Yoongi paced around anxiously, every now and then poking his head out into the hallway as though looking for someone. The reception was over, everyone, even Ha Na, had gone – except the BTS members were still here.

 

Seung Hee didn't really pay attention to him – she was much too occupied with eating cake with the other guys. They took turns singing a bit, and she would have to guess which song it was.

 

After about ten minutes, Seokjin went to him and a plate with a slice of cake into his hand.

 

"For God's sake,” he said. “Stop that! Come eat with us!”

 

Taehyung yelled something that no one could understand since his mouth was full.

 

"That's disgusting,” said Hoseok.

 

Seung Hee started laughing at something Jungkook said, and Jimin started telling her a funny story about a stalker fan.

 

Seokjin noticed Yoongi's dark look.

 

"She's really great,” he said. “Seung Hee, I mean.“

 

He gave a sudden chuckle.

 

"What?” demanded Yoongi.

 

"It's just... when she put the icing on you, that was really cute."

 

"Cute? It was embarrassing!”

 

"And then,” continued Seokjin. "When you two were laughing when you fell, you looked like a real couple!”

 

"Real couple, yeah right. She's just a kid!” scoffed Yoongi, but remembered the way Seung Hee had dabbed that icing on his face - how come that didn't make him angry? He had never seen her laugh like that before—wait, why did he care about that? And why was he feeling weird? His heart was fluttering, and he tried to deny it - that he did have fun earlier, that she had a beautiful laugh. No, no no! He did not just think that! Maybe he had eaten something strange… yeah, that's it, he had food poisoning.

 

What Seokjin said next was, “You two look really cute together.”

 

Why was Yoongi pleased to hear that? Must be stress - he had a lot of it what with the wedding and his agency and the album promotions… yeah, it was stress.

 

Seokjin took him over, where Hoseok was doing girl-group covers.

 

"Up and Down!” yelled Seung Hee. “By EXID!”

 

Hoseok grinned and started another dance, but Jungkook made him sit down and tried to occupy her attention, Jimin and Taehyung butting in every now and again.

 

They were all having a good time time joking around with her – except for Namjoon. He looked at Yoongi pointedly while Seokjin drew him up a chair and made him sit.

 

She looked so happy right now, mused Yoongi. How could she be? When she found out about her grandfather… gods, he did not want to be there when that happened. His mother was supposed to be here already, to tell her.

 

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. Yoongi knew that look – it said, do it.

 

Yoongi shook his head. No way was he going to tell her – no way could he watch that happy face crumble. Aish, why did he even care?

 

It was only when Seokjin nudged him in the ribs – hard – that he realized that someone had spoken to him. And they had been waiting for a reply for quite a while now…

 

"What?” he said.

 

Jungkook grinned at Seung Hee. “Good luck with that for two days!”

 

"You do realize that I'm right here, don't you?” said Yoongi irritably.

 

Taehyung smirked. “That was kind of why he said it, hyung.”

 

"I don't mind,” said Seung Hee, beaming. “I still can't wait!”

 

"Wait for what?” asked Yoongi.

 

"Going to Jeju Island!” she cried.

 

He suddenly turned scornful. “You're pretty simple-minded, huh?”

 

"I've never been there before!” she said, beaming.

 

"Pah, I've been there billions of times," said Yoongi, wishing she would just stop looking so happy.

 

"Cool! Then we won't get lost!”

 

He frowned. “What makes you think I'm going anywhere with you?”

 

"Oh, come on! We can do things you've never done before.”

 

"I've already done everything.”

 

"I bet you haven't - have you gone fishing?”

 

"What kind of loser hasn't?”

 

"Then have you gone bungee jumping? I bet you haven't!”

 

"Do you want to go bungee jumping?” asked Jungkook suddenly.

 

"Yes! It would be so cool!”

 

"Wow,” said Hoseok, and Yoongi could hear admiration in his voice.

 

“That's really brave of you."
 

"Not really," she said. "I just thought it would be the closest thing to flying."

 

"Yoongi won't do that with you," said Jimin.

 

"Why not?"

 

"He's a big fat chicken!" yelled Taehyung.

 

Yoongi decided that this had gone on long enough. And frankly, Namjoon's pointed look was begining to get to him.

 

"Time to go," he said.

 

"No!" cried Jungkook. "Five more minutes!"

 

"We have to go, too," said Namjoon.

 

The others groaned.

 

"Come on, guys, it's really late."

 

Jungkook looked at Seung Hee with big puppy eyes.

 

"Don't!" she said, laughing all over again. "Can we meet again some

time?"

 

They all nodded and yelled, "YES!!!" so loudly Yoongi winced. He should not have let everyone get so excited... Even worse, she looked really excited too, as the guys said goodbye. Namjoon gave him one last look before shepherding them all out.

 

"I'll change and come, ok?" she said, practically jumping up and down. "And can we stop to see Grandfather?" Yoongi couldn't look at her, and muttered, "Yeah, whatever."

