ACT I | SCENE VIII

❝DAMAGE CONTROL❞

JEONGGUK TAPPED HIS pen against his lips in thought. yoongi fixated on the equable sounds in an attempt to hold on to his seemingly slipping sanity. his hands ruffled his hair in frustration, further tousling the silky black tresses.

"i'm drawing a blank." he finally admitted after a long minute of silence. "i have absolutely nothing." he swiped a hand over his face. the three of them were seated in his kitchen, mulling over possible solutions to the situation yoongi now found himself in, thanks to a six-year-old and a viral video. "why can't i just put out a statement denying the verity of the speculations?" he asked with a slight pout.

"because dumb-dumb, if you do that, it will just backfire." seokjin replied. "but how?" the question came from jeongguk who appeared to be just as confused as yoongi. "i swear the two of you are just dumb geniuses." he glanced between the two in incredulity. "if you do that, you'll just go from a man with a hidden child to a neglecting father who wouldn't hesitate to deny his own child to save face."

"why do i even care if people think that?" yoongi didn't bother keeping the frustration out of his voice. "ask me again when lune's stock drops like the limbo bar." seokjin deadpanned. yoongi pressed his lips together in a line.

"hm, what about if we do a dna test to back up the statement?" jeongguk looked up at the oldest hopefully. "don't you think that's going too far just to say he's not the father? it's almost like he's admitting that he and that child's mother had a relationship that could have possibly brought her into the world. plus, it just feels like he's discrediting the little girl and her family, not the media."

groaning, yoongi dropped his head on the marble top. "i've never had to do damage control before. this is just ridiculous." he remarked, voice bouncing off the cool surface. "don't people usually hire a team for this?"

"do you want to?" seokjin queried, brows raised. "no, i have enough people in my business as it is. plus, don't these teams usually have a cutthroat way of dealing with things?" he let out a sigh. "and what's the problem with that?" the model asked, eyes narrowing. "what if they try to paint the little girl's family in a bad light just to be able to turn things in my favour?"

"you do have a point. there's no need to create a good guy, bad guy situation. the only bad guy here is the stupid media that can't mind their damn business." seokjin nodded in understanding. yoongi suddenly lifted his head, taking them by surprise. "oh my god!" he gasped, eyes wide. "what?" jeongguk and seokjin chorused, confused and alarmed by his sudden actions.

"it wasn't just my face out there for the world to see!" he grabbed fistfuls of his hair in horror. "no shit, sherlock." seokjin remarked drily. "no, you don't understand! son rian and choi haneul's faces are also plastered everywhere!" yoongi screeched. "who the hell are those?" seokjin's brows furrowed in confusion. "the woman and the child!"

"hyung, you know their names?" jeongguk's surprise was audible. "how's that important right now? the name of the hospital even showed up in articles!" yoongi's face was contorted in worry. "okay, what's the problem? it's not like they have their home address." seokjin was still confused. "hyung, you don't get it. she works there."

seokjin's eyes went wide, mouth falling open. "oh shit!" he exclaimed. "i don't get it." jeongguk glanced between them, still very much confused. "she works there, you bag of hammers. if one reporter goes there to investigate and finds that out, they're all going to swarm that hospital like fucking locusts."

jeongguk's mouth formed an 'o', looking at his now very distressed friend. yoongi was already on his feet, pacing back and forth, muttering about the unfairness of the whole situation as his hands ruffled the waves of his hair. "this is all my fault."

"how the hell is it your fault? it's not like you asked a child to confuse you for her dad. neither did you ask that person to record you and post it online without confirmation or permission." seokjin responded angrily. "but it wouldn't have been a big deal if it was some other random person. ugh, i didn't think anyone would know who i was." yoongi suddenly stopped pacing and crouched down, hands still in his hair. "this wouldn't have happened if any of my plans had gone right yesterday."

seokjin's fingers sifted through the blond tresses of his hair, at a loss for words to pacify his friend. "i would have said maybe you should call her but you two would not have had any reason to exchange numbers." jeongguk pressed his lips together, head dropping in thought.

"she's never going to see this coming. i bet she also thought that me dropping her off was the end of it. haneul is probably going to be with her too." yoongi mumbled in his distress. he wasn't sure if under different circumstances – where they had nothing to do with him – it would have concerned him so much. but the media had made the two of them his business and he felt a strong sense of responsibility towards them.

"then what are we doing here sulking?" seokjin suddenly spoke up, making the other two look at him in question. "naturally, we have to go get those two out of there before the reporters sink their teeth into them." he continued.

yoongi blinked at him and jeongguk simply gawked. "but if yoongi hyung goes for them won't that spark more rumours?" the youngest of the three questioned with a slight frown pulling on his features. "then i'll go." seokjin declared easily. "hyung, your face is even more recognisable. and everyone knows you're both friends." jeongguk replied flatly.

"ah, that's right." seokjin touched a hand to his forehead. "then why don't you go?" yoongi suggested, eyes on jeongguk, earning a laugh from seokjin. "that's rich." he scoffed. "but i guess he can. he's good at dropping bombs on people." he added with a shrug. jeongguk's lips pursed in a pout, nose scrunching.

"hyung, stop bullying him." yoongi sighed. "we can all go. i'll just put on a mask." he ran a hand through his hair. "we can do that and split up so we can cover more ground. we'll take my car since yours might as well be a giant neon billboard sign after that video." seokjin agreed. the other two nodded.

"what the hell are you waiting for? we don't have all day. get moving and go get dressed!" seokjin clapped his hands together. yoongi jumped in surprise, hurrying out of the kitchen. it wasn't in his plans, but now he had somewhere important to be.