Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria
_______________

Taking one last deep breath, Taeyong stood in front of SM Ceo Lee Soo-Man's office. To say that he was not afraid of the conversation would be a huge lie, because Taeyong was downright panicked. Lee Soo Man had trusted him. He had put Lei in his care. And now not even half a year later, the whole internet was full of Taeyong and Lei's names. Each article more negative than the next.

Taking a deep breath, Taeyong knocked on the door with shaky fingers. He swallowed uncomfortably as he entered the office and his legs felt like pudding as he walked uncomfortably toward his boss. Lee Soo-Man gestured for Taeyong to get comfortable on the chair in front of his desk and folded his arms on the table in front of him. Uncomfortable, Taeyong sat down across from him. Although he avoided eye contact, he could feel that he was being stared at. Lee Soo Man cleared his throat slightly, causing Taeyong to slowly lift his gaze. "You know why you're here, don't you?"Taeyong nodded. Of course he knew why."It was a big shock for all of us to see the BTS video, especially since it was about you. NCT's leader." Uncomfortable, Taeyong unconsciously started playing nervous with his fingers.

"Anyway, I'd also like to hear your side of the story. We have now met Leis in detail. However, you have been in our entertainment for 7 years and accordingly, I can definitely say that I know you and that this isn't your way. So I would like to hear your side of the story as well." Surprised by Lee Soo-Man wanting to listen to him, Taeyong looked up. His Ceo was the first one who, without judging him directly, wanted to hear his side of the whole story. And for that very reason, Taeyong told him everything. How he felt that he knew Lie, how he had approached him about it and that's when it all started. He told him that Lei was spreading more and more rumors about him and managed to divide him from his band members. He told him that Lei was hurting him not only mentally but also physically. And even though Lee Soo-Man is the CEO of SM and was not one of his friends, Taeyong even told him that Lei managed to break him mentally so much that he only felt uncomfortable with himself. Lee Soo-Man listened to him silently all the time without interrupting him. Even when Taeyong was finished with his story, the older man remained quiet. Only after what felt like an eternity to Taeyong did he clear his throat and look at him. Uncertainly, Taeyong tried to withstand the CEO's gaze.
"Thank you for telling me all this. I'm shocked to hear all you've had to go through. To be honest, I found Lei's story weird and unbelievable from the beginning." Taeyong's eyes snapped open in surprise. "Y..you believe me?" Lee Soo-Man nodded slightly. "As I mentioned earlier Taeyong, you have been with us for 7 years and I think I can safely say that I know you, that I know my idols well enough to know who is trustworthy and who isn't. I chose you to be NCTs Leader at that time for a reason. Lie hasn't been with us very long. In fact, I don't even really know him. When Bang PD called me and asked if we would take him into our care, I naturally expected Big Hit to send us someone who wouldn't cause any problems. After all, I never would have guessed that this would all degenerate like this. Anyway, I trust you Taeyong. You are one of our best idols, not without reason I put you in SuperM. I've always been able to rely on you until now, why should that suddenly change?"

Without being able to prevent it, tears filled Taeyong's eyes. He had really thought that Lee Soo-Man would scold him for everything. He never expected this reaction.

"Since I could already guess that nothing of Lei's stories are true, my team and I directly terminated his contract this morning. SM Entertainment does not support any kinds of this behavior. We also forwarded the information of his ejection, so he won't be able to join another entertainment anymore."

"You blacklisted him?" Startled, Taeyong looked at his superior."Of course we did. Someone like him doesn't belong in the Kpop business." 

Taeyong was quite shocked by his supervisor's decision. Idols who are blacklisted have no chance of being accepted by other entertainments. They are also no longer invited to music shows, TV promotions or similar events. They disappear completely from the spotlight. 

Lee Soo-Man folded his arms in front of his chest again. "Now we just have to think about how to proceed with you and the video. The video went straight viral and we can't stop it anymore."

 Taeyong took a deep breath before looking at his boss again. " I've also thought about this carefully and I think it makes sense to leave NCT as well as the entertainment. Even if the video is deleted, it has still been all over the internet. The rumors won't stop. I don't want to throw more bad publicity on NCT, SuperM as well as SM Entertainment. I think it would be better if I just pack my bags and leave. I think that would be the best for me too. All this drama has taken a lot more out of me than it should." 

This time it was Lee Soo-Man who looked at Taeyong in shock.

"It breaks my heart to hear you talk like this. You are one of our best idols. Your leaving, would be a huge loss for the entertainment." He sighed lightly and rubbed his forehead. "Still, I understand your thought. In the end, I won't be able to stop you anyways, but are you really sure Taeyong? Music has always been your dream after all, and SM Entertainment can still make it come true for you."

