16. The statement

The day came too fast.

Neither Felix nor Jimin had slept the night before. Both lay in their separate dorms, staring at the ceiling, tears falling silently as the clock ticked closer to the inevitable.

The conference had been announced to the media and fans. Reporters swarmed the venue hours before it began. Cameras were set, microphones lined the altar like stage. Millions of fans around the world were already watching the livestream. The world was waiting.

When the black cars finally pulled up at the back entrance, the screams outside grew louder. Flashing lights blinded the night.

Inside, Jimin adjusted his suit with shaking hands. His eyes were swollen, rimmed red. His members tried to comfort him, but no words could make the pain less. He sat in silence, clutching the written speech in his hand so tightly that it crumpled.

Felix, in another room, sat surrounded by his members too. Chan had an arm around him, whispering encouragement, but Felix barely heard anything. He just kept whispering to himself, "Stay strong... stay strong..." while his tears threatened to fall even before stepping out.

Finally, the staff called them.

"Felix-ssi, Jimin-ssi, it's time."

The heavy double doors opened, and both idols walked slowly onto the stage. The flashing lights from cameras were so intense it felt like daylight. Fans screamed from behind barriers. Reporters raised their mics high, their voices loud, but the room fell into silence as the two stood at the podium.

Felix and Jimin stood side by side, but the distance between them felt like an ocean. Their hands trembled, but their eyes kept finding each other, red, swollen, filled with pain and unspoken love.

A staff member placed Felix's speech in front of him. His fingers shook as he picked it up. He took a deep breath, bowed slightly, and began.

Felix's Speech:👇

*"Hello... this is Felix from Stray Kids.

First, I want to say sorry. Sorry to my members, sorry to my company, and most importantly, sorry to STAYs. I know I've caused pain, confusion, and disappointment to many of you.*

There have been a lot of rumors... and I stayed silent for too long. But today, I want to clear everything.

*Yes... the rumors were true. Jimin hyung and I... we were close. Too close. But as an idol, I forgot my responsibility. I forgot the weight of the love that fans give me every day. I was selfish.*

*Because of my choices, my group suffered. My members suffered. And I know many fans felt betrayed. For that, I'm truly sorry.*

*From today, Jimin-hyung and I... we are no longer together. We will return to being colleagues, and we will focus only on our groups and our music.*

*Please... don't hate him. Don't hate me. We are just humans who made mistakes while trying to love.*

*I promise from now on, I will work harder, and I won't let this happen again. Please continue to support Stray Kids. Please continue to support BTS. Thank you all."*

Felix's voice broke at the end. His hands shook so hard he nearly dropped the paper. He bowed deeply, his tears dripping onto the floor.

Then Jimin stepped forward. His paper was crumpled in his hand, but he didn't even glance at it. His voice trembled from the start.

Jimin's Speech:👇

*"Hello... this is Jimin from BTS.

I don't know how to say this without....... But I'll try.*

*First, I want to apologize. To ARMYs, to STAYs, to our companies, and to the world. I know I caused pain. I know many of you are angry.*

*But I also want to say this: Felix doesn't deserve your hate. None of this was his fault. If anyone deserves the blame... it's me. I was the one who let my heart wander. I was the one who held on when I should have let go.*

*So if you must be angry, if you must hate someonehate me. Not him.*

Felix is kind. He is talented. He has a long way to go, and he deserves all the love in the world. Please, don't punish him because of me.

*As for us... it's true. We are no longer together. But that doesn't mean what we shared was fake. It was real. It was love. And it will always remain a part of me.*

*I will focus on BTS, on my members, and on my music. But I beg you all... please, don't forget that idols are human too. We have hearts. We feel love. We feel pain.*

*Thank you for listening. Please keep supporting Felix. Please keep supporting Stray Kids. And... please don't hate him. Hate me instead."

Jimin's voice cracked completely at the end. His tears spilled freely down his cheeks. He bowed so low that his forehead almost touched the floor, his body shaking.

The silence in the hall was suffocating. Reporters captured every moment. Fans watching the livestream flooded the internet with comments, hashtags, and cries.

Felix looked at Jimin from the side, his chest tearing apart. Jimin looked back at him, their eyes locking. In that moment, everything they didn't say was clear. I still love you. I don't want this. But we have no choice.

They stood side by side, bowing deeply to the fans. The cameras flashed endlessly. Jimin's voice trembled as he added one last thing, his microphone shaking in his hand.

