The words that you heard leave the lips of the man in front of you made your heart drop deep in your chest.

You looked at Ryujin, who just stared at JYP in disbelief.

Just as you felt, she couldn't believe what she just heard him say. She thought her ears were playing tricks on her. It just didn't make any sense to her as to why he'd demand such a thing.

"What did you just say?" Ryujin asked.

"You need to break up." He repeated, his jaw clenched as he looked between the two of you. "Ryujin, you are about to debut. Do you realize how much time you will have to dedicate to this group? You won't have time for anything else, especially not a relationship!"

Ryujin scoffed and folded her arms over her chest.

"You can't be serious. I was a trainee here for a while before getting the chance to debut and my relationship with y/n has been just fine."

"But now you're debuting. You didn't have much time then and you're going to have even less now! You think you know but you don't. You have to break up. You're going to be an idol. The five of you are so talented, you're going to be so loved. You have so much potential! You don't want someone holding you back!"

You felt tears in your eyes at the thought of that.

The last thing you've ever wanted is to hold her back somehow.

Is that what you'll be doing if you stay together?

"People are going to like you less if you're with someone."

"Then they like me less. I don't want to be someone's role model if they won't want me to be happy!" Ryujin said as she tugged at her hair. "Look, I understand where you're coming from but I love y/n. We're very serious about our relationship. She loves me more than anyone else. I don't want to lose her."

JYP looked away from Ryujin and then to you.

Ryujin's heart sank, something in her telling her that he was going to make you feel bad about wanting to stay together.

"You love Ryujin?" He asked.

"Yeah. Of course I do."

"Then you should love her enough to let her go and let her follow her dreams. I'm trying to look out for her and protect her and do what's best for her. Why won't you do the same if you love her so much?"

You swallowed thickly and looked away from his gaze, his words echoing inside your brain.

"I shouldn't have to take this," Ryujin mumbled. "Why can't I be an idol and stay with my girlfriend? No one should care so much about my relationships and my private life! They should be a fan because they like our music."

"I've made up my mind." He said. "If you want to debut, you will break up. My choice is final. No relationships for a few years. Now, you're free to go. See you tomorrow for more things involving your debut."

He nodded towards the door, wordlessly telling you both to go.

You stood up and walked out the door quickly, already knowing what you had to do.

Ryujin called your name, rushing out of the room to get to you.

"Y/N, stop." She said as she caught up to you, gently holding your wrist in her hands.

You didn't say anything as she put her arms around you, hugging you from behind.

"We don't have to do that. We'll be okay. We'll find a way to work through this." She said as she heard you starting to cry.

Her lips brushed against your neck but you shook your head, pulling away.

"No, Ryujin. We can't." You sniffled and watched her eyes turn sad. "This is your dream. I would be so selfish to get in the way of that."

"No, y/n. You're not selfish and you're not getting in the way of anything! You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't want to lose you."

She took your hands into hers as her eyes filled with tears.

"Ryujin, I want the best for you. You heard what he said. If you want to debut, we have to break up."

"Then we'll sneak around! He doesn't have to know everything. He won't find out."

"He will. Somehow, someone will. You'd get into even more trouble. And then what? You get kicked out of the group? Lose fans? Become the reason why people grow out of the group and decide they don't want to support you anymore? Because of me."

"We'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it." She said. "Y/N please don't go."

She was pleading as she held you, her arms thrown around you as she clung to you as though her life depended on it.

To her, it did.

It was the most painful thing you'd ever done. Letting her go hurt more than anything you've ever experienced before.

But you thought it was best for her.

So you did it. So she could succeed and live out her dreams.

She's worked so hard for this and you wanted this for her more than anything else.

"I'm sorry, Ryujin." You cried as you pulled away. "Always remember that I'm rooting for you. You're going to make it big. You're going to shine so bright and captivate so many people. Everyone is going to love you."

"But I don't want everyone to love me. I only want you to love me. I just want you." She sniffled.

You swallowed the lump in your throat before kissing her cheek lingeringly and it took everything in you to not break down as she started to sob as you pulled away.

"I love you; never forget that."

She watched you walk away, her heart shattering as you faded from her view.

She knew it was over between you now and she felt so confused and so heartbroken as to why it all had to happen.

Because she wanted to be an idol but she wanted you by her side through that.

And she wondered if it was all worth it if she lost what was most important to her.

"I love you more, baby." She spoke through her tears, wishing she could say that to your face and steal a kiss from your lips as she did so.

But she didn't know if she'd ever get the chance to do that again and that broke her heart.