A few months passed by with the idols being busy. It was great that they were all busy because that meant that they were working hard, but it wasn't good all the same. Arcadia was only able to see Taeyong a few times, and only for a few hours at one time. They never had time to spend overnight or just relax with each other.

Eclipse and Taemin faced similar issues. While both couples worked hard in their idol lives, they worked just as hard in their relationships. They maintained texting every day with some phone calls every now and then. It wasn't the same though so they planned on another double date for their six-month anniversary. They wanted to do it big this time.

However, once the time came to be seriously planning their adventure, they were informed that they were not allowed to do anything. Kwan scheduled Coven for back-to-back performances and interviews for the days the couples had been planning their date for.

So, their six-month anniversary went by with the couples not even being able to see each other. On top of all of the stress and pressure, she was feeling, not being able to see Taeyong was slowly driving Arcadia insane. Coven didn't have a single day off for two months straight and it was really getting to the redhead. Not to mention, a few of Coven's songs had been stolen by other groups with no explanation.

Well, it was no explanation until Ga-eul and Kim-Lee literally walked in on Kwan handing over a copy of one of their newest songs to some sketchy-looking guy. Kwan tried to deny his part in stealing Coven's songs, but the women didn't want to hear it. They'd been betrayed by the man and they wanted him out.

So, Coven went public about Kwan and his wrong-doings. The fans were outraged and the other groups that had gotten Coven's songs felt horrible about it. Kwan was promptly fired and SM found a new manager fairly quickly. The women of Coven were in their dorm living room when they received a knock on their door about a week after Kwan was fired. It was the new manager; an American woman named Sophia. She informed the group that she'd been with SM for three years but that Coven was going to be her first group that she's managed.

Arcadia and Aurora were hesitant about the new manager since they had the worst trust issues out of the group. Eclipse, Nova, and Amara instantly hit it off with Sophia. Even Precious liked the new manager right away. Ga-eul and Kim-Lee were also a little hesitant but eventually opened up to Sophia and allowed her to do her job.

Unfortunately for Arcadia, this manager also put a lot of pressure on her specifically. She thought that Arcadia could "do better" than she was doing, so she singled Arcadia out constantly. It all came to be too much, especially when Sophia began to baby Nova and treat her better than she was treating Arcadia. The others of Coven figured out why Sophia and Nova were so close, when they walked into their dorm living room, to see Nova and their new manager making out on the couch, just about ready to start stripping each other's clothes off.

"Holy fuck?! Are you kidding me, Nova?!" Amara was the first one to react to what they were seeing.

"Screwing the manager? Seriously?" Aurora questioned in horror and disgust.

"Nova, Sophia, what are you two thinking you're doing?" Ga-eul stepped forward and asked them as they quickly broke apart and fixed their clothes.

"I can explain!" Nova cried out to her group as she stood up and approached them.

"Go ahead and explain then." Eclipse demanded to the lilac-haired woman. Nova frowned and approached the two sisters.

"You two understand, right? I love her. We're meant to be together. I never felt like this for anyone before. Surely you get it, right?" Nova pleaded with Arcadia and Eclipse. Arcadia just looked horrified and hurt by Nova's words. She seemed to understand this and tried to talk again, but Arcadia just pushed past her and hurried to her bedroom.

"Arcadia?" Eclipse called out to her sister but was met with the door of Arcadia's bedroom door slamming shut.

Arcadia felt conflicted by Nova and Sophia's newfound relationship. On one hand, Arcadia was thrilled for her friend. She had always hoped that Nova would find someone like she did. However, on the other hand, she felt sick to her stomach. Arcadia was so used to seeing Nova alone and not dating anyone, that it felt weird to see her literally making out with someone right in front of her eyes. Arcadia hated to feel so conflicted with her emotions toward Nova. So she did the only thing she could think of doing and called Taeyong, hoping he was free to answer his phone.

"Hey, Arcadia, what's up?" Taeyong answered the phone nearly right away.