"Please... keep supporting Felix. Don't hurt him. If you want to blame someone, blame me. I caused everything."

The hall erupted in whispers, in camera clicks, in tears.

And just like that, it was over.

Staff rushed to lead them away. BTS members grabbed Jimin's shoulders, Stray Kids pulled Felix toward their side. The two idols were torn apart once again.

They didn't say a single word to each other as they left. But their eyes never left one another. Even as the doors closed, even as the cars pulled away, even as the world forced them apart, they looked at each other like two souls chained by love, broken by fate.

And both knew: this wasn't the end.

*(The World Sees the Truth)*

The conference was over. Jimin and Felix had just bowed deeply to the reporters, the fans, the cameras. They had read the statements their companies prepared for them. Words that weren't theirs. Words that ripped them apart, but they had no choice but to say them.

The moment they stepped down from the stage, ARMYs and STAYs kept watching every move closely. Both Jimin and Felix didn't even talk to each other as staff led them in different directions. But the fans saw it. The way their eyes searched for one another. The way they held their tears back until they turned away. The way their bodies looked heavy like the air itself was crushing them.

Clips started circulating on TikTok and I*******m immediately. Slow motion edits of Jimin and Felix staring at each other while pretending to read their papers. Fans started flooding the comments:

• "You can see it in their eyes, that's real love."

• "No one deserves this kind of pain."

• "They're suffering just because they love each other."

• "This is so unfair, why can't idols just be happy?"

Soon, the same people who used to leave hateful comments started changing their tone. Some even deleted their old posts and replaced them with apologies, Hashtags flipped overnight. Instead of hate, new ones trended worldwide:

#LetThemLove

#ProtectFelixAndJimin

#TheyDeserveHappiness

#RealLoveHurts

#Theydeserveseachother

Other K-pop idols also started posting subtle messages on their stories. Little quotes about freedom, love, and pain that fans immediately connected to Felix and Jimin's situation. Even Korean variety shows whispered about it, saying, "You can't fake what we saw in their eyes. That was real."

By the evening, Felix and Jimin were number one trending across all social platforms, T*****r, TikTok, I*******m, even news headlines. They had become the story everyone was talking about.

Back at the Stray Kids dorm, Felix walked in with his body shaking. His face was still wet with tears, his voice gone from holding in cries during the conference. The members rushed to him, pulling him down to the couch. Chan sat right beside him, holding his shoulder, while Hyunjin brought water.

Felix's voice cracked as he whispered, "Just like that... we said it in public." His hands trembled as he tried to wipe his face, but more tears just spilled out.

"Lix," Changbin said softly, "we're sorry you had to go through that. We know you didn't want to say those words."

Felix buried his face in his palms. "Hyung, it felt like I betrayed him. Like I stabbed him in front of the whole world. I couldn't even tell him I'm sorry. I just... left."

The members pulled him into a group hug. None of them said "forget him" this time. They just held him, letting him cry until his chest loosened.

Meanwhile, at the BTS dorm, the atmosphere was just as heavy. Jimin walked in with Yoongi and Namjoon at his side. His lips were trembling, his eyes red, his steps weak like he could collapse any second.

He fell onto the couch, grabbing a pillow tightly against his chest. His voice came out broken, "Just like that, we end it ."

Taehyung sat on the floor right in front of him, staring into his friend's teary eyes. "Jimin-ah... you didn't deserve this."

Jungkook sat quietly in the corner, his hands clenched. He couldn't watch his hyung break down like this. He finally spoke, "Hyung... I could see how much you love him. We all saw it. Everyone saw it. Don't blame yourself."

Jimin shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I caused it. They hate him because of me. If I never looked at him that way that night, if I never held his hand, he wouldn't be suffering now. It's my fault."

Namjoon stepped closer, his tone firm but kind. "No, Jimin. This world is cruel, not your love. Love can never be wrong. Remember that."

The room went silent except for Jimin's soft sobs. Yoongi finally stood up, walked over, and put a hand on Jimin's shoulder. "If it's real love, then nothing and no one can erase it. Not a company, not fans, not the whole damn world."

And Jimin cried harder, because deep down, he knew Yoongi was right.

Across two different dorms, two young men cried the same tears, their hearts connected even in distance. And outside, the world finally began to see what they had been hiding all along, that their love was real, and it was tearing them apart to let it go.