only seventeen - #001
Title: only seventeen
Author: silentlybelieve
Fandom/Characters/Pairing: red velvet / yeri-centric ft. n from vixx
Rating/Warnings: g
Challenge # & Prompt: #1: Fame
Word Count: 492w
She's only seventeen when she debuts.
Too young is what most people said, but age was just a number to her, and she was excited to finally stand on stage after 5 long years of training. The other members took good care of her and were only filled with praise and joy. Going from being the leader of the trainee group to the youngest was an odd transition, but nevertheless she enjoyed every moment of it.
She's also only seventeen when she realizes that the world is cruel.
The comments are filled with words she would never want to read out loud. Taking a deep breath, she tries her best to scroll past the bad comments to reach the good ones. There were still people out there who loved her, and that's all that mattered to her.
However, the ones that actually stay in her mind are the ones that prick her heart and silently make her bleed inside. Yerim was always a strong girl, but she was going to have to be even stronger. She wasn't simply a child anymore; she was a public figure. She was going to have to fight for herself.
"How do you deal with it?"
It's approximately three in the morning, and on the other side of the phone is Hakyeon oppa, the one man she knows will be there for her whenever she needed him.
"I take it as criticism and try to learn from it."
"Easier said than done."
"Yeah, but I'm also 25, and I've been in the industry longer than you have. I've had time. You're only 17, Yerim-ah. Ignore them. Ignore all those petty comments because you, I, and all the other people who love you know you're much better than some stupid comments."
There's a comfortable silence between them for a few minutes before Hakyeon whispers to her that he has to wake up in a couple of hours. She finally lets him go but not before he promises to call her again tomorrow evening.
Hanging up, she buries her face into her pillow. Her breathing becomes heavy and before she knows it, there are tears falling from her eyes, soaking the pillow. She hates crying. She thinks it make her weak. Growing up with three younger sisters, she was always supposed to be the bodyguard, the wonder woman, the protector. She was supposed to be made of steel.
For this moment, however, she unwillingly lets her cold, shiny exterior melt away. The comments fill up her mind, and she tries her best to push them back out, but they seem to be here to stay. Talentless, useless, ugly, what is she even doing here?, she brings the team down, why is she such a flirt? They're like arrows with her as their target.
And they've hit the bullseye.
She's only seventeen when she realizes that fame comes with a price. A price that she doesn't think is worth it.