Jungkook kept pacing restlessly along one of the practice rooms. Was Seung Hee all right? He wanted so badly to go home, to pull her away from Yoongi. But he couldn't, because there was no turning back now – not after this afternoon.

He had appeared before a miserable Yoongi, who barked, “What are you so happy about?”

“Are you really this sad because of Lee Seung Hee?”

“No, she's just a kid.”

“Good,” said Jungkook, and forced himself not to let a crack appear in his smiling mask. He knew that Yoongi was lying, and he said, “She's the reason why I'm so happy. See, last night was a very big step for us, I still can't believe it.”

He saw Yoongi's fists clench. “Did that kid… stay at your house?”

He nodded. “And thanks to your behavior, she realized that I was better than you and accepted my confession – so you see, I was right – she'll never look at you again.”

He knew that Yoongi would get angry, but he hadn't thought that it would happen so quickly. In a flash, he was pinned against the wall and a hand gripped his hair.

“Say that again,” hissed Yoongi.

Jungkook looked defiantly into those blazing eyes. “She'll never look at you again!”

“You jerk...” Yoongi punched him in the face.

Jungkook clutched his jaw, but didn't hit Yoongi back. Instead, he asked, “Do you… love her?”

“What?” asked Yoongi. “This has nothing to do with-”

“I don't care! Just answer the question!” yelled Jungkook.

“All right!” Yoongi yelled back. “I love her!”
“Then take her back.”

Yoongi must have misheard…

“I… what?”

“Take her back while I'm being nice,” said Jungkook. “Quickly, before I change my mind.”

Yoongi let go. “But why would you do this?” he asked. “Don't you like her?”

Jungkook rubbed his throbbing head. “Don't ask me any questions or else I might change my mind. And don't make her cry again, got it? I don't want to regret this. And I lied when I said she accepted me.”

Yoongi stared at him, dunbfolunded. "I-I hit you..."
"I guess I kinda deserved it," said Jungkook.

"Why did you provoke me?" demanded Yoongi.

"I had to - otherwise you would never admit how you feel for her."

Yoongi was even more dumbfounded.
 

Now, Jungkook stuffed his water bottle in his duffel bag. It was getting late, and Namjoon was probably waiting for him – honestly, he wasn't a child! Namjoon didn't have to wait for him every night before going to sleep!

Would Yoongi be at the dorm? Did Yoongi and Seung Hee make up? He wondered what they were doing right now – were they joking around or were they being serious? If they had made up, then Jungkook would be ok. He would have no regrets, because after all, they were two of the people he loved the most in the world.

* * * *

Namjoon was waiting, as expected, when Jungkook got back.

“Where have you been?” he asked. “It's so late!”
“Hyung,” said Jungkook tonelessly. “Why can't I keep anyone by my side?”

Namjoon was about to say something, but Jungkook went on. “My first love went away, too. And I just let her, you know. I let her drift away from me. That's why I behaved like this with Seung Hee.” He sighed. “I thought, if I held on enough, she would come to me. I thought, if she mistrusted Yoongi hyung, she would come to me.”
“Jungkook-”
“Except I realized that I never really had a chance after all.”
Namjoon said nothing.

“You knew it, too, right?” said Jungkook. “You knew that Seung Hee and Yoongi hyung were special. I knew it, too – I just didn't want to believe it.”
“Where are they now?” asked Namjoon.

“At my place.” Jungkook smiled weakly. “I locked them up so they could talk it out. Do you think they will be ok?”
“I don't know,” said Namjoon. “Their relationship is kind of special, you know. It's strange but very close – they only have each other. If they talk honestly, I think they will be ok.”
“Hyung,” whispered Jungkook. “Have I… ruined it for them? Because I was the one who made her doubtful of him, I-”
“That was wrong,” said Namjoon. “You shouldn't have said that to her. But it had to happen some day – she had to find out sooner or later.”
“That he's a player?” Jungkook's tone was marred with bitterness.

Namjoon smiled. “He's not.”
“What?”
“Yoongi is not a player.”
Jungkook stared at him disbelievingly.

“It was all an act,” said Namjoon. “It was all part of the image he was trying to portray.”
“Why would he want to portray that kind of image?”
“I don't know.”
“Hasn't he told you?”
Namjoon shook his head. “But I hope he tells Seung Hee.”
Jungkook sighed. “All the people around her are messed up...”
Namjoon put his arm around him. “Aish, Yoongi's not that messed up. Ok, you were pretty bad, but hey, I think you saved their relationship.”
Jungkook didn't crack a smile.

“Hey,” said Namjoon. “Want to teach me a girl-group dance?”
No answer.

“Come on,” said Namjoon desperately. “You can teach me 'Touch My Body!' Or… or 'Cheer Up!'”

