And then he kissed her…

Seung Hee had to cover to stifle a disgusted gasp - Yoongi couldn't catch her peeping, he couldn't! She turned away, so disgusted she was nauseous.

Jungkook had been right - Yoongi was a playboy. And he played with peoples' emotions.  And he had almost made her believe that he wasn't that kind of person, that he cared about her even just a bit. If he really cared, would he be kissing someone after telling her that he knew what she meant when she had said she couldn't date other guys?

She was so disgusted, so ashamed, when she thought about all those times she had longed to see him, those times he had made her heart race...

It hurt. Seeing Yoongi like that – it hurt so much, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't even stand… she crumpled to the floor, struggling to stop from crying, from getting caught, and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Seung Hee...” said a soft voice. She looked up at Jungkook, fighting back tears. He did not need to ask what had happened, he understood when he took one look through the crack of the door.

Wordlessly, he knelt down in front of her and cupped her face in his warm hands, forcing her to look at him. His eyes said it all – they said that he understood, that he was so sorry she had to see that… and then he drew her to him in a gentle embrace.

It was not stifling – it was comforting, she could hide her face now...

 Seung Hee did not want to cry – Yoongi would hear her and try to make excuses about what had happened with the model. But Jungkook's gesture broke down her wall, and she could not suppress a gulping sob.

She knew that she was shaking from trying so hard to stop her sobs but Yoongi heard her anyway. She knew he had come because she heard Jungkook hiss, “Get lost.”

 She kept her face hidden in Jungkook's chest – she couldn't face Yoongi right then,she didn't want to see his lying face, she didn't want him to see how upset she was. Good thing that he had no idea that her heart had raced because of him – how ridiculous she would seem now…

She heard Yoongi inhale sharply and say, “Seung Hee, please-”

She knew that he tried to touch her, because she heard a slight smack – Jungkook slapping away Yoongi's hand – and heard Jungkook order, “Don't touch her.”

Yoongi's voice rose. “You have no right to-”

"You have no right to make her cry like this!” yelled Jungkook. "You have no right to say anything after what you just did!”

He rose, pulling Seung Hee up gently. She kept her face hidden against him, she could feel Yoongi's smoldering eyes on her. He tightened his hold on her, and whispered, “Come on...”

Yoongi watched them go slowly, watched the way Jungkook carefully held Seung Hee like she was made of glass and could break at the slightest thing. And he saw the way she clutched him, like he was her lifeline…

When Yoongi went back into the room, he suddenly swore loudly and threw one of the wooden chairs across the room. The model flinched and screamed, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

"GET OUT!”

The model wasted no time in running out, leaving behind a despaired Yoongi.

Things were never like this when he had no one. Everything had been so easy when he was attached to no one, when he did not love someone. He had sworn not to fall in love because he knew that he would hurt her, and if he ever lost her he would be broken once more into a thousand pieces.

Why had he let himself fall for that girl in particular? Seung Hee had broken his wall brick by brick, and he was terrified. She was too young, too pure, too good to be involved with someone like him – but that was why she was different from everyone else. And more than anything, he did not want to lose her – but he was terrified that after what she had just seen him do, she would not allow him back into her world.

And it was entirely his fault.

 

* * * *

 

Jungkook took Seung Hee to his apartment. She had begged him not to take her to Yoongi's, and she didn't want to return to the Mins' house, either. So he saw no other option.

He let her cry in the car without saying anything, or telling her not to – and for this, Seung Hee was grateful. She hardly looked at his apartment, and he steered her to the couch and sat beside her. She wasn't crying any more, but that didn't mean she was ok – she wasn't.

"I'm so stupid!” she cried.

"You are a lot of things, Lee Seung Hee,” said Jungkook. “But you're not stupid.”

She nodded. “I am, I just can't help it… I think I like him.”

She just realized to whom she was saying this to, and added quickly, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-”

Jungkook shushed her. “If you don't say this to me, who will you say it to?”

"Jungkook-”

"Tell me about it - you'll feel better.”

"I don't want to hurt you...”

"Not confiding in me hurts more – remember, we were friends first.”

"I...”

"So you like Yoongi. I guess I kind of knew it all along... I really shouldn't have behaved the way I did - I was a jerk. I'm sorry, Seung Hee..."

"It's kind of my fault, too," she said. "I should have noticed and done something. But you were right about Yoongi."

"I shouldn't have said all that about him,” said Jungkook.

