(Bella) 

We were halfway across the courtyard before I was finally able to summon my voice. "W-Wait. Where are we going?" I asked.

"To my place," Seokjin answered without breaking his stride. "It's just around the corner in the next building."

"Why?"

This time he stopped. He turned to look at me, and once again I was dumbfounded by his absolute beauty. "I just want to talk to you. And if I want to do that, it seems I have to get you away from Jimin."

"What? Who?" I asked stupidly, unable to formulate a thought while he was looking at me with his gorgeous eyes. He was still holding my hand, and his touch was scrambling my brain.

He smiled then started walking again. "Come on. I'll explain later."

The building was at the far end of the courtyard in the opposite direction of mine. I could tell that these buildings housed the nicer apartments. He unlocked the door by punching a code into the electronic lock and stood back to let me enter first. Once inside, he flicked on the light switch to reveal a luxurious living room with a taupe sectional sofa that had a chaise at one end, a brown and cream geometric rug, an overstufffed leather chair, and stunning abstract paintings on two walls. At the far end of the room I saw a small dark dining table and the modern kitchen beyond it. I looked around in awe. I noticed French doors off to the side whose glass panels were covered by shirred curtains.

"That's my bedroom," he said. "I thought we'd just stay out here. Unless you have something else in mind." He raised a perfect eyebrow.

"What?" I asked in alarm. Had I gotten myself into trouble by coming here? Why had I just followed him?  "Of course not! Maybe I should go."

He chuckled softly. "I'm sorry. You're perfectly safe here."

"Am I? I hardly think you'd own up to any murderous plans," I retorted. I was trying to combat my fear with bravado.

"Oh, I definitely wouldn't murder you or hurt you. There would be so many more enjoyable things to do."

I inhaled, feeling my cheeks get warm. "So, do you live alone here?"

He nodded and motioned toward the couch. "Go ahead and sit down." I sat on the couch, and he leaned over me, his face both beautiful and dangerous at the same time. "Can I get you something to drink?" His broad shoulders blocked everything else from my view, and I found I had trouble formulating a thought. I struggled to keep my eyes on his face and not on his body, which was right in front of me.

I gulped. "Some tea would be nice. If...if you have any."

His smile this time seemed innocent. "Exactly what I had in mind. Wait just a minute." He disappeared into the kitchen.

I sank further into the couch, suddenly feeling very tired from the effort of not staring at him. I heard him making noise in the kitchen and humming to himself. I wondered what had compelled me to follow him here. Then I rolled my eyes. I knew very well why I had allowed him to lead me here. I think if I'd actually refused, the world would have stopped and stared in shock. I got the feeling that the other girls were heartbroken when he asked me to go with him, like I'd won a prize or something. I had never been so reckless before, and I had certainly never entered the apartment of a guy I'd just met. Strangely enough, I also didn't feel afraid of him. I closed my eyes and smiled.

"What are you smiling about?"

My eyes flew open. Seokjin was setting down the cups on the coffee table. He stood for a moment as if deciding what to do next then sat on the oversized chair next to the couch. Part of me was disappointed, and he must have noticed my expression.

"I thought it would be safer for me to sit over here," he said. He leaned back on the chair then brought a hand up and touched his lower lip. "Or safer for you." The way he was looking at me made my heart skip a beat. "We should get acquainted first before anything else." I almost forgot to breathe. I wasn't safe no matter where he sat. "So, you wanted to know why I brought you here?"

"Uh, y-yeah," I stammered. I could feel my heart racing again.

"Unfortunately, it is not for anything exciting," he said with a wink and reached for his tea cup. "Tae told me a bit about what happened between you and Jimin last year. He seemed a little possessive over you just now, so  I wanted to get the story from you.  I'm sure you know they're roommates. I've known Tae since childhood—he's my cousin, but Jimin and I have been friends for only a while. Besides Taehyung, he never really allowed the rest of us to meet you. That in itself was odd."  

I lowered my eyes. "Everyone keeps saying that. I don't know what you've heard. He's not a bad person. We've known each other for many years actually. I've known him since before high school."

"So, is that why you were with him?" he asked.

I was surprised at the question. I had often wondered if Jimin and I were just so used to each other that we made no effort to figure out if we actually cared about each other. "Why do you ask that?"

He pursed his lips. "I don't know. I guess when you mention his name I don't sense any real passion. And you seem to get annoyed with him as if he were a brother and not a romantic interest. I'm sorry. That's just what I noticed.  I could be wrong."

"How can you sense passion in my voice?" I asked, then mentally kicked myself for the dumb question.

He smiled. "It is in the way you say a person's name that often reveals how you feel about them. You don't believe me?" He leaned forward. "Say his name."

"This is silly," I protested.

"Humor me."

I took a breath. "Jimin."

He nodded in contemplation. "Hm. Now say mine."

I inhaled sharply. "I don't know."

"Say it," he urged me softly, his rich, low voice sending shivers down my spine.

"Seokjin," I said, my voice sounding breathless. What was wrong with me?

"I rest my case," he said. He winked at me when I looked at him.

I averted my eyes. "That's just because...because your name begins with an S, and words that start with sibilants always sound more...I don't know."

"Using phonetics against me? I don't think that's why you said it that way. It wasn't the sibilant sound but the emotion in your voice that stood out to me," he replied. I must have seemed surprised when I looked at him because he laughed. "I am in graduate school, after all. I'm not completely ignorant. Don't be so shocked."

"I guess an arrogant person wouldn't understand." My voice definitely held a different emotion this time.

"Arrogant?" he repeated, his eyes wide. "Okay."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.  It's just that I'm a little shy and sometimes have trouble talking to people." I gave him a contrite look. I really didn't know why I had gotten upset with him. Maybe it was because his words had a ring of truth to them. I saw that he was not upset but waiting for me to continue. "Jimin is... he's just so...dynamic and charming and outgoing. Everyone likes him. We sort of balanced each other out."

"But you broke up," he said.

"Unfortunately, other girls really like him, too. They just flock to him, and I guess it made things difficult between us. It seems he enjoys that a bit too much," I said softly.

Jin put his cup down and peered closer at me, pushing his dark brown hair off his forehead with a large, elegant hand. "That is no excuse for treating you badly. A man should always be a gentleman with the girl he loves. I saw you with him a few times last year, but I never actually met you—he made it a point not to introduce us. Even then I saw how he was less than attentive to you. Then I heard he, well, did not respect your relationship.  I remember telling him that his behavior was disgraceful, and I warned him that I would do something about it if it continued."

"You did?" I asked, surprised. "But you didn't even know me back then. Even now, how do you know that I'm not a horrible person, too?"

He stared into my eyes as if he could read my mind. His long lashes swept up and down, and I felt myself melting from inside out.  "Back then I didn't know you, but I still believed he should've respected you. But now." He paused. "Now, as I look into your eyes, I can sense a beautiful but injured soul."

"You can?" I whispered, feeling myself tremble. "How?"

He looked pensive for a moment, as if weighing what to say next. Then he said, "Because my soul is injured, too. I recognize the look in your eyes. I've seen it in mine. But I want to believe that my heart will heal. As will yours. I don't want to believe that the sadness will last forever."

His gaze was electrifying, and I wanted to lose myself in his eyes. "No," I whispered. "What happens now?"

He moved back, and the spell was broken. He brought his tea cup to his lips. "We could help each other through our sadness. Or we wait for Jimin." Then he smiled.