Seokjin continued to have a glimpse of the large room. The orphanage was indeed a piece of old work. The walls of the building were plain white and dusty; marks and scratches were spotted often. Almost 22 beds were placed side by side; the ones that creak no matter how lightly you touch them. Curtains hung in the windows, torn and ripped; and all windows were broken too. The floors were mopped recently, but their dirty surface wasn’t covered enough. Not to mention the grand ceiling that gave the creepy vibes of every supernatural spirits with unrepaired fans.

In short, the orphanage itself was old, unhealthy and definitely not a place where children should dwell. But still, there he was in the room of many orphans playing, talking, giggling, running around, catching others.

Currently, he was sitting cross-legged on a small, creaking bed with the sheets containing holes and fibers coming out from the corners. With the anonymous girl standing beside the edge of the bed and treating his wounded forehead. She was putting a disinfected cotton on his skin and blowing air on it a few times. Well, she couldn’t focus at all. Every two seconds, a child would interrupt her by complaining about his/her own needs so she had to attend them as well. He could feel her heavy, fast breathing; her mind forced to be concentrated on every child.

To avoid the closeness between them, he focused his gaze on the different activities of the children and gulped down.

Unexpectedly, he sensed a warm, cozy scent from her, which was calming his restless heart upon her arrival. It was unexpected, but it felt like the scent of heaven. He could sleep right on the spot just by her proximity. Even though it was weird, but he wanted to keep feeling her touch.

Little did he know he would be addicted to this scent.

“Unnie, I'm hungry.” a little girl with two pigtails pulled her skirt with a pitiful pout.

The girl glanced down at her and replied short, “You had your lunch, Chaeyoung.”

Seokjin saw how the little girl named Chaeyoung's face blackened with sorrow. His heart broke to see her asking for food. If he could, he would've brought her so many food in a minute.

But soon, he heard the young girl adding, “Unless there's some bread and milk in the kitchen. You can find them on my plate.”

Chaeyoung's eyes had a million happiness as she softly giggled and wrapped her small arms around the elder as much as she could, before running away to get her food. He also didn’t miss the tiny smile formed on the young girl's lips afterwards.

He cleared his throat before curiously asking,

“Was it your food?”

The girl stopped applying the cotton as if she was surprised to hear him talking to her.

“Was it obvious?” her answer cleared his guess.

He was slightly impressed by her little sacrifice. He never shared his food with anyone in his life.

A few seconds went by and she asked him softly, “Have I seen you before?”

Her sudden question caught Seokjin off-guard as he tried glancing at her but failed due to their position.

“What do you mean?”

“I'm not sure, but your face looks familiar to me.”

He pressed his lips together to hide a tiny smile. Everyone mistook him for an idol due to his unexplainable good looks. He replied, “You must've seen me in newspapers. I get treated like a celebrity often.”

He didn’t hear anything from her at first, but after some seconds, she nodded her head. She stepped back from him to grab the box of bandages. Her little distance took the strange scent away from him, and he started to crave for her closeness again. Weird.

“You look sad.” she asked curiously.

Seokjin didn’t figure out when she noticed the sorrow painted on his face. He usually hid his problems behind the invisible mask in case nobody noticed his weaknesses or bad sides. Maybe he failed to keep his facial expression straight earlier, causing her to see his sad face.

He glanced at her face and remained quiet.

The girl said quickly to avoid any confusion, “I just thought it, forgive me if I am wrong.”

“N-no, I-I was...” he blinked a few times, unable to come up with an answer.

She came close to him again and put one of her knee on the bed to get a straight posture of herself. As she was fixing the bandage on his wounded skin, he unintentionally let out,

“I had a fight with my girlfriend.”

She paused her activity for a second, “Was it your fault or hers?”

He didn’t know. He never knew the reason why every time a fight occured between them and he was the one dropping on his knees and begging his girlfriend to forgive him. No one was there to listen to him or make him understand.

