The BTS boys all met and chatted with Mrs Lee – except for Namjoon who was with Ha Na, and Yoongi who was sulking in his room. After a while, they left – more like Jungkook hustled them all out - to give Seung Hee and her mother some privacy as the conversation turned serious.

“I was going out of my mind,” said Mrs Lee. “No one was picking up my calls and I thought that I could only see you on TV.”
“I should have called you,” said Seung Hee guiltily.

“Next time, ok?” Her mother smiled and changed the subject. “Do you live here?”

Seung Hee nodded. “Yes, but we'll be moving back to the apartment soon.”

“'We?'”

“Yoongi and I.”

“Are you sure? I mean, why not come and live with me?”
She thought she didn't hear well. “Excuse me?”
“You could start a new life – a life I should have given you before.”
“That would mean a life without Yoongi, right?”
Mrs Lee nodded.

Seung Hee could not imagine a life without him, in fact. Who would she bicker with? And who would she love like she loved him? Except she was tired of the entertainment world, she was fed up with Yoongi's sudden bad moods.

But those bad moods were a part of him. A long time ago, Seung Hee realized that she wouldn't be able to leave him no matter what he did. She had accepted him as he was, and she loved the person he was, including all his faults. Yoongi was going through a tough time right now, and she now realized that she had not been there for him – she had been too wrapped up in her own problems to notice that it was even harder for him than it was for her.

“I can't,” she said at last. “I'm sorry, but I can't leave him… he needs me – and I need him."

“Seung Hee...”

“Please respect my decision,” said Seung Hee. “Please accept my decision to stay with him. I… I don't want to hate you again… please don't make me hate you...”

Mrs Lee took her hand.

“All my life,” continued Seung Hee. “People have made decisions for me. Let me make my own decisions, and if I make wrong choices, I will only have myself to blame.”
Mrs Lee had tears in her eyes. “When have you grown so much?” she whispered. “I missed the process of you growing from a baby to an adult. Truly Seung Hee, your words surprise me, and you're right.”
Seung Hee smiled, and Mrs Lee said, “I respect your decision, but remember that my door will always be open to you.”

“Thank you,” said Seung Hee gratefully, and hugged her mother. “Really, thank you.”

 

* * * *

Neither one of them wanted to say anything. Namjoon kept opening his mouth, then closing it. Ha Na couldn't even look at him; she knew that her brief time with him was ending.

“Why haven't you been answering my phone calls?” she asked at last. “Or even my texts?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it.

“I've done that a billion times,” said Ha Na. “Except I never really realized just how much that hurt.”

“I'm sorry,” said Namjoon, speaking at last. ”With the marriage getting revealed, I… I had a lot to think about. And I had to make a choice.”

It was happening… Ha Na braced herself…

“Let's not kid ourselves,” he said. “We all know that Yoongi isn't going to be able to perform. And I just realized… that I could be going through what he is going through, if we keep this up.”
“We haven't really done anything,” pointed out Ha Na. Even though she had seen it coming, tears were fighting their way through.

“Exactly,” he said softly. “Let's stop this, before we get too attached. I really… don't want to hurt you more than I have to. But you'll get over me soon – we haven't even done anything, as you said. Yeah, you'll meet another guy and then-”
Those words hurt Ha Na more than anything else he could say. Namjoon... he wasn't like any of the other guys. For the first time, Ha Na had someone she really wanted to be with, but but she couldn't.
“Ha Na, I'm not like Yoongi – I can't do what he is doing right now. That interview was what really ruined him, and also the problem of not allowing Seung Hee to help him.”
“Why is he like that? He could come back-”
“He's protecting her,” answered Namjoon. “He threw away his career to protect her. That's something I can't do… for anyone, Ha Na - I'm not like him. That's why we should stop.”

Ha Na looked at him unblinkingly. “As a fan, I know that your career is the most important to you. And I know how hard you worked to debut. So… I want you to know that I understand… but it's still not fair.” That sounded so childish, pathetic... but it was true.
“Nothing's fair, Ha Na. Believe me, I don't want to do this. I… want to be with you, but I can't.”

Ha Na knew that she had to go, or else she would cry. “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”
He stared at her, his eyes asking how she could say that so easily.

“I'll be watching you,” said Ha Na. “Just like I always have… now I'll watch you from a distance, just like I did before.”

“Ha Na...”
“Bye, oppa. You'll go back to where you belong, and I'll go back to where I belong, too.”
With that, Ha Na quickly opened the car door and slipped out. Namjoon saw the tears she tried to hide as she turned around to wave, trying to cover it with a smile. He knew that her mask would go back on, that it may not ever come off. She would hide her pain, just like now, to mask herself. And he hated himself and wanted to go after her and tell her that he didn't mean it, he would stay with her, but he couldn't – he wasn't Yoongi.

