immediately after Beomgyu arrived at Big Hit Academy, he felt like he was being watched. Looking around, he noticed a few people were looking in his direction. This made him feel very uneasy.

"They're not looking at me," he reassured himself, "They're just looking at something around me." Quickly, he headed inside to get away from everyone but his anxiety only got worse. Everyone was definitely staring at him, but why? He tugged on the strings of his hoodie, feeling the victim of some overly cliché high school movie.

"Do you think all the other members of TXT are like that too?"

Beomgyu could make out bits and pieces of other people's conversations. Not liking what he was hearing he began to pick up his pace.

"I can't believe he used Jennie like that!"

Faster.

"He actually came to school today."

Faster.

"It's a shame he's gay. I thought he was pretty cute."

Faster and faster. He kept speeding up until he reached his locker. There was a couple standing nearby and when Beomgyu got closer, they began snickering, telling each other to be quiet.

"Do you think that's the real reason Beomgyu got it? Maybe they felt bad for him," the girl harshly whispered, still being loud enough for Beomgyu to hear. He tensed up after hearing his name. He's not just being paranoid, people are really talking about him.

The boy shook his head, "No way. He probably slept around with other men and used that money to pay his way in. I heard he's pretty rich."

Beomgyu quickly grabbed his things and threw them in his bag before slamming his locker door shut.

"Ohhh," the girl laughed, "I think he heard us."

"Please," Beomgyu pleaded, distress clearly written across his face, "What are you guys talking about? I have no idea what's going on."

"You know, we know, everyone knows," the other boy rolled his eyes, "Word spreads fast here." Beomgyu opened his mouth to try and ask again, but the couple turned around and ran before he could. Beomgyu could feel his heart and breathing speed up. Why are rumors spreading about him? He put his hood over his head to try and conceal himself from everyone. His mind ran wild as he tried to piece everything together, but it just wouldn't click. Everyone was nice to him yesterday. All he did was perform and screw up his date with....Jennie! That's it! Beomgyu could of swore he heard her name while rushing down the hall. Maybe she knows whats going on. Jennie usually hung out around the gym in the mornings which wasn't too far from his locker. He made his way over there, keeping his head low, so that no one would notice him, but it wasn't helping. He could still feel the judgemental stares and snarky comments from the others, but he did his best to ignore them.

When Beomgyu got there, he noticed a slightly large group of people surrounding someone. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the person was Jennie and she was in terrible shape. Her usually beautiful brown flowy hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun, her iconic sense of style was replaced by baggy clothes, and most concerning of all of her makeup was smeared and tears continously flowed down her face. He wondered if rumors were being spread about her too. Everybody was trying to comfort her. Beomgyu bit his lip nervously not knowing what to do. He just stood there awkwardly hoping something would happen.

"What do you think you're doing here?" a girl with red hair shouted at him, making him jump. Everyone's attention was now on him

"I-I just," Beomgyu gulped as he stumbled over his words, " I just wanted to sp-speak to Jennie."

"There's nothing to talk about," Jennie spat at him, "You're a lying, cheating, using, man-whore!"

Beomgyu took a step back both hurt and suprised by her sudden accusations. "Jennie I-," he sighed, "What are you talking about?"

"So now you're playing dumb?" she took out her phone looking for something, "I leave for five minutes and when I come back you're all over my cousin!" She showed him the picture with a weak smile on her face, "You cheated on me with my own cousin and even worse, you used me to hide the fact that you were gay!" She began to sob again, hiding her face in her hands.

"You were there!" Beomgyu quickly yelled back, "I was ill and I could barely walk so I tripped and landed on top of him!"

Jennie scoffed, "How dumb do you think people are? This isn't some poorly written and over stereotypical story written by a lonely teenage girl! This is real life and those kinds of things don't happen in real life!" Beomgyu just stood there not really knowing what was going on. Why was she lying? Why was she hurting him like this?

"Don't worry, Jennie. He's not even worth it," one of her friend reassured her, "I'm going to stream your new album and make you one of the biggest idols in Big Hit Academy!"

Jennie hugged her, "You're so sweet! Thank you." Others chirped in, agreeing, making Jennie smile again. Beomgyu felt his heart drop to his stomach. How could he be so dumb? Jennie never liked him. She was only using him as a part of her scandal that she was talking about last night.

"Oh," he mummered.

