Yoongi had been in the recording studio for eight hours straight, and the dorm felt like heaven to him. Seokjin was the only one in when he got back, which was strange because Jungkook was supposed to be there, too.

"Where's Kookie?” he asked a half-asleep Seokjin, who yawned and replied, “Um… he said he was going out on a date...”

Yoongi's blood began to boil. “What?”

"Yeah, he got a girlfriend – no, he's confessing to her tonight.”

Confession? Girlfriend? It didn't take a genius to figure out who Jungkook was confessing to – except how could he dare? Yoongi had told him so often to back off…

Just then, the door opened, and Jungkook trudged in.

"How'd it go?” asked Seokjin sleepily.

"Fine,” replied the maknae, avoiding Yoongi's eyes, and he locked himself in his room.

Yoongi couldn't help grinning. Jungkook's face said clearly that it hadn't gone well, that it wasn't all right. Just to make sure, he called the kid. He had to call three times before she picked up.

"Yes?” Her voice was stuffy, and with a pang he realized that she had been crying.

"What happened?” he demanded. “Are you hurt?”

"No, it's nothing.”

"Don't you lie to me. And tell me the truth: did you go out with Jungkook tonight?”

Long pause. Then, she said, “Yes.”

"Didn't I tell you not to go anywhere without asking me first?”

"I'm sorry...”

He knew that she had started crying again, and his anger melted away.

"You want me to come over tonight?” he asked.

"No, please… it's late, and…. and I really want to be alone...”

"Are you sure?”

"Yeah...”

"All right, then. But call me whenever, ok?”

She cut the connection, and Yoongi felt helpless. That kid was crying, and he couldn't even wipe her tears. She needed space right now, and the least he could do was give it to her. Of course, he could always strangle Jungkook, but that would make her cry even harder….

 

* * * *

 

  Seung Hee tried to study on Sunday – she tried, but kept getting distracted. The SATs were coming up, she had to focus – but she couldn't. And it was all because of Jungkook.

Jungkook liked her. One of the best friends she'd ever had liked her. She remembered that she hadn't been able to say anything other than “I'm sorry.”

And Jungkook had said, “Why?”

"Because I.. don't think that I can accept.”

"Is there someone else?”

She hadn't answered.

"So there is. Is it Yoongi?”

"I don’t know,” she had whispered.

"How can you not know?”

"I'm only seventeen – how can I know about this kind of thing?”

"You're just a child to him. You-”

"I said, I don't know.”

"Have you never felt anything for me? Anything at all?”

"When I met you, I did… I had some feelings, but I know now that it was just infatuation...”

"Is that how you feel about him?”

"No – it's… different…. I don't know. Please don't ask me any more!”

Now, Seung Hee struck off a maths problem ferociously. Stupid Jungkook - why did he have to go ruin a beautiful friendship? Things were so messy now - and how was she supposed to ever face him again? And his face... it haunted her. The hurt in his eyes, which he quickly tried to hide, haunted her.

But so did his question.

Did she like Yoongi? Maybe. He had become someone she could rely on, someone she could trust. Exactly what he was to her was a mystery...

But she felt a gap between them. Jungkook's words had poisoned her, had planted a seed of doubt. Yoongi's so called 'scandals'… they bothered her. She wanted to ask him about it, but would he tell the truth? What if he really did toy with peoples' emotions? What then? Seung Hee was too afraid of the truth to ask.

She turned in circles until seven, when someone came to put an end to all her thoughts. She was using her history textbook as a pillow, and was dimly aware that someone had come into the apartment, and yelped when that person tugged her ponytail.

"Gotcha,” said Yoongi. Oh, finally! In spite of all the doubts, she was glad to see him.

She turned around, and there he was, with his half-smile and impeccably dressed as usual. Except….

"Your hair!”

"You like it?” He ran a hand through his freshly dyed orange hair. It wasn't bad, it would just take some getting used to. Except Seung Hee had really loved his blond hair.

"Um….”

“I guess you hate it.”

"I think blond was better.”

"Do you know how hard it is to maintain that colour?” he demanded.

"Then maybe next time, you should go for a darker colour.”

He made a face and sat down on the floor beside her. Seung Hee reached out to touch his hair, but then withdrew it quickly, remembering one of the first rules he had ever told her: not to touch him without permission.

"You may touch my hair,” said Yoongi. Had he read her mind or something?

Tentatively, Seung Hee reached out and quickly touched just the side of his head. It was slightly damp, and the hair was thick and soft.

