Third Person POV

"Alright, Daesung, take a break and relax your voice. You're starting to sound a little hoarse." Jiyong told the singer in the recording booth. He took his finger off the button, sighed, and leaned back in his chair before rubbing his face, trying to wake himself up. Ever since coming home from the Japan tour, things around the YG Entertainment agency were tense.

Jiyong looked back at the remaining BIGBANG members. It was rare for all of them to be in the same recording room at once. Taeyang was at one of the computers, typing up new lyrics. TOP and Seungri were on opposite sides of the couch, randomly checking their phones, only to sigh in disappointment and set the devices down.

Jiyong shook his head. "YG is probably monitoring her phone like he is your guys'. She isn't going to text you."

"Has she even been at the studio?" Taeyang couldn't help but ask.

TOP shrugged. "We aren't allowed to be in touh with her, so I don't think we'd be able to see her here."

Seungri nodded. "I haven't heard from her in a week. Ever since we came back from Japan, there's been nothing. I've seen Vincent, but YG has him doing so much to promote his solo that I can't even stop him to ask what she's up to."

"Anika hasn't heard anything, either." Daesung said after taking a drink of Vitamin Water. "Madeline's been staying with her when she isn't with Youngbae, and Madeline hasn't even heard anything."

"Do you think she's okay?" Seungri asked nervously. "I've never seen YG get so angry and insult someone that much. That on top of the dancers making fun of her and the scandal..."

TOP shook his head. "Natalia's strong. She always has been. If she could get through some of the things I've- I mean, that she's gone through, she can get through this. YG didnt' fire her. She's still a member of YG."

Jiyong opened his mouth to speak, but there was a knock on the door. Dae Mi, the vocal coach for YG Entertainment, stepped in. "I'm sorry to both you all, but Natalia isn't with you, is she? She missed her vocal session three days ago, and she hasn't showed up today."

Everyone looked at Dae Mi, confused. It wasn't like Natalia to miss any session for YG. "No... what do you mean she hasn't showed up?" Jiyong asked.

"Her session was supposed to be forty-five minutes ago. She isn't here."

"Have you tried calling her?" Daesung asked.

She nodded. "No answer." Dae Mi shrugged. "Just let me know if you hear from her, okay?"

The vocal coach left, and Jiyong looked around at the BIGBANG members. By the nervous and worried looks on TOP's and Seungri's faces, the leader knew he had to do something.

So, Jiyong stood. "Let's take a break. I'm going to find out what's going on."

He left the recording room quickly, and headed to the elevator. There was one person he was going to talk to. Natalia would never miss a session with him. If she did, something was really wrong.

When Jiyong got up to the gym floor, he walked into the work out room quickly. Minzy and Bom were in there, jogging on the treadmill. Hwang was observing them, making sure they weren't short of breath.

"Hwang." Jiyong said, getting the trainer's attention. Hwang looked at him as Jiyong made his way over. "Has Natalia been here?"

Hwang shook his head, his arms crossed. "I haven't seen her since you all came back from Japan." He sighed. "I know she's losing muscle tone each day she doesn't come. If you see her, can you tell her to get back in here?"

Jiyong nodded absentmindedly before leaving the room quickly.

Something was wrong.

---

"Where is that damn key..." Jiyong muttered as he rummaged around the front of Vincent and Natalia's apartment for the secret spare key. After knocking on the door and nobody answering, the key was the last resort.

He finally found it in the potted plant next to the door. He anxiously opened the apartment door and shut it behind him.

"Natalia?" He called throughout the dark apartment.

No answer.

His stomach turned as he walked through the apartment. "Baby? It's Ji."

He hurried to the end of the hall and opened Natalia's bedroom door.

What the hell happened? Clothes everywhere, makeup staining the carpet, pictures on the ground, mirrors covered...

He saw a lump on the bed, amongst wrinkled clothes and a black garbage bag. Jiyong breathed a sigh of relief. "There you are, baby."

He walked over to the bed, and sat on the edge, Natalia's back to him. He put his hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing? Come on, get up and go to the studio with me.

Natalia didn't answer.

Jiyong sighed again. "Baby, come on. You've missed vocal lessens and gym sessions."

"Please... just go..." Natalia said hoarsely, her voice barely a whisper.

"Go? No. Natalia, sit up so I can see you." Jiyong squeezed her shoulder, but loosened his grip immediately when he felt that it was bonier than usual.

"Please...."

"Natalia. Get up. Come on. Seungri and Top are worried sick about you. We all are." Jiyong shook his head. Did her own brother see what was going on?

"I don't deserve them..." Natalia whispered, her voice cracking from being dry.

Jiyong looked to her end table. The picture of her and Seungri was turned face-down, and a half-full bottle of water and three-fourths full package of saltine crackers were on the edge.

The leader stood and walked to the other side of the bed so he could see Natalia.

He was astonished by what he saw.