 

"Be right back!" she cried, dashing out.

 

He pounced on his phone and punched in his mother's number.

 

"Yoongi?"
 

"Where on earth are you?" he demanded.

 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm in the middle of a meeting with your manager."
 

"What does he want?"

 

"He wants to know some things about Seung Hee. Look, I won't be able to come for a while..."

 

"She has to be told!" he said fiercely. "Right now!"
 

"I'll come as soon as I can. Yoongi?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"Please buy me some time."
 

Yoongi hung up, fuming. Great, he was alone with Seung Hee.

 

For one second, he actually considered taking her to Jeju Island. But no, he

couldn't - it just wouldn't be right...What should he do? It wasn't like he could tell her - he didn't want to tell her! He didn't want to be the one who hurt her when she was this happy...

* * * *

As Seung Hee changed, she hummed something the guys had sung earlier. This was just so great! She was going on a trip! Ok, with Yoongi, but she wasn't going to let him spoil it. And she was going to see Grandfather before leaving. Maybe he had woken up. He had to wake up at some point, right?

 

She skipped through the corridor, keeping a lookout for Mrs Min, who had told her that she wanted to meet her afterward.

 

She found Yoongi still in his tux, slumped in a chair with his back turned to her. He was ripping apart a paper flower moodily, and Seung Hee's heart drooped a bit. Was he that upset he had to travel with her? Did he really hate her so much?

 

"Why aren't you ready yet?” she called out, trying to keep her tone light. “Hurry up, we can't be late!”

 

Yoongi stood up, his expression blank.

 

"Don't you want to go?" she asked uncertainly. "Come on, it'll be fun."

 

"Yah,” he said softly. “Come here.”

 

"We can't be late - we can't miss the plane!"

 

"Come here."

 

She took a step forward, hesitantly. "What happened?"

 

Yoongi reached out and took her arm. He made her sit and he bent down so that his face was level with hers.

 

"There's something you should know," he said softly.

 

Seung Hee couldn't really remember his exact words, but she knew that Yoongi had gently told her that her grandfather had passed away that morning. And that's when her entire world started crumbling...

 

She felt someone's arms cradle her head, press her face against their chest as she took deep, gulping breaths. That person patted her back comfortingly, and murmured, “Shh, it'll be all right. Everything will be all right, I promise.”

 

Seung Hee did not register the fact that it was Yoongi holding her—it could have been a stranger and it would not have made any difference. All that she could register was excruciating numbness. Grandfather was gone—the only person who had ever cared about her in the entire world was gone. She was all alone...

 

* * * *

Yoongi returned to a quiet dorm. Good – he didn't quite feel like seeing anyone at the moment.

 

His luck was out though – they were all waiting for him in his room.

 

"What the?” he said. “This is my room, you know.”
 

They didn't say anything. Just from the look on their faces, Yoongi knew that Namjoon had told them about Seung Hee's grandfather's death.

 

"Look,” he said. “I'm pretty tired. This has been a hard day-”

 

"Why aren't you with her?” interrupted Seokjin. “Her grandfather died,

Yoongi. She should be with someone.”
 

“My mother is with her,” said Yoongi uncomfortably.

 

"Hyung,” said Jungkook. “Can I see her?”

 

"No!” said Yoongi too quickly.

 

Taehyung frowned. “No?”

 

"It's gone far enough,” said Yoongi. “It's best if none of you see her again.”
 

“What?” said Jungkook incredulously.

 

"None of you were even supposed to meet her in the first place.” Yoongi tried not to fidget. “She has nothing to do with any of us, got it? She is just someone who lives with my parents – nothing more.”
 

“She's your family,” said Namjoon. “Like it or not, she's family now, Yoongi. You can't just shut her away!”

 

"I'm not! She can do whatever she wants with her life! It's just that we should stop being in it! You're all sad now, right? You all want to see her, right? It's because you let yourselves get attached.”

 

"Is there anything wrong in that?” demanded Hoseok.

 

"Ok,” said Yoongi. “Go ahead, see her, hang out, whatever. Say the press sees you – what happens then?”

 

No one answered him.

 

"You know why I'm doing this – I don't want our careers to get affected. If we're found out, she'll suffer, too. So just… don't see her again, ok?”
 

One by one, the members got up and left quietly. Soon, it was only Jungkook that remained.

 

"When is the funeral?” he asked.

 

"Tomorrow.”
 

“Can I at least go to that?”

 

"Let's make it a clean break, Jungkookie. Forget about her.”
 

“I can't do that.”
 

Yoongi thought he misheard. “What did you say?”
 

“I can't forget her just because you tell me to,” said Jungkook. “I can't ignore her because you tell me to. Hyung, you can't ignore her, either – she's part of your family now.”

 

"She's not,” muttered Yoongi. “She never will be...”
 

Why wasn't Jungkook going? Yoongi just wanted to be alone for a while…

Today had been so hard, the hardest part of it all was telling Seung Hee.

