“You don’t have to decide now. I’ll give you until the end of the tour to come up with an answer. I’m sure you two need to talk about this.” The CEO said, noticing my loss of words and lack of a response.

“Yes sir.” Leo and I responded.

“You may go back to the hotel. I hope to hear from you two soon.” We got out of our seats and bowed to the CEO before following our managers out.

I kept my hands folded in front of me and my head hung low the entire way back to the hotel, where the rest of VIXX was waiting in the lobby for us. Noticing right away the sober aura that hovered over Leo and me, the members rushed over to comfort us.

“What did the CEO have to say? Are you two in trouble?” N questioned, trying to look into my eyes.

“Are the rumors true?” Ken asked, earning a slap on the arm from Ravi.

“Obviously, hyung.”

“What are you going to do? Noona, why didn’t you say anything?” Hyuk asked, sounding hurt.

“Guys, give them some space. They have a lot of thinking to do.” VIXX’s manager said, stepping in to separate us from the members. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You five are going to ride in one van with me and Taekwoon and Kyuri will ride in the other van so they can work this out. The sooner you two come up with a solution the better, got it?”

Everyone nodded and gave us sad looks before following VIXX’s manager out of the hotel. My chest felt tight with pent up emotions and without much notice my tears began to fall yet again. Leo looked away from me with a frown and back at his retreating friends. My manager walked up to Leo and me and sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Look, everything will be okay. You just made a mistake. It happens and you’re going to make many more in the future. You’re not perfect, Kyuri-yah. No one is. You and Leo will get through this, hear me?” He seemed to have calmed down a lot now and his words were actually helping me calm down. “Let’s get going okay? If you two want, I’ll help you reach a decision.”

He began to lead both Leo and I outside to the car. I tried my best not to hang my head so low but I didn’t want to look up. I was afraid there would be Starlights waiting outside the hotel with cameras. I was afraid another article would surface before we could give the press an answer. I was afraid Leo would give up on me because I was so afraid of losing my future if I chose to stay with him.

Leo had yet to say a word since we had left the CEO’s office and this worried me even more. Was he just trying to stay calm or was he thinking of what he wanted to do? I couldn’t tell but I was afraid to ask, seeing as the expression he wore was different from his typical poker face. This expression was grimmer. His mouth was in a straight line. His eye brows were furrowed, causing slight wrinkles in his forehead. His stare was hard and focused on the road in front of us, even though we were in the back seat.

I decided it was best just to get my feelings out in the open, seeing as no one had any intent to speak their thoughts out loud at the moment.

“I don’t want to give up on my debut.” I said, looking down at my lap. I could see from the corner of my eye Leo’s attention snapping towards me. “I’ve worked so hard to get here and to just let it slip through my fingers like this would kill me. But I don’t want to give up on you either Taekwoon oppa. I want us to be able to stay together. You’ve helped me improve so much as well. Why would I want to give up someone as wonderful as you?”

I looked up at Leo and noticed he was still wearing a cold expression. I could slowly feel my hope diminish as I heard Leo’s words. “Just like the CEO said, it’s me or your career. We can’t have an in-between. I don’t want to lose you either but you have to pick what is more important to you right now.”

“Manager oppa, what do you think?” I asked, praying that he would have a similar opinion to mine.

“Leo’s right. You cannot search for a loophole here. It’s best to pick one or the other.” He replied.

I felt betrayed. How could they do this to me? Was this Leo’s way of saying he was over our relationship? Thoughts of my previous conversation about this though with Leo the night before came to mind. I couldn’t feel hurt by this. I had to decide. I wanted to pick Leo. That was almost an immediate answer, but then the thought of what am I going to do for the rest of my life also came to mind.

If I chose Leo and gave up on being an idol, would I be okay with going back to school? Would I be able to get a job and save up so I could afford college? Was there really any career that school could prepare me for that I’d be okay with doing for the rest of my life?

If I chose being an idol over Leo, would we still be able to be friends? Would we maybe even be able to rekindle our relationship after a while and start over? Leo wasn’t the type of person to wait around. If something was over, it was over for good in his opinion.

Essentially the decision was left up to me to make seeing as I would be impacted the most from it. The car ride to the next hotel was silent. No one looked at each other. No one even let out a slight sound to rid of the silence for a brief moment. The rest of VIXX and their manager were waiting in the lobby of the next hotel with our room assignments and schedule for the next day. Leo stood away from me and I would catch N’s worried glances from time to time, while the managers were debriefing us about the upcoming show. After the managers dismissed us, Ken linked arms with me and pulled me off to the side.

“Hey, let’s go out tonight. You and I will just go find a nice place to chill out and get your mind off of things so you can be well rested for tomorrow’s performance.”

“I don’t know Ken. I need to make a decision still and if I go out…”

“Don’t worry about anything. Trust me. You and I will have a great time tonight and you’ll decide on the choice that feels right to you.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. “As cheesy as it sounds, follow your heart. Whatever calls out to you the most, choose it. Don’t let it slip away.”

Ken was right. I knew he was. It was just so hard to accept the fact that my heart was telling me to give up on my career. Yes, every time I thought of losing Leo or my dreams of being an idol, the idea of losing Leo hurt a lot worse. A lot of people try to become an idol and fail so just becoming another part of that failing statistic seemed to be the easier way out. It’s just what if Leo and I aren’t meant to be? What if we don’t work out as a couple? We’re young. What do we know about true love?

But being with Leo feels right. Being with Leo feels as if anything could go wrong but as long as he was by my side, it would be okay. If we were to take on the world, it feels like we would be unstoppable. He brings out a side of me that I never knew existed and I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am without him.

This had to be my heart telling me what decision to make. This had to be it. I had to kiss my dreams goodbye and make the foolish decision to choose love over a career.

A/N: Hello readers, thank you for reading this update and being so patient. I am not currently out of school so I am hoping to have more time to write. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and please anticipate the next one!