And The Snakes Start To Sing

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The air felt different that morning, and so did the mattress and pillow beneath you.

But of course it did. After months of hotel after hotel, after dozens of different beds, you were finally in the comfort of your own bed, in your own place. It was a necessary commodity, since you were close to chronic fatigue or even back problems from changing mattresses so often without optimal rest.

It seemed like an unbeatable scenario for you, only that it could actually be improved; the two beauties you had under your arms when you woke up confirmed it. The two of them, realizing that you had already woken up, snuggled closer to your sides, both with their heads on your chest.

“Now that you’re unemployed can we just stay like this all day?” Rina asked in a tender, low voice, clinging to you with her arms and legs.

You weren’t prepared to even contemplate how to answer that question; it sounded too weird to hear, like it was a joke to catch you off guard.

“I know a few girls who might be interested in seeing him if he wanted to,” Yeji interrupted you from your left to give you a peck on the collarbone, before you could say anything. “But I’m happy to stay with my two bros as long as you two want.”

After bringing your hands to rub your eyes and a yawn you put your five senses together to be able to talk.

“We can certainly stay like this for a while,” you squeezed them against you with your arms crossed over their soft backs, both pairs of soft breasts pressed against your ribs. “But there’s something I didn’t tell you last night…”

THE PREVIOUS MORNING.

You didn’t know what was scarier, the spooky hangar you were walking to once you got off the jet, or the men in suits waiting for you inside. In the end you decided it was a draw.

The hangar had no lights inside, it was only lit by sunlight filtering through small rectangular windows at the bottom of the wide doors at the back that made the floor shine, which was very worn from probably so many years of one without maintenance. It was obvious that it had not been used for a long time.

But inside they were. The devils in suits. As haughty and visibly detestable as you imagined them. They were not exactly few; at first glance you counted more than a dozen, which led you to think that not only high executives of SM would be there. There had to be at least one from each big company with their respective entourage of assistants and security guards.

However, something caught your attention: neither Irene nor the reporter were there. Confused, you turned to look at Jihye as you crossed the threshold and were covered by the shadow, but she seemed to know perfectly well what was happening. It had to be the part that she left out of the plan for you.

She approached a tall man wearing sunglasses and stopped in front of him. You and the girls stopped behind Jihye. The man had to be the SM delegate, judging by how two men stepped forward from behind him as soon as you approached.

“Are the cars ready?” Jihye asked the man, who merely nodded before he began issuing orders to his men.

“Take them to the airport,” he ordered one of his aides, pointing directly at Rina, Minjeong, Aeri, and Ning. “They don’t need to be here for what’s coming next.”

“Huh?” Rina stepped away from the man who went to escort them to the car, her brow furrowed. “No way, we want to see Irene!”

The other girls came out in support of their leader and joined in the argument, insisting that they wanted to see the bitch who almost ruined their entire career.

The SM representative snorted and took a sharp step forward.

“Shut your fucking mouths and get in the car!” he pointed outside, where the caravan of black-tinted SUVs were. “SM, JYP, YG, and even HYBE have done miracles to be here and clean up the mess that damn bitch made,” he jerked his chin at Minjeong, who cowered in fear and embarrassment.

“Hey!” yelled Aeri, stepping forward and facing the man. “Watch your fucking mouth, you piece of shit!”

You were about to come to Minjeong’s defense as well, but Jihye grabbed your hoodie from behind like you were a little kid.

“It’s okay, girls,” she said, stepping between you and the man, and motioning for Aeri to get away. “Get in the car and behave yourselves. We’ll all be meeting up soon.”

You wanted to hold onto that as a comfort to them, but you got the slightest bit of a feeling that she didn’t quite believe what she was saying. Rina, however, being the responsible person she was, gathered her entire troop together and nodded at them reassuringly. The four of them then hugged you and Jihye.

“Good luck, guys,” Rina said, hugging you.

“Thank you, Jiminie,” you said, hugging her back with a few pats on the back.

By the time you and she pulled away, Minjeong and Jihye were still hugging each other for a little longer than you expected.

“Thank you for saving me, unnie…” you heard Minjeong say in a soft voice. “Even though I don’t deserve it.”

Jihye didn’t respond, just closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. Minjeong stepped away from her a second later, and joined the rest of the girls in letting the man lead them to the car. You had no choice but to watch as they entered and disappeared from your sight behind the tinted windows.

“Very well,” the man continued, as the car carrying the girls pulled away. “The matters discussed at the meeting have already been handled,” he nodded at you. “Does he know all the details?”

“He knows enough,” Jihye replied flatly.

That felt like a pang in your heart. Aren’t you two supposed to…?

“W-what?” you said to yourself.

“Let’s go to the other hangar then,” the man nodded, and motioned for Jihye to go with another guy. Then he looked at you. “You’ll go with him.”

He pointed to a different man, shorter and visibly younger. From the quality of his suit and the classy air he carried, he seemed to be another big shot. The man approached you, and after a bow invited you to follow him to the car. None of that gave you the slightest bit of confidence, but you couldn’t feel anything but a deep stupor at Jihye’s words, so you just followed him.

When you got into the backseat of the car it was like being on autopilot. You thought you knew the plan; you were supposed to have everything under control, you knew your part and what you had to do. But those words hinted that there was something going on behind the scenes that you didn’t know about, and you were terrified just thinking about the possibilities.

The caravan of SUVs set off towards the hangar where Irene and the reporter were. On the way, the man you went with, who was also the one driving, cleared his throat and looked at you in the rearview mirror.

“Irene has a point, doesn’t she?” he asked, in a polite and friendly tone of voice. The complete opposite of the SM representative.

Now you weren’t just stunned by what had happened, but by that statement as well. The combination didn’t let you answer.

“Be honest,” he continued, now looking straight ahead. “Don’t you think the industry is too cruel to aspiring boys and girls?”

“Uh…”

“I understand that part of the product is formed based on building a parasocial relationship with the fans,” he interrupted you, answering his own question. “Honestly it’s cruel even for them. But I like to think that even with all the negatives…” he paused slightly. “The industry has done more good than harm.”

Noticing that he got a little carried away by his thoughts, the man glanced at you in the rearview mirror again and let out a small, embarrassed laugh.

“I apologize, buddy,” he said. “I’m Lee Gunwook, the JYP representative. And well, JYP himself shares the same vision: he just wants to make good progress in the industry for everyone involved.”

“I’m not surprised,” you said finally, looking out the window at the runways. “He looks like an open-minded man.”