This chappy will be centered around Seungcheol! Enjoy!! ^.^

The following week consisted of Seungcheol making all types of preparations before Thursday. He had gone with his brother for a haircut, picked out a decent outfit and he had even called his doctor and asked him to prepare a report that he would take with him when he went to Pledis, although the man had told Seungcheol that it would take some time given his busy schedule at the hospital but Seungcheol told him that it was fine and that he could have a friend pick it up later and then he proceeded to give Ara's information to a lady at the front desk so that she could deliver the form to him Thursday morning.

And now the day had finally come and it was 7:30 AM when Seungcheol found himself struggling to button up his shirt, a task he had stubbornly refused any help for since Seunggil had already assisted him with his dress pants, while he anxiously waited for Ara to show up. The girl had texted him about 30 minutes ago saying that she had been been the to hospital earlier in morning and that she had no problems in picking up the report, then going on to say that she would be at his house within the next hour, depending on the morning traffic. Seungcheol looked at the clock and guessed he had about another 45 minutes before his friend would show up so he used that time to mentally go over everything he planned to say to CEO Han. There were two ways that the meeting could go, either surprisingly well and everything would be smoothed over nicely or it would be a yelling competition with harsh words being thrown back and forth between Seungcheol and his boss, but either way, Seungcheol was prepared for both and he was determined to walk out of there with exactly what he wanted.

Seungcheol was so lost in his thoughts that he barely heard the knocking on his bedroom door until he saw Ara peeking her head inside the room. He smiled at her and motioned for her to come in.

"Hey, Ara!" Seungcheol greeted with a cheerful smile. "Thank you so much for going all the way to the hospital for me. I don't know what I'd do without you." 

"It's was nothing Cheollie. But why did you want me to pick up this report? Why do you need it?" Ara asked, placing down the sealed document on the boy's bed.

"Oh, I'm going to see my boss today and I thought bringing that would come in hand." Seungcheol said nonchalantly as he looked himself over in his mirror.

"You're....going to Seoul? Today?" Ara asked rather confused at the piece of information.

"Yeah, there are some things I need to sort out before I return."

"Sort out? Return? You're going back already?" Ara asked, blinking every now and then as she tried to process everything she was hearing.

"Most likely." Seungcheol answered while fixing his hair.

"No."

"No? What do you mean no?" Now it was Seungcheol's turn to be confused.

"I mean that you can't go back. You can't go back now! It's too soon!" Ara said, her anger rising with every word she spoke.

"Hey, Ara, calm down. I now this is a little sudden but I've already got the go ahead from my doctor and he cleared me to go back to work."

"But Seungcheol, what about your condition? There's no way that you're well enough to go back to your job as an idol."

"Well it may look like that to you but my doctor said that I should be fine. And if he's okay with it then I don't see a problem with it."

"But...Seungcheol-"

"Look, Ara, I appreciate the concern, I really do. And I love how you've been taking care of me...honestly I think you've spoiled me a little with your kindness and I would love to stay longer to experience that even more. But I...there are things that I need to do and I need to go back."

"But why? Why so suddenly? You were fine with staying home and resting for the next few months just last week! So what's the rush to go back now?"

"Like I said, I just need to."

"But why?!" Ara screamed.

"Look, I have my reasons alright! There are things that I need to do!" Seungcheol said, not liking the way Ara was practically yelling at him.

"It's that Jeonghan, isn't it?"

"What?" Seungcheol asked, wondering why she brought his angel up in the conversation.

"You heard me! It was that little gay that convinced you to go back to Seoul, wasn't it!"

Little gay what?

"What did you just call him?" Seungcheol asked, his tone going icy cold.

"That little blonde. Gay. ! I knew he was going to try something that day when he came in her crying like the pathetic person that he is! Don't you see Cheollie! This is just his plan to get you to go back to work and to take you away from me!"

"What are you talking about?" Seungcheol asked, because nothing the girl was saying was making any sense. "And don't you dare call Jeonghan that ever again! You don't know him or what he is!" Seungcheol added, needing to defend his angel.

