"Ells?" came Dae's voice when she picked up the phone.

He'd only said her name, but she could tell just by his tone that he wasn't happy.

"What's up Dae?"

"Are you at home right now? Can I come over?"

"Yeah, yeah i'm at home, I'll see you in a bit?"

After they hung up, she finished putting her laundry away, then sat down on her bed to read a book while she wait.

Shortly thereafter, she heard the doorknob rattle and Daehyun entered the house.

He took his shoes off and called out to her.

"Ells?" 

"Up here Dae."

She heard his feet on the stairs, before he finally entered her room.

Their eyes met as he came in and he gave a weak smile before moving to her.

He flopped on the bed next to her, curled up in a ball, placed his head in her lap, and wrapped his arms around her.

He closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh.

Ellie set her book on the night stand and smiled down at him. Placing her hand on the back of his head, she began running her fingers through his hair, noting how long it had become. "I take it things didn't go well today?" she said when he remained silent.

Today was another court day for BAP and TS. 

They'd been hoping to finally move forward as TS had delayed them repeatedly.

He sighed, and rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"Just lies...more lies, more stalling, we spent hours going around in circles and in the end it all went nowhere." he said in a depressed tone.

Now it was her turn to sigh.

"I'm sorry Dae, how frustrating."

"The longer this goes on, the more i think we're never going to return to the stage."

The disappointment was clear on his face.

And his hope was beginning to fade.

"Don't give up Dae." she said brushing his bangs aside. "There will come a point when something has to change. You'll be on stage again, i know it. The courts aren't going to let them play this game forever. There will come a time when they decide that if TS can't submit proof, they're going to lose the lawsuit. They can only delay it so long..."

"I feel like i'll go crazy if i can't be back on stage again soon..."

Ellie sat silently, thinking a moment as she his soft hair.

"It was nice to see the other members again today. They were just as fed up with this as I am. We're tired of waiting...but there's nothing else we can do...which is..irritating." He trailed off, turning on his side again, closing his eyes as he nuzzled against her, his cheek pressed to her abdomen.

She placed her hand against his cheek and it gently with her thumb.

He placed his hand atop hers and held it in place.

"You know...what if...what if you performed with your teachers studio one of these days?" Ellie suggested. "They're always doing performances, why not join them? You're not making any money off of it, and you're not performing as BAP so i don't think it'd be a problem....It'd give you something to do while you wait..."

His eyes opened and she watched as he pondered this a moment before sitting up and turning to her. "That's not a bad idea Ells, I'll need to run it by the guys and our attorney but...i don't see why not. It won't be the same, but, it'll be nice to be on stage again and doing something while we wait for this lawsuit to finish..."

She smiled at him and he reached out with his hand, cupping her cheek as he leaned in and kissed her.

"Thank you Ellie, talking to you always helps me feel better. And that was a great idea. Thank you."

She smiled. "My pleasure."

"How's that?" Ellie asked as she brushed the small clippings of hair off his neck.

Daehyun looked in the mirror, tilting his head this way and that, then smiled. "Perfect, thank you Ells."

She smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "Excited?"

He considered this a moment before responding. 

"Excited, nervous, and even a little sad. I thought surely this whole lawsuit would be over quickly and i'd be returning to the stage with my members..."

Ellie nodded, understanding his conflicting feelings.

Today Daehyun was taking part in a small concert with the help of his former music teacher, and would be performing along with some of the other students that attended the academy there. He was anxious to sing again and thought this would be a nice present for the fans, a little treat to hold them over while BAP awaited the end of their lawsuit, and hopefully by being on stage again, it would help him not stress so much over the lawsuit and the never ending delays.

Dae had invited Ellie to come along for the performance, and she'd been hesitant, but he reassured her. Since there would be lots of other girls there from the academy, no one would pick up on the fact that she was Dae's girl, so long as they didn't make it obvious.

And in preparation, this morning he'd asked Ellie to cut his hair. Normally B.A.P's hair and makeup was handled by the company, but with the lawsuit going on, Dae had been letting his hair grow, and it was starting to look shabby. He'd decided he wanted it cut before today's performance, and Ellie was more than happy to help. 

