“Sori…What- what is this?” Jinyoung asked eagerly. “It’s clearly something you didn’t want me to see by the look on your face…are you…hiding something from me?” he asked.

“It’s not that I’m hiding something, I just…. Haven’t told you yet…” Sori replied anxiously. She knew she couldn’t get out of this one but she still wanted to try, even just for another day in peace.

“Haven’t told me what? What’s going on, Sori…” Jinyoung asked confused. “Can we just not talk about this now?” Sori avoided. “Is it really that bad? I thought we weren’t going to keep things from each other.” Jinyoung reminded.

“I know but- it’ll ruin the remaining days we have with each other” Sori froze “I mean-“

“Remaining days? So this plane ticket belongs to you?” Jinyoung raged. He was shocked and didn’t know how to control his anger anymore. “Sori, you’re going to Japan in a week and you never even told me?!” Jinyoung asked, raising his voice.

“I was going to tell you! Can we just sit down and talk!?” Sori dragged Jinyoung to the couch but before she could sit him down he let go of her grasp. “Jinyoung…why-“

“I- I’m leaving” Jinyoung said as he turned around to walk to the door.

“Jinyoung! Wait!” She said grabbing his wrist “are you seriously just going to leave before I can even say anything?! Why can’t you hear me out!?” Sori asked desperately.

“, right? Now you know how it feels for someone to just leave without hearing you out” Sori let go of Jinyoung’s arm in shock. What he said jolted her heart making her freeze there, speechless.

Jinyoung took one last glance at her before he turned around to leave. This time, Sori didn’t interfere.

Jinyoung felt horrible for acting harsh the moment he saw Sori’s reaction but he couldn’t shake the disappointment he felt. He wanted to go back and hear her out but something inside stopped him. He came to the realization that; he didn’t want to know. He knew what was going on and he didn’t want to hear it. The thought of Sori leaving made his heart ache.

Sori sat on her bed with an emotionless expression. She repeated the conversation she just had 100 times. “, right? Now you know how it feels for someone to just leave without hearing you out” those words echoed in her head making her chest tighten.

“How could he say that…?” she mumbled. “Am I really that bad?” Sori worried.

She stared at her suitcase in frustration. She suddenly stood up and began to unpack everything. She knew she would have to repack again, but still, she continued to angrily throw everything back into its place and kicked the suitcase off of her bed.

“You- you all knew? So I was the only person who didn’t know? How could you all not tell me?!” Jinyoung yelled at the rest of the members. “Jinyoung, Dongin only told me, but I accidently let it slip to everyone else. The reason why he told me was so that I make sure you and Sori spend a lot of time together” Shinwoo explained. “What difference does it make? The point is that you all knew and never told me!” Jinyoung raged.

“Sori’s reason for not telling you made sense so we didn’t tell you. Besides, who were we to tell you that she was leaving? She said she wanted to say it to you herself, so we just kept our promise!” Sandeul defended.

“What was her reason for not telling me?” Jinyoung asked.

“You don’t know? I thought you both talked yesterday?” Baro asked.

“I left before she could explain anything” Jinyoung confessed.

“She wanted to spend her last few days with you happily so she didn’t tell you…” Shinwoo informed “But why are you so upset that she didn’t tell you when you don’t even want to know yourself? You were avoiding hearing the truth from her by leaving, weren’t you?” Shinwoo asked suspiciously.

“I left because I was angry-“ “Angry that she was leaving so you wanted to ignore it” Baro interrupted.

“Hyung…I’m sorry but I don’t think you really have the right to be mad at her…She’s only human, she was probably too scared to tell you because she was afraid you’d react like this” Gongchan said making Jinyoung become even more frustrated. Jinyoung couldn’t stand listening to what s were telling him anymore. He stood up and left the recording studio to get some fresh air.

Jinyoung didn’t know what to think anymore. He admitted that the only reason he was angry was because Sori was leaving. He unconsciously took that that anger out on everyone else. All he wanted was to hear Sori’s voice saying, “I’m not leaving”.

Just as Jinyoung was about to exit through the company entrance, he bumped into someone

“…Sori?” he said looking at her relieved expression. “I’m glad I ran into you, can we talk-“ “I’m leaving” Jinyoung said as he approached the doors. Before he could open them, Sori grabbed him by his arm and pulled him back.

 “Stop being such a baby! I came here to apologize! You know how hard it is for me to apologize to people, but I threw away my pride just for you and came here!” Sori yelled, “Are you really just going to continue ignoring me?” Sori asked, frustrated. “I get it Jinyoung, you want to get me back for not listening to you but don’t you think you’re taking it a little too far? I never ignored you like this, so why are you being this way? What’s wrong Jinyoung?!” Sori asked.

