Yawning, Amy briefly set down her computer to stretch and glance at her clock. It read two thirty in the morning.

"Is it really that late? It feels like I just got back." she thought to herself. After returning home from Chairman Han's residence, Amethyst had glanced at her computer to find out she had a test tomorrow that she completely forgot to study for so she had been sitting in her room studying since then, running on coffee alone as she scanned page after page of her notes and tried for hours to memorize everything.

"It would be alright if I went to bed now, right? I mean, I'm sure I'll pass at least and that's what matters, right? Right."

Shutting her laptop, Amy slid it under her bed and turned off her bedside lamp. However, after staring up at the ceiling for several minutes and not being overcome by sleep, she sat up turned the light back on before slipping her notebook and pen out from underneath her pillow.

Outside her window, a storm raged, its ominous thunder shaking the whole house as if it was trying to get Amy's attention so it could warn her about something. However, she paid it no mind and instead continued to scribble away in her book. She was so engrossed in her characters' dialogue that she didn't hear the stomping of angry feet nor her sister's desperate pleas echoing through the hall outside of her room. It was only when her bedroom door was thrown open and she saw the seething rage in her father's eyes that Amy realized something was wrong. Hastily shoving the notebook underneath her covers, she threw on a mask of innocence as her father stormed towards her.

"Father, what's wro-" she started to ask but her voice broke off when her father slapped her across the face with such great much force that she fell off the bed.

"You wicked child! You wicked, wicked girl! You have tried to make a fool of me, have you?! Do you take me for an idiot?! A moron?! Did you really think I wouldn't find out?!" he screamed at her, his face red with anger and his body trembling with boiling rage.

Amy shrank back in fright, cupping her throbbing cheek in her hand. "W-What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me, Amethyst! I know where you really went when you asked if you could have lunch with one of Jumin's 'associates.' You went to go and get cozy with some overly optimistic bum who wouldn't know what real work is even if it hit him in the face! You deceived me!"

"Zen is an accomplice of Jumin's, father; he is part of the RFA! He also is an extremely talented actor who works really hard at his job!" Amy protested, earning herself another smack. Now both of her cheeks stung.

"You dare talk back to me, you little brat! Who do you think you are? You're nothing, Amethyst! Without me and my company, you have no value in this world!"

"You're wrong! Zen sees value in me! He sees me as more than a tool or a bargaining chip! He sees me as a person and-"

"ENOUGH!!! I FORBID YOU FROM SEEING THIS MAN AGAIN!!! YOU ARE HEREBY CONFINED TO THIS HOUSE WITH NO CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!! I AM CALLING CHAIRMAN HAN RIGHT NOW AND ARRANGING FOR YOUR MARRIAGE TO JUMIN TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN THIS MONTH!!!" Mr. Hall roared.

"Dad, please no! What Amy did was wrong, there's no debate about that, but you can't force her to marry Jumin!" Emma exclaimed as she ran into the room.

Mr. Hall's eyes narrowed angrily. "Oh I can't, can I?"

Emma flinched at his menacing tone and hastily reworded her previous statement. "I mean, you can but you shouldn't."

"Emerald, return to your room and stay out of this." her father growled.

"But-"

"GO TO YOUR ROOM, EMERALD!!!"

Frightened, Emma scampered out of the room, leaving Amy to face her father on her own.

"How dare you do this to me. What have I not given you that your heart desires, you spoiled child?! I have given you and comfortable life, and I'm trying to establish a secure future for you but you want to just throw it all away for some punk who doesn't know if he'll have work the next day!"

Something inside Amy snapped when her father said those words, and before she could stop it, all the anger, frustration, and hurt she had been concealing burst forth like a mighty flood.

"You are just trying to establish a secure future for yourself! You care about me and whether or not I'm happy! All you care about is someone carrying on your stupid company, which I could easily do for you if you weren't so demeaning and sexist! I am more than a piece of property or an accessory to be flaunted at others to make them jealous! I am a person, Dad, a person with dreams and hopes and needs like love! The fact that you can't seem to understand that is exactly why Mom left!"

