Kapitel 59: Changes
MATT's POV
"Hey… guys…" The girl beside JayB greeted us shyly.
"Don't you dare greet us like nothing happened!" Yo Chul said as he started approaching her as if she wanted to hurt her.
To my surprise, JayB stood in front of Kei to protect her. "Hyung, please. Don't."
Am I seeing things?
Yo Chul scoffed. "What the hell are you protecting her for?! Or do you NOT remember what she did to you?! To your company?! To your family?! She used you JayB-ya!"
They stood there in silence as they glared at each other. I then approached Yo Chul to grab his shoulder. "That's enough. We should hear Kim Jinbo out."
Everyone's attention was on JayB. We waited for him to speak. He gulped as he said, "I have no excuse, hyung."
Kei looked at him in surprise. "JayB-ssi…"
What's going on with you JayB-ya? Do you really not remember what she did? Or is she threatening you again?
"I'm sorry? Did I hear it right?" Zee said as he approached JayB angrily.
Dahyun scoffed. "See… this is what I'm talking about."
He sighed. "I said I have no-"
Before he could finish his sentence, a punch landed on his face as he was knocked down. Everyone gasped at what they saw.
"I'm sorry for disrespecting you, hyung. But that's just bullshit." Zhang spat.
I've never seen this guy get so angry before. And man, who knew that he could punch so well? I stared at JayB as he spat out some blood from his mouth. Kei rushed over to help him up. This was a sight to see. JayB could have easily blocked that punch. Why did he let himself get hit?
If I knew him well, he had his reasons when he kept his secrets. Once they were out, we would then realize that he just wanted to protect the people around him. That costed him so much a while back, but that's just who he is.
"JayB-ya." I then called out which made everyone flinch. They knew that it was my calm angry voice. They were right. I can't stand it when my friend is trying to protect me. ME of of all people. When I should be protecting them. It's my job. It probably means one thing. It means that I'm too powerless to help him.
I sighed. "Do you want to have some cake soon?"
The members of Alpha snapped their heads towards me. They knew what this meant.
JayB then slowly stood up and patted off the dust on his clothes. "Yes, that would be great."
"Uhh… hello? Are we forgetting the fact that he's with his conniving ex? Why are you suddenly talking about cake?" Dahyun asked in confusion.
I simply ignored her remarks and nodded at JayB. "Alright. How soon can we dine together?"
He smiled at me, and I could tell that it was a sad smile. "I'll have to update you once I see my schedule."
"What's going on?" Sana nudged Jeong Do.
"I'll explain later." He responded.
Zhang extended his hand towards JayB. "Hyung… Sorry. I'll look forward to having cake with you."
JayB just nodded as he took Zhang's hand and shook it. The rest of the members started heading inside the diner café. Dahyun was still pretty much confused. She wanted to protest but was dragged inside by Nayeon.
"If you change your mind. You can contact any of us anytime." I patted his shoulder before heading inside the diner café.
As soon as we were inside the diner café, we watched as they Kei and JayB got in his car and drove off. We continued to sit there in silence not knowing what to say. The rest of Alpha seemed to have calmed down too while the members of Twice were still pretty much confused.
"You guys can start asking now. We'll answer to the best of our abilities. But just a disclaimer. There might be questions that we can't answer so please bear with us." Jeong Do stated.
Everyone else just became quieter now. Albert approached us and told us that JayB rented the place out for a 30 minutes and wanted to ask if we would like to extend the rent. Jiwoo decided to take the bill on this one as he agreed. He told us that there was probably a lot to discuss by now.
Dahyun was brave enough to raise her hand. "What is going on? Why did you guys suddenly talk about cake?"
We all turned to each other. Seiji-hyung sighed. "Is it okay to tell them?"
"We practically have no choice. Besides, it's just one code." Dominic reasoned out.
Everyone else from Alpha nodded in agreement. Zee then leaned in so that only our table could hear. "'Do you want to have cake soon?' is our code for 'Is it something you can't tell us for now?'."
"Well that's lame." Chaeyoung complained.
Everyone in the table turned towards her as she made that comment. Zhang then gave her a nudge. "It has to be lame. It's so that people wouldn't pay much attention to us when we're talking about it."
"So you're saying that there might be people listening on us anytime? Like now?" Jihyo asked.
Dominic nodded. "Some people might not know who WE really are. But there are some who do. And we actually hold confidential information. Like Zee for example. He works with the Chinese military so there are things that he knows that could be worth billions of dollars."
Yuna then acted all cute towards Zee as she batted her eyelids, "Are you going to share that info with me?"