"Ugh! And he has you wrapped around his little finger! I don't know what happened over the years Cheollie but for some reason you've come to think that you like him! It's sick but you don't have to settle for someone like him, especially when you have me." Ara went on.

Everything the girl was saying made Seungcheol want to punch a wall in and for a few moments, he didn't say anything...not knowing what to say in that situation. Was this really his childhood friend? Were these hateful words really coming out of ? These were the questions running though Seungcheol's mind and he was left in total shock. And Ara saw those few moments of silence as Seungcheol "coming to a realization" so she kept going.

"Seungcheol, you don't need to run back to him...to them. You can take your time in healing. I would never rush you with your health like they are. Don't you see? I'm so much better for you. Now I want you to forget about your little trip to Seoul and get back into your bed so that I can take care of you...we can even watch a movie of your choice. Come on." Ara said, thinking that she had convinced Seungcheol. But when she reached out to touch his arm, Seungcheol moved away as if she had burned him.

"What the  are you saying?!" Seungcheol finally said, his anger reaching beyond his limit (something that was not easy to do). "How dare you say those things about my members! About my angel! You don't know them so you have no right to make assumptions about what they want from me. And so what if I'm going back to Seoul for them? They're my members and I'm their leader! I have a duty to look out for them! A duty that I've been neglecting! I'm only trying to do what's right and you have no say in the matter!"

"But Cheollie-"

"Don't Cheollie me! I don't even want to hear your voice right now! How could you ever talk like that about the people I care about? What's wrong with you Ara? And what is all this bull about them take me away from you? I was never yours!"

"But you were! I know the way you used to look at me! And I know that I didn't return those feelings before but then you became an idol and I knew I was an idiot for letting you go. But I'm ready to accept those feelings now! And I know deep down that you still have them! I know you do! You probably just misplaced those feelings towards that loser member of yours but you don't have to do that anymore, Cheollie. We can be together and we can be happy! I've already proved that I can take good care of you over these past few months and with your wealth and status of being an idol, I know that you can take care of me too. We're perfect for each other Cheollie! Don't let anyone else ruin what we could have."

"You are delusional!" Seungcheol said back. That was the only conclusion he could come up with after hearing her little speech. "Sure I may have liked you back then but that was years ago and I've moved on. And stop insulting Jeonghan!"

"I will insult him when he's the one that's blinding you! How can you even say that you like him? He's a man!"

"And there's nothing wrong with that!"

"Yes there is! There are plenty of things wrong with that! That would make you gay!"

Seungcheol had never before wanted to slap a girl in his life, the thought of being violent towards a women usually disgusting him, but right now he really wanted to do something to her. First she insults Jeonghan and s. Then she tries to convince him that going back to them is a mistake and that he should stay with her, not to mention that her reasons for staying with him for all this time were completely shallow and selfish, only trying to win his heart because he was now famous. And now she was admitting that she was homophobic and that no man could have feelings for another man. Was this really the same girl he had grown up with and had been friends with for years?!

"Ara...I'm going to say this very nicely. Please just get out."

"No! I won't let you push me away Cheollie! Not until you come to your senses!" Ara whined and stomped her foot like an annoying little brat.

"Ara." Seungcheol said in a warning tone, his patience wearing thin. But Ara still didn't move an inch.

"Ara. Get. Out."

"No!" Ara yelled, "This wasn't supposed to happen! I was so close to getting you back and then those annoying members of your had to show up and ruin everything! I knew I should've tried harder to keep them away from you!" she said a few seconds later.

"You did what? Are you trying to tell me that you told my members...my family to stay away from me?" Seungcheol asked, not believing that this was Ara's true nature. But when he saw that shameless, unapologetic look on her face, he saw red.

"Get out! Now! I don't want to see you ever again!"

"Seungcheol!"

"No! I don't want to hear anymore of your messed up bull!"

"I'm only saying what's true!"

"Nothing you said was true! My members are good people and they only wants what's best for me! It was my decision to go back to Seoul and nothing you say will make me change my mind. I miss them and I need to go back to help them! Because I care about them!"

"But Jeonghan-"

"And I don't ever want to hear you talk about Jeonghan like that again! You know nothing about him and I will not allow you to stand there and insult the person that I love!"

