free

'It was always her choice.' Amber gently pulled him up to brush the tears from his eyes, kissing them away with a gentle touch. 'And it isn't your duty to fix her, nor was it your fault that she changed. You might feel bad for her because you think she doesn't deserve it, because you think that what you experienced isn't worth the criminal case. But trust me, the punishment will be fair, she will get only what she deserves and nothing more.'

'I'm j-just a stupid fucking idiot—'

'No, you're not baby, what the fuck?' She'd chided him softly.

'What kind of fucking idiot let's his abuser get away for years? What kind of fucking idiot tries to throw away true love?'

'You're not an idiot, you're just sweet, and kind.'

'T-that's just a round about way of saying I'm dumb and I love everything and anyone. And—'

She pulled him up then, pressing her hands to his cheeks and forcing him to look at her straight in the eye. Their gazes had met, brown to brown. And she'd focussed on the dark pupils that quivered and shook as they roamed over her face. The action pulled him from the depths of his sinking swamp, a violent staunch of the self-depreciating tears that spilled from beautiful fluttery dewy eyes.

'Baby, I love that about you, okay?' She stroked his cheeks. 'I love that you're so damn afraid of killing ants even if they're getting in your food. I love that you hesitate for so long when you see mosquitoes sucking your blood. I love that you're always thinking twice before judging what you see on the news. You are kind, and I love that so much about you okay?'

He blinked and more tears spilled from watery depths.

'And it might feel like a weakness to you right now, but to me, it's your biggest strength.' His lips quirked at her words and she pushed on. 'It's like Ezra and his damn honesty. He won't hesitate to tell me my ass looks fucking fat in my new jeans. But he'll follow up by slapping it and telling me he likes the way it jiggles because it makes his cock hard.'

That elicited a smile from his lips, one that quelled the fear churning in her heart.

'I like it too,' JieMi mumbled a grin peeking through. 'I like it when we have sex and you have tummy rolls. It's pretty and soft, and jiggly—'

'Okay, okay,' she chuckled, embarrassment clouding her heart but she knew he was only saying it because he meant it. 'We're a little off topic here. But you get it.' He was quiet as he stared at her, their eyes drowning in each other's souls.

'Yeah.'

'And it's okay for you to still love her. It's okay for you to feel empathy. That's because you're a good person, okay JieMi?' She hugged him then. 'Y-you're a good person.' Her voice had cracked, pain laced between the seams. 'You are a good person, and you deserve to be happier.'

Please, feel the truth in my words. Please feel the warmth of my soul. Even if they aren't the warmest or the safest, I need you. She'd chanted in her head as her lips quivered. I need you to stay with me, because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to melt the ice that froze your soul.

A small amount of glee flickered through her body when Ha-Eun entered the room, pale, gaunt and grey. She hadn't been careful with her words and physical evidence was against her despite her heavily pregnant state. The articles had danced between a biasness for Ha-Eun and for JieMi, the livestream, while an obvious hit to their own stardom was a nail to Ha-Eun's sinking coffin.

And the villainess knew that, having attempted to fabricate more evidence of her innocence. Things like showing up at a public event with makeup on her face of JieMi's 'abuse' on her, things like paying people to testify for her. Things like buying comments that supported her cause, citing female-based movements and posts of female domestic abuse. Things like photoshopped images and fake text messages, deep fake videos and edited soundtracks.

It took a while but the falsehood was clear for the fans who played both officer and villain.

The desperation shone clear when JieMi received a text from Ha-Eun, one that made him tremble in his seat. She wanted money to be silenced, two million and child-support. They denied, immediately. A carefully crafted message from their team, one they consulted with their lawyer.

They couldn't risk it with Ha-Eun, not anymore.

And then she tried to beg for them to close the case. They took it as more evidence that she was lying and sent it all to their lawyer. The guillotine to her situation. She forgot, that their reputation was no longer a problem now that they were out of the showbiz. She forgot, that blackmail didn't work anymore now that she'd released everything she had.

Her cards were played.

Ha-Eun had to face the consequences.

And she did.

The decision to fly was mostly Sieon's.

His family home was located in the countryside where animals still roamed free, and farming was the main livelihood for many. Tangerines, the local delicacy. He insisted they stay there for a while, in a place where they would be surrounded by people he grew up with, a closely knitted committee that should allow them to breathe once again.

They arrived from the sky to the sight of frost covered tree and a sea of fresh white snow drifting down from the sky. It covered the tips of the land in a glittering white dust that shimmered softly at the break of dawn.

Snow fell softly over the rolling hills, drifting thickly over harshly made stone paths and feathering down tiny streams. And when they got down it was cold enough for their breaths to paint pictures in the air, tinged by the gold of sunrise that sat on a plane of black ocean waves.

"I forget sometimes," Sieon murmured as he held her hand, pulling it up to press a smooth kiss to the surface of her flesh sending a wave of tingling heat through her system. "That it's so beautiful during winter. I haven't seen this scene in years. I used to hike up the trail with my parents, visit the places with snow."

"Years?" She raised a brow, confused at his words.

"We rarely get a break during winter," Casper responded as he moved to stand beside her, his eyes flashing with gold when they met her own. A mirror of the golden globe that was being pulled from the sea. "Year-end concerts, count downs, award shows. More work. Endless work."