"Nova and our new manager, Sophia were making out in our living room." Arcadia blurted out, unsure of what exactly to say to her lover.

"Oh, that's..." Taeyong wasn't quite sure what to say to Arcadia.

"That's weird is what it is." Arcadia sighed to herself as she sat down on her bed annoyed.

"How are you feeling about it? You sound upset."

"I wouldn't say I'm upset over it, but I'm not feeling okay with it. I mean, we hardly know this manager in the first place and now my ex is making out with her in our living room? It just feels weird."

"Do you want to come over and get away from them for a bit? I know we have been too busy to see each other recently but I think it'd be great if you stayed the night to calm down a bit." Taeyong's words caused Arcadia to smile.

"That'd be great. I'll get ready and head over soon." Arcadia and Taeyong said their goodbyes and hung up their phones. She instantly got a small bag together and headed out of her room.

"Arc? Where are you going?" It was Nova's voice from behind the redhead. She'd apparently been in Amara's room and had come out when she heard Arcadia leave her room. "Look, if you're upset with me, just tell me. I'm sorry for you finding out like this."

"I'm going to see Taeyong. I'll be back eventually." Arcadia simply stated to her friend as she headed for the door to the dorm. It seemed like everyone was back in their rooms, so only Nova saw Arcadia leave the dorm.

Arcadia texted Taeyong from her car, letting him know she was on her way to him. He informed her that the others of 127 she hadn't met yet were excited to meet her and those she already knew were just excited to see her again. This pushed Arcadia to drive faster than she probably should have. She was super happy to finally be seeing Taeyong again, and on top of that, she'd meet his other members and see the ones she knew. She was relieved to be able to have a temporary break from the constant pressure and stress that came from being in the Coven dorm.

Once Arcadia arrived at the building, she hurried to where Taeyong was waiting for her at the door to the dorm. She instantly fell into his arms once she was close enough to him.

"I've missed you." Arcadia and Taeyong both spoke in unison as they held each other.

"Are you going to let the poor girl in, or are you going to keep hugging her out there?" Johnny teased his leader as he walked past the door. Taeyong and Arcadia pulled apart and smiled at each other.

"Listen, dude, if you're going to make out with her right there in the entrance, warn us," Mark spoke up next as he walked toward the couple.

"Hey, Mark. Johnny. It's nice to see you both again. It's been a while." Arcadia stated as Taeyong and her walked into the dorm, with him closing the door behind them.

"Are you hungry? We have some snacks. Some of us were just about to watch some movies. You two can join if you want?" Jaehyun was seated on the couch as Arcadia and Taeyong walked away from the now-closed door.

"I think I'd rather keep her all to myself for now. Maybe later we'll come out and hang out with everyone." Taeyong replied as he guided Arcadia away from the other men.

"Keep me all to yourself? You feeling possessive or something?" Arcadia meant it as a joke, but Taeyong looked her right in the eyes with seriousness.

"Yes. We haven't seen each other for so long, that I just want to hold you and be with you for a while."

"That sounds fine with me," Arcadia responded with a soft smile on her face. With that, Taeyong and Arcadia made their way to his room and entered it, with him locking the door behind him. They both climbed into Taeyong's bed and got all snuggled up together. They just wanted to hold each other, so that's exactly what they did. No talking. No worrying about or thinking about anything. They just listened to the sound of each other breathing and took comfort in the other's presence.

"Arcadia?" Taeyong hated to, but he needed to break the silence to ask Arcadia a question.

"Hmm?" She was clearly not fully awake, but Taeyong was curious anyway.

"You aren't bothered by Nova and Sophia being together, because you still have feelings for her, right?" Taeyong's question caused Arcadia to pull away from him and sleepily sit up in his bed. "I don't want to upset you, but I-"

"I don't love her anymore, but she is still someone who is and always will be very important to me. It just will be something I need to get used to, I guess." Arcadia replied turning to look at Taeyong. He felt relieved. Not because of her words, but because he was worried asking her the question would upset her, and it seemed to not have at all.

