Chapter 31

 

BIGHIT RESPONDS TO RUMOURS

BigHit has released a statement in response to the rumours surrounding Suga, a member of SUGA&RM:

“After communicating with Suga and Star Publishing, we have confirmed that the two are not in a relationship. Suga and Sumi are childhood friends. We will be following up on the baseless claims with our lawyers…” Click for more…

 

BIGHIT REVEALS A NEW COUPLE?

In light of the recent controversy surrounding Suga, BigHit has revealed that RM is currently in a relationship with a long-time non-celebrity girlfriend. This news is sending fans into a frenzy, many of whom are in support of the new couple. Click for more…

 

 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Jennie asks Sumi as they walk into the hospital.

“I’m okay,” Sumi sighs, “I mean, obviously could be better, but not too bad,”

“That’s good,” Jennie sighs, “What got into him?”

Sumi doesn’t respond, wondering the same question. The ambulance took Jungkook away, followed by the police. Sumi has said she will not be pressing charges after seeing Jungkook’s state. But Yoongi? After he passed out, Namjoon and Hoseok started panicking. He was screaming and yelling about how Jungkook hurt Sumi and that they didn’t understand. What did Jungkook say to him to get him so angry? Sumi has never seen him like that. He lost all sense of himself, just tunnel vision, focusing on Jungkook.

 

What did Jungkook whisper to him that Yoongi didn’t already know?

Sumi can’t think of anything that happened with Jungkook that she kept from them. She told them about the bruise and him breaking her belongings. She told them about the co-worker, the invasion of privacy, and the controlling behaviour. There wasn’t anything else that happened. Did he say something ual that made Yoongi jealous?

And what was that about ‘having’ Sumi? Jungkook and Sumi did have a reasonably healthy life. Could that have really angered Yoongi that much?

 

Sumi sighs, heading to the reception desk.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

“Hi, we were wondering what room Min Yoongi is in? We are here to pick him up,” Jennie explains.

Jungkook is still hospitalised, waiting for his fractured ribs to become more manageable apparently. Hoseok updated them on his condition once the police were removed from watching him. Today, Min Yoongi has been discharged. He has only been here for 12 hours, as everyone was concerned about his fainting.

 

“One moment,” The receptionist replies, clicking on her keyboard, “He’s in room 613. Just up the elevator and down the hall to the left,”

They thank the receptionist and follow her instructions, finding Yoongi’s room easily. When they enter, they find Yoongi sitting on the edge of his bed wearing the clothes he was wearing last night. His hands are thinly wrapped with bandages and his bottom lip is swollen. He has a deep bruise forming on his jaw. Other than that, he looks fine.

“Sumi…” Yoongi mumbles, looking up at her, completely ignoring Jennie.

“I’ll wait outside,” Jennie smirks before giving Yoongi a caring smile and heading out, leaving them alone.

Sumi fiddles nervously with her shirt, avoiding his gaze.

“Come here,” Sumi looks up to find Yoongi patting the bed beside him. She slowly moves towards him, gently sitting down.

“Are you okay?” Sumi asks tentatively, looking down at her lap.

“Yeah, the doctor said I just raised my blood pressure too high. I’ll be fine,” Yoongi murmurs.

 

The silence returns, and the air is awkward and heavy. Sumi has so many questions for him, but the only thing she can think of right now is guilt. He’s hurt because of her. How could she let this happen again?

 

“Sumi, Jungkook said something to me…” Yoongi clears his throat, “I just wanted to ask you about it,”

He watches her cautiously, waiting for a reaction. Sumi looks up, her eyes glistening.

“What did he say?”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but…” Yoongi takes a deep breath, turning his body so he’s facing her, “Did he ever… force himself on you?”

“… What…?” Sumi stares at him, completely dumbfounded, “No, it was all consensual,”

 

“Oh… right…” Yoongi looks away, shame bubbling in the deepest pit of his stomach. Jungkook was baiting him, lying to him so he would snap like that.

Well, I bet he wasn’t expecting my reaction to be so severe… Yoongi contemplates. He doesn’t even know if Jungkook is alive or not.

 

“Is that what he said to you?” Sumi asks, bringing Yoongi’s attention back to her. He nods slowly, waiting for her to get angry at him.

She moves forward, pulling him in for a hug. Her arms wrap around his neck as warm tears soak through his shirt. He slides his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

“I’m so sorry for all this,” Sumi sobs, her entire body shaking with grief, “I’m sorry you got hurt,”

Yoongi smiles, squeezing her tighter, completely ignoring the pain surging through his body as his heart warms at her words.