Deathly silence fell over the room as Amy realized what she had said and hastily covered her mouth. As her father approached her, she started to back away and tried to lunge for her phone, but he hastily grabbed her wrist and shoved her onto her bed.

"HOW DARE YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU BRING YOUR MOTHER INTO THIS!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MENTION HER TO ME, YOU LITTLE WENCH!!!" he bellowed as he slapped her some more. By now, Amy had started to cry as she flailed about in his grasp but he held her firmly in place.

"Dad, stop! You're hurting me!" she exclaimed as tears rained down her cheeks.

"Quit fighting me, Amethyst! You can't escape your fate! You are my present to Jumin Han in return for his aid in ensuring my future and the future of my company and there's nothing you can-"

Mr. Hall was cut off by a loud beep from his daughter's computer. Scowling, he picked it up and opened it, his eyes scanning the contents of the page. Amy's blood turned to ice when she saw him clench his jaw. To her horror, she watched as her father threw the laptop across the room and into a wall, where it shattered into pieces.

"You were going to school, Amethyst?! Behind my back?! After I told you not to?! You wicked girl; you're worse than your mother ever was! What else have you been hiding from me?!" Mr. Hall shouted.

Instinctively, Amy's eyes glanced at her notebook. Following her gaze, Mr. Hall hastily snatched up the book and opened it, reading through it. His lips curled back in disgust.

"What is this? A play? You wrote a play?" he growled.

Amy didn't answer.

"You go behind my back and go to school but you don't even pick a useful degree! You are nothing but a waste, Amethyst!" he snarled as he took the book and walked over to the lit fireplace blazing in the girl's room. Amy's eyes widened in horror when she realized what he was planning to do.

"Daddy, please don't. I'm sorry. I'll marry Jumin. I won't cause any more trouble. Please just don't do this." she whimpered.

"Sorry isn't enough, Amethyst. You have defied me and now I must punish you to ensure that such an offense never happens again." Mr. Hall stated firmly. Holding the book over the blazing fire, he ignored his daughter's desperate screams and dropped it into the open maw of the hungry flames, watching with satisfaction as they consumed every last page and turned it to ash.

Amy stared at the charred remains of her notebook and scattered pieces of her laptop, too devastated to speak. Months of hard work, gone. Her hopes and dreams, crushed in an instant. It all seemed like her worst nightmare but she knew she wasn't dreaming. Shifting her gaze, she locked eyes with her father and one word popped into her mind.

"Run."

In a wild blur, Amy leaped off of her bed and raced out of her room as fast as she could. She ran down dozens of hallways before finally bursting outside into the night. She ran out the front gate of her father's mansion and down the street, the rain soaking her hair and clothes so they clung to her body. Before long, she heard the rev of several engines behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see several of her father's bodyguards pursuing her by car.

"Crap. There's no way I can outrun them! What do I do?"

Scanning the area as she ran, Amy noticed a narrow alleyway nearby and ran down it. Before long, it split into three different alleyways and she instinctively sprinted down the one on the left. Although she had no idea where she was going, her feet and adrenaline seemed to know where to go. When she emerged from the alley, she hastily turned right and ran several blocks then turned left and ran a few more. To her surprise, Amy quickly found herself standing in the same shopping plaza she had gone to with Zen when they went out to eat.

"Why did I run here of all places?"

Looking around, Amy was relieved to see no one else was there and hurried to hide beneath the overhang of one of the buildings. As she leaned against the cold brick and took several deep breaths, the reality of her situation finally started to set in as the adrenaline wore off.

"I...I ran away. I ran away and I have no idea where to go. I don't have my phone or money; heck I didn't even grab shoes or a jacket. I'm alone in the rain on the streets in the middle of the night with no way to contact anyone or pay for shelter. I've really done it this time."

As the chill started to set in, Amy slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her wet and shivering body before curling up into a ball in hopes of conserving some of her body heat.

"Is this how I'm going to die?" she wondered. Looking around for some sign of hope, Amy noticed a rather outdated looking phone booth not too far away and behind it was a fountain. Slowly, the gears in her brain started to turn till she formulated an idea. Getting up, she hurried over to the fountain and stuck her hand into the water, pulling out several coins that had been tossed in by children, optimists, and superstitious visitors. After gathering a few handfuls, she slipped into the phone booth and popped in the coins before hastily dialing the number of the one person she felt she could trust.

