A rush of guilt and worry rushed over Jinyoung as he looked at what his manager had sent him. All he could do is stare at it, and hope it would disappear.

“Why are you so damn careless, Jinyoung!” he thought as he hit himself on the head with his cellphone.

The picture showed Jinyoung kissing Sori’s cheek, taken when Sori and Jinyoung exited the Sushi restaurant last night. While they waited for a taxi they were holding hands, and since Sori was still upset, Jinyoung decided to kiss her. But that wasn’t what Jinyoung was focused on. What he was the most worried about was that the picture showed street signs in Japanese behind them, making it clear exactly where they were.

He felt stupid for not being more careful and was afraid at what could happen. “If her father sees this, he’ll know exactly where Sori is!” he worried with a heavy heart. “I can’t let that happen.” He didn’t care about having a scandal break out, in fact, that was the last worry on his mind. What worried him the most was putting Sori in danger. He wanted to protect her no matter what.

Luckily, Sori wasn’t home yet, so Jinyoung decided to call his manager and ask him what was going on.

“Hyung, who sent you this picture? Do you know who took it?” He asked desperately.

“Ya, Jung Jinyoung, is that really important right now? You know Japan is filled with more paparazzi than Korea, you should have been more careful! The man sent me a message telling me he’s going to publish it!” His manager yelled.

“But how would he even know who I am? It’s not like I’m popular here!” Jinyoung said feeling annoyed and confused. “What’s his number? I’ll get in contact with him and fix everything!”

“He wants a lot of money, Jinyoung. I’m going to tell the company about it. Maybe they’ll pay for it but... it’s a really big amount so I have a feeling they’re just going to let him publish it.”

“Hyung, I don’t care about my image, it’s Sori that I’m worried about. That picture can’t be released no matter what! I don’t care how much money he wants, tell me his number!” Jinyoung pleaded.

“Do whatever you want, but I’m telling you, you won’t be able to pay the amount. Stop being delusional and come back to Korea right now so we can sort this out with the company together” His manager ordered.

“I’m not going back to Korea until this is settled and Sori is safe” Jinyoung refused.

“Jung Jinyoung! Is your career worth all of this? Why are you being so selfish!? Think of your parents and what they’d think! Are you really willing to risk everything to protect that girl?” his manger roared.

“Her name is Sori, not “that girl”. If you’re not going to even try to understand why that picture can’t be released then I’m done with this conversation. Send me his contact information right now! I’ll go see him myself and take care of everything before Sori finds out about this.” 

“What the hell is going on?” Sori said dropping the grocery bags on the ground. Jinyoung, startled by the sound of Sori’s voice, immediately hung up and walked over to Sori with caution.

“Sori...you’re home?” he said, scratching his head nervously. “How much did you hear?” he said with a worried expression.

“I heard everything, now tell me what the hell is going on!?” she yelled.

“I don’t want to stress you out Sori…you’ve been through enough so just let me take care of it on my own” Jinyoung said.

“Jinyoung, you better tell me everything right now or else I’m sending you back to Korea myself. I don’t need someone who keeps things away from me” Sori raged.

“But, Sori-“

“We’re supposed to be a team! If something bad happens we’re suppose to fight through it together, didn’t we decide that?” Sori said filled with disappointed.

“But I know if I tell you then you’ll do everything by yourself. It’s my fault so I want to take care of it on my own!” Jinyoung expressed.

“Fine, then leave. Comeback when you want to tell me” Sori said coldly.

“Sori, why are you being like this!?” he yelled.

“How did you think I’d react? “Alright Oppa, thank you for protecting me! I’ll just sit down and smile for you while you save me!” did you think I’d say that?” Sori said with a cold laugh.

“No but-“ Suddenly both Sori and Jinyoung’s phones began to vibrate, they both received the same message that showed the same picture that Jinyoung’s manager sent, this time it was coming from the man who took it himself. At the bottom read a message.

“I know who both of you are. One of you is an idol who needs a squeaky clean image to survive and the other is the daughter of a billionaire. You know what I want, give it to me and then everything will be fine.”

Sori looked up at Jinyoung and gave him an angry stare. She couldn’t believe that he would keep something like this away from her.

“You stay here” She said, heading out the door. “Sori, where are you going?” he asked, grabbing onto her wrist.