"Love? You're in love with him?!" A look of shock washing over Ara's face which was quickly replaced with total disgust.

"Yes I'm in love with him! I have been for a while!"

"But why? You say that you only used to like me but then you have no problem saying that you love him. What makes him so much better than me? He's a man! What does he have that I don't?"

"His gender has nothing to do with it. I love Jeonghan for who he is. Because he's the one person who makes my days better within seconds. Because he's the most down to earth person that I've ever met. His care is genuine and selfless, unlike yours, and he would never look at me like I'm some kind of trophy. As far as I'm concerned, he's beautiful inside and out and he's a thousand times better than you could ever be. That's why I love him."

The words were like a slap to Ara's face and she looked like she was ready to tear Seungcheol a part for what he had just said. Seungcheol asked her again to leave, not wanting to see her any more, and she shoved past him rather roughly, making sure to slam his bedroom door shut on her way out. To Seungcheol, the slamming of the door just now symbolized the end of his friendship with Ara. In that moment, he decided that he wanted nothing to do with her now that he had seen this ugly side of her. It was unforgivable. Seungcheol then stood in the same spot in his room, fuming about his argument with Ara and what had unfolded within those few minutes and he was only brought out of his angered state of mind when Seunggil came inside his room and asked him if everything was alright and if he still wanted a ride to Pledis. His brother's questions reminded him of what his true objective of the day was and so Seungcheol tried his best to regather his thoughts and said that he was fine while picking up his medical report from his bed before making his way down the stairs carefully and heading towards the passenger seat of the car. A few minutes later Seunggil got inside the driver's seat of the car and after they got themselves situated, the two Choi's brothers were off to Seoul.

On the way to Seoul, all Seungcheol could think about was the fight he had with his childhood friend that resulted in him now hating the girl and wanting nothing do with her. It was a completely unexpected turn of events but one good thing about his argument with Ara was that it fueled Seungcheol's anger and determination to stand up for s. When he had arrived at Pledis's building it was around noon, and Seungcheol was more than ready to get things done, no matter what it took. He told Seunggil to go have fun in the city, seeing as he didn't know how long his surprised meeting was going to take, and he told his older brother that he would call when he was ready to leave. Seunggil nodded and left his younger brother at the front doors of the company building and once alone, Seungcheol took a moment to stare at the building. It had been almost 7 months since he had last stepped through those doors and he thought that it was about time that he came back just to remind CEO Han and all of the other higher ups that he wasn't out of the picture yet and that as long as he was still there, they were not allowed to mess with the rest of the Seventeen members.

Seungcheol took a deep breath before he stepped through the doors and head straight for the elevator to go to the top floor, right where CEO Han's office was. A few staff and trainees had recognized Seungcheol and had asked about his condition and when he would return but Seungcheol politely ignored all of them, his mind too focused on seeing his boss. Thankfully though, it looked like none of the Seventeen members were in the building that day and Seungcheol thanked his luck because he knew that any one of s would either try to stop him or ask to go with him, and that's not what Seungcheol needed right now.

Seungcheol reached CEO Han's office and he knocked on the door but didn't even wait for him to be recognized by the man inside before he went in. He went in with his head high and was a little too pleased with the shocked face of his boss when the other man finally saw him.

"Seungcheol! I wasn't expecting to see you around here for a while. What can I do for you?" The man said, sounding almost nervous, which again pleased Seungcheol. He had successfully caught the man off guard and it made him feel like he had the upper hand already.

"Good afternoon, sir. I was wondering if I could talk to you about Seventeen and my upcoming return to the company."

"Your return? I was under the impression that you would not be returning for at least another year."

That was when Seungcheol practically slapped his medical file onto the man's desk before taking a seat. "That was the plan, but I've heard a lot of things recently and I've decided that I would be willing to reduce the time frame but only under a few conditions. That's why I came here today. I was thinking that we could talk like men and...negotiate."

"Negotiate what Seungcheol? I won't bargain with your health. I'm not that much of a cruel man."