"Alright. Just making sure."

"Taeyong, I know you were worried about that, but you don't have to be anymore. She is my past, and you are my present and future. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Okay," Taeyong smiled at his lover before pulling her back into his arms. "The last few times we've talked, you've sounded very exhausted with everything. Are you doing alright now?"

"To be honest? I haven't been sleeping well. Not only has Sophia been making me do extra work, but when I do have

time to sleep, I can't. Everything has been weighing down on me. The pressure from needing to be perfect is really getting to me now. I mean, my mental health isn't that good, to begin with, but now that there is all this extra stress and pressure on me, I don't know what to do about it all."

"I understand. I'm sorry that you're feeling like that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hmm... Maybe let's go to sleep? I think I'll sleep better with you by my side. I mean, if you're up to sleep the rest of your day away?"

"I'll always be up for that. Not only because I'm here with you, but because I haven't been sleeping that good either lately."

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" Arcadia instantly went into protective girlfriend mode. She was ready to fight anyone who was causing Taeyong anything negative.

"I think not seeing you was starting to weigh on me. On top of all the work I've been doing."

"Oh. Well. I can't help with the work part, but I'm here now. So let's sleep together."

"Sounds good." Taeyong smiled at Arcadia and allowed her to snuggle closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and eventually drifted off to sleep. Arcadia didn't fall asleep right away as Taeyong did though. She was trying to remember if she'd set her phone alarm for the next day since she thought that there was something going on. She wasn't sure though and now that Taeyong was sleeping, she couldn't get her phone from her bag. So, hoping that she'd wake up at a decent time the following day, Arcadia drifted off to a finally peaceful sleep in Taeyong's arms.

~ ~ ~

Arcadia felt a sudden burst of anxiety in her dream as she slept, which caused her to violently sit up and flail around in bed for a moment. She wasn't sure where she was at first, but after a moment of thought, she recalled where she was.

"Where is Taeyong?" Arcadia muttered to herself as she climbed out of bed. She heard a piece of paper flutter to the ground as she got up. After finding it, Arcadia picked it up and read the note.

The note said:

'Arcadia, I tried to wake you up, but you didn't even attempt to wake up. NCT had something to do today, so I'll be gone all day. I hope I get to see you before you head back to your dorm, but if not, then I love you and hope we see each other again soon. ~ Taeyong'

"Oh... Well, fuck." Arcadia sighed and sat down on Taeyong's bed, only to realize that it was much later in the day than she thought it was originally. She saw the clock and it said it was well past noon, bordering on being nearly dusk. "Oh, fuck!" Arcadia hurried to her phone and picked it up hesitantly. She was frightened to see what was there on her phone.

When Arcadia looked at her phone, she knew she was in deep trouble. There were thirteen calls from Eclipse. Twenty calls from Sophia and the same amount from Nova as well. There were multiple texts from the others of Coven as well. The last text was from Sophia. It explained that she needed to get back to the dorm as soon as possible because she'd missed the early morning interview they had planned. Arcadia was informed that if she hadn't gotten to the dorm by noon, she would have missed even more work that was scheduled.

"I'm fucked." Arcadia sighed sat back down on Taeyong's bed. She then fell backward and sighed again. "I guess I should get back? So I can get yelled at by everyone or something? This is nice..."

Realizing that she really did need to get back, Arcadia got ready for the day, got her stuff together, and called a cab to get her and take her over to her dorm building. Once she was there, she trudged along until she made it up to where her dorm was. She opened the door, only to see Sophia and Eclipse standing there a few feet from the door. Sophia looked furious while Eclipse looked concerned.

"Where have you been?!" Sophia yelled at Arcadia, gathering the attention of the others and scaring Precious causing the little cub to run off.

"I was in Taeyong's dorm room since I left yesterday," Arcadia replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why didn't you return our calls or texts?" Eclipse questioned softer than Sophia had before.

"I was sleeping until about a half-hour ago."