Sighing, his eyes closed on their own, as without hesitating he started to speak,

“Today's our one year anniversary. Despite both of our hectic schedules, we managed to find some time to meet up somewhere private. She's an actress so it's hard to meet her all time.”

“I was in my car for two hours, waiting for her in front of her agency. But she never came actually. In fact, she forgot that we were supposed to meet outside her agency. After calling her, she picked up and informed me she was in a nail salon. She didn’t apologize a single time instead told me why I didn’t remind her about it. I don't usually do this but I hung up saying does she even care for my feelings.”

He opened his eyes, “I guess she forgetting about our plan on our anniversary hurt me. Nevertheless, it's me who has to apologize at the end.”

Seokjin didn’t know why he told this girl almost everything. His heart told him to let everything out. Something about her was so strange and comfortable that he wanted to keep her with him. She had an understanding look in her sorrowful eyes. Which was enough for him to trust her.

“That wasn't right.”

She was done with his treatment and moved in front of the high footboard so that they could look at each other.

“I shouldn’t say this but a relationship acquires both partners' cooperation. Your girlfriend should've been more thoughtful, no offence.” she was careful with her words.

Seokjin blinked once. It would be the ultimate truth if he said he wanted to believe her words.

She further added, “Nicholas Spark said, Relationship is about forgiveness and compromise.”

“It's like a balance between two people.
One shouldn’t just give while the other is just taking. Anniversaries are special indeed. She shouldn’t have forgotten it.” she herself seemed disappointed of what his girlfriend did.

Seokjin was somehow satisfied with what she said. It wasn’t big, but it was enough for his anger, grudge to vanish. It was his first time hearing someone telling him a wrong side of his girlfriend. The world loved Jisoo for being an outstanding actress and universal beauty. People he met always sung praises of her every second.

But she pointed out a fault in a perfection like her. He was very moved by her sense of thinking.

Before he had a chance to know her more, two little humans were seen approaching towards him like penguins.

She noticed them and smiled sweetly, “What's wrong, boys?”

Heesung acted innocent and elbowed Sunwoo twice. The other hissed at him to stop. He inhaled a long breath before saying,

“Heesung wants to say something.”

Sunwoo mentally smirked while Heesung felt betrayed, ashamed to have a friend like him. They made a nice plan for this and now Sunwoo changed it?

Deciding to take revenge on him later, he sighed before honestly confessing,

“I'm sorry. I was the one who first thought you as an intruder.”

“And I proposed to attack on you.” Sunwoo spoke afterwards.

They both faced the floor with a guilty heart, “We're sorry for hurting you, Hyung.”

It took him all not to start acting like a baby-lover and hug the boys. Seokjin glanced at the girl first who had a proud smile and begged him with her eyes to forgive those poor souls. He gave her a So Cute look before changing his focus back on the boys.

He cleared his throat which grabbed their attention, “It's okay, kids. Apology accepted.”

Heesung and Sunwoo raised their heads and smiled widely like crocodiles.

“See, Noona? Hyung forgave us!”

The young girl chuckled before patting both of their heads simultaneously, “That's my good boys. Don't attack on strangers from now on, okay?”

They nodded in union and ran away to play somewhere.

“Thank you.” he heard her saying. “For letting this matter go.” she sounded genuine with her words.

Seokjin waved his hand in denial, “No, it was nothing. They seem to like you a lot.”

The girl chuckled softly, earning a skip inside his heart unexpectedly. He blinked a few times and tried to smile to act normal in front of her.

“These children need to grow up like those with loving parents. All they need is a person who'll teach them about the right and wrong carefully, take care of them regularly, love them unconditionally.” she looked at the children at a distance with a faint smile.

Seokjin smiled at her answer. He must admit it was his first time seeing a girl of her age seeing children in a guardians' point of view. Although he wasn’t sure if she was a caretaker around here or an orphan herself.

“What's your name, kid?”

The girl flung her head towards him. The reaction she had almost made him regret for asking her name. Her body tensed, which made him thought if he asked her something sensitive.

It didn’t take him long to notice the pink color on her cheeks glowing radiantly and her eyes blinking repeatedly. He pressed his lips together to prevent forming a smile. So was she shy that a handsome man like him asked her name?

After a long time, she managed to stutter, “Song Y-Yoon Min.”

“Song Yoon Min?” he repeated her name so sweetly and it took her all of her self-control not to scream and blush violently. His voice uttered her name so perfectly. As if he was the one meant to call out her name.

Seokjin nodded before straightening his back, “I'm Kim Seok Jin, CEO of Stardust Hotel.”

He thought twice if he should mention that he's the second billionaire of South Korea. Well, it wasn’t necessary, right? She probably didn’t know what a Billionaire meant.

“Kim...Seok...Jin.” the way she tried forming his name had him flustered. His ears were red and his stomach was feeling ticklish. Out of everyone, why was it that her voice spoke his name so perfectly?

Suddenly the door of the room slammed open, alerting everyone present.

Seokjin saw an elderly woman in her early 50s, a tight hair bun on her head, her unhealthy, muscular figure, eyes shooting dagers and lips holding an angry grudge walking inside. She was also dragging a little girl by her arm harshly, to the point she was sobbing helplessly.

“Oh no...” he heard Yoon Min murmuring once before running towards them.

The atmosphere started to change around him. All children present there looked scared, helpless, almost on the verge to cry.

They made him question why.

Yoon Min opened up her mouth only once, “Ms. Seo--”

“Shut up!” the woman yelled at her.

Seokjin flinched at her loud voice and looked at the little girl instead. He recognized her immediately. The girl who was hungry before.

Ms. Seo glared at everyone before asking madly, “Do you know what this little bitch was doing?”

Yoon Min closed her eyes in regret and opened them again to look at the scared girl. She silently comforted the girl with her soft, adoring gaze so that she stopped crying.

“This girl was snooping around the kitchen and planning to eat my cake!”

As soon as she stopped, Chaeyoung started to sob more in denial, “I didn’t do it, Unnie. I never wanted to steal her cake.” she sobbed just how a child begged for mercy.

“You vixen, now you act innocent, huh?!” Ms. Seo's tight grip on the child's arm was hinting she was gonna hit her any second.

Yoon Min looked at the elderly woman and tried to explain, “Ms. Seo, y-you must be m-mistaken. Chaeyoung was hungry, I told her to eat my food. She would never do something like t-that.”

It was as if she never heard her. Ms. Seo took a fistful hold of the little girl's hair and pulled it mercilessly, causing Chaeyoung to scream in pain as tears overflowed down her face.

“No! Please!” Yoon Min tried getting in between them. “Don't hurt her, she's only a child!”

“Back off, you ungrateful bitch if you don't wanna get beaten.” Ms. Seo threatened her with arrogant eyes.

“Let her go, please! I beg you, Ms. Seo!”

She dropped on her knees and pleaded the elderly woman vigorously.

Ms. Seo only smirked at the scene in front of her. She loved when people begged her for mercy. She let the little girl go and instead decided to torture someone else. She kicked on Yoon Min's stomach abruptly, causing the young girl to yelp in pain and sit back.

“Fine, I let that bitch go. But shouldn’t I kill you already, you pathetic whore?”

Chaeyoung wanted to help her elder sister. But she knew she was incapable of doing so. Yoon Min met her wet eyes and told her quickly in a whisper, “Take the others out of here, now.”

The little girl nodded and ran away to flee with the others.

Yoon Min's pain subsided as she stood up on her own and looked at the angry woman. “Ms. Seo, please calm down--”

She was given no chance as Ms. Seo slapped her cheek. She hit her so hard that she lost her balance and her forehead hit the hard footboard of a bed.

Her hair was grabbed and she was pulled back to stand helplessly.