Dae watched as she put away the buzzer and scissors, then began setting makeup on the counter in front of him.

When she'd finished setting up, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap, his arms around her waist.

Ellie ran her fingers through the top of his now much shorter hair, before meeting his eyes and smiling. "Don't be nervous. This is your thing. Get out there and have fun. I'll be here the whole time, watching from the back."

He stared into her eyes. "Don't watch from the back, sit in front so i can see you."

She smiled. "Ok."

"Thank you, agan." he continued. "I know i've been kind of a downer lately and i'm sorry for that. And as always, you've been there for me, helped me without complaint. I don't know what i'd ever do without you Ells."

She kissed the tip of his nose. "You'd be a sad, lonely, lost little puppy."

He made a sad puppy face at her and she laughed, covering his face with her hand.  

"Stop...even as a sad puppy you're cute."

He kissed her hand and she moved it, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Seriously though," he said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she smiled.

He brought his hands to her face as he leaned in, bringing his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue between her lips.

She tightened her arms around him, kissing him back.

His nose pressed into her cheek and he gave a soft moan.

As they made out, he placed a hand on her hip, and she felt his thumb slip under her shirt, caressing her skin.

She felt her face flush, and slowly his whole hand slipped beneath her shirt, but remained at her hip, giving her a gentle squeeze.

They still hadn't done more than make out at this point, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't get excited when she felt his hand slip under her shirt.

But before things went any further, they were interrupted. 

"Daehyun-ah!" called a voice from somewhere down the hall.

The kiss ended abruptly and Ellie got off his lap, turning to the makeup set up behind her.

Dae cleared his throat. "In here!" he called out, shifting in his seat.

"Daehyun-ah!" came the voice again as his teacher entered the room they were in. "Almost ready?" he asked.

"Mm." he said with a quick nod.

If his teacher noticed the red in Dae's cheeks, he didn't let on.

"Good, good." he said patting him on the back. "We'll do sound check in about 10 minutes."

"Ok." he smiled as he watched his teacher leave the room.

As the door shut, Ellie turned to him and he smiled, looking down into his lap as he turned another shade of red.

She lift his chin with her finger and kissed him firmly on the lips before she began dabbing his face with foundation.

"I don't know if i have enough foundation to hide all that red in your cheeks Daehyun." she teased.

He chuckled softly.

"Sorry for the interruption." he said as he met her eyes.

She shrugged. "No biggie." she said as she continued with his makeup.

He hooked his fingers through the loops in her pants and pulled her closer.

"Maybe we can pick up where we left off later?" he said, leaning in for another kiss.

She stopped doing his makeup and stared at him a moment before smiling and continuing.

Now it was her turn to blush.

Ellie sat in the front row right in the middle of the row of seats.

They'd set up probably close to 200 seats, and it was nearly full as it approached show time.

She bounced her leg, both excited and nervous. Not for herself, but for Dae. She'd hoped that this would help ease some of the sadness and take the edge off his urge to return to the stage. She knew it wouldn't be quiet the same, but hopefully it'd help.

They'd decided to do an outdoor show just outside the academy building, and unfortunately for them, the weather had decided it wasn't going to cooperate today, as it was currently sprinkling, but thankfully it wasn't heavy and they decided the show would continue.

Ellie was huddled up in her coat, hood pulled over her head as the lights on the stage grew brighter and Dae's teacher walked out with a mic in hand.

After a quick introduction for himself and his school, he left the stage and Dae and the other students came on.

After a brief pause, the music began.

The group went through their first song with no trouble. Though Ellie noticed Dae's eyes never came up from the ground. Despite the weather making the stage a bit slippery, they pulled it off and finished their choreography well. The crowd applauded and the students and Dae bowed.

Finally, Dae looked up from the ground, and looked out among the crowd. His eyes moved back and forth, taking it all in a moment before bringing the mic to his mouth.

"Thank you all for coming." he started.

She could see him struggling as he began talking.

He went on to say how happy he was to be able to perform with the students and how hard working they were.

He talked for a moment about the academy and how it had been his beginning, and made him who he was today.

