"Men are trash."

"Period."

"Agreed."

"Except Seokjin."

Three sets of eyes turned towards the woman who had spoken up. Sehee shrugged slightly just as Aera lifted her hand and smiled dreamily as she said, "Taehyung too, he's such a sweetheart."

Anika giggled looking at the younger woman while Heejae rolled her eyes. "I have to agree, Taehyung is sweet, so is Jungkook," Anika said, picking up a piece of fruit Heejae's mother had left them.

After Yoongi had turned against her wishes, Heejae had stormed out of his apartment. She couldn't crash at Anika's since she didn't want to put her in danger, nor did she want to see her annoying brother's face. That had left her with only one choice and when she called her mother requesting her to pick her up, she was surprised to see how fast Hei Ryung had come.

The women had shared few words, the air still awkward between them but a call from her distraught son had told the mother enough. It wasn't just any woman these boys were trying to coerce, she was her daughter and if she had done anything right as a mother, it was to teach her daughter that she didn't need a man nor did she have to listen to anything she wasn't willing to listen to. Hei Ryung was more than happy to have Heejae back even if it was for a short time.

"What about Jimin?" Sehee asked with a teasing smirk as she looked at Anika who gulped hard. "I-I guess," she stuttered as she quickly added, "so are Namjoon and Hoseok."

"I get it!" Heejae suddenly exclaimed, stabbing one of the fruit pieces with the fork in her hand. "They are all nice except Yoongi." A chorus of agreement rang through the room, none willing to argue with the enraged woman.

"But what exactly happened that made you so angry?" Sehee asked calmly, "According to Yoongi, he only agreed with your brother since he made sense that you would be unsafe with him."

Heejae scoffed, her hurt clear on her face as she blinked back tears. "Come on, Sehee. Do you really believe that's all there is to it? Both of them teamed up against me and showed as if I didn't have any other choice. I mean, why? Why should I follow their every word while they were unwilling to listen to me?"

She then looked at her friends, the three women she had unexpectedly befriended and implored, "If you girls were in my shoes, you would have rebelled too. Aera and Sehee," she said looking at them, "you guys know the risk, even now you guys are at risk but would you be willing to leave your men just because some delusional people think they have a say in our lives? No, right? Then who is Yoongi to make my life choices?"

The women sat silently as they mulled over her words. Aera could see where she was coming from and she found no fault in her reasoning but...
"Did you tell Yoongi all this?" she asked the older woman, her brows knitted as she thought about it. "I did mention how I would like to stay together since the news is already out."

"But did you fight with him?" Aera asked again, her eyes sparkling as she now understood the whole ordeal. "I'm guessing you just stormed out of his apartment, that's what he told us. If you were so angry and you didn't want to leave him, why did you do the opposite? You should have fought and made him listen."

"Exactly!" Anika spoke up this time, "You do have a habit of getting out of an argument without really letting the other person know what's going through your head. It doesn't happen at work but you do it with people close to you. I still remember how I used to be the first one to approach after you left mid-argument and I had no idea what you exactly wanted."

Sehee hummed thoughtfully along with her too, her finger stroking her chin. "Communication is the key. No matter how angry you are or how close to tears you feel like, if you love him enough, you should stick around and fight. Walking out like this is almost like you are letting go of him. Are you Heejae?" She looked up at the said woman and asked, "Are you letting him go?"

Heejae gulped, her heart dropping and her mind saying the answer even before Sehee finished the question.

No, she was not letting go of him. Not so easily.

***

Yoongi pressed the ice pack against his jaw, it hurt and he had grown numb to the pain by now. He was just worried about Heejae and not the shoot they had. Though everyone around him was making a fuss about the swelling and the discoloration, it was temporary and technology was advanced enough to edit it out.

But technology was not enough to make him understand why his girlfriend was so angry with him. He had only suggested what he thought was ideal in their situation. Heejung was right when he said she wasn't safe with him, he had people trailing behind him like crazy and people were anything but predictable.

She wanted to be with him, he knew. He wanted to be with her too. The drastic change in his feelings for her wasn't lost on him. From finding her annoying to sexy to just feeling his heart soar every time she laughed... his feelings had changed. He often questioned if it was the situation they were in, they were having a freaking baby! How could it not affect his thought process? But he knew it wasn't the case. He had started caring for her the moment she came into his life though he tried his best to ignore it given his priorities.

Priorities change however and he wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to her.

"Are you alright?" a feminine voice asked, making Yoongi open his eyes only to widen them when he saw who it was. “H-Hana?”

The woman gave him a blinding smile as she sat down beside him. “I’m glad to know you remember me Yoongi. But then how we separated wasn't something easily forgettable.” He grimaced at the reminder, he felt really bad for breaking her heart the way he did but it was water under the bridge now.

“You didn't answer me,” she said. “Are you alright?” He looked at her for a beat, noticing her relatively friendly demeanor and no matter the guilt he felt towards her he couldn't shake how he couldn't read her eyes, they were flat.

Shaking his head, however, he gave her a thin smile. “I’m okay, really. I just hit myself against the door. I’m afraid Namjoon is rubbing on me.” he chuckled saying that as if to convince him as well as her but she didn't laugh. Instead, her smile fell, her features softening. “I wasn’t talking about the bruise. I was talking about this whole scandal with Heejae. How are you holding up?”

He just stared at her once again studying her and finding nothing. However, he felt his walls crumbling, his mind finally allowing him to process everything. No one had asked him how he felt and he had continued to ignore it, thinking about Heejae first, everyone else did. But now, thinking about it, he felt the blood drain from his face as he ran a shaking hand over it.

"I... I'm shit scared," he admitted looking at his hands. "I just have so many things to think about. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible because I know if I don't, Heejae will crumble. I need to be there for her, she needs me and I just want to keep her safe. I'm also afraid that this might affect our career and while no one says anything I know how it is and that makes guilt pile up. I just wish people were more accepting and I didn't have to go through so much stress. Sometimes, I just feel like disappearing and going away from all this drama. I don't know if I should be feeling like this, if it's okay for me to have these thoughts but it's just how it is. This is hard for me too."

He let out a breath once he was done, running a hand over his face. He hadn't dared say everything he felt but he still felt better voicing his thoughts. At least, he had the chance to do so instead of keeping it all in and torturing himself. It felt good, he felt lighter.

He felt her squeeze his shoulder making him flinch from the sudden touch. He saw a flash of anger in her eyes but it was gone so soon, he thought it was a trick of the light.

She quickly pulled her hand away and grinned. "Well, I know there's more to it than you just told me and I honestly have nothing to say but I'm glad you talked about your feelings. It always helps relieve some stress. Are you feeling better now?"

He nodded with a bigger smile this time. Hana sighed then, getting up and said, "I better get back to work then. Just wanted to check on you. Have a good day, Yoongi and don't forget, no matter the past, I'm still here to talk. We used to have good conversations."

He had to agree that he indeed had good conversations with her. But as he watched her walk away in the crowd a thought suddenly struck him. Hana was working as a video editor and she wasn't needed at the shoot location for work.

He got up to follow her, he knew she wouldn't have gone too far but was stopped short when he saw a familiar face emerge through the crowd. A face that instantly made his heart pick its beat up and the rest of the world to disappear.

~~~~
A/N:

First of all, I wish you all a very Happy New Year 🎉🎉

So, theories? I would love to know your thoughts on how the story has been so far, if there's anything I can improve on in the upcoming chapters. I'm always open to suggestions and constructive criticism, so please don't hold back so I can improve.

Once again, happy new year and
Thank you for reading ❤️❤️