Another girl groaned, "Get a hint and lea-"

"I see what you did now," Beomgyu continued, his voice began to quiver as he looked Jennie in the eyes, "I hope it was worth it." Jennie furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at her feet, but before she could say anything, he was already gone.

Beomgyu found his way to the bathroom and let out all of his frusturations. He couldn't hold it in anymore. Hot tears streamed down his face as he clutched onto his sides. He and his bandmates had worked so hard to get to where they are and now some stupid rumor is going to ruin it. Beomgyu wanted to go back outside and tell himself that he was being dramatic, but he just couldn't. Not knowing what else to do, Beomgyu sat down next to the sink, hugging his knees, and cried. That's all he felt like he could do.

-

Taehyun was getting worried. It's been almost five minutes since their dance class started and Beomgyu was still no where to be found.

"Maybe he overslept," Kai shrugged, "He did stay out pretty late last night."

Mr. Park, one of their teachers, shook his head, "The computers say he checked in ten minutes before the first bell."

Yeonjun sighed, "Maybe he got lost. Like he went to the wrong class or something."

"No way," Soobin responded, "He's been here long enough to know where all the classrooms are, plus, I sent out the schedule for this week to everyone, including that idiot. He even responded to me so I know he got it. I just can't believe how stupid he is. First, he gives us a bad rep for cheating on Jennie and now he's going to get us all in trouble because he decided to skip class!"

"Soobin," Yeonjun hushed, "Calm down."

"He's right. You need to stay calm in situations like these," Mr. Jung, their other dance teacher, patted Soobin's back, "We know what's going and I know it sucks, but think about your friend. He's probably recieving the worst of all of this backlash. If I had to guess, he's probably hiding somewhere away from everyone. As long as he comes in today, I won't punish you guys, but just this once."

"Can I go find him?" Taehyun raised a hand, "If he's in the school it shouldn't be too hard." Both teachers hesitated and looked at each other.

It was Mr. Park who broke the silence, "Ok, just don't take too long. There's now less than three hours today and we have a lot to go over."

Taehyun bowed, "Thank you. I will."

-

Taehyun walked along the long hallway not knowing where to start.

"If I were an emotional mess where would I hide?" he asked himself. He took a right to go down the recording hall but stopped when he thought he heard something. It sounded like very soft sobbing. Taehyun carefully followed the sound making his way towards the boy's bathroom. He has to be in here. Taehyun slowly opened the door and the noise suddenly stopped. He looked down to see a green blob on the floor.

"Beomgyu?" Taehyun called out to him. All Beomgyu did in response was tighten his grasp on his legs and attempt to bury his face even deeper into his chest.

Taehyun sighed, he hated seeing the older boy like this, "Beomgyu talk to me."

No answer.

Taehyun walked closer and crouched down right in front of Beomgyu, "Can you at least look at me?" He frowned when he still got no response. Unsure of what else to do, Taehyun pulled off Beomgyu's hood causing him to whine. Taehyun smiles as he started to mess with Beomgyu's now exposed hair, "Beomgyuie I know you can hear me." The golden brown haired boy grabbed Taehyun's wrist and lifted his head. It was obvious he was the source of the sobbing from earlier. Taehyun wanted to say something but he was at a loss for words. The dark haired boy stared at the other's red eyes and tear stained cheeks and just felt heartbroken. He had never seen Beomgyu in this state before and it pained him. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before a concerned look grew on Beomgyu's face. He reached over and wiped Taehyun's eyes before looking back down at his hand.

"Why are you crying?" Beomgyu asked, his voice weak from earlier.

Taehyun pulled his wrist out of the Beomgyu's grasp and pushed back his dark brown hair, "I'm sorry," he placed one hand on Beomgyu's face stroking his cheek with his thumb, "I just care about you so much more than you know and it really hurts to see you so sad."

"Taehyun I-"

"No it's ok," Taehyun continued, "It's ok to be sad and cry and let your feelings out, but I just think you're so much prettier when you smile. If there is anything I can do to help you feel better and put a smile on your face, just let me know," he pulled his hand back and grinned, "I will always be here for you no matter what."

Beomgyu felt color appear on his cheeks and slowly nodded, "Ok, I'm sorry," he stood up and wiped his face with the sleeves of his hoodie, "I'm sorry for making you worry but I'm ok now," he flashed a small smile, "Thank you."

Taehyun stood up, "Are you sure? We can stay here a little longer if you need to."