Jungkook cracked a tiny smile. “You're a horrible dancer,” he said. “You're even worse at girl-group dancing than Seokjin hyung.”
“That's why you love to teach me, brat – it makes you feel superior, no?”
“Well yeah,” admitted Jungkook. “But you're pretty hilarious when you dance like that.”
“Let's go, then,” said Namjoon, relieved that Jungkook had smiled again. He could make a fool of himself as much as was needed to distract Kookie.

* * * *

Seung Hee could see how nervous and scared Yoongi was – scared of her judgment – as he confessed something that had haunted him practically his whole life. He told her something he had never told any one else before, and she listened quietly without any interruptions, without judgment, without any anger – just acceptance.

He told her about his greed, his selfishness, his need to toy with people.

“It's like this,” he started. “I've always had attention. In school I was the bad boy – everyone loved me and feared me – they worshiped me. And I liked that. It made me feel that things were in my control, that I was powerful.”

I became addicted to that feeling – I always knew that I was weak inside, and I did my best to hide that. But when people threw themselves at me, I became strong – no, I believed that I was strong. I took advantage of them, I toyed with them because I could, and I liked to hurt them. I guess it was like a kind of revenge, because I knew exactly what kind of love they gave me, and I hated them for that.”

Yoongi took a deep breath. “I hated them, despised them. No one would have even looked at me if I had been a normal person – they just wanted me for my reputation, they wanted me because I was a trainee. Later, when I debuted, they wanted me for my fame and it became a habit for me. I seduced models, actresses, anyone. I loved bending their will to mine, I loved breaking them and abandoning them after giving them hope.”
Yoongi slid off his seat, and went down on his knees before Seung Hee.

“Get up," she said. "Yah, you don't have to-”

“Let me finish, then you can decide,” he said. “I knew it was bad – that it was wrong – but I couldn't stop. And when you came… I didn't crave that anymore. I thought that maybe I could finally escape it, but yesterday… it came back...”

His voice trembled a bit, and he paused. When he got control over himself, he said, “You have no idea how much I hate myself. Every time I do it, I despise myself a little more...”

Seung Hee felt something wet drip onto her hand – and when she touched her face, it was wet with tears. When had she started to cry?

While listening to Yoongi, her disgust and anger slowly melted away, replaced by a terrible grief for him. She couldn't even imagine how he must have felt for so many years – it was like a vicious circle he couldn't get out of.

Yoongi wanted love, but the only kind he could get was the artificial kind. He hated that, and played with the person's emotions instead. And then he hated himself, but he did it all over again.

“Are you crying?” he asked. “Are you crying for me? Don't, because I am really not worth it. I'm not expecting your forgiveness, and I won't blame you if you want to leave me – I would never drag you down with me.”

“You idiot,” she whispered, and her heart took complete control. “I'll help you get out of it, ok? I promise.”

She cupped his face and she could see the conflict and confusion in his eyes.

She was not confused, though – never had she been so sure of what she wanted than now, and that was to make him find peace with himself.

“But-”

“Like it or not you're stuck with me. Even if you abandon me I'll find you again – and then kill you.”

"But I'm a horrible person," he whispered. "I'm so messed up - I've hurt so many people. I've hurt you-"

"That's all in the past," said Seung Hee softly. "It doesn't matter what you've done before, if you change now. It's what you are going to do now that will become who you are."
"Do you... really think that?"
Seung Hee nodded.

"You don't... hate me?"
"I could never hate you," she whispered. "How could I hate you?"
"Because I hate myself-"
"Don't say that! There are a lot of people who love you, Yoongi. Don't hate something they love."
"I-"
"Eomoni loves you, so do Namjoon, Jungkook, Seokjin, Hoseok, Taehyung, Jimin... and me..." she said, blushing.

"Y-you?" Yoongi stuttered in surprise.

Somehow, she didn't regret her words. "We're family now - and families love each other."

Seung Hee then saw something in Yoongi's eyes that she had never expected to see, ever: gratefulness, and something close to love. No, it was love. She saw him blink back tears, and she held him closer – this was the first time that she had a chance to comfort him, it was usually him comforting her.

Yoongi laid his head against her neck and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. She could hear him take deep breaths, and put her arms around him.

“I was so scared,” he confessed. “I was so scared that you would hate me, that I would lose you...”

And Seung Hee was scared, too – not because she was afraid that she would lose him, but because she knew now that there was no going back. She knew that she had just given herself to Yoongi, even if he didn't know it. And with it, she had given him the power to hurt her but she knew that she would forgive him no matter what he did. Like she had done right now – it still hurt, but what would hurt even more was losing him. Yoongi had no idea, she knew, about any of this. And maybe it was better if it stayed that way.

She didn't want to become a burden.

Finally, he calmed down and murmured, “Don't you have any other questions?”
“Not tonight,” she whispered. Talking about the past put him in so much pain – and she didn't need to hear it anyway - at least not now. And whatever she heard wouldn't make a difference, she would still feel the same about him, still accept him for who he was.

No matter what he did.