"But it's the truth."
"Yoongi hyung... he changed." Jungkook was ripping apart inside, but he couldn't bear to see her so unhappy. "He takes care of you, and I have never seen him take care of a person like this before.”
Except for him –Yoongi had taken care of him when he had been the clueless kid in the agency. Yoongi and Namjoon, those two inseparable friends, had taken him under their wing.

Seung Hee suddenly said, urgently, “Don't tell Yoongi that I like him, I beg you. He… he'll laugh at me and I-”

"He would never laugh at you.”

"Just please, promise me that you won't tell him.”

"All right, I promise.”

They crossed pinkies, the way all promises are sealed.

"Get some sleep,” he told her. “I have to return to the dorm, ok?”

She nodded.

"Um, there's some food in the fridge but you can order take-out if you want. And you can use my bed – there's some extra blankets in the cupboard, you can use those, too. Actually, you can just treat this like your home, ok? And call me if you need anything.”

She nodded again.

He cleared his throat, and thought that it was time he got going – but he didn't want to leave Seung Hee, not when she was so upset and confused…

He got up, and she reached up and caught his hand.

"Thank you,” she said. “And I know I shouldn't ask you this, but...”

"You know that you can ask me anything.”

"You've always been a good friend to me, Jungkook. I miss that. Can… can we be friends like we used to be?”

Jungkook's throat tightened. Did she have any idea how much her request hurt him? Did she really believe that being with her wouldn't affect him? That he could stuff all his feelings for her away in a pocket?

A long time ago, he realized that he could do anything for this girl. That he wanted to be by her side no matter what. And if the only way he could do that was by being a friend, he could do that.

Her eyes were hopeful and pleading, full of innocent trust. Just by looking at her for one second, it was so clear that she had never been hurt by unrequited love – that she didn't know how he felt right now. How could he refuse?

"Sorry," she whispered, letting go of his hand. "I'm hurting you, aren't I?"

That did it.

"You're not," said Jungkook. "It's better that we go back to being friends, because what I have now is just a crush - nothing serious."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup - so let's go back to the way things were before I messed up, ok?"

She gave him a breathtaking smile, and his stomach clenched. That smile was because he had agreed to be friends. That smile told him that he was not the one for her.

 

* * * *

 

Mrs Min looked at the woman in front of her with sympathy. She knew what it was like to lose a child, and she was aware of the situation Mrs Lee had been in.

Mrs Lee took a sip of tea before saying, “I am really grateful to you for taking care of Seung Hee.”

Mrs Min smiled. “I love her like my daughter.”

"But she isn't your daughter, she's mine. And that's why I have come to see you today – you are a mother yourself, you can understand me, I think.”

Mrs Min's smile froze. Did Mrs Lee mean that she wanted to take Seung Hee away? Although she was sympathetic, her understanding did not extend that far.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that you're talking to the wrong person,” she said.

Mrs Lee shot her a questioning look, and she explained, “You see, just before your father-in-law passed away, he transferred total custody of Seung Hee to her husband, to my son.”

Mrs Min conveniently left out the part of when the marriage would become legal.

"But she is just a child – how can she be married?”

"There was no other choice.”

"They will divorce immediately.”

And Mrs Min swore to herself that as long as she was alive, Seung Hee and Yoongi would never divorce – she had never seen her son appear so human, or to take care of another person before. He had been so attentive the night Seung Hee saw her mother again.

"No,” she said firmly, not caring whether she sounded rude.

"Excuse me?”

"You have no idea of how much my son has changed because of her. He used to be so cold and uncaring, but now he's like a human being again.”

"That is another reason why I don't want my daughter to stay with such an unpredictable man.”

"You've got a lot of nerve,” she said. “How can suddenly appear years after abandoning your child and demand her back? She's happy now-”

"Is she?” cut in Mrs Lee. “Is my daughter really happy?”

Mrs Min remembered the glow on Seung Hee's face. “Yes, she is.”

"Do they love each other?”

Mrs Min hadn't seen them enough to know. They cared, obviously, but love?

The two women sat in silence for a long time. Finally, it was Mrs Lee who broke it.

"I just want what's best for her,” she said. “I'll make a compromise: if she doesn't love him, I'll find a way to take her back and I ask you not to stand in my way.”

"And if she loves him?” challenged Mrs Min. “What will you do then?”

Mrs Lee did not even pause to think before she said, “Then she can stay with him.”

Mrs Lee took her leave, and Mrs Min grew nervous. She did not want Yoongi to be alone again – she had never seen him so caring since Eunji died – and she herself could not bear the thought of losing Seung Hee.

