Namjoon kept his hood up and his head down, occasionally looking around the crowded movie theater anxiously. Where was Ha Na? Today was supposed to be the day they finally watched that movie – and she was half an hour late. Right when he was starting to think that she wasn't coming, he spotted her in a distance.

Relieved, he was about to wave, but stopped himself – something was wrong. She was running, someone behind her. Namjoon slowly went to her when he saw that the man had grabbed her wrist. He started walking a bit faster, and heard the man – in fact, it was a high school senior - say, “Why didn't you just tell me?”

“I'm sorry,” said Ha Na.

“You're such a coward – you couldn't even tell me to my face that you wanted to break up. What you did hurt more than if you had just broken up – you made me wait, you made me so frustrated, you made me try harder!”

“I'm sorry-”

“Sorry? You think saying sorry solves anything? Was I such an easy guy that you could do this?”

Namjoon saw Ha Na flinch when the boy's grip tightened, and his tone turned threatening.

“Were you cheating on me? Is that it?”

“No-”

“Do you have someone else?''

Namjoon really didn’t know why he meddled in this – all he knew was that someone was hurting Ha Na.

He suddenly put his arm around Ha Na's shoulder and glared at the boy.

“You got a problem?” he asked coolly.

The boy let go, looking Namjoon up and down. “Who the hell are you?”

“Her boyfriend.”

“What?”

Ha Na looked at him in surprise.

“Yeah, so you better go while I'm being nice – and if I ever see you around her again, I won't go easy on you.”

Ha Na tugged on his sleeve urgently. “No, don't-”

The boy's gaze hardened and he took a good look at Namjoon. “Don't I know you?” he asked. “I've seen you somewhere...”

“I'm sure you have,” said Namjoon. “I'm quite famous.”

“Stop it!” cried Ha Na. “Oppa, please, let's go, please-”

“All right,” said Namjoon, throwing a last look at the boy. “I'm warning you – don't let me see you around her again.”

The boy looked as though he wanted to punch Namjoon, who wanted to punch him, too. But that wouldn't go too well with his agency, and the press would have a field day if he was caught fighting in public.

So Namjoon quickly steered Ha Na away from the boy, who thankfully didn't come after them. He grinned and exclaimed, “We did it!”

His happiness faded when he saw that in fact, Ha Na was crying.

“Yah, Ha Na, are you ok?”

“Why would you say that?” she sobbed.

“Don’t tell me you liked that jerk-”

“I don't! But I didn't want to hurt him more! And you... you hurt him more!”

Namjoon didn't know what to say. He was looking at Ha Na without her mask of confidence, and he wanted to comfort her so badly. He put his arm around her and guided her outside and into the privacy of his car.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I shouldn't have meddled-”

“Actually, it's good that you did – I don't know what would have happened if-”

“What do you mean?” She didn't answer, and a horrible thought struck him. The boy had seemed a bit violent, but still…

“Are you afraid of him?” he asked gently.

She nodded.

Namjoon's stomach clenched. “Can you tell me about him?”

“Why do you care?” she cried. “Seriously, you're the only one who's seen my bad side but you're still-”

“You don't have a bad side,” said Namjoon. “All I see is a very confused girl.”

“You-”

“I don't think you tell these things to Seung Hee.”

“She won't understand – she doesn't have any idea about dating and guys.”

He smiled. “Yoongi told me something like that once.”

“I'm glad that they're getting along,” said Ha Na. “Seung Hee is-”

“Let's talk about you,” he said. “I'm interested in you, not your friend. Tell me about that boy. Why were you running from him?”

She didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, she said, “He thought I had a new boyfriend.”

“Still, that's no reason to run like that.”

Her expression shifted, and his stomach clenched again. “Is he.. you know, violent?”

She gave a tiny nod.

Namjoon's blood began to heat up.

“That's it!” he yelled, reaching to open the door and Ha Na, terrified, held him back.

“No!” she cried. “Please don't! It's over, he won't come back!”

“But-”

“You don't know him, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me...”

She started crying again and he let go of the door.

“All right,” he said. “But if I ever catch him hanging around you he's dead!”

She gave a tiny smile.
“What?”

“You said you were my boyfriend… that was funny...”

His heart gave a tiny flutter. “Why was that funny?”

“Because I used to like you a lot – you are my bias, you know-”

“Then consider me as your boyfriend,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“I mean, we won't be really dating because I know you probably won't want to after just breaking up… but think of me as your boyfriend. Call me to talk once in a while, let's hang out together, let's get to know each other.”