She’s not angry…

“It’s not your fault,” He croaks, holding back his tears of relief, “I would do it again in a heartbeat,”

“Don’t,” Sumi chuckles half-heartedly, “If you ever do that again, I’ll be mad,”

“Mad? Why?” Yoongi smirks, pulling away. He keeps his hands on her waist.

“Because you got hurt and I don’t like that,” She blushes, pulling further away so his hands are no longer touching her. He feels cold without her in his arms.

“Oh,” Yoongi bites his lip, clears his throat, and stands up, “Anyway… we should get going…”

“I agree,” Sumi says formally, standing and leaving the room. Yoongi follows her dutifully, a slight spring in his step.

 

 

A few days later…

 

Sumi sits at the dining table in her home, comfortably sitting in front of her computer. She sighs happily, eyeing the 10-page chapter she is almost finished writing. She feels confident and safe, especially after her conversation with the apartment complex staff.

 

Once she finished dropping Yoongi off at home the other day, she spoke to the staff about her situation with Jungkook. The receptionist was very apologetic, even offering to have her front door completely upgraded with new security technology. Sumi declined at first, but they insisted. Now, Sumi’s old doorknob has been replaced with a modern keypad with up-to-date security measures. They have implemented security protocols for when or if Jungkook shows up at the complex. The staff told her not to give out her passcode, but she had to give it to Jennie and her parents, just in case.

 

She is very grateful for their support and only wishes she had told them about the situation earlier.

Now, she needs to get back to work. She is almost finished with her new book. Just one more chapter and she’ll be able to publish it, completely erasing the rumours surrounding Sumi and her love life.

She has started receiving more Korean Drama requests from entertainment agencies again, which she is grateful for. But she has denied them all. She only ever wants to work with the director who directed the drama for her last book. He engaged with her and ensured the story was accurate to the book. She doesn’t want to work with anyone else.

 

*Beep* *Beep*

 

Sumi looks at her phone, expecting a message from Jennie. Jennie has been dropping by and spending her lunches with Sumi. She is grateful, but she knows that Jennie normally spends her lunches doing her studies. She doesn’t want to make life harder for Jennie.

 

JUNGKOOK: Hey… I’ve been discharged.

 

Sumi’s heart sinks and she glares at the message printed on her screen. When will he stop? Is he really that oblivious to his behaviour? She decides to not respond. She should have blocked him everywhere.

 

JUNGKOOK: I really want to talk to you.

 

Sumi peers down at the new notification and rolls her eyes.

“I should just block him now, he’ll never stop…” Sumi sighs aloud, picking up her phone.

 

SUMI: I’m blocking you, Jungkook.

 

Before she can exit the message and block him, a new message appears.

 

JUNGKOOK: Wait! Just let me explain something and then you can block me, okay?

 

Sumi frowns. What is he playing at this time?

 

JUNGKOOK: You were right. I was in complete denial of our relationship. I didn’t want it all to fall apart because I love you so much Sumi. I ignored my insecurities and let them take over me. I was scared of you doing anything, seeing anyone. I just wanted you to stay put and love me. But that’s not fair, is it? I should have known… I should have realised what I was doing to you but I couldn’t stop. And now I’ve hurt you and scared you. You must think I’m crazy, right?

 

Sumi reads the message multiple times, her confusion is evident on her face. Is he being genuine? Did Yoongi knock some sense into him? Or is this just another power play? Another abusive behaviour, trying to get her to return to him?

 

SUMI: I do think you’re crazy… I agree with your message completely. But what do you gain from telling me this? I’m not going back to you.

JUNGKOOK: I don’t expect you to. I know I’ve completely ruined our relationship. We will never be together again. I get that. I want to formally apologise, in person. You know I’m moving away, right? I won’t bother you again… I just want a fresh start. I want you to have a fresh start.

 

Sumi frowns. Should she meet with him?

I don’t know… I don’t know what to think of this.

His words and his implications are different. Has he actually realised now?

 

SUMI: Fine. In public, somewhere I know I can get away. I’ll bring Hoseok.

JUNGKOOK: Of course, I understand why you’re scared and don’t trust me. We’ll meet at the Korean BBQ place, tonight at 7 pm? Bring whoever you want… just not Yoongi… please…

SUMI: Fine.

 

Sumi places her phone down, trying to focus back on her work. But she can’t, her mind is spinning a million miles a second.

 

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Hoseok asks, looking up at their favourite Korean BBQ restaurant.