"Hello?" Zen's voice answered after a few rings.

"Zen..."

"Amy?! I'm surprised. Why aren't you calling me from your number? Is something wrong."

"Zen..." Overcome by another wave of tears, Amy broke down and sobbed into the phone, her body shaking uncontrollably as she leaned against the wall of the booth for support.

"A-Amy?!?! What's the matter?! Why are you crying?! What happened?! Are you okay?!" Zen exclaimed.

"Zen, I'm in trouble. I need you. I'm using a phone booth in the same shopping center as that Ulga's restaurant we went to. Can you please come get me?"

"O-Of course. I'll be right there! Don't step outside that phone booth and scream as loud as you can if someone tries to get in."

"Okay. Please hurry."

About ten minutes passed after Amy hung up before a taxi came racing into the parking lot and pulled up to the curb. A frazzled looking Zen immediately leaped out of the car, wildly scanning the area before his eyes landed on her. As the two stated at each other, Amy felt herself starting to choke up. Slipping out of the booth, she ran to him as fast as she could and threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest and crying even harder than she had before.  Zen immediately wrapped his arms protectively around her and helped her into the car. Pulling her onto his lap, he removed his jacket and wrapped it snugly around her as she cuddled against him for warmth. Stroking her soaked hair comfortingly and whispering sweet nothings in her ear, Zen signaled for the driver to start moving once more and began the ride back to his home. As he stared down at Amy, a thousand questions whirled around in his mind like a cyclone. Why was she stranded in a phone booth at night in the middle of a storm? Why was she wearing nothing but soaking wet pajamas? Why were her cheeks swollen and dotted with bruises? He wanted to ask her then and there but he knew it wasn't the appropriate time. As the taxi driver pulled up to the actor's home, Zen pulled out his wallet and began counting out several bills.

"Here's the cash and a bonus for you to stay quiet, understand?" he said as he handed the driver the money along with a $100 tip. The man nodded feverishly and eagerly snatched the money from the actor's had. After guiding Amy out of the car and into the house, Zen turned her around to face him and looked her in the eyes.

"First I'm going to help you get cleaned up, and after that you're going to tell everything that happened, alright? Don't leave any details!"

Amy nodded in understanding, sniffling as she blinked away whatever tears she had left, and allowed Zen to guide her towards his room, squeezing his hand as tightly as she could for fearing of him disappearing and leaving her alone if she let go.

----------------------

Zen pressed his lips together in a fine line as Amy finished her story. The two now sat in his living room with Amy wearing a pair of his sweatpants and one of his shirts, wrapped up in the fluffiest blanket he could find, and sipping a cup of warm, soothing tea that he had prepared for her.

"How did your dad find out?" he finally said.

"I-I don't know."

"Does your father know that you're here with me?" he asked in a grave voice.

Amy shook her head. "No. I lost his bodyguards in the alley, and since I don't have my phone there's no way for them to track me."

"Still, he might come here looking for you, and if he finds you, he might try to take you back by force." Zen muttered. Hearing a whimper, he looked up to see Amy's gripping the tea mug tightly as her eyes filled with fear. "I won't let him though. I swear I'll protect you, Amy, no matter what."

"Zen...thank you. I owe you for this." Amy said with a weary smile.

"You owe me nothing. As your knight in shining armor, it is my job to ensure that you're safe." Zen said with a smile. Rising from his chair, he continued, "You should get some sleep now; you've had quite a day. You'll sleep in my room until I fix up the guest bedroom for you."

Amy's eyebrows furrowed curiously. "What about you?"

"I'll sleep on the couch tonight, don't worry."

"What?! I couldn't ask you to do that! You sleep in the bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Please Amy, I insist. You're the guest and a lady after all so please let me be a gentleman and give you my bed." Zen persisted, flashing her a dazzling smile that had won him many awards and fangirls alike. When his guest sighed in surrender, he guided her to his room and tucked her in.

