It was awfully silent in the house. You stole a glance at the piece of document that you had purposely neglected for the whole week. Sitting on the other edge of the couch that you are on was the official statement from Jellyfish entertainment. Your breath was shaky as you reached for it, a part of you wanted the document shredded immediately while the other seek for the content of the document. You removed the papers from the brown envelope and flipped through the pages. Gleaning through, you spent not more than a second on each word, giving it no more attention that it deserves. Your eyes retained nothing it saw but stopped when you reached the last page. “Request to terminate relationship with artist". Your breath hitched and you could feel a lump forming in your throat. You thought you were prepared for this but as tears start pooling in your eyes, you knew you weren't.

 Anxiety started to take over and thoughts flashed through your mind. What should you do? How should you react? More importantly, how should you break the news to him? It was undeniable that the company had his future in their hands and everything they said are final. You and him are in no power and place to reject their orders. However, it doesn't mean that you could just back off that simply. The both of you had fought hard to keep this relationship and now a stack of papers is threatening to end everything. When the company only allowed the both of you to meet for only thrice a month, you complied because you know resistance is futile. You wanted him to have enough rest too. When the company changed the group phone number and revoked his rights from using the phone because you called him too much, you went with it. Instead, you resorted to fan mail. Countless nights you spent into writing fan mails for him because you knew not all of the fan mails would reach them. Rewriting each letter at least ten times, you wanted to ensure yourself that he will definitely see the letters. In those letters, you spoke of how it was hard for you to be alone for so much and having lesser and lesser contact with him as his activities became more frequent. You told him how many nights have you to sleep on bed with the moon as your company. You poured out your feelings as your wrote to him in each fan mail. Some of which eventually made it to him while others were stuff into the ever-growing pile of fan mail that he never had time to look through. You felt really tired trying to keep the relationship going. You felt your tears threatening to spill over and decided that you had enough thinking for the day. You threw the papers aside in frustration and you just broke down.  

The next day you woke up to your phone vibrating against the bedside table. The displayed lit up with his name when you picked it up and you immediately answered the call.

“Hello! Morning Leo!” You greeted enthusiastically.

“Morning.” Came his reply.

A comfortable silence settled between the two of you as you waited for him to initiate a conversation.

“I called to ask you if you are free this coming Saturday”, he began,” I would like to invite you out for dinner.” You nodded, holding the phone against your ear and processing what he was saying when it hit you. You let out a gasp, surprised that he was still asking you out after the company sent you the letter.   

Could it be that…he doesn’t know?

You heard him call your name on the phone repeatedly when you realised that you had not reply him.

“Sure, I can make it. Where are we eating? Fine dining?” you joked, knowing how he hated fine dining. Taking you by surprise once again, he actually had already booked a table at a five-star restaurant a few streets away from your home. He let out a sigh that you didn’t know he was holding in and told you the details for the upcoming date.

“Okay, so seven, this Saturday, restaurant dinner. Got it.” You repeated everything to confirm the details with him.

He corrected you mistake, reminding you that it is at six instead of seven before he told you he had to hang up. The manager is rushing him off to a music show. You heard him bid you goodbye and you said your goodbye but not without adding a small mumbled “I miss you.”.

Once the call was over, you got yourself off your bed and decided to start planning on your attire for the date. You weren’t sure if you are excited for the dinner but it has been so long since you last saw him alone, in private, that the letter totally slip your mind in that moment. You figured that since it is going to be fine dining, you would need a dress for the occasion. Running through your wardrobe, you took out a few of your personal favourites. You stood in front of the full-length mirror beside your bed and started to try the dresses out, slipping in and out of them with your pyjamas still on. You were in your fourth dress when your phone vibrated again.

 You picked it up, not having anyone in mind that would call you. The unknown number on your display screen didn’t help much either. “Hello.” you greeted whoever that was on the other end of the line.

“You sure sound energetic in the morning, Miss.” A voice answered you on the phone. It sounded mature and deep and probably belonged to a man in his mid-forties. 

 “I am the head of the artiste management division of Jellyfish Entertainment.” The mysterious caller began his self-introduction. Your heart stopped and you gulped, knowing full well where the conversation is heading towards.

 “It’s about the letter, isn’t it?” you mumbled into the receiver, suddenly feeling numb.

The man let out a chuckle on the other side, almost as if he was mocking your misery. “Well, I would be lying if I said it was not about the letter.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Since you already know what this call is about, let’s get straight to the main point shall we?”

The call was agonising for you to say the least. He mainly repeated the content of the letter and the rules that you should abide by once you broke up with Leo. It was somehow expected by them that you didn’t read the contents and the fine prints of the letter. The call dragged on as he briefed you over the benefits that you will be receiving after the relationship ended.

 “What do you mean you will be reimbursing my cash for ending this relationship?” you exclaimed, clutching your phone. Hell, does the company really think that you are dating Taekwoon for his money? Or that money can solve anything? You snorted, outraged by the offer.

 “Miss, please note that the company has no intention of accepting the cash or any of the benefits given to you should you choose to return it.” You could almost hear the mockery in the man’s voice. As the man blabbered on, you made up your mind to donate whatever you will be receiving from that damn company. You don’t need their pity, and you sure as hell don’t need their money either.

