"Um... yeah," Byulyi didn't know where to look- at Seokjin who was now standing at the sofa opposite her... or at the ground. She eventually chose the latter. "I'm awake."
An awkward silence ensued.
"Well..." Seokjin began. Byulyi wasn't looking at him but he sure sounded as nervous as she was. "You want some hangover stew? I cooked it earlier this morning. You were pretty wasted last night."
Right... last night.
Last night, when so many things happened without her knowledge and she somehow ended up in the Kim's Residences and her ex-bestfriend, whom she had a crush on for the longest time, who was attached, had kissed her on the forehead.
Goodbye, alcohol, never again.
"Where's Taehyung? And Mr and Mrs Kim?" Byulyi completely ignored Seokjin's question.
"My mom and dad went to work," Seokjin bit his lip. "Taehyung went to meet the F5- no, F4."
They were all alone - the two of them - at home. Byulyi felt her body tense up, as she shifted her eyes to focus on a new target instead - the coffee table. "Um... why am I here again?"
"Oh, right-" Seokjin let out an awkward laugh. "Right, I forgot to explain. Last night you were so wasted, so Hoseok asked me to take you home. You know on the way you were struggling so much I almost fell over-"
"No, Seokjin-" Byulyi forced herself to look up into Seokjin's eyes. "Why am I here?"
Seokjin's expression froze momentarily, before his usual smile crept onto his face once again. "What do you mean? Well, I was struggling so much to carry you... bringing you all the way back to your home would be way too difficult, so I-"
"You shouldn't have-" Byulyi looked away, looking flustered as she recalled the image of Seokjin carrying her on his back. She kicked off her blanket and stood up. "You really shouldn't have."
"What?" Seokjin frowned. "If I didn't bring you home, who would, Byul? Who else would do such a thing for you, tell me?"
"Well, firstly there's-" Byulyi stopped short. Come to think of it, there wasn't anyone. The girls were way too weak to piggyback her home, she wasn't close to Jungkook, Jimin- "Well, there's Taehyung."
"Taehyung," Seokjin laughed mockingly. "He had his own issues last night. He wasn't gonna carry you home."
"Well-" Byulyi found herself racking her mind, trying to think of someone else who would take her home. Someone who was not Seokjin. She didn't know why she was so desperate to prove him wrong, but she just was. "I mean, Hos-" She stopped mid-sentence. There was no way Hoseok would piggyback her out of his own house back to her house and make his way home. I mean, he was a nice guy, but they weren't that close to that extent... and not to mention... the physical contact-
"There's no one, Byulyi-" Seokjin laughed, taking a seat on the sofa opposite her. "No one would carry you home the way I did."
"You still shouldn't have-" Byulyi furrowed her eyebrows. "You- I don't know, you should have left me there or something. I don't care, this is just the last thing you should have done." Byulyi inhaled sharply. "Y-you have a girlfriend, Seokjin. This is where you need to draw the line."
Seokjin blinked rapidly.
"If Jisoo finds out about this-" Byulyi looked around, spotting her jacket lying right next to her on the sofa and immediately picking it up. "She won't like it. I gotta go, Seokjin."
"What about what happened in the PE room?" Seokjin stood up, before Byulyi even had the chance to take a single step towards the door. "What about what happened between us in there, huh? Did that mean nothing to you at all?"
"I-" Byulyi closed her eyes, trying to maintain her composure. "This isn't the time to bring it up, okay? I know we haven't talked about that, but I don't intend to, okay? It was simply... a mistake. Something that happened in the spur of the moment." Byulyi swallowed hard. "It meant nothing."
"So you're gonna act like nothing happened and just leave?" Seokjin grabbed her by the arm. "Why didn't you answer any of the questions last night then, huh, Byul? When they asked you if you liked me, why didn't you say you didn't?"
"Let go-" Byulyi tried to pry Seokjin's fingers from her arm.
Seokjin's grip around her arm loosened slightly, but he didn't let go. He didn't intend to, because if he did, he knew that she'd simply leave.
Byulyi gave up on trying to pry herself out of Seokjin's grip after a couple seconds of trying because her efforts were simply futile. She looked up into Seokjin's eyes, tears threatening to fall. "What do you want, Seokjin? What do you want from me?"
"I want you to tell the truth," Seokjin stared at her, his gaze fixated on nowhere else but her face. "I want you to tell me the truth."
"I..." Byulyi desperately tried to think of a way to get out of the situation, maybe she could step on his foot and make a quick one towards the door, or maybe she could just tell another lie, or maybe-
"Stop trying to outsmart me," Seokjin read her like a book. "Just say it, Byulyi. Say the truth."
"I..." Byulyi swallowed hard. "I..."
Screw it.