 

* * * *

 

Jungkook splashed cold water over his face again.

Please calm down, he told himself. I can't do this if I look like a wreck.

He took deep breaths, the knuckles clutching the sides of the basin turning white.

You will ruin it all for you. What about you? What will happen to you?
He didn't care about himsef anymore. All he had to do was remember the look on Seung Hee's face when she found out that he had been the one who had told the reporters and he could do crawl into a corner and die. He just had to remember Yoongi saying, "You're my little brother," and the will to live left him.

Why had he done that? He knew that for the rest of his life, this question would haunt him, would follow him no matter how far away he went to escape.

"We're a family."
"Don't come near me – don't come near Yoongi again!"
"Jungkook... it was you?"
"I never suspected you for a second!"
"How can you face any of us again?"
That's right – how can he face him? The guilt and self-hatred burned into him, poisoned his soul. If the poison had just stayed in him, that would be OK – but it didn't. It seeped into everyone else. Everyone was suffering because of him.

He took another deep breath.

That's why he was going to do this. He was going to try and get back some of his self-respect – he couldn't stand himself anymore – and try to make things better.

Yoongi hyung would be able to stand on stage again, he and Seung Hee would stay together. The other hyungs... they would be safe too.

In order for one scandal to die, an even bigger one must kill it.

Jungkook had to turn Yoongi and Seung Hee's marriage into something small. This marriage wasn't even a big deal, everyone was overreacting.

But what Jungkook had done was not a big deal. He had no right to be near his brothers again.

What he was about to do would not be able to fix the damage, he knew. But it would help him find peace within himself. He was willing to destroy what his life was now, then he would go and build a new one for himself.

A new life away from all of this.

He would even move. Hm, why not Japan? He'd always wanted to go live there...

Splashing water over his face one last time, he dried his face. And then he called Reporter Cha.

 

* * * *

 

Yoongi could see Manager Woo's despair as he asked, "What do you mean, President?"
President Kim sighed. "I'm sorry, but that's exactly what I mean. All the producers and investors are refusing to work with Min Yoongi."
"I haven't done anything wrong," said Yoongi. "Is what I did really so bad? All I did was try and protect her."
"That's a mistake," said the president. "It's still not too late, she could help you. If you just film one show together "
"My answer is no," said Yoongi firmly. "I refuse to let her get taangled up in this business again."

"That is a fatal mistakee, Min," said the president. "Are you sure?"
Yoongi did not even have to think. "Yes."
"All right then. But see, it's not just that – remember you once said in an interiew that you weren't married?"
His first interview with Reporter Cha – he remembered it. That had been when he had unknowingly described Seung Hee as his ideal girl.

"You were lying."

"So? I had to."

"I know. But everyone is making a fuss about it, your ad offers have all been cancelled. Remember you got that offer to write songs for other singers? They all cancelled too."
"Why?" he demanded.

"I'll be frank with you – they all said the same thing: "Min Yoongi is a liar. We do not want to work with a tainted idol.""

He wasn't tainted... he hadn't done anything besides try to protect her. That wasn't a bad thing... why could no one else see this?

"The way things are going right now," said the president slowly. "Well, you have become tainted – this scandal has tainted our reputation, and the company's.You have been branded a liar."
Yoongi could feel the panic rising up in him; he struggled to stay calm. He knew what was coming...

A tainted idol cannot go onstage again.

The reporters ruined him – this past week, they kept releasing news about him, dwelling especially on his past scandals with other girls. At the time, they had not been very interested, but now they kept digging up his past. And they weren't even true...

He wanted to go onstage again. He wanted to record his songs and sing. He wanted everything to be back to normal...

President Kim watched him for a while before saying, "There is one thing you can try to do. It would bring back your image. And you would be protecting her too."
Yoongi looked up. If there was a way he could return without involving Seung Hee, he would do it.

Maybe even if that meant letting her go. After all, he hadn't done much besides hurt her. And if she stayed with him, she could get even more hurt.

But not just yet. Maybe time can fix everything...

 

* * * *

Jungkook smiled at Reporter Cha. "I'm ready."
"Are you sure? You-"
"Just get on with it, please. I want to finish quickly."
"All right. But your agency-"
"I'm going to leave," he said. "I'm sure they'll cancel my contract after this. And if they don't, I'm willing to pay the fine."

Reporter Cha motioned to turn the video camera on.

As the light went red, Jungkook took a deep breath before saying, "Hello, everyone. Do you know me? I'm your maknae, Jungkook. You might be wondering where the others are. Well, they don't know I'm doing this. No one knows, in fact."
The image of Seung Hee smiling at Yoongi flashed through his mind – he wished she would keep smiling...