“You think I’m doing this to get you back? That’s not why I’m doing this!“ Jinyoung informed. Sori looked at him confused “Then why are you? Because I never told you I was leaving? Then why didn’t you stay to listen to me yesterday?” Jinyoung didn’t respond.

“Jinyoung, I get that you’re angry at me for hiding this from you. I’m really sorry, okay? Let’s sit down and talk about this” Sori advised but Jinyoung still didn’t respond. His face tilted down while his expression remained still. “Jinyoung…?”

“Sori-ah, you’re here?” Shinwoo said surprised.

“Huh- …Yeah...I just arrived…” she said awkwardly. “No wonder why we heard yelling” Baro mumbled to Sandeul.

“You can talk in the studio!” Gongchan suggested, breaking the silence. Seeing as there was no response, the members forcefully dragged them into the studio and shut the door. “We’re not letting you come out unless you’re holding hands!” Baro yelled. Sori and Jinyoung glanced at each other, Sori took this as an opportunity to finally be able to explain everything to Jinyoung so she sat down, forcng him to do the same.

“Jinyoung, are you just going to sit there silently or…?” Sori asked worriedly. She didn’t know why Jinyoung wasn’t bombarding her with questions. She thought he’d yell at her more but he just remained silent.

Sori took a moment to sort out her thoughts and then decided to speak “I guess I’ll start by explaining why I’m leaving” Sori took a deep breath. “Jinyoung…you know how my parents are getting a divorce? Well…it’s unsafe for me to stay here any longer, so my mom thought it would be best if I leave…” Sori explained. She looked up at Jinyoung but she couldn’t tell how he felt.

Finally he began to speak “Does that mean that….you won’t be back until the divorce is settled?” Jinyoung asked.

“Not only until the divorce is settled, but until my mom has put my dad in a position where he can’t harm us” Sori added.

“Since when did you know all of this?” Jinyoung asked. “Right after I talked to my mom that day in the hospital. I told Dongin but I couldn’t tell you, I’m sorry Jinyoung...” Sori sighed.

“Why couldn’t you? You’re supposed to tell me these things! I can’t believe you hid it from me…”

“I’m sorry Jinyoung but, I was just so overwhelmed…”

“It doesn’t seem like you to just leave. Since when were you scared of your father?” Jinyoung asked puzzled.

“I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about my family, Dongin and….you” Sori confessed. “Luckily my father doesn’t even know Dongin yet so if I leave he’ll never find out how much I care for him. If I stay, who knows what he’ll do… not only to Dongin, but to you”

“For me…? Sori, do you remember the day, in this room, when I confessed to you? You told me to promise you that I’d never run away no matter what happened” Jinyoung reminded.

“Yeah….I remember that…” Sori could sense where the conversation was going.

“I feel like you’re taking all the chances for me to stay by your side away. Can’t you let me take care of one thing? I can understand you wanting to protect me but…why can’t you just let me in on things? Why can’t you let me help you? Will you ever allow me protect you?” Jinyoung asked.

Sori stayed silent for a moment. She was thinking about what Jinyoung had just said. Am I really preventing him from staying by my side?

“Jinyoung, the reason why I do these things is because I want you to stay by my side. I want my father to leave you alone because I’m scared that if he doesn’t you’ll get fed up of dealing with it and will leave. I’m sorry if you feel left out, I didn’t mean for it to seem that way.” Sori explained.

“I’d never do that, Sori. Just trust me, If I couldn’t deal with those kinds of things then I wouldn’t have even started a relationship with you” Jinyoung comforted. “Sori…the reason why I left like that yesterday was because I was afraid…I knew that this was why you were leaving but I wanted to avoid the truth. The thought of you leaving…I didn’t want to hear it but at the same time I was still angry that you never told me. I’m sorry for what I said” Jinyoung confessed.

Sori felt bittersweet. She was touched by how much Jinyoung cared for her but she was also upset at all the trouble she was putting him through.

“You don’t have to apologize…you were right about me not hearing people out. I guess I just can’t control myself when I’m angry so I won’t blame you. If I knew things were going to end up this way I-”

“I don’t regret it” Jinyoung suddenly interrupted.  “Huh?”  “I don’t regret meeting you Sori. I don’t regret a single thing and I won’t regret it ever.”

Sori’s worried expression turned into a warm smile. Hearing Jinyoung say that only made her feel more troubled about leaving. “Jinyoung… if you want me to stay then I won’t go to Japan. I haven’t necessary said I’ll go for sure yet so…” Sori suddenly suggested, taking Jinyoung by surprise.

