Can I help you?

Chapter 62

The next morning the boys get up only to be greeted by 4 grumpy women. The boys decide not to ask questions for now and they just eat in silence. The silence is really deafening. Suddenly Emma speaks up.

"So let me get over the plans for today. Around 11 o'clock we are going to hit the road again. We will take a stop in San Gimignano, a small but famous town. After we will continue to drive to Firenze in the afternoon. Questions?" "No, all is clear! Let's pack our bags!" Jungkook says while walking back to his room. Jimin glances at him. How can he be so happy when everyone is down? I admire him so much. Jimin smiles shyly at that thought. There is something wrong. Emma sounded sad. Why is she sad? Is she regretting it? Us? RM thinks. Hours later they get into the bus and start the one hour drive to San gimignano.

When arrived, the mood is still a bit down, but starting to get better. All thanks to Jungkooks behavior. During the drive he didn't stop making silly jokes or starting conversations about random subjects. I hope the mood gets better now. I'm happy Jimin-hyung liked the jokes. He looks really cute when he laughs. Jungkook smiles when looking at Jimin that is playing around with Jhope and Jin.

"Let me tell you about San gimignano and what we will do. San Gimignano as you can see still has his medieval looks. You can also see lots of towers. 14 to be exact. In the richest point of the town it had approximately 72 towers. Why? It was a sign of wealth between the many rich families who lived here. There were bloody fights about the towers all the time. Because of the towers this town is also on the UNESCO list. There is another reason why the town is famous, and you all will like it. Have you ever heard about gelateria dondoli? It is an ice cream shop, but not a normal one. It harbours the best ice of the world. And it is situated right in the middle of the town." Emma explains cooly. "OMO YES ICE CREAM" "FINALLY SOME FOOD" "WHAT KINDSSS OF ICE" the members are in a sweat chaos and are having an ice cream frenzy. "I see you all want to eat the ice cream, but lets eat some normal food first okay?" Emma chuckles. They go into the town. The girls are still a bit shaken up by the reveal of yesterday, but are starting to get better.

Suddenly Jimin trips over a stone and falls. "Yah Jiminie hyung look out! Are you hurt?" Jungkook hurries beside him. The others coo at his actions. "Come on everyone, and look where you walk please." Sarah adds."Big Hit doesn't appreciate accidents, and ARMY doesn't either." The mood is totally lightened after the incident. They happily explore the town and search a good restaurant with a back room. In this town they have to be careful, because at noon there are always Japanese and Korean buses who stop for the ice cream.

They find a restaurant, and go to eat. When they are done, they all go wait outside while Emma takes care of the bill with a company pass. She takes a while. "It's taking too long. I am going to go back in and look what's wrong." RM says. He walks back into the restaurant and goes to the cashier. No Emma to be found. He panics. What if something is wrong? Where is she? I don't speak Italian. Emma is the only one who speaks Italian well enough. Luckily for him, the guy behind the cash register is a student, he notices his panic, and suddenly talks in English. "Hello sir. I could not help but notice your distress. Can I help you?" RM is shocked for a moment but quickly composes himself. "Yes, thank you, I am looking for a girl, who went to pay for our bill but I see she is not here. Did you see where she went?" "Yes I did. She paid the bill and went to the toilet. She looked a bit down though. Is everything alright?" "I don't know. Thank you for helping." RM walks back outside and tells the group to go ahead and wait in the line for the ice cream. He walks back into the restaurant and goes straight to the women's bathroom. Being a gentleman, he knocks on the door. No response... I will knock again he knocks again, and this time he says "Emma it's me can you open up?"

Emma opens the door, and RM enters the bathroom. It's a small one, only a few square meters big. There is a big mirror on the wall. Emma stands with her back to RM, looking at a wall. "Yagiya, what's wrong? Why won't you look at me?"

Emma grumbles. "Talk to me Em. I deserve to know what's troubling you. Do you trust me?" "I do. And that's the whole point. If I tell you, I know it will hurt you. I don't want that." Emma says with a voice thick of despair. I don't want to hurt you. Oppa, I need to protect us now. Let me protect us. Emma thinks. "Emma. I. will. Only. Say. It. Once. I don't want us to fight, I want to help. Now TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG." RM shouts angrily. Emma is startled. She lets out a tear. "Please don't be like that. I'll tell you, but please NEVER shout like that again. It brings back memories. Bad ones..." RM kisses her tear away. "I won't baby girl. I'm just worried. I'm sorry. Now spill." He holds Emma by her shoulders "Right. You remember the weird behavior Sarah has had for a while now? Yesterday evening she told us why. Why she was like that. Why we can't..." Emma pauses. "What do you mean we can't?" RM asks. "...date..." Emma is biting her lip, and is choking back tears. "Apparently, we have a hidden clausule in our contract." "What clausule? I personally looked over the contracts." "Do you remember that time Sarah suddenly got called into the office? The CEO had her sign a clausule that states we can't date BTS. I can't date you. I feel horrible. But Sarah has been feeling way way more horrible than this. For a longer time. And please don't make a fuss to Big Hit. I feel like Sarah will get in trouble if you decide to rebel against your company."

A big silence dawns upon them. RM looks at Emma and at the tears that can't stop to roll over her cheeks. He keeps silent.

"Please say something." "What do you want me to say? Sarah kept this quiet. You told me, but it's too late. The clausule is violated. What does the clausule say about violations?"

"It states, that if we date any member of BTS, we will get fired instantly, and we will have to pay a contract termination. Moreover, if we get caught in the media, we will have to pay for the damage to your image and the lawyers. It is a way to legally make sure the company doesn't endanger you guys by placing sassaengs next to you. All female staff have to sign for this apparently."

"Shit...Eottoke..." RM says in a despair. "I'm not done yet. By telling you this I broke another rule. We had to let you all in the dark. That's why Sarah has been pushing Jin and J-hope away and acting all weird. The CEO told us not to tell you. He did it for your image and protection. He does not know we made a mess of things. I hope you will still see everyone the same. Especially Sarah. She has suffered so much because of this."

RM looks at Emma, wraps his arms around her waist, and puts his head on top of her.

"I don't know. Sure, I see you the same way because I love you, and you didn't know. But I think it will take some time to warm up to Sarah again."

"Try for me please." "I'll try. Also, I won't say anything to the boys just yet, but know when we get home from the trip we all need to talk about this. We will find a way to fix this." RM says, not able to fight the thought of despair in his head. "Oppa, Saranghae" He kisses the top of her head. "I love you too. Come on, let's go outside and taste those ice creams. I never asked you, but are you a fan of mint chocolate?" RM asks to distract her. "I'm not against it, but right now I'm craving something more fruit like. I know you hate it though." RM grins. "You really are my fan, aren't you?" Emma blushes. "Shut up!" She semi-shouts playfully. "For the record. I am a real baby army. Only discovered you the end of 2019." "Really? You should tell that story sometime." Relieved to have cleared the air, they go outside of the bathroom and the restaurant. To their surprise the whole conversation only lasted 10 minutes. But those 10 minutes brought forth a big change.