Zee smiled as he pinched Yuna's cheek. "Not a chance."
"Okay. Fine. I understand that there are some secrets that he can't tell you guys but what is he doing with his ex-girlfriend? And who IS that girl anyway?" Mina asked.
Tzuyu then butted in. "Well, technically. They weren't together. That's according to Kei-ssi though. Besides, from what I heard, JayB-oppa is Kei-ssi's cousin."
The rest of the members of Twice gasped as they heard that from Tzuyu.
"They're not related. Jiyeon-ah is adopted. That's what our investigation concluded." Jeong Do corrected.
Nayeon then continued to ask. "Okay then, so what does she want?"
"We also don't know. Otherwise, Zhang wouldn't have punched him." Dominic said.
"Speaking of which, it's the first time I saw him punch someone aside from training." Matt-hyung said.
Zhang shrugged. "He was asking for it."
We all laughed at what he said except for Dahyun and Momo. They seemed to be in deep thought.
"I saw him fight. That was when he rescued me in New York. You were really cool." Chaeyoung happily shared her story as she intertwined her hands with Zhang's.
"Enough. Tell us the full details of the story." Dahyun demanded. I've never seen her so angry before. I think she just hates men in general.
I decided to be the one to tell them everything. The relationship between JayB and Kei in the beginning, how they met as a trainee in SM, Kei asking for help in terms of investments once JayB revealed himself to her, and the betrayal.
"JayB-oppa must have been so hurt…" Momo said as she teared up.
"He was… that was the reason he hesitated getting into a relationship with IU-sunbaenim in the first place." Jeong Do explained.
Dahyun sighed. "Basically… he just wants to protect you guys… or us… But what's with all the cake-related conversation?"
Seiji-hyung chuckled. "In short, Matt-ah just asked him as to when was he able to tell us."
"That's right." I agreed.
The conversation went on and before we knew it, it was already 1PM in the afternoon. We wanted to forget what happened today before we head back to Korea tomorrow, so we decided to pack up our bags and head for Disneyland in Orlando. It's a 3 hour drive so we could still make it. Seiji-hyung decided to take the bill on this one and rented the entire park for the rest of the night. In the end, we somehow almost forgot about what happened today and did our best to enjoy the rest of the trip.
We knew that once we would be back to Korea, we would be bombarded with practices for the year-end shows which is about 9 days from now. It would probably be awkward around JayB but I hope it'll work out.
_________
"Performing what?!" I yelled.
It's been almost a week since we went back to Korea. Throughout the week, we were busy with practices for the year-end stage performances. It was already hard enough since some of us had to promote the Christmas album with some of our labelmates. Our relationship with JayB just made it worse. Our coaches and trainers were practically scolding us every time.
Right now, we were having a break and were in a meeting with Twice at JYP PD-nim's conference room. The topic of discussion was basically another surprise joint performance between Twice and Alpha during the KBS song festival. GOT7 was supposed to perform but they also had a special stage with BTS so it was impossible to work out. In the end, Alpha was going to replace their spot in the festival.
I was practically fine with working with Twice even if it might seem exhausting. The problem was JayB would be the one to do the mixing and recording for our songs. He's probably the one who's going to handle the choreography as well.
What's wrong with that you ask?
It's going to be awkward.
Like I said, it was already awkward between us Alpha members. How much more with Twice?
"You can't be serious, PD-nim." Yo Chul asked.
"I AM serious. Practice starts after the Melon Music Awards." PD-nim said as if it wasn't up for discussion in the first place.
"But PD-nim, Melon Music Awards is in two days. KBS song festival comes first this year which is in a week. We're also preparing for the Grammy's. How in the world are we going to do all that that?" Zee asked as well.
"Are you ready to make another miracle happen JayB-ya?" PD-nim then turned to JayB which made JayB stare at him for a few seconds.
Don't you dare say yes!
He sighed before giving him a thumbs up.
Seiji-hyung just scoffed. "You must be kidding me, JayB-ya. You KNOW how exhausting it already is."
JayB smiled. It was a smile that none of us have ever seen before. It was a smile of resignation, sadness and exhaustion. "Please, let's just do this. Okay?"
The rest of us were taken aback by how he responded. We couldn't help but agree to him. Was it pity? Or compassion? I don't know. But it felt like most of us didn't want to argue with him because there was a tinge of pain when we saw his smile.
__________
"Alright everybody. Great job. Let's head home and rest." JayB said as he grabbed his towel to wipe his sweat off.
