(Jin) 

Bella was as nice and intelligent as I imagined. I could tell that she was a little intimidated by me, and I amused myself by keeping her on her toes. I gave her a few longing stares and threw out a few suggestive lines, but she made no move or silly comments. Any other girl would have been flirting shamelessly and making it obvious that she was attracted to me. At first I thought it would've been easy to get something going with her, but she didn't bite on any of my lines. Bella was more reserved, refreshingly so. I was hoping to continue our conversation, but the knock at the door interrupted me.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened, and Jimin walked in. His eyes quickly took in the fact that Bella and I were not in some compromising position, and he seemed to relax slightly.

"Seokjin, why did you bring her here?" His tone was accusatory and suspicious.

"Why do you think?" I said and raised an eyebrow. I couldn't resist giving him a verbal jab.

He scowled at me and seemed hesitant to reply.

"Do you have something to say?" I prompted him calmly. "To me or Bella?"

Jimin twitched, trying to keep his cool. He took a deep breath. "Bella, can we go now?"

Bella frowned. "Where to?" Her eyes glanced at me. "If you have something to say, then say it."

He sighed. "Okay. I am sorry if I have ever done anything to disrespect you. If I behaved like an ass to you in the past...or now, I'm sorry."

"If?" she asked. "You mean you still won't own up to anything? Well, you're full of yourself, then, if you don't think you've done anything bad. You've never admitted you were wrong about what you did before. And even tonight you embarrassed me."

"What do you want me to say?" Jimin asked, his eyes wide.

She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "That you cheated on me when we were together last year," she said. "Why can't you admit the truth?"

Jimin's eyes turned to me nervously. I shrugged and stood up.

"Maybe I should leave you two alone."

"No, please stay," Bella said and watched me sit back down. "It's your home. We're the ones who should leave."

I shrugged again. I most certainly didn't want her to leave, but this little scene with Jimin had killed the previous mood.

 She turned back to Jimin. "I loved you, Jimin. You were so sweet and loving to me after...well, after that difficult time. But then you start to drink and flirt shamelessly with other girls. At least one time you left with a girl, and I had to go home by myself. Sometimes you acted like you hated me. Why can't you admit that you broke my heart?"

Jimin shuffled his feet, his eyes glancing at me every few seconds. He was uncomfortable that I was hearing all of this.

"Don't mind me," I said. I indicated to the other chair, and he sank gratefully into it.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I knew that you loved me. I knew that you were a good girl, but sometimes that made me angry, and I don't really know why. I never hated you. I actually hated myself and the way I acted. I just couldn't stop myself sometimes."  His eyes filled up with tears. "I'm ashamed to admit this to you. I'm ashamed of myself. I did cheat on you. I'm so sorry, Bella. I really am.  I ask you to forgive me, please."

I felt a strange tightness in my throat and reached for the tea. I needed time to process what was going on. Bella had clearly said that they had something in the past. But not now? Yet, Jimin was acting as if they'd broken up just hours ago.

Jimin got down on his knees. "Bella, I am sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I would be forever grateful. I still love you. I'm sorry." He sobbed. "I wish for nothing more than your forgiveness. And maybe a second chance."

Ah, that was good, Jimin, I thought. And tears, too. She must really be something if he'd humiliate himself this way for her. I was even more intrigued. Jimin was usually a happy-go-lucky guy. He had a fairly easy time with women. He was good-looking---not quite on my level, but enough. Part of me hoped that she would not give him another chance because I wanted to see her again. I looked down so that they couldn't see my face and guess my emotions.

Before I knew it, she was on her feet, raising him up from the ground. "Maybe...maybe we can talk about it," she said slowly.

He pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you," he said. He glanced at me over her shoulder. I saw the little grin of triumph. Touché, Jimin.

"I'm sorry about all of this," she said to me, "but thank you for...the tea and everything."

I grinned. "You're welcome. Anytime you need anything or everything," I paused, "you know where to find me." I shot Jimin a half-lidded look. Let's see how he likes that.

"Thank you so much, Seokjin," she said.

She tapped Jimin's arm when he scowled at me. He gave me an insincere smile. "Yeah. Thanks."

As they left the apartment, Bella glanced back at me. I wondered what it was that drew her back to Jimin even though he had treated her badly. He finally apologized for cheating on her. Why had she agreed to talk it over? Maybe she wasn't the person that I thought she was. She must have seen the questions on my face because she ducked her head and hurried out the door.

I'll admit that, at first, I might have seen her as another conquest, a way to pass the night. I thought my words would've been enough to persuade her to sleep with me. Then, I realized I didn't just want her for one night. I actually liked her. What had just happened?