 When the call ended, you were so taken aback by the atrocity of the call that you had to stop whatever you were doing to calm down. The series of events that took place within that span of the past twenty-four hours have been a whirlwind to say the least. Everything happened so quickly, from the letter to dinner invite and finally, the call. You sat down on your bed, realising that you are still in one of your dresses.

 “Pathetic.” You mumbled as you begin to slip the dress off yourself. Feeling cranky, you decided that you need to eat. Maybe breakfast will do you some good, yea, maybe.

**********

 Saturday rolled around faster than you had liked it to be. Today was the day, you told yourself as you added the finishing touches to your makeup. In the end, you had picked that fourth dress after all. It had accompany you through that uncomfortable phone call, you might as well wear it for your break-up later. You let out a scoffed and reminded yourself to sound a little but more positive. It wasn’t going to be easy, not for you and not for Leo either.  

 He met you at your house at six, as promised, and drove you both to the restaurant. The meal progressed pretty smoothly. He complemented your dress and told you about his preparation for an upcoming album. You tried to listen as attentively as you can and added in comments when appropriate. It felt just like a normal date from the past. The two of you would exchange a few words over the meal, too engrossed with the food for proper conversation. That was one of the point you like about him, his love for food. By the time the four-course meal had ended, you had almost forgotten the purpose of the dinner date. You knew that despite the normal conversation that you have been having with him, Taekwoon knew that      

 “Taekwoon,” You began speaking and already you can sense him tense up. You always called him by that name, but never with this tone now. He intensified his gaze at you and you can’t help but notice him shift uncomfortably in his seat. You know that he does that only when he is nervous. Trying to be less intimidating, you lean back against your chair and took in a deep breath.

 “Taekwoon” you tried again, playing with your fingers while doing so, “I know that our relationship hasn’t been smooth sailing since we started dating. We have been through a lot of things together. But despite that, your career has been taking off too, hasn’t it? VIXX won triple crown with your previous comeback and you are staring in another musical soon, aren’t you?”

 He stayed silent for a moment before responding.     

“Yes…I know I will be having lesser and lesser time for you. I am sorry, I will make it up to you when I am free after all the promotions.” Taekwoon leaned forward and looked at you apologetically.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that you do not have time for me at all. You are just going to become busier, more events and activities to attend to. Your popularity is rising, Taekwoon. Do you get it? Sooner or later, I will definitely be compromised. I rather we end it now than when you neglect me in the future.” You snapped back, leaning forward from your chair.

 “You are my girlfriend,” he tried to retort, “How can I ever neglect you? We have been dating for so long and everything has been going on smoothly, so why now? Why now? Is it because of the company?  They told you to do this, didn’t they?” He tone becoming more demanding by the second.  

 “It isn’t fair, Taekwoon. It isn’t.” You stood your ground unfazed. “I rather you sacrifice me than your members. So what if you still have time for me, you will definitely affect the group if you want to make time for me. You know how tired you are when you visit me, we rarely even go out for dates because of that. From now on, your schedules is just going to pile up and whatever spare time you have, I rather you use it to rest than waste it on me. Hakyeon, JaeHwan, Wonshik, Hongbin and Sanghyuk trusted you, they trust that you will do your best for the group. How can you betray their trust by distracting yourself? I don’t want to be a distraction in your life, Taekwoon. Do you get it? It isn’t fair for them and it isn’t fair for me either. I don’t want to feel guilty of being a distraction to your career. I don’t your members to hate me. Do you know what I am saying? ” You started to sound exasperated.  Maybe it was because you feel that nothing could convince Taekwoon to break up with you that you are starting to panic.     

 “I won’t give you up that easily.” He said. “I just can’t…”

“It’s over, Taekwoon. It really is.” You ended the conversation. Enough is enough.

That silenced him.

You reached for his left hand that was lying on the dining table, admiring the two rings that sat on his ring finger. One was his friendship band with s while the other, the one you can’t help but to ache over, was the promise ring you got together with him.

You knew you had to remove the ring from his finger. You knew that Taekwoon probably won’t let this relationship go. He would be so hung up over the ring that it will affect his performance ultimately. Taekwoon is one to let his heart rule over his mind, so no matter how ruthless it may seem, you had to do it.

You let your fingers trail over the ring for a final time, admiring the glow it radiated and slowly, with a slight twist, slip it off his ring finger.

He didn’t resist, fidgeting slightly only after the ring was off his hand. You heard a sob escape from him as he looked down at his lap, his left hand still on the table.

“I am sorry that I am both the person that put on this ring for you and the one that removes it.” You stood up and his hair. “I really am.”

With that, you left taking the ring along with you.

 **********

A/N : Well, this is my longest one-shot ever. It went over 2k words. Heh. I won't say it is good, I feel that the breakup scene was rather meh  but it is not like I have any experience to base it on so -oops- . Also, I have a short epilougue that is in progress. Probably will be up within a week since school is starting soon for me and if I don't upload it, I probably never will. Thank you for reading~