with us today," Sooyoung says with a mischievous smile.

"Um why? What occasion is it?" he responds, confused with the whole situation. Just as he was about to get his answer another person came out, this time from the bathroom.

Junmyeon's throat felt tight and heavy when Joohyun came out. As always, she was gorgeous and as always, she left him speechless. He knew he needed to talk to her but he was definitely not ready to do it today.

"Ya Park Sooyoung! Can I leave now? You guys already me—Junmyeon?!" Joohyun yells, finally noticing the extra person at their table.

Seems like she wasn't aware of this meeting either, he thought.

Joohyun was definitely not prepared to be talking to Junmyeon face to face. She had only came out because Sooyoung wanted to hang out with Sungjae without suspicion.

"Now you guys might be wondering what is going on," Sooyoung starts, placing her hands on top of each other like she was about to say political speech. Sungjae puts his arm around Sooyoung's chair and goes on his phone while Sooyoung debriefs the other two on what is going on.

"We all just wanted you guys to meet and talk things out." Sooyoung says carefully, not wanting to feel the wrath of her leader. It didn't work and Joohyun was ready to scold Sooyoung for making her come out to face Junmyeon.

Just as Joohyun was about to speak, Junmyeon puts his hand on her arm as a way to calm her down, "Let's just hear her explanation."

Joohyun calms down and leans back on the chair. Sooyoung smiles at their small interaction.

Turns out the four other girls were worried for their unnie so they contacted Baekhyun to bring out Junmyeon to meet up with them. Sooyoung asked Joohyun to come out with her so no one would catch her meeting up with Sungjae and being the caring leader she was, Joohyun couldn't say no. Seulgi, Yeri, and Seungwan even faked having schedules with their managers so Joohyun wouldn't speculate anything was going on.

"Anyways, oppa and I are just going to leave soooo..." and before either Junmyeon or Joohyun could speak, Sooyoung grabs Sungjae's hand and drags him out.

Silence fell on the two right when the Bbyu couple left. Joohyun lets out a big sign and grabs her bag.

Standing up, she says, "I already paid for the food so we can just leave now."

As she turns around to leave Junmyeon grabs her arm and pulls her back down onto the chair.

"We need to talk."

It was surprisingly very nice out for a day in November. The clouds and the color of the sky matched. The temperature was perfect for a nice calm walk. The scene could easily pass off as a day in spring. Joohyun puts her attention on the flowers right outside the restaurant window, "There's nothing to say."

"Maybe the fact that you started ignoring me could be a good start," Junmyeon says sarcastic, wanting his questions to be answered.

Still looking out the window she says, "It takes two to tango."

"Joohyun you were the one that started distancing yourself. I was only trying to give you the space you needed. If only we talked it out. We could have resolved everything. And still to this date, I have no idea why you decided to ignore me. I have no idea what I did wrong and why we went from friends to strangers in a span of a day. I was just left with all these questions and you didn't give me any of the answers," letting all the emotions that he have bottled up for a month out.

Joohyun finally releases her attention and looks right at Junmyeon.

"The longer we continued whatever we had, the bigger the damage would have been when we actually have to end it."

"We could have worked it out. We don't need to end our friendship," Junmyeon says trying to reason with her.

"My group got so much hate just because we interact. We are not even dating, yet all the comments that I've been receiving all mention how much of a slut I am," she says, looking pained.

"They're just comments, Joohyun. We can't let them affect us. If every comment I get changed how I lived, I would have quit this industry years ago."

"You just don't understand! Me and you are different. I see the comments. No matter how much I act like I ignore them, they still affect me."

"BUT IF YOU JUST IGNORE THEM, YOU COULD SEE HOW MUCH MORE THERE IS TO OUR LIVES," Junmyeon says with his raised voice, not caring if anyone else could hear them.

"MY GROUP IS STILL NEW. YOUR GROUP IS ESTABLISHED AND CAN AFFORD TO HAVE SCANDALS. WE CAN'T. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO OVERCOME THE HATE FROM OUR DEBUT. I CAN NOT ADD MORE TO OUR PLATE," Joohyun yells back, tears threatening to spill out.

"Then you're just too much of a coward," Junmyeon coldly replies.

Right when he said it, he knew it was not right. He honestly didn't mean it like that. Junmyeon was just frustrated that Joohyun would sacrifice her own happiness and freedom for her job.

Joohyun was hurt by the jab from Junmyeon. Even if he meant it or not, Joohyun knew what he said was true to some extent. But the comment still affected her, especially since it was someone who understood her so well before.

"Joohyun, I didn't me—," just as Junmyeon took back his comment, Joohyun shakes her head and grabs her purse.

"It's fine." Standing up from her chair as it made a screeching sound against the floor, Joohyun quickly walked out the door.