I had a lot of fun going out with Ken for the night. We only hung out at a restaurant until it closed, but still just sitting there and joking around seemed to help me cheer up. When we had gotten back to the hotel, a hostile VIXX leader and main vocal were awaiting us.

“Are you trying to start more rumors? We haven’t even cleaned up the first one.” Leo pretty much yelled. It looked like he was even holding back some of his rage. It made me feel kind of bad.

“Look you two, I know it was just an innocent dinner, but you should have gone with a bigger group. What if someone saw you and decided to write about it on the fan cafes again?” N started his long lecture about how it was irresponsible and careless of us to go out to dinner like that and even though we meant nothing by it, we still should have gone with a group, and blah blah blah.

I tried my best not to zone out during N’s nagging, but pretty much my good mood was slipping away with each sentence and the whole dinner with Ken was now pointless. I looked over at Leo to see if there was a way for the two of us to slip away and have just N lecture Ken but it seemed that the two were on the same boat and I would have to suffer.

I get it. I really did, but they were really just being too paranoid now. How much worse could things get? If anyone wrote in the fan cafes now it would probably just start saying things like “Oh so she’s trying to get with ALL of the members.” “Is she trying to tear the group apart?” At this point in time, I wasn’t worried one bit. I have made my decision. All I have to do is tell the CEO that I’m choosing Leo.

“YAH! Yoo Kyuri, are you even listening to me? I should be lecturing you more than Jaehwan-ah. What are you thinking? Please stop acting so recklessly so you don’t hurt your reputation before your debut.” N grabbed my hand and held it in his.

“But couldn’t some rumors before debut help me with popularity?” I asked.

I saw Leo shake his head and start to walk away from over N’s shoulder. “That’s not a good way to get fans, Kyuri-yah. That’s only a good way to get enemies in this business and you don’t want enemies from just your debut.”

“Oppa, I’m just trying to make light of this.” I sighed.

“Well how about you try and end this so all of us don’t have to worry anymore.” N stomped his foot and stormed off in a huff.

His outburst had startled all three of us and caused Leo to come walking back to where Ken and I stood surprised. Ken placed his hand on my arm and muttered “It’s going to be okay” before slowly following after VIXX’s leader. Leo replaced Ken at my side and waited for me to come to.

I was struggling to bring my stare from off the ground. I hadn’t really noticed how much this was hurting all of the VIXX members. Out of all of them, I had least expected N to yell at me. So what was his stance on all of this now? Did he still support mine and Leo’s relationship or did he want us to break up? I hadn’t noticed my shortness in breath until Leo grasped my shoulders and made me look up at him. He started to do some deep breathing in hopes that I would mirror his actions. I tried and slowly regained my composure.

“You’ve made a decision then?” Leo asked.

“How did you know?”

“Why else would you speak so carelessly about all of this? Just before we got here, you were panicking about what to do and what you should choose. And now, just a mere few hours later, you are speaking and acting so recklessly as if you don’t even care anymore.”

“Oppa, I do care and you’re right. I have made up my mind.” Leo stared at me, anxiously waiting for me to speak my decision. “But I don’t think now is the proper time to handle this.”

“What do you mean you don’t think this is the proper time?” Leo raised his voice again. “You’re seriously going to let this drag out?”

I shook my head gently.  “No. The CEO gave us until the end of the showcase tour right? Why can’t I speak my decision then?”

“Everything has to be a big spectacle for you, doesn’t it?” Leo rubbed the back of his neck as he sighed. “Why can’t we just end this now? If you have made a decision, it’s foolish to drag this drama out.”

“So I can’t sleep on my decision? I can’t make sure this is really what I want and am happy with? What if I wake up thinking that I should have chosen otherwise?”

Leo scoffed. “Then obviously your heart doesn’t even know what you want or you’re just too foolish to listen to it.” As he turned around to walk away, he looked back at me. “If you don’t tell the CEO your decision, then I’ll make up my mind.”

I watched Leo walk away. Did he really think a threat was going to get me to call up the CEO right now and tell him my decision? What was he thinking? Hasn’t he already assumed that I was going to pick him? If he knew better he would already know that I was going to choose him.

I didn’t sleep at all that night. N and Leo’s harsh words kept repeating in my head. Maybe I should just call the CEO in the morning and tell him my decision. Like Leo said, there was no reason to drag this out. However, the CEO said if I chose Leo then I might not debut. Would he pull me from the tour then too?

