The Prince of K-Pop || Bang Chan FF

Chapter Twenty - Three Months Later

          "I'm sorry, Naty. I just really regret going public with our relationship. I put it all on the line for you. My whole career on the line and...and it just hasn't been worth it," Chan's voice echoed through Naty's entire existence.

          "We can try," she whispered.

          "There's nothing to try. Tara and Ashley will reach out to you in the morning. I'm sorry. We're over."

          Natalia Higuera woke up in a cold sweat. For the past three months she had been having the same reoccurring nightmare. It was the one that included her boyfriend and a very nasty conversation that resulted in them breaking up. "I put it all on the line for you." That was the single sentence that haunted her constantly. It was the only sentence—so far—that was true.

           She had no idea if she would be worth it.

           Ding. Dong. Ding.

           Naty grabbed her phone to shut off her alarm. She had awakened right before it, again. The woman groaned as she sat up in her bed. Her mind went through a mental checklist of what she needed to do that day but she was exhausted. Naty never enjoyed waking up at 5 a.m. but it was worth it to talk to her boyfriend—Bang Chan, the leader of Stray Kids.

          Their phone call was scheduled for 5:30 a.m. her time and 6:30 p.m. his time. This gave her enough space to do her morning routine so she could appear as even a half human on the camera screen. Naty stood and quickly walked to her kitchen to make some tea.

           The past three months had been a combination of the best and worst of Naty's life. Her relationship with Chan had been the best she had ever experienced. Even being long distance, Chan made sure that Naty never felt alone. The two were always sending each other gifts and had an alternating schedule of who would wake up early to deal with the time difference.

           There were hardly any issues or misunderstandings. Whatever did come up was discussed right away to avoid harboring ill feelings. They worked at communication and set up a positive foundation for their relationship. The two set boundaries, talked about past relationship traumas, and discussed all they would do when they saw each other again. Things seemed to be flowing in a positive direction.

          The only issues were everything outside of that.

          Since Chan's announcement, Naty had received over one million followers. Ashley had hooked her up with a social media manager which elevated her to the next level. This meant no longer following her own schedule but suddenly following someone else's. This someone else was closer to Tara than Ashley in terms of charm and work ethic. Naty never knew if Leslie was mad at her or not but—as Ashley always said—it didn't matter as long as she was making money.

          The fans were relentless too. Naty found that most actual Stays were very nice. Naty made it a point to not discuss her relationship with Chan on her social media. The two decided since their relationship was pushed into the open before their choosing, they would keep the details of it private. Stays certainly respected that but the biggest issue with Stays was that they wanted cute couple photos of the man.

          With the lack of photos most Stays began photoshopping pictures of them together. It wasn't an issue but she did feel self-conscious when they photoshopped her face onto much skinnier bodies. There was also an odd amount of whitewashing that she did not understand or appreciate. The worst of it was edits that praised them as the "Prince and Princess of K-Pop." She understood Chan as the "Prince of K-Pop" but she was no where near that title. That was reserved for talents like IU or anyone from Red Velvet. Naty did not find herself talented at all.