“I’ll have you with me… don’t you trust your judgement, detective Hobi?” Sumi teases. Hoseok grins playfully. Sumi was going to bring Jennie and Namjoon, or just Jennie or just Namjoon. But Hoseok is a much better idea. He is a detective, he is comfortably neutral in all arguments, and he can take Jungkook down easily. He is the perfect choice for this conversation. Luckily, he was available tonight. He is still wearing his work uniform – dark jeans, and a black button-up with a black shirt underneath. He works at a very casual police station.

Sumi is wearing black joggers and a sky-blue crop cami top.

 

Hoseok pulls out his phone, sending a quick text to someone before putting it away.

“Let’s go in, okay?” He says, quickly moving into the establishment. Sumi follows him in, looking around for Jungkook. He is sitting at a private booth, away from all windows and eyes. Sumi almost didn’t see him.

 

Hoseok leads the way, a blank expression on his face as he reaches Jungkook.

Jungkook stands gingerly, his hand on his ribs. He bows deeply before gesturing to the seats in front of him. Sumi moves into the booth and Hoseok follows her protectively.

“Hello, Sumi,” Jungkook starts warily. He looks really messed up. He is wearing loose joggers and a plain white shirt. His black, wavy hair is hanging over his dark eyes. His face has a couple of bruises, most of them on his jaw. His lip is busted, held together by a steri-strip. Based on how he’s breathing and moving, she’s certain he has at least one fractured rib. That will take a while to heal. She can’t see all of his injuries, but she knows Yoongi hit every single part of Jungkook he could reach.

 

“Hi,” Sumi smiles, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Straight to the point, of course,” Jungkook smiles sadly, “I’ll start at the beginning… I think I have you to thank for this?” Jungkook looks to Hoseok. Hoseok nods, leaving Sumi completely in the dark.

“What happened?”

“A therapist came to see me at the hospital,” Jungkook explains, “You’ll be happy to know they have referred me to a few different services, including my own online therapist,”

“Good,” Hoseok responds, returning Jungkook’s smile, “That was the plan,” Jungkook looks back at Sumi, takes a deep breath, and begins.

 

“They talked me through a lot of my behaviour, listing off what I was doing and how I was hurting you. They were quite blunt but gentle. I never even considered what I was doing… I didn’t give myself time to think through my actions… but they made sure I understood,” Jungkook takes a deep, shaky breath before continuing, “As soon as we started dating, I was worried. My mother cheated on my father multiple times and I swore that I would never date someone like that. What I didn’t realise was that I was seeing everyone as capable of that. Every man you spoke to, every friend you confided in, every single time you took your eyes off me… my brain would scream and scream. I ignored it, mostly… until he came back…”

Sumi doesn’t need Jungkook to explain who he is. Jungkook was worried about Yoongi.

“When you would vent to me before we started dating you were always off and on about him. I worried you would continue like that, and like him once he was back… I just snapped,”

“Okay… but why do you want me to know this?” Sumi frowns, “I understand that your mental state hasn’t been great… but that doesn’t mean that it was okay to hurt me,”

“Don’t worry, I take full responsibility for my actions. Which is why I wanted to explain it all to you…”

 

Jungkook continues explaining about the therapy he will be starting next week. His therapist explained that he needs to make amends and move on with his life, not expecting forgiveness or empathy. He is young and able to make changes to his behaviour, but he also needs to confirm with Sumi that none of it was her fault.

 

Forgiveness doesn’t involve moving on or making amends with the person who caused you harm. Forgiveness is about allowing yourself to no longer be affected by the harm that was caused to you. It’s about living your life despite those who have hurt you – not to spite them. Living for you, behaving for you, and trusting for you. Forgiveness exists for the victim, not the perpetrator. Anyone angry you won’t forgive them wasn’t sorry in the first place. All they want is for the guilt to go away, not for you to be happy. Forgive for yourself, not for others.

 

Once Jungkook is finished and tears have been shed, Sumi smiles, reaching forward for his hand.

“I’m not going to tell you that I forgive you… but I am glad we had this conversation. I’m happy to know you genuinely are sorry and plan to change for yourself… maybe in the future we can become friends again, yeah?” Sumi responds with a sad smile plastered to her face as new, fresh tears roll down her cheeks.

“Okay, thank you,” Jungkook smiles, running his thumb over Sumi’s hand.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Hoseok nods to himself, letting out a big sigh, “Do we want to eat and drink together?”

“No, thank you,” Jungkook lets go of Sumi’s hand, turning to Hoseok, “The pain meds make me sleepy, and I shouldn’t be drinking. I’ll leave you guys to have a good night,” Jungkook slides some money onto the table, making Hoseok cheer with delight.

“Oh wow! I’ll order some meat and drinks for us then!” Hoseok does a little happy dance, calling out to the server.