"Why were you sleeping? Did you not set an alarm or did you just not care about work since you were with Taeyong?" Sophia growled at the redhead.

"I was sleeping because you've been putting too much pressure on me! Taeyong wasn't even there when I woke up anyway." Arcadia replied getting annoyed with her manager at that point.

"You should have been more responsible. This is why I push you so much. I know you can do better and-"

"Maybe I don't want to do better," Arcadia growled at Sophia, cutting her off.

"Do you even want to be an idol because you sure are acting like you want to quit now!"

"I never wanted to be an idol in the first place! I wanted to be a writer and somehow got dragged into this life that I never wanted!"

"Do you have any idea how many others wished they could be in your position?!"

"Then have one of them take my place. I'm done with the constant pressure. The constant stress and the need to be perfect and flawless all of the time. This wasn't even my dream in the first place. If I'd never become an idol, I wouldn't feel so depressed in the first place! Maybe I could have even been happy!" Hearing Arcadia's true feelings about being an idol stopped Sophia's anger.

"I'm sorry, Arcadia. I didn't realize that everything was beginning to be too much for you." Sophia stated, surprising the redhead and the rest of Coven as well.

"Huh?"

"When I first came here to Korea, it was for a friend who was an idol trainee. She ended up ending her own life due to everything being too much for her. I understand how you feel, Arcadia, and I'm so sorry for not noticing before."

"Maybe you should take a break from being an idol. Maybe getting away would help some." Eclipse suggested when Arcadia was stunned into silence.

"No," Arcadia replied instantly. "I don't want a break, I want to leave altogether."

"What about us? What about Taeyong and the others you've come to care about?" Amara asked as she approached Eclipse and Sophia.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I just... I just can't do this anymore." Arcadia pushed past her sister and hurried off to her bedroom. Nova, Eclipse, and Amara all followed after the redhead and entered her room to see her packing her things into various bags.

"Where are you going?" Nova questioned, worried that this was going to be the last time she ever saw Arcadia.

"I need to go to a hotel. I don't want to just impulsively quit. I want to think things through properly."

"I'll come with you." Eclipse suggested but was shut down instantly by her sister.

"No. I need time away from any influences. I need to be alone." Arcadia was quick to finish packing her things and pushed past her sister again. She headed for the dorm door. "Again... I'm so sorry everyone." With that, Arcadia headed to her car and drove off to a hotel on the other side of the city.

Arcadia booked a room for the night and hurried off to it. She didn't want to be spoken to or recognized too much. As soon as she reached her room, she entered it, locked the door behind her, set her stuff on the ground, and collapsed into her temporary bed.

As Arcadia lay there, she heard her phone being to ring. It went through various songs that she'd assigned to her contact list. Eclipse was the first to call, followed by the others of Coven. Next came Taeyong, Johnny, and Mark in that order. Sophia called as well. Hearing the constant noise annoyed Arcadia, so she shut off her phone and threw it off to the side, not caring if it broke.

"I might as well get comfortable," Arcadia muttered to herself as she pulled out her sleep clothes. They consisted of a pair of short shorts and a tank top, like usual. She then got a pencil and paper out, along with a clipboard. She climbed into bed and began to think. She wanted to write down the pros and cons of her leaving the idol industry.

Pros:

No idol stress, meaning less overall stress.

No idol pressure, meaning less overall pressure.

Can try to follow my true dream of being a writer.

Out of the public eye, until wanted return.

Can possibly live more peacefully.

Fewer expectations.

Can possibly live a normal life without all the negative things of being an idol.

Cons:

People may harbor negative feelings about quitting.

May be forced to end things with Taeyong.

May be forced to cut ties with friends and other Coven members.

Possibly be forced to leave Korea, never to return.

Possibly fail as a writer and end up just an overall failure.

Possibly won't escape all the negativity anyway and will end up dead despite trying to get better.

I will miss everyone, including fans.

