(Bella) 

I had no idea how I got home, but once I was there, I ran into my room and began taking off the costume. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have believed that someone like him would have just changed overnight? I wrapped my robe around me and collapsed on the floor. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

There was a knock at my door, and I wiped my face.

"Bella?" It was Namjoon's voice.

"Just a minute!" I quickly got to my feet and ran to my bathroom to clean my face. My makeup looked awful! I cleaned up as best as I could and went to open the door. "Come in."

He looked at me for a moment before stepping into my room. "Bella," was all he managed to say before I started crying again. He pulled me into a hug and let me cry myself out.

At some point my legs buckled, and he helped me to my bed. He let me cry into his shoulder until I could cry no more.

"I'm so sorry," he said softly. "I had no idea things had gone so badly. We all thought--well, it seemed that you and Seokjin had happily made up. What happened?"

I sniffed and wiped my nose with the sleeve of my robe. "Wh-why don't you ask him? He can tell you."

He grabbed the tissue box from my nightstand and handed it to me. "I tried, but he just swore like a sailor and stormed off. Nobody knew anything. If I hadn't been leaving with Jungkook, I wouldn't have seen Seokjin standing there angry." He patted my back. "Please. Don't cry anymore. Do you want to talk about it?"

I sniffed again and wiped my face with a tissue. "Did you know that he had been seeing other girls?"

He pursed his lips. "Uh, seeing other girls?"

I laughed bitterly. "You know what I mean. Sleeping with other girls. Did you know? Why didn't you tell me?"

Namjoon's eyes darted away from mine. "Oh. That."

"Yes, that," I said. "Did you know?"

He inhaled. "Well, you see, you and he were not together."

I scoffed then blew my nose loudly.

"Wait! Don't get mad at me! Everyone knew you had gotten back together with Jimin," he continued. "You were Jimin's girlfriend. He told us. And...he sort of let it be known that you two were, you know, together in every possible way."

"He said that?" I asked in shock.

Namjoon nodded. "He didn't actually say that he was...that you two were...you know. But we all understood what he meant. And so did Seokjin."

"He said that to Jin?" I screeched. "Jimin told Jin that we were sleeping together? Oh, my God!"

"He hinted at it, I'd say," he corrected. "It wasn't hard to believe because you were his girlfriend, but Seokjin took it badly. Oh, he pretended he was cool about it, but I know him, and he was definitely upset."

"So that's when he decided to just go back to his old ways," I said sullenly.

"I guess," he said. "I think he just lost all hope. You were definitely out of reach, and he was heartbroken. He's had some bad experiences with women. Every time he's gotten close to someone, she ends up hurting him. It's really tragic, in a way, especially when you realize that his first heartbreak was when his mother left him."

I felt a lump in my throat. "Oh."

"He was almost thirteen years old, just about to become a teenager. I understand that he was very close to his mother. One day his parents had a huge fight, and she left. She just packed up and left. He never saw her again. He went through his adolescence with a terrible chip on his shoulder. He was a great student but always getting into fights and whatnot. If it weren't for his grades and his father's money, he would have been expelled."

"I...didn't know." I took a deep breath.

"He was sixteen when he got a girlfriend. But she cheated on him. Her explanation was that she knew that someone like him would eventually cheat on her since so many girls were after him, so she decided to beat him to the punch."

I felt my jaw drop. "That's terrible!"

Namjoon lifted a brow. "Oh, it gets better. During his senior year of high school, his father remarried. At first his new wife was nice and sweet with Seokjin. He really liked her. He was happy to have a mother figure again. She seemed determined to be a good mother to him, at least for a few months."

"Oh, no," I whispered. "I heard something about this."

He nodded. "Let's just say that one weekend when Mr. Kim was on a business trip, the new Mrs. Kim got Seokjin drunk and tried to convince him to sleep with her."

I covered my face with my hands. "That's disgusting!"

Namjoon sighed. "He's never gone into detail, but I heard she threatened to tell his father that he had attacked her if he did not go along with it."

"No!" I could not imagine how terrified Jin must have felt.

"Lucky for him, one of the servants overheard her threats, and so she could not get her way. Seokjin left for college and has never visited his father's home since." He paused. "And then, maybe you've heard about his ex-fiancee Abigail?"

"Not much. Only that she was a real bitch," I replied.

Namjoon nodded. "Three years ago, Seokjin wanted to propose to her, but she wanted him only for his money and his looks. She wanted to quit school and just live a great life. She told him that if he didn't give her this fabulous life, she would leave, so he told her goodbye. After that, he changed. He became colder somehow. He just kind of never took any girl seriously. The women, of course, just throw themselves at him. They usually don't care that he is not interested in relationships. He's not a bad guy, but he hides his feelings now. He didn't want to get burned again, so he never got close emotionally to any woman. Until you."

I looked at Namjoon. I could feel my eyes watering again. "Until me. Then I called him a fuckboy and pushed him away." I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks. "And I did it again tonight. What have I done?"

I began crying out loud. Namjoon pulled me into a hug again.

After I calmed down, he said his goodbyes and left, telling me to call him at any time if I needed to talk.

I had just walked back to my room when someone knocked at the door. Thinking it was Namjoon, I hurried back and threw the door open.

A tall, blonde girl was standing with her hands on her hips. "So, you're the one," she said and smiled. But her smile was not friendly.