Okay

The picture was blown up and grainy. They were caught in the background of a picture some random tourist took to show off this cute little cafe she found. You were facing away from the camera but Yuri wasn't lucky enough to dodge that bullet. Her smile blinding as she reaches across the table fork in hand to steal a bite of your cake even with hers right in front of her.

The post went up at 9am. By 10 it was a headline, by 12 it was all over social media.

You’ve been Yuri’s bodyguard for 2 and a half years now. You hadnt started seeing her outside of work until half a year ago. Not even a full 6 months into your relationship and you guys were already caught. It wasn't like you gave up being her bodyguard just because you became her boyfriend. You still checked for exits, still shadowed her a step behind, still did ur best to spot cameras where they weren't supposed to be but somehow you had missed this one.

You were in her kitchen making lunch for the both of you when you found out how much that one slip up would cost you. She walked in from the front door and set her bag on the counter. She didn't even greet you properly before dropping the bomb.

“Box,” the nickname used to be a term of affection now it seemed like it was meant to act as a shield.

“We should stop,” her voice cold, “before things get worse.”

“What?”

“This… relationship is only going to hurt both our careers if we keep going. So I'm ending it here and now.” she says, still refusing to look you in the eyes. You've never heard her voice this cold before, never heard it so final like everything's been decided and she's just informing you of whats happening.

“Yur-”

“I'm serious, I have a comeback in 6 weeks. I can't let this kind of scandal stay relevant by then.” She finally looks you in your eyes to say that and you lose any strength left in you to try and fight it.

“Okay…” is your reply because how else do you respond to being thrown out? “Okay.”

You get up to grab all your stuff before standing in front of the hallway leading to the bedroom. You have clothes here and little collectables that she would take from your place to fidget with. You decide to let her keep them and just go to grab one of your hoodies to slip on for the drive home. As you stand there in the doorway you look back into the kitchen where she's still sitting. She doesnt even look at you as she gets up to clean up the kitchen.

“Goodbye, I guess.” you say softly but in the silent apartment its not hard to hear.

She looks at you for a second before going back to clearing the counter. You realize she doesn't even look fazed by any of it. And as you close the door you wait for a minute hoping you can catch a sound of any type of reaction from her but all you can hear is her turning on the faucet to wash the dishes.

— — — —

It's been about a week and you two have barely spoken a word to each other. In front of cameras and fans she's the idol they always believe her to be but behind closed doors you don't even catch the slightest uplift of her lips. And what's worse is no matter how often you look her way or how many people jokingly point out the sudden distance, she never once looked your way.

Its Friday, 7pm, her last schedule for the day just finished and you’re escorting her to her car so the company driver can take her home. She has no more schedules for the weekend so you think this is the only chance you’ll get with how busy shes gonna get as soon as promotions start.

“Yuri,” She freezes, silent still.

“I think I should come over to grab the rest of my stuff.” your voice rough, trying not to show any hesitation.

She doesn't respond for a good minute. Doesn't say anything, doesn't move and for a second you think maybe she does feel something. And then she turns back to look at you for a second and you see this blank look in her eyes. For a second you almost delude yourself into thinking she might just be trying to hide her pain, but then she speaks.

“You know the code to the door. There's no need to let me know if all you're doing is cleaning up.”

Her voice when she says it… its so cold. And her face when she says it, nose starting to scrunch up, the ends of her lips dipping ever so slightly. You’ve known this woman for two years but you never could figure the difference between her angry face and her crying face. Well not until the screams came your way or the tears start falling. However, given the situation and the tone shes using you’d have to assume its closer to the former.

“Okay.” again you’re left with little to say because how could you possibly get angry at the woman you love when shes going through a time as stressful as now?

— — — —

“We’ve approved your transfer request to LA. It’s unfortunate that you're leaving us but if this helps your career we’ll gladly help you out,” the HR manager says in a warm supportive tone.

“Thank you, sir. I won't forget this favor. I owe you one.” Your voice isnt as warm as the manager but still respectful.

“Please, I’ve told you to just call me In-soo. But dont worry about it you deserve this,” He smiles at you

You get up to bow to him and thank him again. Before you turn to leave though he stops you.

“I do have something I'm curious about, though. If you have time, of course,” He motions back to the chair.

You sit back down. “Of course, sir. What did you want to know?”

“Well its not my place but we’ve known each other since you were just starting in this business and you've never once left your position without being asked to. So forgive me if I'm overstepping but why?,” In soo's hands are folded on his desk as he leans forward giving his full attention to you.

“Why? Sir, I believe I mentioned that in the Transfer request. I don't think there's anywhere I can grow here. I'm looking for somewhere to become better.” you hold a confused face however your tone is steady. Almost too steady for you, yourself, to believe those words, like you've practiced them a thousand times over in your head.

“I just told you we’ve known each other for 7 years, the better part of a decade, and you think you can sit there and lie to me?” He's lost the warm smile that you've always relied on when you were stressed from difficult clients, the same smile he wore whenever he invited you out to drink on your birthday because he knew you weren't the type to ask your friends to celebrate.

“Sir, I-”

“You, what? You have some issues going on? You have something waiting for you in LA? You found some opportunity that somehow I haven't found?”

You freeze.

He pauses.

You sit there confused. Why would he look into something like that for you? Isn't he supposed to try and keep me here? Why would he try to help look for a better offer for me?

“Do you think I wouldn’t do everything in my power to figure out why you wanna run off to LA? Do you think there's any offer that I wouldn't match to keep you here?” He's speaking calmer now.

Oh.

Was I that valuable? To negotiate terms to the point of matching other companies?

“And then I find out that you're not even trying to run off to LA.” He actually looks angry now, not just annoyed.

“You’re trying to run AWAY from Korea." His hands have balled into fists by now but he hasn't made any other moves.

“Sir, I dont know what you’ve heard but I promise I have no problems with the company,” you tried to convince him eagerly.

“I’ve treated you like my own son since you got here and instead of hearing about this through your own mouth I had to hear about the "scandal" between you two on the internet.”

You keep quiet.

Yuri’s company posted an official statement saying that while you two did have history you have since parted ways.

“You used to come in here swooning for that girl, never ending, like I was the only person you talked to about this stuff. And then when it all ends? Radio silence. Until you need my permission to run?”

You finally open your mouth to speak, to defend yourself. But In Soo beats you to it.

“Then go.”