“I’m going to go give this man his money. He’ll sign a contract to never release it, and then I’ll get my mom to make sure he never tries something like this again. You think this hasn’t happened to me before?”

“So you’re going to go take care of it all by yourself, just like I knew you would” Jinyoung said, crossing his arms in annoyance.

“So, What’s wrong with that? When men want to be in control they’re seen as manly but when a women wants to, all of a sudden it’s seen as a problem. I’d let you help Jinyoung, I really would, but I’m not going to let you blow more than 10 paychecks for me” Sori’s mind was set and it wasn’t going to change.

“It’s hard for me, okay? I have this thought instilled in my mind that I have to protect you and it’s hard to just watch it always be the other way around!” he vented. “This… this is my fault! I just-“

“It’s not your fault Jinyoung! Why are you only blaming yourself? The picture shows both of us and if either one of us were missing then this man would have nothing on us” Sori interrupted. “Let’s just help with the things we can help with. Remember that time when Haejin broke into my house? I called you right away because I needed you, because I wanted you to help me. I knew I couldn’t take Haejin out on my own. It’s not that I can’t let you protect me, it’s just that in certain situations it’s better if you let me take care of them. Stop feeling burdened by the role others expect of you. I don’t want you to play out a role for me.”  

Jinyoung’s grip loosened and finally let Sori’s hand go. “You’re right, I really don’t have the money to pay that amount but... let me pay you half of it.”

“Sure Jinyoung… if that’s what you want. Don’t stress about it though, you can take your time, I understand...”

“maybe…maybe I should leave…” Jinyoung voiced suddenly, looking up at Sori.

“Huh? What do you mean leave? Leave this apartment or leave-“
“Go back to Korea” He interrupted. “I’m only going to cause you trouble staying here. I should probably head back” Sori’s heart began to drop. She understood where Jinyoung was coming from but she just didn’t want it to come down to this.

“You’re only staying here for a week though, you’re just going to leave like this, after one day?” Sori questioned, her expression beginning to harden.

“It’s probably best if I do... I don’t want to cause you any harm, I just can’t risk it” Jinyoung said sadly. He could sense how upset Sori was feeling, although her face didn’t show much emotion.

“Is it because of what I said?” Sori asked frustrated.

“No, everything you said is right, and I’m sorry. I just think it would be best-“

“Fine, if that’s what you want to do then I won’t stop you” Sori yelled.

“Sori-ah!“ before Jinyoung could say anything back, Sori opened the door to her apartment and left, leaving Jinyoung there by himself.

Sori stepped outside into the cold and began to walk at a quick pace. She didn’t know where she was going but she continued walking, trying her best to hold in her emotions. When she felt that her heart couldn’t hold it in any longer she suddenly walked into an empty alleyway. As soon as she stopped walking, all of her tears began to fall quietly. 

Suddenly, Sori’s phone began to ring. She quickly wiped away her tears and saw that she was getting a long distance call.

“Hello?’ Sori said, her voice trembling.

“Sori-ah, you don’t have to worry about anything. I took care of that paparazzi guy.” It was her mother.

“Mom…? thank you…” Sori let out a sigh of relief.

“Sori-ah, are you alright? Are you crying?” her mom said, her voice filled with concern.

There was no reply. “Sori-ah?” her mom repeated.

“Mom… Jinyoung said he’s going to go back to Korea” Sori informed, trying not to sound upset.

“He’s coming back already? Why? Let me guess, to protect you, isn’t it?” her mother asked.

“Yeah… how typical, right? Why can’t he just let me protect myself?” Sori complained.

“Oh, Sori… couples are always like that. You’re always trying to protect him, and he’s doing the same for you. There’s no helping it. I’m surprised you’re crying though… the last thing you’d cry about are boys” Her mom chuckled.

“I- I want to be with Jinyoung for a long time so I just want us to have some common ground but… I feel like we’ll just keep fighting” Sori said.

“You’ve only been together for how long? A little more than half a year? Sori, you’ve got your whole lives to fight and make-up and learn about each other. The important thing is that you two always seem to work things out in the end.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“Sori, you’ve changed a lot in such a short amount of time. The Sori I knew use to never hear people out. When you were angry you’d just run away-”

“Umm… I still kind of run away” Sori laughed.

