Gaelin woke sometime in the middle of the night and felt incredibly alone and scared, “Soo-hyuk,” she whispered as she remembered the horrible things she had said.

“I am here,” Soo-hyuk whispered and she sat up and let her eyes adjust. Soo-hyuk sat on a chair, still dressed in his suit. “You told me to leave. You don’t have the right.”

“Soo-hyuk…”

“You were crying in your sleep.” He reached for the bottle of wine but she slipped off the bed and snatched the bottle away, “Don’t drink anymore. You have to be at your best in the morning.”

“Now she cares,” he smiled ruefully, “after she sent me away and told me I would be a bad leader and father.”

Gaelin set the bottle down and took his hand and pulled him to the bed, he didn’t protest. Slowly she ed his shirt and slipped it off his shoulders, “I don’t want to change.” He said stubbornly.

“You have to.” Gaelin took the shirt and moved to put it on the chair but Soo-hyuk caught her arm and she stared down into his face, “Bwo?”

“Did you mean it?”

“You know I didn’t.”

“Sometimes it is not so obvious to me, sometimes I am not so sure of how you feel. I hate this feeling.” He admitted.

“Soo-hyuk…” she clasped his cheek and he waited. Slowly she lowered onto his. “I was emotional and scared for Hoseok oppa.”

“We all were emotional last night.” He pushed the hair away from her face and traced the line of her jaw, “I want you to be extra careful this time. I don’t trust Minjae hyung. He is restless and reckless.”

“I know.” Gaelin slid off the bed and fetched something more comfortable for him to wear. Soo-hyuk changed and then they slid under the covers. “What am I going to do about oppa?”

“He will be fine. He is strong you know that.” He whispered and his voice had grown heavy as he drifted into sleep.

Gaelin let him rest. It was important that he was at his best for the competition. Especially now that they knew what they could expect.

Gaelin woke before Soo-hyuk and quietly washed and dressed. She decided to wear jeans and a sweater. It was chilly moving up into the mountains and she also didn’t want to be constricted by business attire. After changing she joined Yoongi in his carriage.

"We are about three hours away." Yoongi said as a waiter served coffee. “I don’t know what will happen when we arrive.”

"Where is oppa?" Gaelin took a sip of the steaming hot coffee.

"He's still resting. What a start to the competition." Yoongi was deep in thought, "I realize that I don't want to be the head of this consortium. It is Lee Soo-hyuk that is best suited and we should be working to make sure that Minjae doesn't win."

Yoongi and Gaelin looked up when Hoseok entered and approached the table. He surprised them by bowing, "Oppa please don't apologise." Hoseok straightened and sat beside her, "How are you feeling?"

"Not great. But seriously what are the judges playing at?"

"They said this final leg would take us out of our comfort zone and test us." Yoongi reminded. "And Minjae ssi said something interesting last night. He said this competition is about losing, not winning."

"For