Then the tears welled up and he was having trouble speaking.

Her heart ached for him.

Being on stage again was both a happy moment and a sad one. 

He was doing what he wanted, but not with s.

He was performing again, on stage, but with different people at his side...different songs...different dances.

"The members wanted to be here today," he said, his voice wavering, "but they couldn't. But that doesn't mean they're not with me, right?" He said as he struggled to control his emotions. 

He paused a moment, letting his head fall back as he took a deep breath.

He cleared his throat and looked down, searching the front row for Ellie.

Finally he found her, and his eyes lingered on hers as he pulled himself together and his smile returned.

"Anyways, thank you all for being here, and for supporting us. Enjoy the rest of the show."

The remainder of the show went well, Dae regained control over his emotions and seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. 

By the end of it, he was smiling as he sang and she even heard him chuckle now and then.

The crowd seemed to enjoy it as well, as they clapped and sang along with the performances.

When it was over, Dae stood with the other students on stage and bowed as the audience clapped, and he stood again with a wide smile on his face.

Now he felt like he could endure a little longer. 

He missed s and longed for the day they would return to the stage as 6 again. 

But this performance today helped give him back a little bit of hope that everything would be ok in the end.

Ellie sat in her seat, waiting as the crowd left once the show had ended.

When only the staff remained, she got up and went inside the academy to find Dae.

She returned to the room where she'd done his hair and makeup earlier and found it empty. Not sure where he was, she began cleaning up the makeup and other supplies they'd brought.

As she stood hunched over, putting things into a cardboard box, a couple of female students walked in and stopped to fix their hair in the mirror next to Ellie. 

They looked young, probably high schoolers, and she didn't recognize them as any of the girls who'd performed with Dae. 

Must be new. she thought.

They gave her a brief smile before continuing their conversation.

"He's so handsome, especially with that new haircut." said one of the girls. "Ugh, what i wouldn't do to be his girl."

"He's so busy though..." said the other girl. "Not much of a relationship if you ask me."

The first girl shrugged. "He's good looking, he's famous, he's making money...and he's hot...what else matters?"

Ellie continued what she was doing, but much slower, her attention moving to their conversation.

"Well," the other girl started. "Now's you're chance, who knows how much longer he'll be here. Once that lawsuit is over he won't be around. Make a move while you can."

Though they hadn't said his name, Ellie was sure they must be talking about Daehyun.

Just then she heard the door at the end of the hall open again and looked up as Daehyun entered.

Both girls straightened and turned to him.

"Oh, Daehyun! Great job today!" said the first girl.

"You were amazing!" said the other.

"Thanks." he said as he retrieved his jacket from a nearby chair.

"Daehyunnie.." said the second girl, "You look so handsome today, is that a new haircut?"

"Yep." he said, not even looking at them.

"Oppa, we were just on our way to get some coffee...we should go together!" she continued. "My treat! We never get to see you anymore. What do you say? Maybe we could even catch a movie afterward?" 

She fluttered her eyes at him and did a little giggle that made Ellie roll her eyes.

Dae came over next to Ellie and smiled at her as he picked up the box containing the hair and makeup supplies, then turned to the girls. "No thanks, i'm gonna head home. Good night."

The girl stuck her lip out in a pout as Dae turned away, and looped her arm with her friends as she turned and stormed off down the hall.

Ellie couldn't help but smile to herself.

She grabbed her purse and they both turned toward the exit.

"Ah, my beanie." Dae said, turning to scan the room for it, still holding the box in his hands.

Ellie pulled his beanie from her pocket and put it on his head. Then, still holding his beanie in place, she leaned in, kissing him firmly on the lips.

"I love you Jung Daehyun. You are a wonderful man, and i'm so lucky to have you in my life."

He beamed at her. "Me too." he said as they stepped out into the cool night air. "And i can't thank you enough for suggesting this performance...It's not the same but, i definitely feel better about things now. So, thank you."

 "You're welcome." She said, happy to hear that he was feeling at least a little bit better.

"Now, how about we head home and have some ice cream while we watch a movie?" he suggested.

She turned to him and smiled. "It's a date."