This... this wasn't Natalia. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days. Her manicure was picked raw, her cuticles ratty and bloody. Her eyes were dark, the dark circles underneath being darker than Seungri's.

"Natalia-" Jiyong reached out to touch the girl, but she turned away and stood.

Jiyong watched her limp over to a garbage bag. She grabbed a Calvin Klein dress, and put it in the bag.

She wasn't even dressed like herself. Natalia was wearing some ratty cutoff and baggy sweatpants. Jiyong froze when he saw the cuts and scabs along her side. She wouldn't do that to herself, would she?

"Natalia..." Jiyong breathed. He could see her ribs. Her arms looked as big as toothpicks. Her cheeks were sunken in.

She looked like death.

"Just go." Natalia said again, grabbing a pair of customized Nike high-top sneakers. She put the pair in the same garbage bag.

Jiyong walked over to one of the piles of shoes, and grabbed the pair of spiked Loius Vuitton stilettos. He chuckled weakly. "Come on, Nat. These are your favorite shoes. Put these on and let's go clubbing tonight."

Natalia glanced over at the man. "You're still here?" She said dully. She grabbed a Jeremy Scott dress and went to toss it in the bag.

Jiyong stopped her, grabbing her wrist. "Natalia, that's a Jeremy Scott. You know better than to toss that out."

Natalia kept her head bowed. Jiyong couldn't contain himself. He glanced at her frail side, then looked at the Italian. "Natalia... did you do this?" He asked in barely a whisper.

Natalia squeezed her eyes shut as she weakly shook her head. "Please... go." She let her greasy, black hair fall over the sides of ther face.

Jiyong didn't care; he quickly embraced the singer, putting his head on her shoulder. “If I had known this was happening, I would’ve stopped it. Even if you couldn’t have danced, I would have stopped it. You don’t deserve this. Any of this. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He choked up with tears. He had never seen someone in this state.

“Let go of me. Please.” Natalia begged, trying her best to push at Jiyong's chest. She was too weak.

“No. I’m not letting you go. You don’t deserve this.” Jiyong insisted. She didn't deserve anything that had happened. Yeah she had messed up, but hadn't everyone?

“Jiyong, please just let me go.” Natalia sniffled, tears finding their way out of her eyes.

She reminded him of himself when he went through his various scandals. This was worse. So much worse.

Jiyong hugged her tighter, though he was scared he could break one of her ribs. “I’ll fix it. I’ll fix all of this, baby. I’ll fix this.” He started crying. How could he be so blind as to not notice how much pain she was in?

Natalia began to shake. Her legs gave out underneath her, and Jiyong let the pair lower to the ground. Jiyong sat on his knees and cradled Natalia as she cried against his chest. "I can fix it. I will fix this." Jiyong soothed, patting Natalia's head rhythmically.

The pair stayed like that for over ten minutes. When Natalia began to quiet down, Jiyong  let go of her and held her at arm's length. "Where is your brother? Why hasn't he noticed you?"

"I don't need to bother him." Natalia shook his head. "He's out taping One Night, Two Days."

"What has been happening, baby?" Jiyong asked quietly, wiping his eyes. He wanted to know everything.

So, Natalia finally confessed and told him everything. The dancers being mean and even going as far as to tripping her, the requirement to wrap her chest so she could blend in with the dancers. Her honest, hurt thoughts about YG yelling at her. The fact that she felt worthless and that she really dind't deserve any of the love at YG. How the scandal tore her apart. How she was a mess, and didn't know if anthing could be fixed.

"I... I looked at one comment section of an article about the scandal... Fans... they're hating me. They're... they're sending me death threats. I'm scared for you guys and Vincent. I don't know what to do.... I don't know..." Natalia shook her head.

"Fans are immature. Fans like that aren't fans. You have to ignore those comments, baby. They mean nothing. They're just some coward behind a computer. Trust me." Jiyong assured.

Natalia stayed quiet, her head bowed. She finally spoke. "I... I can't do this. I can't take this." She squeaked.

Jiyong thought for a moment. He reached out and patted her knee. "Pack a bag."

Natalia looked at him. "What?"

"Just pack a bag. Come on. Let's go. We'll stop at a hospital first and then-"

Natalia shook her head. "I'm not letting you take me to a hospital."

"Natalia, you look like death. It looks like you haven't eaten in days. Just let me-"

Natalia stopped him. “No. With my luck you will be brought into a scandal you don’t need to be in.”

Jiyong sighed, knowing he couldn't persuade the girl. "Okay. Then just pack a bag and grab your passport."

The pair stood, and Jiyong helped Natalia pack a duffle bag with her phone, laptop, tablet, wallet, and various t-shirts, sweats, and hooded sweatshirts.

Jiyong helped Natalia into a zip-up hoodie, grabbed her bag for her, and the pair walked out of the apartment.