Beomgyu shook his head while fixing his hair in the mirror, "We can't stay here forever."

Tahyun nodded and stretched out his hand, "Let's go then."

Beomgyu looked down and hesitated. He didn't want Taehyun to become a victim of these rumors too.

"It's ok," Taehyun spoke softly, "Everyone else is already in class so nobody is going to see us." Without saying anything, Beomgyu accepted the gesture and they made their way out of the restroom. Taehyun walked a bit ahead of Beomgyu, hoping he couldn't tell how flusterd he was. His heart was pounding like crazy and his cheeks were hot.

"Are they mad at me?" Beomgyu questioned.

Taehyun stopped without looking back at him, "What?"

"Are they mad at me?" Beomgyu repeated a little louder this time, "The other members, I mean."

Taehyun looked back at Beomgyu, still a little pink in the face, "Umm if we're being honest, Soobin is a bit upset but he always seems mad about one thing or another and I'm sure he'll get over it soon." Beomgyu looked down at his feet without saying anything.

The younger frowned, "We should keep going before Soobin throws a fit." Beomgyu nodded and they continued to make their way back to the dance studio, neither of them saying anything else.

-

"About time you guys came," Yeonjun sighed, turning his attention to the two boys that just walked in.

Soobin was leaning against a wall with his arms folded. "What took you two so long?" he asked sternly.

"They were totally making out!" Kai exclaimed, causing Beomgyu to tear his hand away from Taehyun's.

"I'm sorry everyone," Beomgyu bowed, "I acted immaturely and took away from our valuable practice time. I will take any punishment you give me."

"Beomgyu," Mr. Jung stated, "It's in your contract that you must show up to every class on time. Are you aware of the consequences if you break it?"

Beomgyu bowed again, "Yes I know, I'm sorry."

"Shut up Hoseok," Mr. Park slapped the back of Mr. Jung's neck and walked towards Beomgyu. "This is their first time dealing with something like this so you gotta go easy on them," Mr. Park put an arm around Beomgyu and looked at him, "But this better not happen again, understand?"

Beomgyu gulped, "Yes sir."

The teacher curled his lips into a small smile and clasped his hands together, "I do have one question. The people ridiculing you, are they just the other idols in training or are people outside of the academy making fun of you as well?"

Beomgyu shook his head, "I had one encounter with a girl at the convience store but other than that it's only been people here." Mr. Park's grin grew wider and he looked and Mr. Jung.

"No, Jimin," Mr. Jung protested, having an idea of what he was planning.

Mr. Park ignored him, "Can you pull up the picture from where it was originally posted?"

"Sorry," Beomgyu sighed, "I have no idea where she posted it."

"I have it," Yeonjun chirped in pulling out his phone, "I was one of the first people to see it." He handed Mr. Park the phone after finding the picture.

"Thank you," Mr. Park nodded handing Beomgyu the phone, who cringed when he saw the picture of him and the mysterious boy. He wondered if Felix knew about Jennie's plan too. Probably, why else would the freckled boy be there. "I want you to read through some of the comments and tell me what you see," Mr. Park instructed.

"Yes sir," Beomgyu responded and did as he was told. After a minute or so, he looked back up at his teacher confused, "The majority of them are positive."

The man with purple hair smiled, "As I expected," Mr. Park handed Yeonjun back his phone, "Change of plans we aren't going to dance today. Now everyone come sit in a circle."

"No way!" Mr. Jung protested, "We have way too much to work on!"

Mr. Park groaned pushing back his hair, "You mean the same two dances we've been working on for the past month or so?" he scoffed, "They'll be fine. Plus, this is pretty important too, don't you agree?"

"We can't!" Soobin objected, "There's another performance in four days and we have to focus!"

Mr. Park raised an eyebrow and giggled, "Who said you wouldn't be using this during your little concert? Now come sit down before I write you up for disrespecting me." Soobin huffed, but did what he was instructed to do. Mr. Jung grudgingly joined them sitting directly across from the shorter male. "Now," the purple haired man started, "what do most teenage girls crave the most?"

"Clothes?" Kai tilted his head.

"No," Mr Park rolled his eyes, "The correct answer is love. When they don't have love for themselves they like to read love stories and watch romance movies. They enjoy other people's love too."

"What are you getting at?" Taehyun asked warily.

"It's pretty simple," the man smirked, causing his eyes to crinkle, creating a mixed expression of innocence and micheviousness, "You have to flirt with each other."