"I know you all are shocked about Yoong hyung. The thing is, I have a confession to make. And I don't want to hurt you, but I think you should know the truth. I'm tired of lying to everybody."
He took another deep breath and went on. Funny, the more he said the lighter he felt. He didn't even think of turning back once.

 

* * * *

 

 

Seung Hee stood dithering in front of Yoongi's room. Should she go in? But what would she say once she was facing him? Maybe she should just leave and give him some space.

Right at the moment when she turned around to leave, the door opened and Yoongi pulled her back sharply.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, expressionless.

“N-nothing!”

His eyes narrowed. “It's not like you to be so jumpy.”
“I'm not!” she protested, but betrayed herself by jumping a bit when he drew his face close to hers.

“So what did you do?” he asked. “Something really bad, huh? You look super guilty.”

“I didn't do anything!”
“Liar.”
“Can you please let me go? You… you're scary today...”

His eyes flickered. “I scare you?”

He suddenly pulled her into the room and shut the door.

She was about to make a run for it when he did a surprising thing: he hugged her. Really tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

“Y-Yoongi?”

No reply. What had brought this on? Mean, scary Yoongi never hugged her – hey, maybe his bad mood was finished!

Seung Hee was about to heave a sigh of relief when she heard a sniff. Then a deep breath, a slight shudder – it was Yoongi. Her Yoongi was crying…

“Yah,” she said gently. “What happened?”

“I went to the company today,” he said, holding her tightly. “They told me that the songs I wrote were rejected."

She said nothing. Clearly, there was more to it, since Yoongi had dealt with rejections before. The only thing she could do for him was listen.

“You know why?” he asked, his voice shaking. “Everyone said, 'he's a liar, are you sure he wrote that and not plagiarized it?' They've accepted my songs for years, and suddenly they reject me. I made K Entertainment! I'm part of BTS – I'm on top of Hallyu!”

“You'll have another chance, won't you?” asked Seung Hee.

“Chances?” repeated Yoongi. “I'm done – everyone has a schedule now for next week, except for me. I want one, too. I want to go on stage, I want to write songs and sing them!”
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered, her heart aching. If all this was true, it would destroy him. "Yoongi, I'm so sorry..."

“Don't.” He pulled away to look at her fiercely. “Things are bad enough without my problems affecting you. Ever since I've had you by my side, all I've done is hurt you.”

"Yoongi-”
“Please don't say anything,” he murmured, tired. “I don't want to fight with you again tonight.”
“Ok,” she mumbled – she didn't want to fight with him, either.

Yoongi detached himself. “Go sleep – I'll come later.”
She changed and got under the covers and waited for him, but he didn't come. Finally, she got up to look for him and found him sitting alone on the couch in the dark. Most probably thinking about all that awful stuff...

She turned the TV on, and said, “Watching something is the best distraction.”
She was about to sit next to him but he pulled her onto his lap and pressed his face against the crook of her neck.

“Yoongi?”

“Can we stay like this?” he mumbled against her neck.

“Yeah, you just surprised me.”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
Though unexpected, it was nice – it felt intimate. He had never pulled her to his lap before – it was a good place to be, in fact. It was one of the safest, warmest places she could ever be in. She settled against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and placed his head at the side of her face.

“I like it,” she said softly.

He fell quiet and she assumed that he was watching whatever was on. She was not watching; she took his hand and played with his long fingers.

After a while, he said softly, “Yah.”
“What?”
“Remember… once you said that you like kissing me.”
She flushed – when had she said that? Her heart thumped wildly, and she wondered why he had brought this up.
“Do you still feel the same?” he asked softly. “I mean, do you still like it?”
“I don't know,” she said carefully. “You haven't really been kissing me these days.”
Yoongi turned her a bit and tilted her head upwards. Her heart was going insane, it was going to burst, she didn't know what to do.

He leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers. Seung Hee stopped breathing, she stopped thinking, and even when he broke away she forgot to breathe.

“Breathe,” he told her, and she exhaled. “Do you know now?”
Yes, she wanted to tell him. She loved it, she wanted more.
“I'm still not sure,” she said, smiling slyly.

He half-smiled and kissed her again – this one longer, deeper than any other one that he had given, and she could feel the bitterness as well as the love. This kiss made her tingle all over and her heart malfunction. He broke away and cupped her face, their foreheads touching.

“Are you sure now?” he asked softly, her cheek with his thumb.

Her face flooded with heat, and she stammered, “Y-yes...”
Yoongi smiled – really smiled, his eyes turned into half-moons. He turned her again and she nestled against his chest, playing with his fingers again.

Yoongi didn't stop – he kept planting kisses against the top of her head, her jawline, and occasionally her lips. Seung Hee forgot to breathe each time, but there must have been a time Yoongi stopped, because she fell asleep.

---