If You

Signs

One week later

The door closed behind the last fan and Jiyong let out a sigh of relief as he headed to the car. He considered calling Emily to let her know, but decided against it. We haven't spoken since Berlin, so why would she pick up now?

His phone buzzed with a video chat request as the car pulled away and he accepted it immediately.

"What's up!" Seungri shouted excitedly.

"Hey Seungri," Jiyong said as he stifled a yawn.

"Is that Jiyong?" he heard Daesung ask off-camera, then he leaned in beside Seungri and waved at Jiyong. "Long time no see, Mr. Solo Tour!"

"Sorry guys, you know how it is," Jiyong apologized. "Where's Youngbae?"

"Writing session in the studio. He's determined to get a solo album out before you leave."

"Speaking of solo stuff," Seungri cut in, "we saw the footage from the book signing."

Jiyong groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse," he replied. "Emily was really upset about it. She blamed me for causing the whole situation and accused me of hogging her spotlight."

"But you told her you were coming, right?" Daesung asked. "Why would she be upset if she knew you were coming?"

Jiyong shifted uncomfortably. "Well I... I wanted to surprise her."

Seungri and Daesung exchanged a look. "Right," Seungri said finally. "So she's still mad at you, I take it?"

"Seungri-"

"You've gotta be more sensitive to stuff like this," Daesung said reproachfully. "She needs space when it comes to her career."

"Hey, whatever happened to being on my side?" Jiyong demanded.

"You're right, we're sorry," Seungri apologized. "I'm sure you were just trying to be supportive."

"Thank you," he sniffed.

"And I'm sure Emily knows that," Daesung added, "but you still have to be careful. She's spent the last several weeks standing in your shadow, so that could make her resent you overwhelming her signing."

Jiyong raised an eyebrow. "Have you been talking to Emily?" he asked.

"I don't have to talk to her to know her," Daesung replied.

"Are you saying you know my wife better than I do?"

"Whoa guys, calm down," Seungri said quickly. "No one's saying anything, okay? Jiyong, I know your brain's going in a million different directions, but you've only got a couple more months with Emily before you enlist, remember? Do you really want to spend any of that time fighting?"

"No," he grumbled.

"Then make up and move on. This is supposed to be your honeymoon, remember?"

"Did you just call to lecture me?" Jiyong asked with a smile.

"Of course not," Daesung replied. "Now tell us how Italy went."

******

Emily knew she should be getting ready for bed, but that meant going to the bedroom and facing another icy night with Jiyong. I was angry with him, but I shouldn't have said all of those things on the plane, she thought regretfully. She stared at her laptop screen and tapped her fingers on the table while her mind whirled. Maybe I should write another novel. I still have a huge fan base, and it would give me something to do while Jiyong's away.