If You

Stay

Emily stared at the table, chewing her nails as she listened to the arguing around her.

"What I don't understand is why you would agree to keep this from us, Seunghyun!" Daesung said hotly. "Who makes a promise like that?"

"You don't have to know everything!" Seunghyun retorted.

"If we'd known this might not have happened!" Youngbae cut in.

"We don't know that," Seungri countered.

"The police have been kept aware of the situation," Sagowa said. "We've been keeping an eye on it. Getting upset is not going to help."

"Don't you trust us, Emily?" Daesung asked, turning his attention to her. Emily looked up. "Of course I do, but-"

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know-"

"You could've been attacked!"

"Daesung-"

"That's enough, Daesung!" Jiyong said, putting a protective hand on Emily's shoulder. "None of this is Emily's fault. Back off!"

Daesung stormed out and Emily sighed before getting up. "Daesung!" she called, running after him. He ignored her and she caught up to him. "What was that?" she demanded, blocking his path. He looked up at her and she saw tears on his cheeks. "What if they had hurt you?" he said thickly. "I..." he didn't finish, more tears running down his face. Emily wrapped her arms around him gently. "I'm okay, Daesung," she whispered. "No one's hurt me. I'm okay." He hugged her tightly, his body shaking slightly as his tears abated. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know," Emily replied, rubbing his back gently. Jiyong came out of the conference room and Emily nodded at him over Daesung's shoulder. "I'm sorry too," she whispered.

******

Emily sat on her bed, staring at her phone. She debated calling her dad and telling him what was going on, but she couldn't begin to imagine how that conversation would go. He's thousands of miles away, she reasoned. What can he do about it?

Her phone rang suddenly and she jumped, her heart thudding in her ears. "Hello?" she said, putting it to her ear.

"Hey, it's me," Jiyong said. "I just wanted to check on you after that disaster of a meeting."

"I'm fine," she lied, staring up at the ceiling. "Is your car fixed?"

"Actually the police have it. They wanted pictures for evidence."

Emily bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"It's just a car, babe. I have other ones."

Emily rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. "Are the others still upset?" she asked.

"I think they're calmer now. Sagowa talked them down and they went home. Have you called your family?"

"No, and I don't plan to," Emily said firmly. "They can't do anything about it but worry and try to convince me to come home."

There was a brief silence. "Do you want to go home, Emily?"

"No! I am not going to be bullied into quitting by some crazy stalker!" she said adamantly.

"Okay, okay," Jiyong said, a hint of relief in his voice. "Do you want me to come over? I'm about to leave the studio and I could bring dinner."

"No, go home and sleep. I know you're exhausted."