"Guilty pleasure"

What did I almost do? I almost made a mistake I would never forgive myself...even though it felt so right.

“Jaeden...” I heard her shaking voice crack a bit and when I turned I saw another person or better, another side of her.

Unlike her usual self, she looked so weak and vulnerable and just the sight of her, mixed with Rosé’s image on my head, made me feel terrible.

Was I feeling like that because of guilt or because I stopped on the best part?

We were silent for a moment, each of us immersed in our own thoughts about this situation

Then she suddenly sighed as tears began to flow down her porcelain-like skin.

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t m-mean to Jaeden” she sobbed, looking on the ground

Not resisting anymore, I slowly went to her and bent myself down until we were finally on the same height and forced a smile — I didn’t know how to even feel about this and...her.

Maybe, I was angry with her but I was more angry with myself for, somehow, hurting Rosé.

“Look Joohyun-ah...I do really like you but as a friend. We can’t have any of this and I hope we can forget about this” I said and noticed how my words, perhaps, hurt her

“I’m sorry, really. I-I don’t know what got into me” she stammered 

That’s when I decided to extend my hand towards her, “Let’s start over, shall we? I’m Jaeden Lee and from now on, I’ll be your friend”

She giggled at my innocent action as she took my hand and shook it — the sudden contact with her reminded me of what happened earlier but I began to forcefully erase it from my thoughts

“My name is Bae Joohyun but people also call me Irene, nice to meet you...my friend” I was so glad when I saw her finally smiling, I liked seeing the twinkle in her eyes.

I stood up and playfully bowed and grinned, “I’m going now. Good night Joohyun-ah, sleep well” 

She laughed while she tried to hide her smile as I finally made my way out of their dorm — I started the engine but something was still bothering me

By the time I came back at the party, everyone was literally drunk — there were people dancing everywhere, even on top of the bar’s counter

“Jaeden!” A familiar voice shouted 

“Jennie!” I yelled back and went to her, “Where’s Chaeyoung?” I asked

“She’s...” she began to turn around herself while pointing her finger somewhere

Suddenly her eyes widened, her finger started to slightly tremble and as I followed her gaze, I finally saw her...with another guy.

“Yonghwa?” Jennie gasped 

I saw his arm wrapping around her, slowly reaching for her , taking advantage of her — she looked so drunk, unable to protect herself. Helpless.

In seconds, I left Jennie, who was still looking at them, and rushed towards Yonghwa and Chaeyoung.

Mixed feelings, emotions and thoughts were roaming around my head.

I didn’t know how to feel, anger? It was more like desperation, panic and especially anxiety

“Oppa, please stop” she weakly said and shoved his arm from her

“Chaeyoung-ah, just for tonight” he shamelessly said, stumbling as his weight fell on her

My body froze, as well as my soul and then...she saw me, standing there — her eyes trembling

“J-Jaeden, it’s not what it s-seems” she said as if she came back in her senses 

Yonghwa was forcefully snuggling onto her. I couldn’t see clear anymore and jealousy got over my body 

With one clean action, my fist ran across his cheek, sending him backwards 

“Jaeden!” Rosé shouted and held me tightly

“What the !” He snapped and tried to run back towards me but two guys stopped him from doing anything

“You wanna fight?” I provoked him, still being held by Rosé until some other people did it instead of her

Our loud voices attracted all the guest’s attention since a few people started to slowly crowd around us, forming a circle and from the corner of my eyes, I could see how worried Rosé was

But that didn’t stop me. I could finally feel anger rushing through my blood and my body decided to act on its own — I let go of their hands until me and Yonghwa were just inches away from each other.

All I wanted to do was hit him and break every single bone of his body

“Don’t you ever touch her again, scum!” I yelled 

With a sudden burst of strength, he was finally able to break free from the other two’s grip as his hands reached for my collar 

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” he said, his gaze got more intense

I roughly pushed him on the ground and got on top of him as I repeatedly hit his face while the other guys from before tried to pull me away from Yonghwa

He didn’t give up. He quickly got himself up and sank his knees on my stomach and before I could even respond, his hand reached for my face and punched me, hard.

Standing right above me, he kicked me and furiously stepped on my face, “Who are you? Tell me? You’re nobody!” he continuously yelled 

My eyes then met hers and as soon as we had that little eye-contact, I knew I had to do something and stand up for myself and for her.

I pulled him down by his legs and made sure to stand above him, just like he did earlier to me and kicked him as hard as I could

He stumbled, unable to walk properly but his staring didn’t change.

I turned back, not wanting to even look at this kind of person but his hand rapidly grabbed my shoulder and gave me a last punch, before the bodyguards finally showed up 

“What is happening here!” one of them shouted and grabbed the both of us 

“You two stop! Or we’ll be forced to kick you out of here” the other one continued

“You can’t kick me out! I’m Yonghwa!” He angrily yelled back

“This guy is too full of himself” I thought when suddenly, my sight got blurry — I felt like something wasn’t right

I touched my head and felt some warm liquid flowing down my forehead

I was bleeding.

The room was spinning and when I turned to Rosé, I began to feel dizzy 

“C-Chaeyoung-ah” I weakly said 

“Jaeden!” I couldn’t actually hear her properly and the last thing I remember was her worried expression and how her tears stained her face

She kneeled down and I saw she was shouting something, but I couldn’t really hear her

I gently caressed her cheek, “I-I’m okay” I said and soon after, my vision out.

“Ugh...” I groaned as I was finally able to open my eyes 

I looked around and I wasn’t home...I was in another room, all white, unrecognizable.

My head was tightly wrapped with a bandage, and, even though I couldn’t see it, I had a cut on my cheek 

As I looked around, I finally realized I was in a hospital, but I don’t exactly remember what happened and how did I end up here though

Then something near me began to move and that was the moment I saw her.

Her head resting near me while her hand was tightly locked in mine

My heart skipped a beat — she was sleeping deeply and without waking her up, I gently caressed her cheek and brushed off some hair covering her face and as expected, she looked utterly beautiful

Every second that passed by, made me fall in love with her all over again

“Jaeden...d-don’t leave me” she suddenly mumbled in her sleep — she was dreaming about me.

A tear left her eye and leisurely strolled down her face, staining the bedsheet 

“Jaeden...” she continuously repeated my name and when I