The Contract

Strong Too Long

Y/N's POV

One Week Later

Yoongi had thought it wasn't possible to be even more exhausted but he discovered he was wrong. His uncle had attempted to send people to get her from the hotel their second day there. He had ended up moving her into the band's apartment after talking with Namjoon. It would just be until the purchase went through but the sense of security was nice. The rest of the members stayed in the apartment with him since he didn't want to have her alone while they practiced at the company's headquarters. Yoongi holed up in his studio, even Hoseok couldn't get him to come out.

Despite the language barrier, the members succeeded in making her feel welcome. Jin showed her how to cook some Korean food, getting a chance to practice his English again. This time around he was less timid and got her to laugh with his jokes, surprising not only her but everyone else in hearing distance. She didn't know it but Hoseok had a talk with him, wanting her to be encouraged to eat more and often. Jin found taste-testing helped with this task.

Jimin discovered the reason she had been watching Yoongi in the hotel room was she actually danced herself and fairly well. At first she was very shy, any amateur would be in the presence of a professional dancer, but he got her to dance with him, V, and Hoseok.

"You can be our backup dancer." Hoseok laughed after giving her a few pointers.

V and she connected over photography. She liked taking pictures. She had been very active on Instagram before coming to Korea and showed him her photos, a sad, wistful look coming over her face at pictures of her family. He managed to ask her if she'd talked to them and she had just shaken her head sadly. Did she want to talk to them? No. What could they do?

Namjoon pulled her aside the first day and explained what had happened. He felt proud of Yoongi for standing up for both of them. Mark visited everyday and when the members were practicing or discussing their music, which was almost all the time, she studied intensely. Just having a friendly tutor that didn't look like he wanted to eat her alive and spit out the bones seemed to have improved her language acquisition. All she needed was a friendly face.

The members and her grew worried for Yoongi. They tried knocking but he ignored them. He wasn't even eating. While she didn't like the situation, she felt indebted to Yoongi for having her back so she asked Jin to help her fix up some good and she went and knocked. No answer. She knocked again.

"Yoongi-ssi." She hadn't been sure what to call him at first. She was uncomfortable using his given name, but calling him his stage name would be silly, so she sucked it up.  "I'm not leaving so open up." Was she being rude? Should she just leave him alone? She'd already ruined his life. She felt unsure and second-guessed every knock, but she also felt the least she could do for him was get him to eat. He'd done a lot for her already. So she stubbornly knocked until, finally, she heard padded footsteps and the door opened. Yoongi was wearing a black hoodie and looked like Death.

Yoongi's POV

"I'm not hungry." He said listlessly. To his surprise, she shoved the door open and walked by him. He'd been sleeping, or attempting to sleep, on the sofa in there. She set the bowl, chopsticks, and water on the coffee table and sat down. He stood at the door for a moment, slightly dumbfounded, but finally closed it. He stood there awkwardly for a moment and then came and sat down next to her. Guess he wasn't the only stubborn person in this apartment.

"Have you been sleeping?" He took a second to process what she said and shook his head.

"Are you afraid?" He didn't reply at first but looked down and nodded. She hesitated, then reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. She didn't know him and they were in a difficult situation together, but he could tell she was worried about him. That hit him hard, he didn't know why. He felt tears coming to his eyes and quickly used his other hand to cover his face, trying to hide them.

He had support, he knew that, but was trying to keep everything inside. Being strong for too long. First the tears came, then the sobs. He tried holding them back but he couldn't stop. He covered his face with both hands, his whole body shaking as each sob forced its way out of him. He felt so overwhelmed and depressed, like something was pushing him into the ground. She kept one hand on his shoulder and rubbed his back with the other, saying nothing.

"I can't do this." He sobbed in Korean. She got up for a moment, went to the door, and he heard her call Jin. Jin exclaimed when he entered and hurried over.

"What's wrong?" He said, wrapping an arm around Yoongi.

"What's he saying?" he heard the worried tone in her voice.

"He says...he cannot do this."

"Oh." Jin rocked him and she kept her hand on his back. It was awhile before he felt calm enough to dry his eyes. She gave him a kleenex.

"Sorry." He said, taking a deep breath.

"You have nothing to apologize for, except not telling us you felt this way." Jin scolded him. Surprisingly, nothing had changed but Yoongi felt a lot better.

"Gomawa." He said to her as he shakily reached for the food. Now he was hungry. She seemed surprised at the less formal way he spoke but said nothing.

"Talk to us, Suga. We are here for you." Jin said reassuringly. Yoongi nodded.

"I know. I think I've just...just been trying to pretend it didn't happen."

"Well obviously that's not working." Jin teased him slightly. Yoongi gave a sad smile.

At the end of the week, the whole band helped them "move" into the new, high-security apartment. They didn't have a lot to move but that's the excuse everyone used to see the place and have a take out dinner together with her and Yoongi. Namjoon accompanied them to the bank to translate for her. And Yoongi finally took his uncle's phone calls.

"The tutor wasn't working for her. I got her one and she's already improving immensely."

"The contract you signed explicitly said to not interfere in company affairs."

"I'm not. I'm managing my household. She was struggling. I fixed the problem. What's the problem? You said get her to cooperate, are you questioning my methods?" He said with a bravado he didn't feel. There was silence.

"You moved out of the apartment."

"I wanted my own place."

"I want her enrolled in a graduate program this fall. And she needs visits from someone who can give her lessons on the company."

"Fine. But if they do not behave respectfully I'll deny them access." He heard his uncle's displeased grunt. But it didn't matter, he'd won this fight. If he forced whoever was sent to request access every time they came he could keep everyone he didn't want out if he chose.

And now he'd be gone for a couple days with the band.