"Goodnight, my beautiful gemstone." he whispered before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. Getting up, he walked out of the room and started to blush as soon as he closed the door. However, he quickly switched back into serious mode and pulled out his phone as he walked back into the living room and flopped down onto the couch. Opening the RFA chatroom, he hastily sent out an alert to Saeyoung and waited patiently for his arrival.

ZEN, 707

707 has entered the chatroom

707: Hey Zen, what's the big idea? It's almost four in the morning.

ZEN: Seven, I know you weren't actually asleep already.

707: Your point?

ZEN: Please Seven, I need you to be serious for a moment. I've got a big problem and I need your help!

707: Woah woah, okay! Calm down, Zen. What's the problem?

ZEN: I need you to hack into the local security and traffic cameras and wipe an footage with a certain woman in it.

707: This woman wouldn't happen to be the one you've been texting recently, would she?

ZEN:

ZEN: HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!?!

707: I was bored one day and decided to hack your phone for fun. I gotta say, Zen, those texts were really cheesy, even for you.

ZEN:

ZEN: SEVEN, I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!

707: If you kill me, I can't erase the security footage of Amy.

ZEN: ...

ZEN: Fine, you live for today. Do you need a picture of her so you know what she looks like?

707: Nah, I already snitched one off of your phone when I was snooping. Figured it might come in handy eventually. I gotta say, Zen, she's really pretty; perfect for you.

ZEN: SEVEN!!!

ZEN:

707: Hehe, I gotta go get rid of that security footage now and go to bed before MC finds out I'm still awake and scolds me. See ya!

ZEN: SEVEN!!!!!!

707 has left the chatroom

Groaning loudly, Zen pinched the bridge of his nose as he muttered some not-so-nice things about the hacker under his breath.

"I swear he's going to be the death of us all." he grumbled. Setting his phone aside. Grabbing the tv remote, he turned on the tv and started flipping through channels, stopping when a particular news story caught his eye.

"Zen's New Woman?" He read aloud. Frowning, he turned up the volume ever so slightly and watched as the reporter interviewed the Ulga's waitress that had waited on him and Amy a few days before.

"Are you sure it was him?" the reporter asked.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. He was wearing a disguise, but I've been a fan of his since the beginning so there's no way I would mistake that voice." Sora exclaimed. Zen couldn't help but notice the large "I ❤️ Zen!" t-shirt she was wearing.

"And he was with someone at the time?"

"Yes, a young woman. They were quite friendly with one another, possibly a little too friendly if you ask me. I don't think they sat more than a few inches apart the entire meal." Sora gushed.

"So you think Zen and this woman might be dating?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense."

Turning back to the camera, the reporter returned the mic to her lips and said in a far too chipper tone, "There you have it, folks: an eyewitness account of the famous actor Zen spending some one-on-one quality time with a seemingly special lady. Don't believe it? We have video proof as well."

Immediately, the video switched to footage from very grainy security camera. Zen's stomach dropped when he saw himself and Amy seated in the corner of the screen.

"In the corner you'll notice a dark-haired man and a white-haired woman sitting in one of the many booths. The dark-haired man is actually famous actor Zen in disguise, but we have yet to identify the young woman with him. If you continue to watch, you'll notice the woman grab Zen's hand as the two engage in deep conversation. Judging by his body language and expression, it can be determined that the actor cares very much about this young lady-"

Zen shut off the tv, leaving him in complete darkness.

"So that's how her father found out. Idiot! I got sloppy and now as a result Amy can't go home and lost all her hard work! This is all my fault."

With a sigh, Zen glanced at the clock to see it was ten minutes past four. Laying down on the couch, he tried to fall asleep but just found himself staring up at the ceiling above.

"I can't sleep. Alright, I might as well do something useful."

Grabbing his phone, Zen opened another chatroom and typed out a message.

ZEN, MC

ZEN: Hey MC, do you have any clothes I could borrow?

------------------

Groaning when she heard her phone chirp, MC rubbed the sleep from her eyes and opened the chatroom. Immediately, her face scrunched up in confusion as she read Zen's message.

"What?" she muttered aloud.