It was already 9PM in the evening. We ended our practice earlier than expected. We've been ending our practices at 2AM and 3AM in the morning. Thankfully there were no schedules the following day except for our practice at 9AM. We were able to sleep more this time.
A week past by surprisingly without worries.
We went to Melon Music Awards and dominated almost all the awards… again.
Our stage performance for Call Me Baby and Adore U was lit and it trended even up to now.
The recording and mixing went by smoothly. It's surprising how calm JayB was the entire time.
Even now that we're preparing for the joint stage with Twice, he was pretty much calm.
But I can't help but worry. It's as if this was the calm before the storm. When we're in the company, he looks bright and happy. But I could see the sadness in his eyes. Another thing that has been bothering me is that JayB hasn't been home in the dorm and has been staying at our clubhouse for more than a week now.
"Oppa, have some water." Sana approached JayB as she handed her a drink.
JayB smiled at her. "Thanks, Sana-chan. How's the preparation for MAMA? You're not overworking yourself, are you?"
"It's been great actually. Of course not." She giggled.
He seems normal to them. JayB is a natural at making sure that things weren't awkward. He was also good at dodging questions too. I just hope that he's really fine.
"Man, I can't believe that we're dancing 'Like Ooh Ahh'. It's the first time that I'm actually dancing to a girl group's song. It's so awkward." Seiji-hyung complained.
Jihyo giggled. "Well WE can't believe that we're dancing to 'Adore U'. I don't know how you guys handled the intense choreography and make it so synchronize. It's crazy."
Zee then pointed to JayB and whispered. "It's because of that guy. I felt like being in the army every time there's a new song for our group."
"I heard that. Want to do some extra push ups Private Yang?" JayB joked.
"Sir! No Sir!" Zee immediately stood up and saluted to him.
Everyone else cracked up in laughter when he responded with that including JayB. I guess he IS fine after all. I must be over thinking things.
"JayB-ya? I'll be cooking some barbecue in the dorm. Are you coming home tonight?" Yo Chul tried to invite him.
He smiled as he shook his head. "No thanks. I'd love to but there's something that I need to work on tonight. Sorry"
He was getting thinner and the dark circles around his eyes were getting more evident. Good thing that we were wearing make up all the time when we're in front of the cameras. Otherwise, the fans would also be concerned. Even I became concerned with his health. "You'll be sleeping in at the clubhouse again?"
"You guys have a clubhouse?" Chaeyoung sounded so interested with that question.
JayB answered both of our questions with a nod.
"Wow! Is it like Mamamoo-sunbaenim's den? I heard that you gave it to them." Nayeon inquired excitedly.
JayB chuckled. "Of course. If you're a 95 liner then you'd get gifts from me."
"Is that where Jimin-ssi got his car from?" Jeongyeon asked which made everyone go silent.
JayB's smile turned into a frown with what he said. "I heard about what happened with you and Jimin-ah. I want to apologize on his behalf. I'll make sure he won't bother you again."
Jeongyeon must have realized that she crossed the line on that one. "No. Wait. I'm sorry. It was insensitive of me. You and Jimin-ah are friends. You shouldn't be bothered about it because of me."
JayB slowly approached Jeongyeon with a serious face. He then slowly leaned towards her. I was scared because Yo Chul was already balling his first. JayB then smiled. "Jeongyeon-ie… You're also my friend. And a precious one at that."
Everyone was surprised with what JayB did. He then stood straight before heading for the door. "I'm going now, guys. I'll see you tomorrow at practice. Make sure Zee sleeps well and doesn't stay up late playing computer games. And oh! Domi-ya, don't oversleep!"
Everyone laughed as the two of them tried to retort but wasn't able to as JayB spoke so fast before rushing out the door.
Suddenly, my phone started ringing.
"Ooh… I guess we all know who that is." Jiwoo teased.
"Shut up." I replied half laughing as I headed towards the door.
As soon as I exited the door I answered my phone. "Lisa-ssi. Why are you still up?"
"Matthew-oppa, we're finally debuting late next year." She said in a sad tone.
I was confused with what she said. "Then why do you sound so down? Shouldn't you be happy about it?"
She sniffed as if she just finished crying. "There will be four groups that'll debut next year under our company. Sadly, the company favored them more. They told us that we have to find a good producer to write us a song in order for us to debut. To make matters worse, we have a very lame group name."
"What's the name of your group?" I asked in a serious tone.
She sighed deeply. "Styx."
"Pfft! Really?! I mean… Ahem… really?" I said almost bursting out in laughter.
"I know, I know. It sounds funny. They wanted to give off a strong name for us since we would be more edgy and wild compared to the other girl group who was supposed to be more girly in concept." She explained.