He needed to get her away. He needed to get her somewhere he knew was safe.

---

"Just stay in here, okay?" Jiyong asked as he parked his Lamborghini in the YG garage. "I'll be right back. Please, try to eat the ramen I picked up. It's  your favorite."

Natalia glanced at the cup of noodles in the cup holder, then back at Jiyong. "Okay."

Jiyong kissed the girl's forehead before getting out of the car.

As soon as he was out of sight from Natalia, he let his anger show.

YG had no right. He had no right to tdo this to an employee.

He had gone too far.

Jiyong got to YG's office floor. He didn't even ask the secretary if the CEO was free. Instead, he burst through the door.

YG jumped, looking at Jiyong from his couch. "What on Earth-"

“Are you happy now?" Jiyong roared, pointing at his boss. "She’s gone. You killed her. There is not one piece of Nat left.”

YG was speechless. Jiyong had never spoken to him in this way.

Jiyong kept going. "You had no right to say those things to her. You had no right to treat her like . Who are you? An SM CEO? You're supposed to act as a father. But all you care about is your image."

YG sighed. "Jiyong-ah.."

Jiong interrupted him and pinted at the door. "You destroyed the spirit of one of our most beautiful and cheerful idols! She's nothing! She's gone! Any sign of her spirit is destroyed! All because of you! Yeah, she messed up. We all do! She does not do as many bad things as some celebrities have! At least she's not out bashing anyone or having with every idol in the business! You made her feel worthless! You aren't allowed to make anyone feel that way. I don't care how important you are. You killed her spirit."

YG held up a hand. "I know."

Jiyong looked at the CEO, shocked. "You know?"

YG nodded and sighed. "Do you not think I feel awful? Of course I do. But I'm not going to go back on my word. Why do you think I haven't had a schedule for her? Because I wanted to stop being so hard on her. I didn't know she wasn't going to show up here at all. I didn't know... I didn't know I had crushed her so much."

"She doesn't even look like herself." Jiyong sighed and sat on the long couch. "She's sickly. I insisted to take her to the hospital but she refused."

YG was surprised to hear this. "Is she going to be alright? What has she been doing?"

Jiyong shrugged. "Nothing. She's sat in her room. She rarely eats. She's been putting clothes into garbage bags because she feels that she doesn't deserve any of them. She feels that she doesn't deserve any of this."

YG's heart sank. "I will apologize when I can think of a way to get to it. For now, what does she want? I will give her anything. Send her anywhere."

Jiyong took a breath. "She didn't tell me anything, but I told her to pack a bag. She needs to go home, sir. She needs her family. Her mom and dad. I know that helped me."

"And do you think this will work?"

Jiyong shrugged. "With the state she's in, I'm not sure if she'll even want to come back..."

YG stared at the BIGBANG leader. Was he serious? Did YG just jepoardize one of his client's contracts? "I'll book a plane ticket immediately."

Jiyong shook his head. "We need to take the private plane. She isn't well enough to go on a public flight."

"You're going with?"

"To make sure she's safe." Jiyong explained. "I'll call her parents and tell them. She needs someone with her."

"Maybe I'll call Seungri in here and-"

Jiyong shook his head. "It'd be better if we kept this a secret from everyone. I don't even think Vincent should know right now. Natalia needs to get better on her own. I don't think it'd be good for her to be constantly badgered by the other guys."

YG had to agree. "I'll come up with something. I'll say I sent her on a bunch of schedules."

Jiyong nodded. "Good.... I have her in the car."

YG grabbed his phone. "Go. I'll let the plane know you're coming."

Jiyong stood and bowed to his CEO. "Thank you, sir."

---

"It's safe to turn on electrical devices now." The pilot of the private YG plane said over the intercom.

Jiyong took his phone from the table and glanced at Natalia. She was nestled against him, sleeping deeply.

He scrolled through his contacts and found her parents' phone number. Calculating the hour and time change, he guessed it was one in the afternoon in Illinois. Hopefully her parents weren't busy.

He dialed the number and put the phone to his ear.

"This is the Marcs residnet. Julie speaking." Mrs. Marcs answered on the third ring.

"Hi, Mrs. Marcs. It's Kwon Jiyong." Jiyong said quietly.

"Jiyong, hi! How are you?" Mrs' Marcs answered cheerfully.

"I'm alright. I just wanted to let you know I'm bringing Natalia home. We're on a plane now"

"What? Why? Is everything okay?"

"Uh.. yes and know. Have you seen the newest rumors going around on the internet?"

"About Natalia being demoted? Yes. We were surprised. But we also weren't sure what to believe since YG didn't release a statement. We were waitng for Natalia to tell us."

"Well, I can explain when we get to Illinois. She really just needs her parents right now. She needs family. We'll be landing at O'hare in about thirteen hours, okay?"

"Of course. We will meet you there. Thank you so much for taking care of our daughter, Jiyong."