"I am hopelessly in love with you."
Silence fell over the room for what seemed like an eternity to Byulyi.
"Say it again."
Byulyi looked up at Seokjin, her face looking dull. "I'm not."
"Why? Say it again," Seokjin repeated.
"I told you the truth, you have to let me go now," Byulyi frowned.
"How can I let you go, after what you just said?"
What?
Byulyi frowned. "What are you even talking about? You're attached, Kim Seokjin. I don't know what made you think that I'd steal a man from another girl but let me tell you, I'm not. So what if I like you? It's not gonna work, so just let me go."
"Byulyi, listen-"
"Let go, Seokjin-" Byulyi struggled once more, trying to wriggle her arm out of Seokjin's grip. "Please-"
"Byulyi, we broke up."
It took Byulyi ten whole seconds to process what Seokjin had said. But she finally stopped struggling at once, her face freezing as she shifted her eyes to meet Seokjin's. "W-what?"
"Jisoo and I-" Seokjin's inhaled sharply. "We broke up. We broke up last night."
Byulyi blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling weak in the knees and she slumped onto the sofa. What?
Seokjin let go of her hand, finally, but Byulyi wasn't going anywhere. She sat there, staring into space as Seokjin took his seat next to her on the sofa.
"Is it... is it because of me?" Byulyi finally voiced out the thought that was bugging her the entire time. The thought made her feel guilty, but the fact that she felt the slightest bit of happiness that they had broken up... that made her feel awful. "D-did you guys break up... because of me?"
"No-" Seokjin paused. "I mean, yes. No. Yes and no."
"Oh my god," Byulyi buried her face in her hands. She felt like the worst person on the planet right then and there. "I'm horrible. What did Jisoo find out about?"
"The PE room," Seokjin said softly. "She saw it all."
Byulyi let out a small whimper as she sobbed into her hands, trying to make sense of it all. She had really ruined their relationship, she didn't mean to, but what happened in the PE room with Seokjin, if only she hadn't let her feelings get the better of her- If only she wasn't careless enough to pull the bag without noticing that it was trapped under that cupboard- If only she hadn't gone together with him to the PE room- If only- If only- "It's all my fault."
"What?" Seokjin frowned. "No! No, no, no. It's not all your fault. It's... our fault, Byulyi. I was the one who approached you in the PE room, I was the one who lunged on top of you to save you from the cupboard- I- I have a part to play."
Byulyi glanced up briefly from her hands and the first thing Seokjin noticed were her eyes - red and swollen, from crying. "What do we do now?"
Seokjin stared at her for a few seconds. "I really love you, Byulyi."
Byulyi froze.
"I love you," Seokjin repeated once more, this time more firmly. "I don't know about you, but after everything that has happened between us, I don't think I can ever go back to being friends with you ever again. I didn't realise it at first, and I regret this everyday, but I should have understood myself more before all this happened-"
"Seokjin..." Byulyi, with tears still in her eyes, was now looking at Seokjin in complete shock.
"I regret not knowing from the beginning, Byulyi," Seokjin sighed. "I regret not knowing that I love you, and that you aren't just a friend I love hanging out with, but a girl I really cannot live without. It took me so long to understand this, and even longer say this- and I know I have been such an awful guy to both you and Jisoo, but-"
"Seokjin-"
"I love you so much it drives me crazy sometimes and I just can't help but love you, I-" Seokjin was finally pouring out his true feelings. "I know I've made so many mistakes, you probably wouldn't want me by your side anymore and me talking about this is probably gonna make things worse, but-"
"Jin-"
"I can't go on like this, denying my feelings for you anymore. I lost, Moon Byulyi." Seokjin was getting so worked up that tears were forming in his eyes. "I know it is my fault. I hurt you, I made you cry, I... I've been the worst friend- no, worst guy ever. So I don't care if you yell at me, hit me, or even curse me- just do it if that makes you feel better-"
"Jin, listen-"
"If doing that can lessen the pain that I caused you, and if it can let you take me back, it's all worth it." Seokjin sobbed, as tears flowed down his cheeks. "You can do anything to me, please just don't let me go. I really don't think I can live without you. so, please take me back. I am even willing to get on my knees if that helps. I don't even care about anything like pride and dignity anymore. Because all these things don't matter as long as-"
Byulyi's kiss stole the words Seokjin didn't need to say. Seokjin's eyes widened momentarily as it took him more than a few seconds to completely process what was going on. The touch of her warm lips, The proximity of her face from his, the way her eyelashes tickled his cheeks- But soon his eyes fluttered shut and even in the darkness all he could see was her. In the silence of the house, where no one was around except for the two of them, Byulyi and Seokjin took each other in.
Finally, they were one.