Chapter 6
Hyojun put down his chopsticks and asked in a worried voice, "A scandal?"
"Um… yeah. Apparently, Myunghee told a reporter that she dated two members of The M. She also claimed that the group members got into a fight because of her… and that is why we cut our tour short. It seems like she did an interview recently."
"Myunghee? You mean our old stylist?"
"Yeah, her. What's happening here?"
Hyoyoung quickly took out her phone and read the reports online. It seemed that the news broke out 10 minutes ago and now it was all over the internet. Hyunsuk put down his chopsticks too and sighed deeply.
"I knew she was going to do this. I knew she was trouble."
Everyone agreed with Hyunsuk and in the end, Kiwook ended the topic.
"It will all be fine. It's going to blow over soon, I'm sure of it."
His voice was quiet but firm, and he casually patted Hyoyoung's shoulder as if to comfort her.
Cough cough!
Hyoyoung was having a bite of her salad when she started to cough uncontrollably at Kiwook's unexpected touch. Then suddenly, her cellphone started to ring loudly.
It was Mikyung.
Hyoyoung ran to her room and answered the phone quickly. Mikyung's angry voice greeted her.
"This is a conspiracy!"
"What?"
"A conspiracy! I know who that girl is. I know what she looks like. Myunghee Shin! She has such a sad, depressed face, yet she is claiming she dated TWO members of The M? Is she kidding? Does she think The M members are all blind?"
'I know for a fact that they aren't blind…'
Mikyung continued in frustration.
"And there's more! I am reading the rest of her interview and… Oh my god… That girl must be insane. She apparently said that she dated Black M and Purple M! What the heck! Who does she think she is? Our Black M Oppa? WHAT?!"
'Yeah… I know Black M and he definitely isn't the type to do something like this. After all, I lived with that idiot for 18 years.'
"Hey, are you ok, Hyoyoung? You're awfully quiet. Are you in shock? Is that why you can't speak? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Oh this was very awkward. Hyoyoung couldn't believe how she couldn't tell her best friend about The M! She desperately wanted to tell Mikyung about it all. About how all The M members were at her home with their masks off. About how they were wearing their normal clothes, eating at her table, and laughing about this stupid scandal.
Yet, the reality was that… she couldn't tell Mikyung anything. Hyoyoung had to remain quiet.
She had to feign ignorance.
Hyoyoung replied calmly, "Um, yeah. I guess I am in shock. In fact, I have a killer headache from it. I'm sorry Mikyung, but can we talk about this at school tomorrow?"
"Oh Hyoyoung, you must be in such shock! Of course, we can talk about it later, I know how you feel. Go to sleep now and we'll chat tomorrow. Oh, come to school early tomorrow so we can have an emergency meeting to combat this!"
Mikyung sounded determined and Hyoyoung hung up.
She murmured to herself, "I have a bigger problem than that stupid scandal!"
"What could be a bigger problem that the scandal? We are about to have a meeting about it right now."
"AHHHHHHH!"
Hyoyoung screamed as she realized that Jiwoo was in her room. He grinned at her shocked shriek and explained that he was walking by her room when he heard her talking. Jiwoo grabbed her arm and dragged her out to the living room where everyone was waiting.
"Now, everyone is here for the meeting!"
Hyoyoung couldn't believe what was happening in front of her eyes. The three grown men were each holding joysticks and engrossed in a game. Jiwoo let Hyoyoung's arm go and took a joystick for himself as well to join in.
What meeting was Jiwoo talking about? There was no meeting! They were just playing a stupid game!
The four grown men were playing a game like they were ten-year-old boys…
'You would think this would be a dream come true, but it's in fact a nightmare.'
Hyoyoung began to really have a headache, so she quietly went back to her room. She dove under her blanket and hoped for the day to end quickly.
The next morning, her classroom was filled with tension. Hyoyoung could feel her classmates' anger, and she wondered if they would even consider assassinating the stylist who started the scandal.
Hyoyoung was still tired and she sat down weakly, but Mikyung seemed like she was full of energy and excitement.
Mikyung announced, "I have it all organized now! It's all here!"
"What are you talking about…"
"This situation. All the facts! I'll bet I know more about how this scandal happened better than anyone in Korea. I did thorough research last night and I'm sure I know things even the reporters don't know about! Now, listen carefully."
At Mikyung's confident declaration, her classmates gathered around her one by one.
Mikyung continued, "Her name is Myunghee Shin and she is 23 years old. She has worked as a makeup artist for three years and as a stylist for two years. She used to mostly work as a photoshoot stylist assistant until a few months ago when she was hired as The M's stylist two weeks after the group debuted. I got this information from the cleaning lady at the agency building. Apparently, she may be suffering from depression and she created this fantasy world in her mind where she was dating the members of the most popular idol group in the country. Even though she has never seen The M's faces. I'll bet our oppas didn't even notice her! She obviously fell in love with them after working for them for a while! She was their stylist, so she probably even saw them half-naked too!"
Mikyung explained excitedly but Hyoyoung couldn't concentrate. Last night, The M members dragged her out of the bed and insisted on explaining what had really happened. This meant that Hyoyoung knew the real truth of how this scandal came about.
Contrary to their elegant and beautiful looks, the members of The M were part of huge gossip and they told Hyoyoung everything.