Suddenly, Mrs Min couldn't stand it anymore, she missed her two children too much. She picked up her phone to call Yoongi –  Seung Hee wasn't answering her calls these days – to tell him to come over one night with Seung Hee for dinner. Hopefully, seeing them together would show her how they treated each other, and give her an idea of what they meant to each other. And perhaps she should warn Yoongi that someone wanted to take Seung Hee away.

 

* * * *

 

The members sat huddled in the living room, with the exception of Jungkook, and Yoongi who had barricaded himself in his room.

"Can someone tell me what happened to Yoongi?" asked Hoseok.

"He was awfully quiet in the van on the way back,” said Seokjin.

Namjoon said nothing. He knew what had happened, but it wasn't his place to tell the members about Yoongi's private life.

"You don't think something went wrong with that model?" asked Jimin.

"What do you mean?” said Taehyung.

"I mean, like something-”
“Maybe Seung Hee saw him,” interrupted Seokjin..

"I told him to stop doing that!” cried Hoseok loudly, making everyone jump. “I told him that it could destroy his relationship with Seung Hee!”

Taehyung snorted. “What relationship? All he does is boss her around.”

Namjoon fought the urge to punch Taehyung and was thankfully distracted by the appearance of Jungkook.

His eyes went over the member's concerned faces and he asked, “Where is Yoongi hyung?”

"In his room,” replied Seokjin.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you,” advised Taehyung. “I think he's crying.”

Jungkook's face hardened. “Serves him right.”

"What?”

"Nothing.”

He avoided Namjoon's piercing gaze – Namjoon knew, then, what had happened. But did Namjoon guess what he was planning to do?

* * * *

 

School seemed to drag by even slower than usual. Seung Hee kept on seeing Yoongi everywhere - he was even there in her notebooks, kissing an unknown person. And Ha Na kept demanding to know where she had suddenly disappeared to last night.

She couldn't bring herself to tell Ha Na – she wouldn't understand how it felt, since she really didn't care about any of her boyfriends and she had even kissed someone to make one of them break up with her. Seung Hee told her that she had suddenly felt sick, and Jungkook had taken her home.

"Are you sure?” asked Ha Na. “Then can you explain why your hubby went berserk in the waiting room?”

"Why should I know?” asked Seung Hee, trying to hide her surprise at this bit of information – was Yoongi upset, too? Probably not… and maybe Ha Na was trying to trick her into telling the truth.

Just then, Jungkook called her to tell her to come to his apartment quickly, he had to talk to her.

"Did something happen?” Seung Hee asked.

"Come quickly,” was all Jungkook said before hanging up.

She caught the bus. Jungkook had sounded really serious... did something happen? Her heart clenched - did something happen to Yoongi?

Jungkook let her in and she demanded, “Is Yoongi all right?”

He chuckled humorlessly and called over his shoulder, “I told you so.”

"Is someone here?”

Yoongi came up behind Jungkook. For once, he did not appear confident and relaxed – he seemed unsure and ashamed.

  She couldn't say anything. Though her mind wanted to scream at him and get away, her heart jumped with joy to see him…

Jungkook pulled her inside. "Talk it all out - things will get really bad if you just leave it alone."

"I don't need an explanation," said Seung Hee harshly, not looking at him. "I saw what happened!”

 

Jungkook darted outside and locked the door from the outside. Great, now she was stuck with Yoongi.

She looked everywhere except at him. Was it really only yesterday that he had done that? It seemed like such a long time ago…

Yoongi reached forward to touch her and she took a step back.

"Don't touch me.” She was surprised by how cold she sounded. “I trusted you and you – oh, gods, I'm so disgusted!”

She expected him to defend himself, but he said softly, “I know – and you have every right to hate me. Nothing can excuse what I did, but it was really a mistake. If you could just listen to me...”

Seung Hee's heart wrenched control for a second. Even though the hurt was not gone, even though the betrayal was not gone, she missed him so, so much…

"Explain, then.”

He seemed a bit surprised that she was actually giving him a chance – and that hurt, too. How could he think that she would not listen to him?

"But if you're going to make excuses," she found herself saying. "Save your breath - I want honesty."

He nodded. "I'll answer everything you ask me. I-I've never talked about it to someone before..."

She could see so clearly in his eyes that he was afraid. He was afraid of her judgment, afraid that she was going to leave him.

After listening, Seung Hee could understand why he would think that. Most people would judge him harshly, would turn away from him. Some would even call him cruel.

Because Min Yoongi was not like other people.