"You mean we never get a break." MinJae chimed in wrapping his arms around her waist to press a kiss to her shoulder, and flowers blossomed from the locks of hair. "It's nice that we get to see this with you. It feels a bit like a honeymoon." He giggled and Amber's heart soared at the sound.

The tranquillity seemed to have taken the edge off their sadness and there was something about the peace and sublimity of nature that made them a lot happier. Something about the way nature just seemed to repeat in a hypnotic cycle that assured them that the cycle of pain would eventually leave. That the future was unknown, but equally beautiful as their past.

"A honeymoon?" Ezra raised a brow, tongue in cheek. "Doesn't that mean a lot of fucking?"

Amber blushed at his words, choking a little at his crude language. The resulting silence was surprising, as her men continued to bask in the warmth of the morning glow. Ezra paused, then raised his brows as he stared at Hikaru.

"Where are the complaints? The 'Ezra what the fuck are you saying'!" He pitched his voice into an annoying whine that mimicked Hikaru's own honeyed voice. "You're not going to nag at me? Call me out for being a damn pervert? Scream at me for defiling our soulmate's ears?"

"Shut up, man," Hikaru mumbled back in his native tongue, a palm to his forehead, but his cheeks were a riot of orange and red.

"Let me guess, you're actually interested in fucking her too," Ezra grinned, lips spreading into a gummy smile that was surprisingly adorable for their topic of conversation. "Losing your virginity really did the damn trick. Pulled that stick out of your ass."

"You're such an asshole," Oliver laughed, slapping in in the back with a shake of his head.

"Hikaru is the best to tease," Ezra replied with a grin, he turned to her then, pulling her close with one quick swoop. He smiled then, giving her a grin so bright that it made her heart fucking stop and start again. He turned her to face the rising golden sun at the horizons where the sea met the sky.

"Y'all," he cleared his throat to get rid of the rasp of underuse, "I know this is going to soil the mood like stepping in a piece of shit on this beautiful morning. But we're young and so damn fucking free. We have our darling here with us, tons of fucking time, and enough money to raise a fucking school of kids to become doctors and dentists in private colleges."

"You can't be serious," Casper snorted. "Two is enough, unless Amber wants more. And doctor? I'm fine if they want to be a stripper, some people like pole dancing which is an art form. And I'm totally okay if our daughters wanted to dance unless they're being used against their—"

"He's talking about the price of college tuition," Amber whispered back, and Ezra ignored them although his brow did twitch a little with annoyance. He continued with a squirm of his upper lip that screamed his irritation.

"We can do whatever the fuck we want without caring about whether or not our tummies are going to showup on the next morning's newspaper. Or the fact that we left our fly unzipped has resulted in a hundred tweets. A million more if our dicks are in view. We can eat good, exercise whenever we feel like it, sleep as much as we want, and write whatever the fuck I want!"

"Unless it's political."

"Can you shut the fuck up, while I'm giving a damn speech here to raise the team's morale?" Ezra snapped, glaring at Casper and her soulmate raised both hands in the air. "We're free men, and cheers to a new life with our darling. And may we create a million babies."

"You're making this a cheap gag show." Sieon pointed out.

"That's just fucking language, and the comedy is the whole damn point," Ezra snapped. "Guys, stop mooching around and feeling like shit just because we escaped AirSound Entertainment. We escaped okay? Seriously, their lost for dropping us. We can do this shit on our own if we wanted to. Nobody can stop us from striving for our dreams as long as we don't fucking give up like pussies. SO FUCK THEM!"

"FUCK THEM" MinJae screamed into the air, laughing hysterically at the end of it, burying his face in Amber's shoulder.

"And if our fans don't want to let us be fucking humans then fuck them too for trying to mould us to become their fucking sex dolls! Because I'm not interested in fucking a fangirl who only likes me for my fucking PR released image!" Ezra screeched.

"THEY'RE ONLY AFTER ME BECAUSE I'M HOT!" Sieon shrieked, both hands cupped. "I'M NOT JUST A WALKING, PERFORMING DICK FOR YOU TO FUCK! I'M NOT A PRETTY DOLL IN THE STORE FOR YOU TO PURCHASE! I'M JUST A HUMAN!"

"WE'RE NOT ROLE MODELS!" Casper yelled. "WE'RE JUST DUDES WHO LIKE TO SING!"

"AND DANCE!" Oliver screamed. "WE'RE JUST DOING OUR JOBS! WE'RE JUST PERFORMERS!"

"AND WE WANT TO LIVE AND LOVE TOO BECAUS-ACK!" Hikaru choked on his saliva at the end, coughing madly and the group laughed as Amber rubbed his back quickly. No one was going to die because of saliva on her watch.

"So fuck them, and let's all just be happy," Ezra let out a soft sigh. "And may our youngest bro stop crying himself to sleep because of guilt." JieMi froze at the sudden attention, his eyes widening in shock. But Ezra turned to look at the sun again, screaming out his last words. "BECAUSE IT'S NOT HIS FAULT! AND WE'RE ONLY HAPPY WHEN HE'S HAPPY, SO LET'S FUCKING CELEBRATE."

"Here. Here!" Oliver raised a fake glass into the air, grinning brightly. "Cheers to a lifetime with my boys and our darling." They hooted in response, crowing and screaming madly into the air. And JieMi's tears began to spill down his cheeks, followed by the biggest brightest smile she'd ever seen on his face.

They were free.