 

Yoongi would never forget the way she looked at him – it was like a light had gone out of her eyes, like she didn't want to believe it but knew that it was true…

 

His mother had come to find Seung Hee crying into his shirt.

 

"Yoongi!” she had whispered, horrified. “What did you-”
 

“I told her,” Yoongi had said tonelessly. “It was wrong otherwise...”

 

Yoongi tapped Jungkook's head lightly. “Not going?”

 

Jungkook did not appear to have heard him. “Are you going to the funeral, hyung?” he asked.

 

"I have to.”

 

Jungkook nodded. “Yeah, you do.”
 

Yoongi took off his tie and decided that he was going to sleep now, whether Jungkook was there or not. Tomorrow would be an even longer day. He hated funerals, he didn't want to see another one… and he didn't want to see her cry again.

 

* * * *

 

It was sunny on the day of Grandfather's funeral. How come? How could the sun still shine without him? Wherever Seung Hee looked, she could see people doing their daily activities, people going on with their lives. How come the world has ended only for her?The truth that she could not accept was that life went on - people died and the world went on.

 

Mrs Min told her that one day she'll be able to smile again, and she'd be able to think about Grandfather without pain. She said that she knew that it sounded hard to believe, but one day that would happen.

 

"I know this, because I have gone through something similar.”

 

"Have you lost someone, Eomoni?” inquired Seung Hee.

 

Mrs Min smiled sadly. “I have, Seung Hee. And I have also lost trust.”

 

"Trust?”

 

"Yes, I used to trust someone with all my heart, but now I cannot trust him.”

 

"Who is it?”

 

Mrs Min did not answer, and changed the topic. “Eat. The funeral… will take some time." Seung Hee pushed her plate away. “I can't eat.”

 

Just then, Yoongi, dressed in black, appeared. “You have to eat,” he said. "Don't make things difficult."

 

Seung Hee burst into tears. That seemed to trigger something in Yoongi; he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

 

"Don't,” he ordered. “Don't cry in front of me—how many times do I have to tell you this? DON'T CRY IN FRONT OF ME!"

 

"Yoongi!” shouted his mother, and slapped him across the face. He looked at her, aghast, holding his hand to his face.

 

"Eomma,” he whispered.

 

Mrs Min, though short, seemed to tower above him in her anger. “Are you back to your senses? Don't you dare speak to her like that again, you know perfectly well how she feels right now- you lost everyone, too. I swear, if you ever treat her like this again, I'll-”

 

She stopped, to tend to a sobbing Seung Hee. It wasn't the normal sobbing- these sobs made her entire body vibrate and she choked, gulping for air and Mrs Min took her in her arms. She simply patted her back, knowing that there is no relief for pain like this, only time could heal it.

 

After Seung Hee calmed down, they went to the church. She couldn't pay attention to the service, nor the eulogy that followed. Anyway, she didn't need to listen to other people talk about what a wonderful man Grandfather is - no, was. She spent the time thinking about him, who had managed to be her mother, her father, her entire family. She remembered how, every Christmas, they would lay together underneath the Christmas tree, eating cookies and admiring the decorations. She remembered the snacks he would prepare for her all-night study sessions, and the way he cared for her when she was sick.

 

When someone dies, those who love them will not be able to remember a single fault of theirs. This happened to Seung Hee, too. She couldn't remember a single fault Grandfather had. Even marrying her off… it was for her, he had nothing to gain from it. She was the first to admit that she couldn't take care of herself – she was too hesitant, uncertain, and naive.

 

She did not cry once, and met the people who had come and accepted their condolences. But after a while, it became so hard to face those people...

 

Yoongi was the one who noticed.

 

"Eomma,” he called out. “Please take her home.”

 

"But she has to stay till the end-” his mother tried to say.

 

"I'll take care of things here - along with my father," said Yoongi. He looked at Seung Hee and wished he hadn't - she was crying again.“I think she's had enough. Just look at her.”

 

Mrs Min took one look at Seung Hee's face and nodded. “But what will you tell them?”

 

"The truth," said Yoongi. "Or at least half. Father was a close friend, right?"

 

Mrs Min nodded and took Seung Hee home.

 

Seung Hee did not hear Mrs Min telling her to eat something - she just went straight to her room. It was filled with sunlight and she could hear the birds singing. It was as though nature was taunting her, showing her that the world could still be beautiful...

 

Her world was not beautiful.

 

She drew the curtains, curled up in her bed and pulled the covers over her face. This was much better. She was safe here - she could cry in peace here. She could hide from people's pitying gazes, their repeated, "I'm sorry for your loss." She could stay here. After all, she had nowhere else to go to, or anything else to do.

 

She would stay here, and wait for Grandfather. He wasn't really dead, she knew it. Any minute now, he would come in and she would hear his booming laugh.

 

Five minutes went by, then ten. He would come soon...

 

---