It made me ponder for a while. "I understand. But 'Styx' though? Sssst… that sounds… horrid."
I could feel her disappointment from the other line. "It's unfair. One of the boy groups have such a cool name. Imagine with it with me for a while... IKON... with a 'K'. It sounds so cool! And we had to go with Styx. That's so unfair! What should I do oppa?"
"Calm down. Have you tried calling JayB-ya for help?" I asked her.
"No. I'm too shy to contact him. Besides, he's not himself lately." She answered directly. I get that they had history together but it's amazing that she sees that JayB has been acting weird lately.
I decided to brush it off and chuckled. "Tell you what. I'll call him right now and tell her about it and we'll probably meet you guys during our break tomorrow evening. How's that?"
She squealed from excitement. "Would you really do that?!"
It made me laugh. "Of course! But it's not certain yet. I have to ask him about it first. So I'll call you in a few minutes."
I could feel her excitement over the phone as she screamed happily. "Thank you, oppa! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're the best. You know that?"
That line surprised me a bit but I was able to compose myself. "Alright, alright. Calm down. I'll call you back in a few minutes. Okay? Bye now."
I didn't wait for her response as I ended the call. My heart was still beating fast. I can't like her. The age gap is just too huge. I know that JayB-ya said she prefers older men but it's just impossible for both of us.
Besides…
I can't be with anyone because I wasn't supposed to experience life in the first place because...
I was made to be a killer…
A memory then resurfaces. I stopped it before my mind starts to wander off again. I should probably call JayB. With that, I pushed my thoughts behind me and dialed JayB's number.
_________
"You want to do what?! Who do you think you are?!" YG-sajangnim yelled as he stood up from his seat.
Last night, the moment I called JayB and told him about Lisa's situation, he didn't even hesitate to say yes. It was like he was waiting for them to contact him about it. It was really weird. He even said that he had the perfect song for them. As soon as I updated Lisa about it she was ecstatic. Right now, JayB is with us inside one of YG Entertainment's conference rooms and are talking about how to proceed with this. But suddenly, JayB gave some demands to the CEO of the company which made YG-sajangnim angry..
"You know very well WHO I am." JayB said in a cold tone that made the room temperature drop. Even the CEO flinched as he slowly sat down afterwards.
I've never seen JayB like this before. Well, I've seen him threaten people before but not like this. It's like after we came back from America, he became harsher towards some people. Thankfully, he became kinder towards us. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of JayB's wrath.
The CEO then calmed down. "Let me get this straight. You want me to debut them with the song that you produce, but I have to change the name to something else? Plus, you'll be the one to decide what concept they are going to have and will do the choreography for them? Don't you think that's too much?"
"My songs aren't for free PD-nim. In fact, every company is dying to have one of my songs. If you don't want it, I can give it to someone else. But you see, Lisa-ya here is my friend. And I hate it when someone messes with my friends." As soon as JayB responded with that. I could see the YG-sajangnim sweating profusely. You know why that's weird? It's winter here since it's December. So it's cold.
"Okay. I'll agree with your terms. I'll draw up a contract." YG-sajangnim said.
JayB stood up as he shook his head. "No. I'll draw up the contract. YOU just need to wait."
YG-sajangnim sighed. "Okay."
I've never seen anyone this helpless against JayB before.
We started heading out for the door and as soon as we left his office Lisa came to hug me and the members did the same to JayB. They were crying out of joy.
"Stop crying will you. You're almost an adult now." JayB said as she patted Lisa's back.
"But… but…" Lisa tried to speak.
I chuckled. "Well that sums it up. When will you start production?"
"We're free this weekend, aren't we hyung? I think I can use that. For now. Give me your emails. I'll send the demo and the lyrics so you'll know which parts you'll do." JayB answered.
Jennie then held his arm. "So… will we know which roles we will take?"
"You're roles will be in the email as well." JayB answered. He actually came prepared and had it all figured out. His ability to forecast is really something.
Lisa then came to hold my hand. "Oppa… thank you."
I smiled at her before patting her head. "You don't have to thank me. Besides, JayB-ya did all the work."
JayB waved it off. "If you didn't contact me, I wouldn't have known. You had a part to play too, hyung."
"Whatever the case, we're really just grateful." Rose said.
Jisoo then tapped JayB's shoulder. "Umm… if you don't mind me asking, what's our group's name?"
We all turn to JayB in expectation. He gave a very cool smirk before he said, "Blackpink. You will dominate this industry as Blackpink."
__________
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein