Seokjin went up the three flights of stairs to his floor, not wanting to wait for the elevator. He reached the open-air hallway at the same time the elevator door slid open. He stopped abruptly before nodding and walking away.

"Seokjin."

He recognized the voice. With a deep sigh, he stopped walking but didn't turn around. "Yes?"

"I want to talk to you."

Reluctantly, he turned around to face the woman with red hair. "Lydia, what do you have to say to me? I'm sorry, but I asked you to leave me alone. I didn't like the stunt you pulled with Luisa. It was so childish and embarrassing for you. We don't need to talk."

"Can't we go inside? I don't want to talk out here like a stranger," she said.

He bit his lip and shook his head. "No. There's no reason to go inside because there's nothing for us to talk about. Look, I don't want to be mean, but I am done talking to you. There's no point. You don't seem to understand, and I don't have time for this. I have to move on with my life."

"Oh? So, you're dating Luisa now?" she asked with a frown. "Is that how you've moved on?"

"What?" he asked. "You see what I mean? You're obsessed. Why would something like that even matter to you?"

"It matters," she went on. "It matters because you dumped me for her, didn't you? Once you had her, you treated me like trash. You never cared about me! You just used me while waiting for her!"

He shook his head again. "No, that's not it at all. I never meant to hurt you."

"But you did!" she exclaimed. "You hurt me by just discarding me after she batted her lashes at you! Suddenly, you had no use for me anymore. Because that's all you did. You used me!"

Her voice was getting louder, and Seokjin glanced nervously around.

"Please keep your voice down," he admonished.

"Then, let's go inside," she insisted.

He looked down, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Then, let's stay out here until you explain to me why you treated me so badly!" she said loudly. "What did I do that was so wrong that you had to dump me like old trash, huh?"

Two apartments down, the front door opened, and an older lady stuck her head out. Her eyes landed on them, and she shook her head slightly in disapproval before disappearing behind her closed door.

With a curse under his breath, Seokjin said: "Fine, fine. Just keep it down. Come on. Quickly. We don't have much time." He turned on his heel and walked toward his door.

Lydia followed closely on his heels. Once inside his apartment, she threw herself at him. "Please, Jinnie, why are you being so mean to me? What did I do?"

Seokjin dropped his briefcase on the floor and extricated himself from her grip. "Stop, Lydia." He moved away from her. "This is not why we're here. You said you had something to say, so say it."

She narrowed her eyes briefly. "So, then it's true. You're sleeping with her. That's why you have no interest in anything with me. You used to be all over me like a starving man. I guess now you're not starving anymore."

He shook his head, clearly growing more annoyed by the second. "That was always what you wanted, remember?" He sighed. "I don't want to talk about this. I thought you were going to apologize. If this is why you're here, then you can leave. I have nothing more to say." He saw her eyes overflow with tears. "Lydia, please. Don't make a scene. We've been over for several months. Why can't you just accept it? I don't want to hurt you, but you're forcing me to."

"But I love you, Seokjin!"

"No, you don't," he replied. "You don't love me. You just refuse to move on."

She sniffled. "You say that because you've moved on so easily."

He pulled at his tie to loosen it. "No. You see what I mean? You won't let things go. Why do you care what I've done all this time? We're not together anymore."

She moved closer to him. "We're not together because you dumped me for no reason." She wrapped her arms around his torso. "You have no idea how much you hurt me."

Seokjin lifted his arms, not wanting to hold her. "Please, Lydia. Stop that."

"No!" she exclaimed and kissed his neck. "I know that I can love you better than she can. She's always so cold and condescending as if she's too good for anyone. You deserve better."

He pushed her away when she sucked on his neck painfully. "Damn it, Lydia! Stop this! Why don't you sit down?" He brought a hand up to the painful spot where she'd bitten him. "Don't be this way. You're embarrassing yourself. And stop assuming things about other people. You don't even know Luisa very well. Hell, you don't know me very well. What we had was nice, but it wasn't serious. I thought you understood that when we started going out. I told you I wasn't ready for a relationship, but you insisted you didn't care. You said that you wanted us to have fun. So, we did. Didn't we?"

She shook her head violently. "No! You did! You had your fun, using me like some whore then dumping me when you found someone else to sleep with. I should've known someone like you would do that. My friends warned me that guys who look like you are just charming fuckboys."

"That's enough," he said sternly. "There's no point to this."

She smiled at him. "How about one last time? I know that you care about me. I know that we can make it work again." She hugged him tightly. "Please give me another chance."

Seokjin tried pushing her away gently, but she clung to him tighter. It might be too late for her to go home now. Her hands began moving against his waist, unbuttoning his pants, undoing the zipper. He cursed at not taking the time to wear a belt today and grabbed her hands.

"I said stop!" he exclaimed, then tried to lower his voice. "Just stop it, Lydia. Don't do this. Please, let's sit down, huh?"

"You treated me like a slut!" she cried.

"No. Please don't act like one now," he replied. "Please stop."

She found some hidden strength and freed her hands. She pushed one of her hands inside his pants and began to rub him. "I know you want me, Seokjin. If you want me to act like a slut, then I will. Just for you. You know I will."

Seokjin shut his eyes tightly. How the hell did he keep finding himself in situations like this with women? No one would believe him if he said that she was the one who attacked him. He couldn't risk using too much force and bruising her. Who knew what wild stories Lydia would invent about this? He knew how she got sometimes. Why had he allowed her inside his place at all?

"Okay, okay," he managed to say. "I will do what you want. But first, let me get properly settled. I just got home from work. I need to put my things away and change and all that." He attempted a smile. "Is that okay?"

Lydia smiled widely. "Oh, yes! Yes! Of course. Then I can show you how much I love you, how much I want you."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her aside. "Okay. Just give me a few minutes. Just...wait here, yes?"

She nodded enthusiastically. The manic gleam in her eyes worried him, but he tried not to let his smile falter.

He walked into his bedroom and quietly locked the door. He fished out his phone from his pocket.

As soon as the person on the other end answered, Seokjin exhaled. In two minutes he quietly explained the situation then sighed in relief when Hoseok said he would be there in less than ten minutes.

Seokjin turned on the shower, hoping Lydia would think he was getting ready for her. In reality, he didn't want to be alone with her. He'd heard of women in her state who invented stories of being attacked when sometimes it was the other way around. However, he knew that his reputation would be ruined whether it was true or not. No one would consider her mental state if she accused him of something.

A loud knock at his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Seokjin? Why is the door locked? What's taking so long, babe?"

"Uh, just a minute!" he called out. "Just getting everything ready."

"What the hell, Seokjin? Are you lying to me?" she yelled, still banging on the door. "You asshole! You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

He closed his eyes. She was into a full-blown episode. He just needed to stay calm.

"Open the door!" she yelled again as she continued to bang on the door. "Stop hiding from me! Let me in! You said we would have sex!"

He got closer to the locked bedroom door. "Please just sit down, Lydia. I don't know how why you're screaming at me. Go sit and wait for me. I'll make something to eat. If you have your medication, please take it."

"No! I don't want food! You promised to sleep with me! You liar! You fucking liar!" she screamed, banging on the door. "Now I'm not even good enough to fuck anymore? You asshole! Do you think this is funny? You know you want me, Seokjin. You know I can make you want me. Just open the door, babe. Let me in. I promise I'll stop yelling. I'll be good."

He leaned his head against the door. "Please go sit down. Don't make me call Arthur. I don't think this is funny at all. I'm telling you for the last time. Please listen to me, and we'll forget this ever happened."

There was no response.

"Lydia? Can you hear me? What's going on?"

He held his ear to the door. Maybe Hoseok had already arrived. He heard Lydia screaming, but not at his door. It sounded as if she was throwing things around the room. Afraid of what she might do to herself, he opened the door slowly.

Lydia was throwing whatever she could get her hands on. She was out of control. It was frightening and sad to watch.

He opened the bedroom door further and saw Luisa standing at the front door of his apartment, stunned.

"I heard yelling and the door was open..." Luisa said, her voice fading away.

Lydia turned toward the door and growled. "Get out! Get the hell out! He's supposed to be with me!" She rushed toward Luisa with her hands outstretched.

"No!" Seokjin yelled, but she launched herself at Luisa, pulling her hair, while the other woman attempted to back out the door.

"You bitch! I always knew you were after him!"

Seokjin yanked Lydia backward and pinioned her arms behind her back. "Stop it! Stop it right now, Lydia! Breathe. Just breathe." He struggled with her as she kept moving and trying to kick him.

"Lu! Are you okay?" he said in the general direction of the front door.

She was trembling. "Wh-What's going on?" Her eyes were large and fearful as she took in the sight of Lydia crying and screaming incoherently.

"I came as fast as I could," Hoseok's voice broke in. He assessed the situation and pulled Luisa toward him. "Shit. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Luisa shook her head, still in shock.

"Take her out of here," Seokjin said through gritted teeth.

"No! No." Lydia cried, no longer struggling. "I won't leave. I won't leave you. Don't call...no." Her energy was now depleted, and she crumpled to the floor sobbing. "N-No..."

Seokjin looked around the living room at the mess she had made. His hand and neck were burning. He looked down and saw that she had clawed his hand bloody. The sleeve of his shirt was stained with blood, and he cursed under his breath.

He dropped onto the sofa, leaving Lydia sobbing on the floor. She had probably skipped several days of her medication. He was not afraid of her anymore. Her manic episodes, while explosive, were over quickly.

After he'd met her family, her father had given him the number of a policeman her family knew who would go and get her whenever she fell into a violent episode. Arthur would take her home quickly and discreetly.

Once her sobbing died down, he picked her up from the floor and led her to the sofa, helping her lie down. He got a blanket and wrapped it tightly around her as her eyes fluttered closed. He sat on a chair waiting for her to be picked up, thinking about how to explain this to Luisa later.