They sat there, in silence; Seung Hee gathering up his courage to ask him.

"Yah,” he said. “Why so silent? Do you want to ask me something?”
Seung Hee blushed – how come he could read her so easily?

"I heard about Jungkook,” he said softly.

She glanced at him quickly; he was looking at her with an odd expression – not angry, but not gentle, either.

"Oh,” she muttered.

"Why did you turn him down?”

Her face heated up. “It just wouldn't be right...” she muttered.

"Why not?”

Did he really not know? Whether or not they were married against their will, they still had some kind of commitment toward one another – she would just feel horrible if she got a boyfriend. Not that she liked Min Yoongi or anything…

"Because,” she muttered. “Just because...”
“Because we're married?” he said gently.

Flushing crimson, she nodded.

"I see,” said Yoongi. “But we're not really married, you know that, right? It won't become legal until you turn eighteen.”

"I know,” she said. “But-”
“I know what you mean,” interrupted Yoongi; he couldn't look at her either. “It's just… this feeling, right?”
Seung Hee looked at him – he seemed embarrassed and stared down at the floor.

Yoongi had that feeling too. Yoongi felt some commitment toward her. He did care…

"You can date him if you want to,” he said suddenly.

Seung Hee's happiness crashed. “What?”
“I mean...” Yoongi took a deep breath. “You can see other guys if you want. I can't hold you down.

But she didn't want to see other guys.

"I won't change my mind,” she said. “Whether you feel the same or not doesn't matter, but I'm going to respect this marriage because it's what my grandfather wanted."

Of course, thought Yoongi. She was like that because of her grandfather – not because of him. Who was he kidding anyway? It wasn't like he and Seung Hee liked each other anyway. Yoongi's feelings were one-sided…

"Yoongi?” she said.

"Yeah?”

"Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“I heard a lot of things about you,” she said hesitantly. “I don't really know what to believe...”
He stiffened. “Not now,” he said. “I'm too tired – let's talk about it later, ok? And anyway, it's not really important.”

But it was important to her. She wanted to know about him – not from someone else, but from him. The thread of doubt went deeper into her mind. Why was he avoiding her questions?

Yoongi seemed to sense her confusion, because he said once more, “It's not a huge secret – I'm just too tired today.”

She nodded. "All right," she said, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice. "Another day, then..."

They sat in silence, each one wanting to break it but not knowing how.

Finally, Yoongi said, “What colour do you think would suit me?”

"Huh?"

"My hair - you don't really like this colour. So which colour do you think would suit me?"

She studied his face before saying, “Maybe dark red?”

 

"Not sure?”

She looked at him again. Red would suit him awfully well, she decided.

"Red,” she said. “Are you going to change it?”

"I won't dye my hair just to suit your tastes. Do you know how expensive it is? I can't use any old dye.”

He suddenly grabbed her notebook.

"What were you doing?” He flipped through it. “Wow, you at maths.”

"I know that!” She threw a pen cap at him, and it hit him right in the forehead and his mouth fell open in surprise, forming a perfect 'o'. She burst into giggles and he yelled, “Yah, you monkey!”

Yoongi poked her in the ribs and pulled her to him. “Come here, you!”

Seung Hee screamed with laughter and wriggled as he tickled her mercilessly.

"Ah, stop!” she cried. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry!”

He pushed her down onto her back and kept tickling. “You thought you could get away with that? Huh? Did you?”

She almost squirmed free, but he caught her again and held her down.

There were tears of laughter streaming down her face, and she tried to push him off but was weak with laughter. One of his hands pinned her arms to the floor so she couldn't push him, and the other tickled relentlessly.

"Stop! I surrender, I surrender!”

And all of a sudden, the tickling stopped.

"You meanie,” she said, and looked up at him – and caught her breath. He was just so perfect, his orange hair hanging in his burning eyes and his entire face sparkling with mischief. He was still pinning her arms down, and he looked down at her and gave her a half-smile. Then he got up.

 Seung Hee sat up, too, trying to fix her hair.

"Where are you going?” she asked.

"I have to go to the recording studio now, kiddo.”

"You're going?”

But he hadn't even been here that long! And it was fun – they had never played like that before…

"Can't you stay a bit longer?” she asked. She didn't want him to leave just yet.

"I'm really busy these days, you know."

"If you're so busy, then why did you even come here? Did you come to get something?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”

"Did you find it?”

"Yep.”

However, he left empty-handed and Seung Hee hadn't seen him put anything in his pocket, either.