“How dare you try to stop me, huh? You got some nerves, I see. Always ready to defend those brats and act mighty in front of me?!” Ms. Seo angrily yelled.

“Remember your place, whore! No one ever wanted you or will ever want you. Your own parents abandoned you. You got that useless heart inside you that beats for nothing! You are sick, bitch!”

She pushed her with brutal force as she fell on the ground again. Her hair messed up, tears blocking her eyes and her heart beat starting to reduce. Yoon Min clenched the left side of her chest tightly and started to gasp for air. Her heart was failing her...again.

Ms. Seo mocked at her helplessness, “Look at you shameless! Doing that drama in front of me again?!”

She kicked on her stomach as a result, Yoon Min shouted in pain before closing her eyes and laying on the floor feebly.

“You think I believe your heart is weak? It's just your excuse to escape from the reality. I know you in and out, wench! You pull that drama every time I beat you.”

Yoon Min started to cough blood and her limbs felt numb. Being born with a weak heart was always a pain. It's a weakness, a flaw, a burden of her life. She couldn’t protect herself no matter what. Once she's pressured or stressed, her heart unabled to pump properly, making her hope an early death and bear the tortures this woman gave her.

Ms. Seo blabbered more and more curses towards her young heart before sitting on her knees and grabbing her chin forcefully. With a deadly glare, she cursed the girl and had taken an attempt to hit her again.

But this time, Yoon Min was pulled back by someone's strong arms before she could get beaten. She shot open her eyes, only to find a man so ethereal as no one.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Seokjin yelled at the elderly woman, forgetting about manners and respect. He wrapped his arms around her malnourished body so protectively as if his life depended on her. Yoon Min couldn’t stand at all. She shamelessly had to lean against his chest and hug his torso for support.

As much as she had no idea of what was going on and was too tired to even think, she knew faintly she was safe with him for the time-being.

Ms. Seo's eyes widened a bit. Of course, she didn’t expect a person appearing out of nowhere and interrupt her. She didn’t even notice this man's presence in the room all along.

Well, Seokjin was actually sitting on the bed all this time. Chained by the hands of shock and dismay, he watched the woman torturing the young girl without any feelings. He wanted to get up and save her. But his body was taken into an abyss of stillness. He was under a trance to see everything happening so quickly and so savagely.

It took him quite some time to take an action.

“And who are you to interfere?” Ms. Seo asked coldly. Her sharp eyes didn’t miss the man's expensive suit, lavish watch, costly shoes and his high, attractive appearance. It would be a shame for her to disgrace him.

“You were being ruthless to a child and I'm not supposed to interfere?” Seokjin asked sternly.

Ms. Seo laughed at his answer, “Listen young man, I don't care who you are or what you were doing here. But you have no right to interfere in my business.”

“Ma'am, I'm calling the cops.”

It was enough for the cruel woman to quiet down. Although she was still gritting her teeth and thinking of ways not to be defeated yet, she was threatened enough. His cold, piercing eyes made her gulp down and rethink about what he said.

Without replying anything further, Ms. Seo turned her back and took fiery steps to exit the place as soon as possible. She was never threatened all these years so he successfully managed to scare her perfectly.

Seokjin glanced at the girl's face worriedly.

“Hey, you okay?”

It shocked him, no it scared his soul when she didn’t reply. But he sighed in relief when he saw her breathing calmly. He called her a few times but it seemed she wasn’t sleeping, but she was unconscious. Darkness came over and took away in its cold arms, leaving a baffled him to think about what he should do.

---------------

I extremely apologize for this boring, poor chapter. I don't know what I wrote😑 Gotta edit later.

I wanted to thank you, each one of you, for still reading this book. I still have hope left because of you all. Love you all❤️

A quick reminder: Season 2 will mostly be expressed in Seok Jin's point of view. Yoon Min will take over often.

That's all. Bye! Remember to thank Almighty at least once a day for keeping us safe and alive till today. And take care of yourselves.