“You would actually stay if I asked you to?” Jinyoung asked.

“I unpacked my things yesterday after you left…I can still say no…if you want.” Sori was sincere in her words. She wanted Jinyoung to decide at least one thing.

It took a while for Jinyoung to respond. “…If you were only leaving to protect me then I’d tell you to stay, but you’re leaving for other reasons too… I don’t know if I even have the right to decided whether you should go or not” Jinyoung replied. “Sori, if you think it’ll be best for you to go, then I guess you should. Although I really don’t want us to be so far apart” Jinyoung sulked.

Sori nodded and took Jinyoung’s hand and put it in hers. “I don’t want to leave either but I guess it’ll be best for everyone if I go…” Sori decided.

“Yeah….” Jinyoung sighed. He was still trying to let it sink in. “She’ll be gone in a week…there’s so much things we haven’t done yet. There’s so much things I haven’t said...”

“I- I think they’re holding hands” Baro said as he peeked through the small window in the door. “Really? Are you sure?” Sandeul asked. “Let’s let them out before they fight then!” Gongchan said pushing Baro aside. Gongchan opened the door with caution to see the two of them sitting there, silently holding hands.

“You’ve made up, right?” Gongchan asked happily. “Yeah” Sori replied with a smile.

“You all have to stop meddling!” Jinyoung scolded s.

“Eh?! if it wasn’t for us meddling you probably still wouldn’t have made up from your first fight” Baro reasoned.

“They’re probably right” Sori laughed. “Well I’m going to go home…to repack…” Sori said scratching the back of her head “Do you want to come with me?” Sori asked.

The rest of the members nodded making Sori laugh “I was talking to Jinyoung” Sori said.

“Awkward…” Sandeul mumbled.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Jinyoung nodded, taking Sori’s hand and leading her outside.

“I’ve decided to stay with Dongin for the week” Sori said as she packed.

“You’re going to sleep on that couch for a week?” Jinyoung worried.

“It’s comfy, so you don’t have to worry. I just want to be with Dongin as much as I can. What if by the time I get back…something happens” Sori confessed.

“Don’t think like that. Dongin is strong, I’m sure he’ll be healthier by the time you get back” Jinyoung comforted. “Plus, it’s unfair to Dongin. That’s the last thing he’d want you to worry about.”

“You’re right… I just can’t help but worry after he fainted like that…” Sori said. “I wanted to become his guardian legally but since I’m leaving I guess that’ll have to wait.” Sori said.

“Huh? You want to adopt him? I thought you didn’t want kids” Jinyoung asked surprised.

“I don’t see Dongin as a kid, he’s a friend that I want to take care of…like my own child. I just don’t want his life to be ruined by his parents. They’ve already done…or not done enough” Sori said, making herself annoyed.

“I’ll make sure he’s fine while you’re gone” Jinyoung reassured. “Thanks Jinyoung” Sori smiled.

“All done.” Sori sighed as she zipped up her suitcase. “I didn’t forget anything did I?” Sori asked herself.

“You did.” Jinyoung replied. “Huh...?” Sori turned her head to Jinyoung.

“Me” Jinyoung chimed, sitting on her suitcase smiling. “Can’t I come with you?” Jinyoung pouted.

“I wish, why, out of all the guys I could have dated did I choose a musician?” Sori said shaking her head “You better not forget about me when I’m gone! Musicians are always players. That’s why you always hear about their breakups in those gossip magazines” Sori joked.

“I have a feeling you’ll forget about me first” Jinyoung sighed.

“That reminds me, we don’t have anything… special, to remind us of each other. Those couple t-shirts are too cheesy for me though” Sori giggled.

“We’ve only bought food together. I wonder why…” Jinyoung said sarcastically.

“Hey! Food is much more beneficial!” Sori defended. “Not when it’s ice cream!” Jinyoung replied. “You better not eat a bunch of instant noodles!” Jinyoung nagged. “As if you’re healthy…” Sori said rolling her eyes. “now get off my suitcase!” she said pushing him off.

“Let’s go get something that you’ll always wear and will never lose. Something that will be useful” Jinyoung suggested.

“Like what?” Sori asked.

“I know just the thing!” Jinyoung smiled and held Sori’s hand. “Let’s go” He said pulling her outside her apartment, before she could even refuse.

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I have so much course work but how could i not update on Jinyoung's birthday? i finally got myself to finish this chapter. it took me a while to figure out how i should go about it. This fic is almost over! Hopefully it'll be done by 2014.