'Zzt! Zzt!'

Kim Namjoon's phone vibrated against the surface of his bedside table, alerting him of a new incoming text message from Park Jimin. He had just gotten out from the shower when he received a message from his best friend's husband, giving him a head's up on who he should expect coming to his home, that evening. 

"What's new?" -he sighed, plopping himself down at the edge of his bed as he placed his phone down and dried his damp hair with a towel.

Ever since Kim Namjoon had moved out of the Kang's residence and bought a mansion of his own, his home had been frequented by his friends who would often 'visit' him whenever they get into a tiff or a fight with their significant other. 

His older brother, Kim Seokjin, was by far the only person among all who had broken the record by staying over at his place for more than five days when he was kicked out of the house for pissing Sooyoung off over something trivial. His younger brother, Kim Taehyung, would occasionally come over for a game night whenever he gets ignored by Joohyun after some petty squabble. The longest he had stayed over was only two days. Min Yoongi rarely shows up but when he does, it would always be because he needed a friend to drink with after getting nagged at by Seungwan for something he did wrong. Jeon Jungkook, on the other hand, would come over only when Kim Yerim is not around. Kim Yerim too would come around only when Jungkook is not around 

Then, there was Kang Seulgi who would come over normally just to vent her pent-up frustrations about her husband, Jimin, only to leave at most by midnight when Jimin comes over to collect her back with a miserable look on his face and words of apologies. 

Namjoon had seen it all amidst mending his own heart after he ended his three-year-relationship with Kim Jennie. It had all come to a point where he decided that marriage or relationships weren't something that he desired, anymore.

'Ding Dong' 

The doorbell rang and Namjoon hastily rushed to put on his sweatpants before answering the door. Knowing that it was only Kang Seulgi that he was expecting, he did not bother to put on a shirt before he heads down to greet his guest. After all, she was his childhood friend who has seen him at his ugliest state, before. There was nothing he needed to be embarrassed or insecure about when he's with Seulgi. Strolling his way towards the door, he took a quick look at the peephole to find Kang Seulgi standing in front of his door with a gloomy look on her face, carrying duffle bag that looked a little heavy on her slim body. As soon as he unlocked the door, Seulgi casually welcomed herself in without waiting for his invitation.

"What's up? I bet Jimin has already called you before I arrived." -Seulgi said, dropping the bag on the nearest table she could find before she turned to look at Namjoon, "Hasn't he?"

"Yeah. He did. Make yourself at home, why don't you?" -Namjoon replied sarcastically before closing the door shut. "It's not like I mind. My house has always been a relationship counselling centre and I'm apparently the designated counsellor who gives love advice to his friends when the last time I've been in love, myself was like what? Two years ago? And that fell apart. Still, ironically, my friends think I'd be the perfect person to go to for some advice, not bearing any thought that I could potentially ruin their relationship considering the fact that I couldn't even make my own relationship last."

"Are you done talking?" -Seulgi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Namjoon, waiting for him to answer her question.

"Yeah...I guess. As long as you get the point." -He hesitantly answered when he senses the seriousness in Seulgi's tone of voice, getting the hint that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to push her buttons, that evening.

"If you are then put a decent shirt on yourself and get your back down to the living room. I need to talk to you." -Seulgi ordered before she shamelessly made her way to the kitchen, "I'll bring out the vodka."

"Wait, you know where I keep my drinks?" -Namjoon gave her a look of disbelief as he shuffled his way towards the stairs. 

"C'mon, Namjoon. How many times have I been here to keep your miserable company when you broke up with Jennie?"

"Point."

"Just go grab a shirt. And make it fast."

<<------>>

"So...what's the problem with Jimin, this time?" -Namjoon asked, pouring himself his second shot glass of vodka while Seulgi was already on to her third. 

"I honestly don't know if he really loves me, Namjoon." -Seulgi sighed, throwing her head back as she reclined on the sofa,

"Dude, that man, made you his wife and you're still doubting his sincerity to live with you for the rest of his life?" -Namjoon snorted, shaking his head as he sips on his drink. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I mean, come on...no person in the right mind would fall for a maniac like you. Till today, I'm still questioning how Jimin could deal with your crazy and wake up to your crazy , every single day. Things must have been really tough on him, huh?...but then again he signed up for it, himself." -Namjoon jokingly said as he chuckles then abruptly stopped when he received a piercing glare from Seulgi. 

"Are you done insulting me?"

"I was just kidding...Sorry. Go on. I'm listening." -Namjoon said, chugging his drink as he leaned back against the sofa as Seulgi helps herself with her fourth shot glass of vodka.

Sighing loudly as she pushed her hair back, Seulgi said, "Sometimes I feel like Jimin isn't being honest with his feelings towards me. I feel like he's forcing it onto himself out of guilt, you know? He's doing things for the sake of my father and only for the sake of my father. It's like he's been enforced with this responsibility to take care of me because my father saved his life and not because he actually loved me."

"Well, what made you think so? What did he do?"

"He hired two of his former gangmates follow me closely, everywhere I go. All of these were done in discreet, behind my back. I had absolutely no idea that I have been followed until this morning when I visited Joohyun's flower shop." -Seulgi replied with a tone of frustration and anger. "I mean...can you believe it?"

"Congratulations, your husband is just as crazy as you are."

"Kim Namjoon!"

"Alright, alright. In all seriousness, what Jimin did was...a little bit out of line, if you were to ask me...but...he must have had his reasons..." -Namjoon shrugged, refusing to be biased with his opinion just because Seulgi was his friend. "I don't see how this has got anything to do with him doing things for your father's sake. He's your husband and as a husband, he probably feels...obligated to protect you. That is how I see it. Did he told you why he did that?"

"Hold up, I'm getting there." -Seulgi chugs down another shot glass of vodka before she continued, "He tried to reason with me with this 'promise' he made to my late father about protecting me. He's doing all of these because he made a promise to a man who died for him."

Namjoon listened as he massaged the bridge of his nose, finally starting to feel the alcohol kicking into his system. Placing his glass down, he said, "So he's a man who keeps his word. I don't see anything wrong with that."

"I know. I've always liked him being all protective over me...but not this way, Namjoon. Now I'm starting to think that everything he does, was not really coming from his heart. Get this. What if he hadn't made the promise to my father, that night? If my father hadn't taken the bullet for him, that night and made it alive..." -Seulgi croaked, eyes already turning watery as she mumbles incoherently, "...Would he still be behaving the same way he has been, towards me? Would he still be this crazy protective over me or would everything be different? I know he means well but...I can't help feeling like he has only been loving me out of guilt. If someone were to take the guilt away from him, I bet the feelings that he has for me right now would be different. Perhaps, less intense. Less affectionate. Less intimate. After all, he has only been doing it because of the 'promise'."

In a matter of seconds, Seulgi broke down into a sobbing mess, bawling her eyes out as she tries to get more words out of but none made any sense. She was about to pour herself another glass of vodka but Namjoon was quick to snatch the bottle away from her before she could do so.

"You're not having any more of this." -Namjoon sighed, placing the bottle out of her reach before he handed her a box of tissue paper. "You are one emotional wreck, Kang Seulgi. You seriously need to get your together. You're overthinking this. Stop crying."

"I can't, you ! I'm sad and I need to drown my feelings down with vodka!" -She