“You ran away now, didn’t you?” her mom predicted.

“Not really, I just needed some fresh air after Jinyoung told me he was leaving” Sori defended.

“Alright, anyways I have some paperwork I still need to fill out. You and Jinyoung be good to each other, okay? Bye Sori”

“Bye Mom.” Sori smiled and hung up.

She took a deep breath and patted her eyes with a tissue to get rid of any signs of her crying. Although she still couldn’t shake the blue feeling she felt in her heart, she realized that she had to face Jinyoung. After all, he could be gone tomorrow.

As Sori opened the door to her apartment the scent of food filled her nose. She could hear the sound of pots and pans moving and hurried to the kitchen and saw Jinyoung cooking something,

“Jinyoung…? Why are you-“

“Sori-ah!” he said surprised. “I didn’t hear you come in…” He said nervously as he walked up to her. Sori didn’t know what to say to him, they both just stared at each other.

“Sori, your eyes look puffy…did you-“

“I’m going to go change” Sori interrupted before Jinyoung could finish his sentence.

“Sori, wait!” he said grabbing onto Sori’s arm and turning her around to face him. Jinyoung could tell when Sori cried since she wouldn’t do it often. He knew that she didn’t like people seeing her cry, so he decided not to say anything about it, even though he wanted to comfort her.

“Sori…will you eat dinner with me? I made a lot of food for you” he asked instead.

“I- I’m not hungry” She said, trying to avoid his eyes. “Sori, please? I just want us to eat together for-“

“For the last time?” she said, finishing off his sentence for him.

“Do- do you want me to stay?” Jinyoung suddenly blurted out. He couldn’t hold in his feelings any longer.

“What?” Sori said confused.

“If you want me to stay then… why can’t you just tell me to directly?” Jinyoung said frustrated. “I didn’t mean it, okay? I don’t really want to leave. I was just upset and felt that I was only causing you problems so I wanted to feel like you wanted me around. I’ll stay in this apartment for a week without even going outside if it’s for you” Jinyoung finally brought himself to say.

“When you said you were going to leave, you sounded serious” Sori said annoyed.

“I was being serious, but deep inside… I just wanted you to ask me not to go. I know that’s really selfish of me…” Jinyoung said, looking down at the floor.

“Yeah, that is really selfish of you, Jinyoung. Do you know how horrible I’ve felt for the past few hours? You could have at least told me you didn’t want to go!”

“Well, I’m telling you now, aren’t I? Sori, at least I’m being completely honest with you before it’s too late. Will you do the same for me too? This goes both ways, we’re both equally selfish. You didn’t tell me you didn’t want me to leave and I didn’t say how I really felt either. We’re both always trying to protect our pride and if this keeps going on we’ll always fight.”

Sori fell silent for a moment and tried to understand how Jinyoung felt. “You’re right, we’re both equally selfish, but at least it’s equal so we can still work on it together” Sori said.

“I guess since we’re now living together, these kinds of fights are expected. I just didn’t expect us to be fighting so soon…” Jinyoung sighed.

“Let’s stop fighting…we’ve already wasted one whole day together fighting. I don’t want to see you off like this so…” Sori paused for a moment.

 “Will you stay here with me?” she brought herself to say.

Jinyoung eyes lit up and a smile formed on his face. “Can I stay here with you, Sori? Please?” he asked back, holding her hand.

“If the food you made tastes goods, then yes. If not, then no” she teased.

Jinyoung wrapped Sori in his arms and let out a sigh of relief. “I feel at ease when we’re this close.”

Sori could feel Jinyoung heart beating quickly, she realized how worried Jinyoung must have been this whole time. “Let’s try our best to not piss each other off again, alright?” Sori said, letting out a laugh. “And, Jinyoung?”

“Yeah, Sori-ah?”

“Take it easy, okay? We’re in this together so don’t ever try to fight through something alone. I hate that the most.”

“Alright, I promise not to, but you have to do the same too, okay?”

“Deal”.

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This chapter has been mostly done for the past week but i didn't like it so i edited it 100 times but i'm still on the fence about it so sorry if it . Since the fic is almost done i have to be extra careful so that it doesn't go downhill, i don't know if im dong a good job of that though.