Mumbai gives you a bundle of mixed feelings. Growing up, it was the city you associated with everything that you ever wanted. You thought you would live your best life here. But the city ended up offering you the harshest reality check instead. This was where you signed with Ribbon, where you started Prakriti, where you struggled alone, and where you were forged as an artist.

Once again, you were here to face a challenge. The Board at Prakriti's head office meeting was scheduled at 10 am. You had two hours' worth of car ride to mentally prepare yourself to face DK again - not that you had anything else on your mind since you'd flown out of Seoul. He was going to gloat. But you had to win that vote.

"I can't believe the traffic has actually gotten worse!" you groan. The dark Audi sedan you're in has moved about a hundred meters in the last 45-minutes.

"Welcome home, Y/N," Monica sighs.

"So let me just review the situation - we're having a meeting to vote whether DK stays as the ED or we vote him out - and I've got to convince the Board members to vote him out or else -"

" - or else Mrs. L/N, and by extension, you, are going to lose your credibility in front of the Board. She went out on a limb to get everyone to show up again," Monica remarks.

DK's cronies would try to discredit you. You were prepared for it, but you were still very nervous. About three-quarters of the twelve-member Board consisted of retired professionals and scientists. They were older and more experienced than you were - so you had worked very hard to prepare yourself for this appearance.

"Hey, you're gonna do well," Lily gives you a thumbs up from the front seat.

You cast her a small smile before receding into your thoughts. This feud was tiring you out. And while a part of you was still fiercely insecure about what DK would do next, what would he take from you next, there was another part of you that just wanted to let go of this. Maybe not everything was meant to be owned or controlled. Maybe all you had to do was to let go and things would sort themselves out. You bring your mind back to the speech you were supposed to make today.

—----------------

You put on a pair of oversized sunglasses before stepping out of the car. Monica pushes you through the revolving doors of the office space before too many people recognize your familiar face.

"Hey!" you protest, "I wanted to say hi, I haven't seen the home crowd in so long!"
"You'll get your chance once we begin touring," Monica chuckles. It was nice to see you in a good mood despite everything.

Out of the elevator, you glide into the conference room preparing greetings that you could offer everyone, except for one person. Ironically, it is he who you spot first.

There he was, DK. Dressed in a peach suit. Slick. Confident, as usual.

She's got some nerve showing up here.

That's what DK thinks as he watches you come in while he takes the key chair at Prakriti's board meeting.

More than half the men and women here are those whom he has personally convinced to support him - with whatever means necessary. Irrespective of what you think, he has worked hard with Prakriti, even when the compensation was meagre and sometimes he had to take what he deserved in ways that were - not altogether ethical. But he worked for it. And all you have done is swagger around in your swankiest clothes pretending to be cute.

You could not just walk in and take Prakriti from him. After all, he did manage to stop you from taking his music - the music you could not have made without him though you were too proud to admit that - and he sold what was always his right to sell. Now, you could look for the owner of Paradime to cut a deal as much as you wanted - but it was someone even he couldn't get hold of, so there was no chance that you would.

He gives you a thin smile. The distaste in it is evident - and yet, you can finally see the insecurity in him. The jealousy. It's a familiar expression, but you never understood it as anything more than annoyance. But of course, he coveted what you had. You were supposed to be his underling. The only way for you to progress was through him. Something snaps inside you when he makes eye contact with you. A tiny thread of compassion for your once mentor and partner - the tiniest of the threads that you had saved because your humanity wouldn't let you unleash your worst on him. It was gone.

He loathes you.

And you feel nothing for him anymore.

DK eyes you as shake hands with everyone. You're glowing, infecting everyone with your energy. For a moment, he isn't so sure of himself - they can't just meet you and be so impressed that they forget him. But you've always been like this. Flirting with rich influential men to get ahead. Once, he was one of them, but not anymore.

Now he knows how fake you are. Suga was just another wimp caught in your trap.

After everyone takes their seats, a tall, lean secretary distributes a tablet to each member. It displays the agenda of the meeting and would be used to record your votes. Meanwhile, DK addresses the meeting.

"Honestly, I thought a lot about what I should say if this meeting really happens - how to remind you all of my wholehearted dedication to this organization since day one. But then I thought - that I don't need to..."

Your tablet is refusing to switch on, so you motion the secretary to help you out. He quickly takes it with a silent apology and goes out to get you a replacement.

"...I have worked closely with each one of you long enough for you to know that. I believe you will choose, or rather, stick with your choice of the better alternative..."

The secretary returns with another tablet and hands it to you. The device powers on. A message pops up on the black screen:

New message.

There is only one option labelled view under it. The rest of the screen is unresponsive.

"...So - I will leave the vote in your hands and humbly submit to the result of this esteemed gathering..."

Tapping the option opens up a photo in front of you.

And recognition knocks the air out of your lungs.

You. Yoongi. Against the dark sedan. The morning breeze in his hair. The flask of hangover soup in your hand. The morning after - after his birthday.

Below the photo is a two-word caption: vote wisely.

DK has stopped speaking. You match his gaze, realizing exactly what he is doing. He gives you the tiniest smirk before taking a seat. Your mother is about to say something but you interrupt her. Something about feeling sick. You leave the conference room in a daze.

Not Yoongi. He shouldn't be dragged into this.

You couldn't lose him. Especially not because of the rat sitting inside the conference room thinking he could blackmail you into submission.

"Hey - hey, Y/N - snap out of it!" Monica clicks her fingers in your face.

Both of you are in the golden-lit washroom, brainstorming how to send you back into the conference room. You had called her right after stepping out, and right now, she was looking sharper than ever in a navy suit.

"I came prepared for something like this. DK will not go out without a fight," she's already contacting her IT guy to trace the source of the photo.

"What's he going to do? I - that - where will that photo go if I -?" you splutter. It's not as if you never expected to get papped or have private photos of you leak out. You were famous. Some way or the other it would happen to you. You just didn't realize how naked it would make you feel.

"Slow down. It's not going anywhere," Monica holds you by your shoulders, "Y/N, I need you to calm down and focus right now. I know what to do but I need your help. Please," she searches your eyes for traces of panic.

"It's a crime - it's a violation of my right to privacy, isn't it? We've got to be able to sue him for - I never imagined being followed in Korea -"

" - it's not your fault. You aren't supposed to walk around watching your shoulder all the time."

You nod, blowing air out of your cheeks. There would be time to lose it later. Right now, Ms. L/n was probably winging it in there in your absence. She had no idea what was going on.

"What do we do, Monica? I can take risks with myself but not with Suga being involved like this." You switch to his stage name subconsciously.

"Three things. One, buy me time - use your connections. Two, call Suga and tell him everything. Three, go back to the meeting and carry on like nothing happened."

"Wait. No. I can't call Suga. He'll hate me -"

" - Ideally, we have to inform the label. It's either me directly calling HYBE - or you call him first."

"He - this will be the end of us," you mumble. Monica is right. You have to inform them. Him.

Monica wants to say that if this is all it takes to end it, then it wasn't worth it in the first place. Instead, she explains her plan to you. There was much to do in much too little time.

[Unedited.]

[Hey you guys. I know it's been so long since I've updated. This book crossed 50k and here I am sending an update fresh from the keyboard. There may be errors and stuff, I'm so sorry -  I didn't write for so long, so it's pretty much inevitable that I will mess up now. But I know there are at least a few of you who want this story to be updated, so here you go! And yes I am back to writing it so updates are going to be more regular. Woot woot! It feels like I'm back home when I'm writing.  Thank you so much for sticking to the story so far. Love you, guys.]