"Oh I beg to differ. I think the only reason you would look out for my health like that is because you know that the company would receive an immense amount of negative backlash if my fans were to ever catch wind of any type of mistreatment towards me while I'm injured and in the process of recovering."

"Seungcheol-"

"And how do you think the media would react if they ever found out about how you've been treating my members during my absence? I'm sure the social media sites would have a field day with what I have to say." Seungcheol continued.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I have treated all of my employees with nothing but respect and I take care of all of my idols."

"Oh really? And what about the forced diets, controlling every aspect of their lives including who they can see and when, overworking them to the point of exhaustion and hospitalization, verbal mistreatment, inflicting emotional stress, threatening! And the list goes on. Did that jog your memory or would you like me to continue?"

"No. You can stop with all of that, I understand what you're trying to say. So what, you just came in here to threaten me in hopes that you could scare me enough into getting what you want?"

"No sir. Like I said, I came here to negotiate. If you'd look inside that file, I think you'd get what I'm trying to say."

CEO Han looked down at the sealed document on his desk and opened it, seeing that it was a medical report with Seungcheol's name on it. "What is this Seungcheol? I don't have time to read through all of this. I have a lot of work to do and I've already been getting updates about your recovery."

"Well if you flip to the last page, you'll see that my doctor has cleared me to return back to work. All I would need to do is hire a private instructor to ease me back into dancing and performing and then I should be good to go."

"And your point? Just because your doctor has cleared you doesn't mean that you're ready to return to your life as an idol.."

"Yes, but it does mean that I won't need the full recovery time that was estimated. If I increase the amount of time I spend doing physical therapy then I can reduce the amount of time that I stay in Daegu...I'm thinking that I could even return to the dorms within weeks."

"I'm failing to see how all of this connects. You would still need a tremendous amount of time to ease yourself back into performing." His boss reasoned.

"I was just getting to that actually." Seungcheol replied. "This is where I'd like to negotiate and so here's my offer: I return to the dorm within 2 months, give me another 4-6 months to work with an instructor and then I should be ready to perform on stage and Seventeen can have that comeback. In exchange, you, and all of the other higher ups, are to back off of my members and leave them alone. In the end, both sides are happy. You get that comeback to happen sooner than you expected and I won't have to worry about you putting my members through hell. Do we have a deal?"

"You make it sound like I'm dependent on your group, Seungcheol. Like I don't have other groups that I could send out there to score number 1 on the charts." The CEO challenged, but Seungcheol was more than prepared for this and the rapper had to hold back a smirk because of what he was about to say.

"But you don't. I know for a fact that this entire company is thriving because of our group's success. I'm sorry to say but all of your other groups aren't even close to reaching where we are right now. You split up and messed up the Nu'est boys, you've completely neglected the girls of After School, not to mention that every year you're losing more of their members because they refuse to renew their contracts here, you have numerous amounts of failed projects, and you're even giving trouble to Pristin even though they've just debuted." Seungcheol argued.

CEO Han stayed silent and Seungcheol saw that as a go ahead to keep going.

"So far your main source of sales revenue comes from Seventeen's success. We are one of the fastest rising groups in the industry and we are already being compared to the best of the best, something that has never been achieved by other groups under your label. So I don't think it would be in this company's best interest to do anything that would make me want to spill any of your dirty little secrets about how you're managing my group."

Mr. Han looked like he was thinking things over but Seungcheol thought it was a pretty easy decision to make. Sure, Seungcheol had put him in a tight spot and yes he did technically threaten his boss about ratting him out and exposing the entire company, but at the end of the day, his offer was a win-win for everyone.

"Just agree to the deal Mr. Han. I promise to work my hardest for this comeback and if there is anything that you're not pleased with then I take full responsibility for it. Just leave my members alone."

"Fine. I agree with your terms." His boss replied with a sigh. "Would you like to shake on it or what?" The man replied almost sarcastically and Seungcheol had to let out a small chuckle because that's all the man could do after the things Seungcheol had just said to him.

"No. I would like to think that you're man enough to stick to your word." Seungcheol replied, knowing that he was crossing a line with that last comment but the opportunity to say it was too sweet to pass up for the younger man.