After seeing that her lists were equal, Arcadia got annoyed with that and threw the clipboard and pencil off to the side of the room, where her phone was. Seeing her phone made her figure she may as well turn it back on and see the damage she'd done already.

As soon as her phone turned on, the notifications started. She received various texts from all the Coven members and manager, all her friends, and, of course, Taeyong. She decided to open Taeyong's messages first. There were five of them.

Taeyong's messages:

'Hey, where are you? Is everything alright?'

'I heard from Eclipse that you ran off and something about not wanting to be an idol anymore?'

'Just tell me that you're safe and alright, please, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I love you, Arcadia.'

'Why aren't you responding? Is something wrong? Should I come and find you?'

'Your sister tracked you through your laptop. I'm coming to you. Wait for me.'

Arcadia looked at when the last message was sent and it was only a few minutes ago. She knew that Taeyong wasn't too far and that he'd get there quickly with his determination. So, Arcadia instantly began to panic. She wasn't wearing the proper clothes to have a visitor and she honestly wasn't even sure if it was a good idea for her to see anyone at that moment.

Just as Arcadia climbed out of bed and wanted to change, there was a frantic knock at her door. She froze before tossing her phone away from her, not caring where it landed. She then started creeping over to the door as quietly as she could.

"I know you're in there, Arcadia. Please. Let me in." Taeyong sounded out of breath and worried. She couldn't deny him, so she opened the door. Immediately, Taeyong pulled her into a hug and walked her backward into the room, closing and locking the door behind him. After a moment of realizing she couldn't breathe, Taeyong pulled away and looked her over. "Why did you run off? Why weren't you answering your phone? Also, why are you wearing... such clothes?" Taeyong's face blushed at that last part. He wasn't used to seeing his lover wearing such skimpy clothing.

"I was just about to get to sleep, despite sleeping most of today already. Before that though, I was debating on what to do. Whether to continue being an idol or to leave forever." Arcadia walked to her bed and sat down carefully as to not show Taeyong any more skin than she was already showing. "I'm sorry for not responding to you. I just wanted to be alone... but I am glad to see you. But, how'd you get here so quickly?"

"Johnny drove me, probably breaking many laws in the process. The lady at the front desk quickly told me which room you were in since she could see how worried I was."

"Did people see you? Is there going to be an issue about all of this?" Arcadia then sighed and fell backward onto the bed. "I'm so tired of being so worried about everyone's reactions to everything I do."

"Is there anything that I can do to help you? I'll listen to you. I won't be biased or anything. I just want to help you decide what is best for you." Taeyong walked to the bed and watched as Arcadia sat back up with a frown.

"I don't mean to sound mean, but no. I'm done talking about my feelings and I'm done dwelling on my choices. I've made up my mind."

"Are you deciding out of anger or stress? Or is your choice what your heart wants?"

"My heart wants to be with you and have a life with you, but not in the public eye. I don't want everyone examining my every move, word, and mess up. I can't handle it anymore. I'm going to end up killing myself if I keep going like this."

"Well, would just getting away be a good start on helping your mental state? Or do you really just want to quit right here and now?"

"I should probably take a break first," Arcadia responded with a sigh before continuing. "I'll head home to America and see if being an idol is something I truly want, or if it is just the stress that I hate."

"No matter what you choose, I'll be here by your side even if we're oceans apart." Taeyong's words were enough to make Arcadia start crying, no matter how hard she tried to keep the tears at bay. "Arcadia?" Taeyong was worried and reached out to her.

"I hate change, but if I hadn't gone through a change, I would never have met you. If I hadn't met you, I would have regretted coming to Korea. I regret most of my life, but I could never regret meeting and being with you." Taeyong instantly hugged Arcadia and held her to his.

"I love you, Arcadia. No matter what happens. No matter where this life leads us." Before Arcadia could say anything, there was a knock at the door to her hotel room. "I'll get the door." Taeyong got made his way to the door and opened it, revealing Eclipse and Sophia. As soon as the door was open and they spotted Arcadia, the two women outside the door pushed past Taeyong and hurried to Arcadia.

