Chapter 8 - The day after

The moment they arrive at the door, all the boys crowed around wondering why Emma is there and why she looks like, well, hell. The leader pulls Minhwan to the side a little; "Minhwan-ah what happened to Emma? Why did you bring her here?" "Hyung, she was attacked by her ex, I’ll explain later." Looking at the questioning but angry face of Jonghun.  "She doesn’t want to be alone, so I’ve brought her here. Noa is also staying, she’s just grabbing some stuff for Emma." Minhwan replies softly so Emma doesn’t hear him. He walks back to her and guides her to his room. "Emma, do you want to take a shower or do you want to sleep?" Without replying Emma lies down on the first bed she sees, which as it is Minhwan’s room, happens to be his. Minhwan puts down her bag near the bed and starts to walk out. "Please stay" Emma says. Even though she spoke almost too soft, he still hears her and walks back to the bed. He takes his chair and sits down next to the bed where she can see him. Despite Minhwan’s presence she falls into a restless sleep, she tosses and turns a lot. The moment Minhwan holds her hand she becomes quiet and falls into a deep undisturbed sleep.

Minhwan POV

After finding her crying her eyes out for a guy how scares the living hell out of her, and now unable to do anything or even sleep, he wanted to take revenge on this guy. He wanted to hurt him like he hurt his girl. ‘Wait what, she isn’t my girl. Why would I think she is my girl? She is not, she is just merely someone I care for who happens to be a girl’. Before he can think more on why he thinks like that, she starts to cry in her sleep. He doesn’t know why, but he wipes her tears away and hold her hand while telling her it’s going to be okay. He isn’t going anywhere. "I’ll protect you Emma, just sleep. I’m staying." She starts to relax and before he knows it she is in a deep thoughtless sleep.

The next morning, Emma doesn’t remember where she is or what happens. It takes her a few minutes to remember the events of the night and to remember she is sleeping in Minhwan his bed. She looks to the chair he was sitting on when she fell asleep to find it empty. For a few seconds she panics until she hears Minhwan’s voice coming from the other room. "Hyung, she doesn’t eat fried eggs, she likes them boiled." The moment she hears his voice, Emma feels herself relaxing and her heart skips a beat faster. ‘Why is my heart going faster?’ She wonders. ‘Probably an after effect from last night.’ Because there is no way her heart would go faster for the guy who came to her rescue the minute she called, right? Before she completely convinces herself, Noa walks into the room with a bag. "Good you’re up, how are you feeling Emma?" "Like my crazy ex broke into my house, hugged me, placed cameras all over and I had to call someone I barely know to help me out and sleep in his bed. So yeah I guess I’m fine." Noa just gives her the bag and tells her breakfast is served in a few minutes, so she has time to shower if she wants. Emma opens the bag to find her favorite sweater and her favorite pair of pants in the bag along with some underwear and her comfortable sneakers.

After a quick shower –with Minhwan his shampoo because Noa didn’t pack any for her– she walks out to get breakfast. The moment she walks out the door the room falls quiet. "There is nothing better than a room that falls quiet after a night of attack by your crazy ex." Emma says with sarcasm trying to ease up some of the tension in the room. Minhwan points to a chair. "Sit, so we can finally eat. You took forever in the shower." "Sorry, oh btw I stole some of your shampoo. Just so you know." Emma sits down and looks at the overflowing table. "Are you guys expecting more people to join or something?" Emma looks around curiously. "We didn’t really know what you eat, so we kind of made everything?" Hongki says with a smile. "That’s not true Hyung." Jaejin reacts "We know she doesn’t eat fried eggs, right Minhwan-ah?" Jaejin asked while Minhwan turns red. "What, we had lunch and she picked out her fried eggs, you guys were there too!" He is quick to defend himself. Emma just looks around with a smile on her face. She is happy to know these guys, and Noa too, but she is worried about her drama and how she has pulled them into it when they don’t even know each other for that long. Noa who notices Emma’s face turn from a smile into a frown; "don’t worry Emma, I’ve asked a guy I know to see what we can do about it. Plus we’re leaving for Japan tomorrow. Nobody but us, Yonghwa Oppa and the CEO know, so there is no way he knows. Don’t worry and enjoy the breakfast. They hardly ever make breakfast you know." Noa ends with a smile. Emma decides to do as Noa says and digs in. She thinks everything is so good, and she makes sure to compliment the guys on breakfast.

After breakfast Emma tells the guys to relax and that she will do the dishes as a thank you. Without a word Minhwan moves to help her as there is a huge pile of dishes to do. At first the silence is awkward, but after a few minutes Emma starts to feel more at ease with the guy who saw her break down. Minhwan breaks the silence first; "Noa and I will take you to the apartment in a few minutes, so you can pack your stuff for Japan. The cameras should all be cleared but just in case." He turns around to put the plates back in their place. "Thank you Oppa, for coming to me, for holding me, for giving me a place to stay. Also, I’m sorry that I called you and dragged you all into my drama. He was and is my mistake and nobody else should bear the problems. I’m sorry, how can I make it up to you?" Emma is glad he has his back turned to her so he can’t see how she is starting to tear up, again. Before she has a chance to clear her eyes of the tears he turns around, looking slightly mad. "Everyone makes mistakes Emma, just because he is your doesn’t mean you deserve what he is putting you trough. And if you didn’t call me, who would you have called? You don’t know anyone but us yet. What if you didn’t call me, what would have happened to you then Emma?" With his last question his voice didn’t sound mad anymore, but more concerned and soft. He wipes a tear that rolls down her cheek. "I am glad you called me, I am glad I was there for you and I am okay being part of your drama. Don’t think otherwise okay? Now stop crying, because I hate to see people I care about crying." He hands her a wipe and tells her to grab her stuff.