“I’ll walk you to your car?” Sumi suggests.

“Oh… if you’d like,” Jungkook smiles, looking to Hoseok for approval. Hoseok looks to Jungkook and Sumi before nodding.

“I’ll be out to check on you in 5 minutes though,” Hoseok stands and turns to Jungkook, looking stern, “And if you do anything… I’ll make sure the courts throw you away for a long time, understood?”

Jungkook stands and bows.

“Yes, sir,”

“Good,” Hoseok suddenly beams at Jungkook, holding out his hand, “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will, thanks to you,” Jungkook shakes his hand.

“Come on then,” Sumi leads Jungkook out of the BBQ place and down the road a little. She recognises his car easily.

 

“So…” Jungkook stops beside Sumi, pulling out his keys, “Are you going to… unblock me now?”

Sumi chuckles, looking up at the broken man before her.

“Yeah, I’ll unblock you. But don’t make me regret it, okay?”

“Alright,” Jungkook grins. His arm twitched, as if he was about to go for a hug but decided against it. He sighs, and opens his arms up slowly, gesturing silently with his adorable smile. Sumi rolls her eyes and gently wraps her arms around his hips, avoiding his sore ribs.

“Look after yourself, okay?” Jungkook murmurs, kissing the top of Sumi’s head. She nods, pulling out of his arms.

“You too, okay?”

Jungkook nods and turns towards his car, climbing into the front sit gently. Sumi moves aside as he starts the car. He looks up and gives Sumi one more sad wave, the regret obvious in his eyes. She waves back and watches him go, feeling relief and contentment.

 

 

“I can’t believe y’all let her go off and meet up with him,” Yoongi mutters bitterly, closing his car door. He’s wearing straight black jeans and a loose graphic print yellow shirt.

“She’ll be fine, she’s with Hoseok,” Jennie reminds him as she climbs out of his passenger seat. She is wearing a knee-length, ditsy patterned cami dress with sneakers.

“Yeah, but…”

“He’ll protect her. He took him down easily, remember?” Namjoon interrupts, climbing out of the back of Yoongi’s car. He is wearing baggy cargo pants with a loose tan-coloured shirt. He pushes his dirty blonde hair from his eyes, watching Yoongi carefully.

“Fine, whatever…”

They begin walking down the little side street, heading towards the Korean BBQ place. After Hoseok sent everyone a message about the meet-up early in the night, Yoongi decided it would be a good idea to ‘run into them’ at the BBQ place, just in case. Jennie and Namjoon tried to distract him but eventually gave in to Yoongi’s demands. Besides, what could go wrong?

 

“Hey, isn’t that…?” Jennie frowns. Suddenly she goes pale, looking wildly around at Namjoon, who looks up, equally worried.

“Hey, Yoongi, you know… I forgot my wallet, can we go back and get it?” Namjoon says quickly, grabbing Yoongi’s arm and pulling him back towards the direction of the car. Yoongi looks up in the direction they were looking, pulling from Namjoon’s grip.

Sumi?

He quickly moves forward, watching as Jungkook and Sumi move towards his car.

Luckily we arrived, huh?

“Leave it, Yoongi,” Namjoon says quietly, “She doesn’t look anxious, or hurt… Jungkook must be leaving for the night,”

“Yeah, let’s just go back to the car for a moment,” Jennie smiles, before pulling out her beeping phone. She frowns and reads the message.

“What is it?” Namjoon asks.

“Hoseok is inviting us for drinks,” Jennie chuckles, “Apparently, Jungkook left him with a pile of cash or something,”

 

Yoongi ignores them, eyeing Jungkook and Sumi carefully. He can’t hear them at all, but he can see Sumi laughing at something Jungkook has said to her.

What’s going on? Did she forgive him that easily?

Suddenly, Jungkook raises his arms for a hug, and Sumi moves in, lightly wrapping her arms around his hips.

What. The. ?

“What are they doing?” Yoongi mutters to himself.

“Yoongi…” Namjoon sighs.

Jungkook looks down at Sumi and places a kiss on the top of her head. Yoongi looks away, a strange buzzing in his ears. So that’s it, is it? They just get back together and move on like he didn’t abuse her?

 

“I’m leaving,” Yoongi snaps, clenching his jaw and turning around.

“Yoongi, wait,” Namjoon reaches out for Yoongi’s arm, but Yoongi pulls away roughly, glaring up at Namjoon.

“Go. I’m sure Hoseok can fill you in and you guys will have a great night with that jerk’s money. Don’t let me stop you,” Yoongi grumbles. Before Namjoon or Jennie can say anything else, Yoongi storms away, his hands deep in his pockets.