"I know and it is still my wish but after everything that happens i-"

"STOP!"
In the middle of Taeyongs sentence, the door of the office flew open and Jaehyun, Baekhyun and Namjoon from BTS entered the office.

  Jaehyun ran straight to his boyfriend and knelt down to him. "Taeyong, Yongie. Stop it. You're not leaving the band." Perplexed, Taeyong stared at his boyfriend. "Jae?"

Jaehyun completely didn't care that Lee Soo-Man was in the room and gently took Taeyong's hands in his. "You can't leave. Without you, NCT is not NCT, without you, we don't function. You are our leader, our Pillar. You are the one who holds us all together. We'll get everything back together, believe me. Just please, please don't leave us."Overwhelmed by the sudden attack, Taeyong only blinked in perplexity, unable to say anything.

"Jaehyun is right. You belong here. To NCT, to SuperM, to SM. Don't throw it all away." Baekhyun now interfered and put his hand on Taeyong's shoulder.

"B..but with everything that happened? The video." "Don't worry about the video anymore Yongie, we've already settled all that." Baekhyun smiled slightly and pointed at Namjoon.

"I've already discussed everything with Bang PD. The video has been deleted and we, BTS, will upload a new one and explain everything. We will explain that we were manipulated and nothing that was said is true."

Baekhyun nodded. "And that's not all." He turned to Lee Soo-Man. "Sorry to say this but your security system really sucks Sir.I sat down with a buddy of mine and he cracked the SM building's security system. The day Lei beat you up as well as the day he and Jaehyun got into a fight was recorded on camera. There is no sound recording but pictures are worth a thousand words." 

 We're going to team up with BTS. Upload a video together where we explain everything and use the footage to back everything up, among other things."

Jaehyun looked at Taeyong with a slight smile. "Everything will be fine, you hear Yongie. We're going to fix everything. You don't have to leave the band leave your dreams behind. Everything will go back to the way it was before."

Overwhelmed by the situation, tears filled Taeyong's eyes again. "Y...you would do this for me?"

Immediately, everyone in the room nodded and Baekhyun also knelt down to his band member. "Of course Ty. You are our friend, more than that, you are our brother."

Namjoon also nodded. "We totally owe it to you. It's our fault that the video was released in the first place. It's the least we can do for you. We've also already cleared everything with Bang PD and Sejin, and we can shoot the video with you guys this week."  

Lee Soo-Man rose from his chair. "I think we have settled everything with this. Listen to your friends and to your heart Taeyong. SM still has a place for you and that won't change anytime soon." With those words, he slowly left the office. "Excuse me, but I have other appointments too. Oh, and Mister Byun we'll definitely talk about the hacking." 

Taeyong looked after him for a moment before Jaehyun squeezed his hands lightly and looked at him hopefully.
"So what do you say baby? Will you give the new video a chance?" Jaehyun looked at him almost beggingly out of big, brown eyes. Taeyong just couldn't help but nod slightly. Immediately, a big smile stole on his boyfriend's face and Taeyong was pulled into a tight hug. 

"Believe me, the new video will make up for everything."

And that's exactly what it did. Just a few days later, NCT and BTS met at Big Hit Entertainment and shot the video together. They all told what happened including Taeyong. Although they all told him over and over again that he could stay out of the video, he didn't want to. He wanted to explain what had happened, after all, it was his story.The new video immediately went viral.

NCtzens as well as many other Kpop fans were immediately relieved to learn the truth. Especially TyongFs were happy to finally be right with their suspicions that everything was a lie. They had never lost faith in their ulti bias and will continue to never do so.

Lei's kick-out was published on the same day and his name was on the top of the blacklist ever since. 

Normality has also returned to the NCT Dorm. They all sat down and talked after the video was released. Yuta, Taeil and especially Johnny apologized to their leader once again and Taeyong forgave them. Of course, he would never forget what had happened and yes, maybe he trusted them less now than before, however, he forgave them and that was all that mattered at the moment. 

A few months later, NCT went back to the way it was before. They finally started the NCT 2020 preparations and got 2 new band members, Shotaro and Sungchan. Both had been trainees at SM for a long time, so the members all knew each other and no one had to worry about events repeating themselves. 

NCT were in the middle of shooting the Misfit video when the first messages arrived. Probably fans had found out Taeyong's number again and thought it was funny to text him. Sasaengs were nothing new in the Kpop world. And this was definitely one of them
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TO BE CONTINUED 

(dec. 2020: 20,9K reads, 1,14K votes)

lets meet again in part 2 :) Thank you for all your support ♥