"Watch it Choi. I may have agreed to your terms but I am still your boss and I will not tolerate disrespect."

"Of course not sir, I didn't mean to offend you. Thank you for your kindness." Seungcheol replied quickly. He had wanted to say something about earning respect but thought that he has already said enough and that anymore would unnecessarily anger the man. The most important thing was that he had gotten exactly what he wanted and now he could go home in peace knowing that s would be okay now.

"No problem, now please get out of my office and let me get back to my work." The man said before returning to whatever he was working on before Seungcheol had walked in. "Oh and Seungcheol," Mr. Han said before Seungcheol was about to leave the room, "next time, please just schedule an appointment with me. I'm a very busy man and I don't appreciate walk-ins."

"Yes sir." Seungcheol said with a small bow before finally leaving the room. Seungcheol had then texted his brother saying that he was done and decided to wait out in the lobby of the building until Seunggil arrived. His brother had asked him if he wanted to visit the dorm but Seungcheol didn't want the members to know about his secret meeting with their boss and he also had a feeling that no one would be there. So Seungcheol turned down the offer and continued to wait. And as he was waiting, he had received a call from his angel.

And I was just thinking about him Seungcheol thought to himself as he smiled and answered the phone.

"Hey, Angel! How are you?"

"I'm good, I just got a break for lunch so I thought I'd call you."

"A break? Where are you?" 

"Me and the kids are shooting some CF and we've been here all morning." 

"That doesn't sound too fun."

"Trust me, it's not....hey, where are you? I hear noise in the background."

"Oh, I just went out for a bit with Seunggil. We should be heading back home any minute now."

"That's good, you need to get out of your room more. But you also make sure to be extra careful wherever you go becau-"

"Angel, you're doing that mom thing again."

"Shut up, I can't help that I worry."

"I know. It's one of the things I like about you, remember? That, and your selflessness, your kindness....you're pretty cute too. Did you know that?"

"Ya! Stop with the cheesiness!"

"Aw, but there are so many nice things that I could say about you!"

"Seungcheol! Don't be such a dork."

"But I thought I was your dork."

"No, you're my Seungcheol. Seriously, brainwashing you is going to take longer than I thought. Even conditioning Dokyeom was easier than you."

"That's because Dokyeom enjoys being your pabo."

"Like you don't enjoy being my Seungcheol."

"....."

"Hello? Cheol?...Hellooo?"

"Shut up." 

"Oh my god, you totally like it when I call you my Seungcheol, don't you!"

"Ya! I'm hanging up now! My brother is here and I gotta go."

"Okay, well I have to gather up the kids and get back to work anyway. I'll talk to you later, Cheol!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh wait! Before you hang up.....Whose Seungcheol are you?"

And that's when Seungcheol ended the call with a stupid smile on his face. It amazed him how, even with everything that he had gone through during the day from his fight with Ara to his meeting with his boss, it only took one call from Jeonghan to turn his entire day around. Seungcheol had thought that he would spend the entire day still somewhat moody after everything he had to deal with but it only took the sound of Jeonghan's voice, filled with cheekiness and happiness, and Seungcheol forgot about everything else. And when Seungcheol was in the car riding back to Daegu, all he could think about was how Jeonghan truly was his angel and that he, along with the rest of Seventeen, were the source of his happiness, and Seungcheol was glad that he had been able to protect them today so that they could continue to be the shining light and motivation in his life.

A/N: I know a lot of you guys were waiting for this update and I am so sorry about how long you had to wait. I wanted to finish this chapter by Friday but a lot of things came up in my life and I just couldn't find the time...please don't hate me!! Anyway, this was an entire chapter centered around our beloved leader so hopefully that makes up for it lol

Also OMG 100 SUBSCRIBERS?! I feel unworthy! I never thought I would get that many subs for this fic! I am touched! Honored! I am really so so so very happy! Words cannot explain how grateful I am that so many of you liked my fic enough to subscribe! And don't even get me started on all of the comments that you guys left on the last chapter. I was literally rolling around in happiness. Thank you so much!

And yeah, that's all I wanted to say. As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and please remember to comment and let me know what you all thought!