No. The CEO wouldn’t do that to Hongbin and Hyuk. He’d probably let me finish performing with them before placing me on the bench or canceling my contract. I heaved a sigh as I tossed and turned for a few more minutes before finally passing out from exhaustion.

“Yoo Kyuri, get up right now.” I rolled over, away from the noise and tried to keep whatever dream I was having from fading away. “YAH! GET UP! WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” Cold air slams against my body as the covers I had cocooned myself in were pulled away.

I struggled to open my eyes thanks to my rude awakening, and I tried my best to comprehend all that was happening at the moment. With my bed covers in hand stood Ravi and Hongbin, neither looking too pleased at the moment. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up and stared at them confused. Ravi let out a sigh before tossing the covers aside.

“Did you forget we have dress rehearsals? You have a performance today. Kyuri-yah, what happened to your alarm? Did it not go off?” Ravi started asking all kinds of questions but I wasn’t able to keep up with any of them. I felt like I had a serious hangover even though I didn’t drink. I must have really overslept.

“Sloooooow down Ravi. She can’t keep up.” Hongbin placed his hand on Ravi’s shoulder and knelt down in front of me. “Change and come out into the hallway. Everyone is in the van already. We’ll be out in the hallway, okay?” I nodded, letting him know I understood what he had said. “Good.”

Hongbin pulled Ravi behind him as he exited my hotel room and left me sitting on my bed, still in a sleepy stupor. I decided to be lazy and only put on a pair of jeans, leaving the shirt I had slept in on. I brushed through my hair quickly and grabbed my purse before rushing out the door, almost colliding with Ravi and Hongbin and I stepped out the door.

Not a word was said in the van. There was some serious awkward tension floating around inside the van. Why couldn’t manager drive me to rehearsal? Why didn’t he come and wake me up? I began to think after getting snubbed by even Hyukkie as I looked around the van. I managed to catch VIXX’s manager’s glance in the rearview mirror. He gave me an apologetic look before looking over at N, who was very intently focused on his phone. So this was N’s doing?

Hongbin, Hyuk, and I rehearsed our performances first and they seemed to rush through them. This worried me about the performance. If we can’t even do well at rehearsal, would they be able to come around for tonight’s performance and do well?

“Kyuri-yah, come here.” My manager called out to me after I finished dancing with Hyuk. I rushed over to him and he guided me down a few different hallways before the two of us were entirely alone.

“Do you know what’s going on with the guys? Why didn’t you wake me up this morning? And why did you let Ravi and Hongbin into my room so they could wake me up? Why is everyone so weird today?” I couldn’t hold back all of the questions I had racing through my head. I’m sure my manager was going to explain before I asked but I just really couldn’t help asking first.

He let out a sigh and ruffled my hair. “I talked to VIXX’s manager early this morning. He told me after you and Ken got back, N lectured and complained to all the members until they forced him to fall asleep. Leo apparently didn’t say anything to stop him either. That’s probably why they are all acting so weird today. They’re probably upset because they got an earful last night.”

“I don’t understand. How is this entirely my fault? Why does N have to get so worked up about all of this and then take it out on the others? This is mine and Leo’s problem.”

“Kyuri, that’s just it. You’re only thinking about mainly yourself.”

“What?” Manager’s words took me by surprise and I almost felt as if I was talking to Leo at the moment.

“You’re going to be a solo artist so you wouldn’t quite understand the close bond of a group, like how VIXX is. They may look like just a group of friends, but they’re a team. Just like a sports team or any other team, they all have to do well or the group as a whole fails. If one is hurting, they are all hurting. Do you understand?”

N’s words from the night before came back to mind. “Well how about you try and end this so all of us don’t have to worry anymore.” I felt stupid for not fully understanding what N had meant last night. Because of me, ALL of the VIXX members were suffering because I was taking my time making a decision, not just Leo. It seemed like such a simple idea, but like what my manager had said I was only thinking about myself.

I felt my chest tighten up and suddenly the hallway seemed to feel extremely narrow. It felt like my head had started spinning. I backed up against one of the walls and slid down to the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees in hopes my dizziness would go away. My manager kneeled down in front of me, placing his hand on forehead. I think he was asking me if I was feeling sick and I could had sworn that I had responded to him, but the next thing I knew I was in his arms and he was running outside to the vans.

A/N: Hello readers, I hope you enjoyed this update. Things are starting to wrap up for this story, I'm sorry to say, but it won't be for another few chapters. Thank you all for reading and please anticipate the next chapter!!