Her expression was so weird, and he was afraid that she didn't want to – but he wanted to, so badly. He wanted to get to know the real Ha Na…

“You're very weird,” she said at last. “And I'm so stupid – again, all I did was talk about myself and waste time-”

“That's not a waste of time,” said Namjoon. “And we have so many opportunities to talk about other things in the future.”
“Are you being serious?”

“I really am.”

“But why me? I'm-”

“You're so annoying! How many times must I tell you that I'm interested in you!”

She gave a tiny laugh, and he took her hand.

“From now on,” he said. “Don't accept guys' confessions unless you're very sure about them. I know how much you get hurt when you want to break up but don't know how. So stop hurting yourself, ok?”

Ha Na looked up at him, and for the first time that night, he saw gratitude in her eyes.

“From now on,” he promised. “I'll protect you.”

 

* * * *

Seung Hee was watching a drama at 9:00 PM when Yoongi came. This was a surprise, Seung Hee had no idea that he would be coming and she leapt up, drama forgotten.

“You're here!” she cried joyfully, then she took a look at him. “W-what happened?”

Yoongi didn't look too good – he still looked handsome, what she meant was that there was this conflicted air about him, and he seemed really down, like a deflated balloon.

“Tired,” he muttered.

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked. “Oh, I know! I can go make soup – are you hungry?”

Yoongi pushed her onto the couch and lay down with his head on her lap.

“Yah!” she cried, pushing his head – it was so heavy!

“Just one minute,” he mumbled, his eyes closed. “Let me be here for one minute...”

She stopped pushing but she didn't know what to do with her hands, so she kept them at her sides, awkwardly. One minute passed, then two, then five. Yoongi did not stir. Was he all right? He seemed really down in the dumps and tired…

“Sleeping?” she whispered after ten minutes.

“No.”

“Are you sick?”

“Headache.”

“Oh.”

Seung Hee wondered whether she should just do it or ask for permission first. She decided to ask – he seemed calm now, but he was so unpredictable.

“Can I….” she whispered. “Can I try to make you feel better? I do it when I get headaches...”

She hadn't really been expecting a reaction, but she felt him nod.

“Lie on your back,” she said.

Yoongi his back, and his face – so drawn, so pained, but so beautiful – made her draw her breath. Why could she not get used to his face? It was too perfect to be real…

She brushed away the red hair on his forehead and place her fingers on his temples. Yoongi's eyes opened, and he looked at her as though asking, what are you doing? She began to massage his temples slowly, and his eyes shut again and his entire body loosened up and he relaxed. He must have been really tired…

“Your drama,” he said slowly after a while. “What's going on now?”

Seung Hee hid a smile. “Why are you suddenly so curious? You hate the drama.”

“No, but what happened… between the son and the father?”

“They finally made up.”

A tiny frown formed between Yoongi's eyebrows, and Seung Hee smoothed it out.

“Don't,” she said. “You'll get wrinkles and you'll look even older.”

Surprisingly, he did not react to this and said, “And that makes you happy? Families forgiving each other?”

She nodded. “I love when families get back together, and everything ends well. I love happy endings.”

Yoongi sighed and turned and snuggled against her.

Seung Hee tensed at the new contact, not sure if she liked it. Then she decided that she didn't mind. Actually, she liked it – the gesture seemed to be one asking for comfort and affection. It wasn't often she could comfort him.

"Your birthday,” he said slowly.
It's this Thursday, right?”
“Yeah,” she replied, then teasingly asked, “Are you going to throw a party for me?”
“You'll be eighteen,” he mused.
“Yup – I'll be an adult!”
“That's when the marriage will be legalized.”
She froze. “Oh...”
“Do you want it to?”
“Huh?”
“Do you want our marriage to become legalized?”
“Yoongi...”
“Don't answer right now,” he muttered. “Think about it, ok?”
Yes, she had wanted to say. But maybe he didn't…

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice slightly muffled.

“What for?”

He didn't answer, he just repeated, “I'm sorry.”

Yoongi eventually fell asleep, and Seung Hee didn't dare move or wake him up. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, she just didn't have the heart to wake him up and he seemed really tired. It was ok, she could leave him there and she leaned her head back against the headrest and eventually, she fell asleep too.

When she woke up the next morning, she was in bed and Yoongi was gone.