"What were you thinking when you left? You never even responded to texts and calls letting us know what you were alright." Sophia was speaking in a hushed tone as to not let the other people in the rooms around them hear the problems going on with them.

"I've made a decision. I'm going to take a break from being an idol and hopefully eventually return." Arcadia declared to the two women as Taeyong closed the door to the room.

"I'll come with you." Eclipse suggested only to be shot down by Arcadia.

"No. I need to find myself again. Which means I need to be alone."

"It'll be difficult but if you really want and need this, I'll pull some strings and come up with a reason for you to be gone." Sophia went into manager mode and started to brainstorm reasons for the redhead's eventual disappearance.

"I'll be telling everyone about my reasons for leaving. I want to be honest about it all." Arcadia replied, shutting Sophia's thoughts down instantly.

"It could hurt you."

"I want to be honest with everyone. I have spent so much time pretending to be happy when I wasn't, and I want to show people that it's alright to have darkness in your heart and soul. I want people to see that you can come back from it with time and care, hopefully of course."

"I don't approve." Eclipse stated immediately, only for Arcadia to frown at her sister. "But... I will miss you when you leave. So let's stay in touch, alright?"

"We'll see each other again when I decide the time is right." Arcadia's words created some concern for Eclipse, but the redhead kept talking. "I'll leave tomorrow. I have everything I need to leave anyway since I packed up my most important items already."

"Why do you have to leave so soon?" Taeyong had worry written all over his face. He wasn't sure about it all, but he wasn't going to get in the way of Arcadia bettering herself.

"I'll stay in contact with you, and everyone else I love and care about," Arcadia responded with a smile on her face. Taeyong could tell that she was hiding something behind that smile though.

"Well, since you've made up your mind, I'll let the others of Coven know. Keep me updated with how you're feeling and when you think you'll return." Sophia stated to Arcadia as she made her way to the door to the hotel room. "Be safe."

"I'll miss you a lot. Please keep me updated as well." Eclipse spoke to her sister as she pulled Arcadia to her for a hug. The sisters hugged before Eclipse pulled away and headed for the door with Sophia. "Are you coming with us, Taeyong?"

"No. If it's alright with Arcadia, I'd like to stay and see her off in the morning." Taeyong looked to Arcadia as he spoke.

"That's sounds good." Arcadia's response prompted Sophia and Eclipse to nod their heads and exit the room. They went back to their lives, which meant Arcadia and Taeyong were all alone now.

"Is there anything you want to do before you leave tomorrow?"

"I'd like to be in your arms for as long as possible if that's okay."

"That sounds good," Taeyong replied before making his way to Arcadia. The two of them then climbed into her bed and got all snuggled up together. The two held each other for a moment in silence before Arcadia spoke up.

"Taeyong, I want you to know that I truly love and adore you and always will. No matter how far away I am. No matter what happens in our lives. No matter where we end up. I will always love and adore you, with my whole heart and soul." Arcadia's voice was low and nearly a whisper.

"I completely feel the same way about you, Arcadia. No matter how long it takes, I'll wait for you to come back to me." Taeyong smiled at her as he spoke, and she returned his smile but there was a hint of sadness behind it. Arcadia leaned in and kissed Taeyong for a moment before pulling back from him. Arcadia then leaned her forehead against Taeyong's and just looked into his eyes. They shared a moment of silent understanding that they truly loved each other before Arcadia pulled away. She then snuggled back into Taeyong's embrace.

Soon enough, the two lovers had drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Well, that's what Taeyong thought at least. The next morning, Taeyong woke up snuggled up still, but with a pillow in his arms this time. Instantly, Taeyong was hit with a wave of anxiety and sat up quickly. He looked around, only to see Arcadia's things still laid out around the room. He felt relief for a split second, only to see a pink note on the bedside table next to him. He could tell the note was written in Arcadia's poor handwriting. Well, it wasn't much of a note. It was a single word. Goodbye.