"You are such a disappointment."

Yerin silently read the text, her mind clouded with the words her parents had uttered during the call. She had fought with her parents on the phone earlier in the day. It was about them manipulating her to work in the company, as her 'future in-laws' wanted. This led to a serious argument before she hung up the call. However, this new message came just after the call and it seemed to have a deep impact on her emotions.

She always tried to make her parents happy, from childhood to adulthood. Their unrealistic and impractical expectations were making her lose her mind. They only cared about their business, not about their one and only daughter.

This whole scenario led her to the club, where she read this message again and again. Was she actually a disappointment?

She drank endlessly and finally went home with a burdened heart. One more time, she buried all her feelings within herself and drank away the pain along with the alcohol.

She stepped out of the car before stumbling toward the elevator. She pushed her floor button before leaning her back against the elevator wall. A single tear fell from her eyes as she closed them to regain control. Her phone rang for the twentieth time as she looked at the caller ID: Jungkook. She hung up the call the same way she had for the last nineteen calls from him. The elevator dinged open, and she stepped out. She walked toward her apartment but soon found someone standing at her doorstep.

As soon as he recognized her, he ran toward her and asked, "Are you serious, Yerin? Where the hell were you? Do you even know what time it is? Do know how scared I was—"

"Why do you care, Mr. Jungkook?"

He looked at her strangely and realized that she was heavily drunk. She was not drunk like that day; she was drunk like crazy. Her mouth smelled like tons of alcohol. Jungkook looked at her worriedly before guiding her toward his own apartment.

"You are not in your senses, Yerin. Why the hell did you drink that much?" He struggled to get her inside as she walked sulkily, her legs wobbling at each step.

He closed the door and afterwards brought her toward the couch. He sat down to remove her heels while she sprawled over the couch, her mouth blabbering non-stop. After removing the heels, he poured a glass of water for her. He offered the glass to her, but she hit her hand against the glass, making it shatter on the ground. Jungkook looked at her in shock after seeing her teary and angry eyes.

"Why the heck are you doing this?"

He just looked at her blankly as she continued, "Stop it, Jungkook. Please, just stop. Stop being so good to me." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she further said, "Because when you leave me, I will not be able to handle myself. Stop being a good person to me. Stop helping me with every little thing. What will you get from all this?"

He squatted down to her level and caressed her cheeks. He looked into her eyes as he said, "Why are you hurting yourself, Yerin?"

"No one loves me. No fucking one. Everyone just cares about their own profits. My parents only care about their status and business. My so-called boyfriend doesn't like me at all. My one and only friend, whom I loved more than anything, is messing with my mind lately. I loved her, but now her double face is making me feel disgusted. I have become a hypocrite. I'm fucking my best friend's boyfriend. I'm messing up your life. Now I know why no one loves me: because I'm not a lovable person. I just know how to run away from situations, how to disgrace my own parents, and how to backstab my best friend."

She wailed loudly while Jungkook looked at her painfully, wondering how many feelings she had buried in her heart. He cupped her face between his hands and made her look into his eyes before saying, "It's not like that, Yerin. Some people do care about you. I was so worried about you-"

"Oh! Yes, how can I forget you? You love me, right?" He looked at her silently, but before he could reply she chuckled, "Oh! Right! You love my body, isn't it? That's why you were worried, right?"

His mind turned blank as he heard what she thought of him. Did she actually think that he only used her for her body? That he only cared for her because of her body?

Tears rolled down his face as she said, "You yourself said that you are attracted to me. Don't lie, Jeon. You only care about your own needs, right?"

Tears flowed down their cheeks endlessly as they both stared into each other's eyes, an awkward silence surrounding them. She leaned in toward his lips as she asked, "This is what you care about, right?"

She tried to move forward, but he moved his face away, avoiding the kiss. The words rang in his ears continuously. He never thought that she was thinking like that about him. He felt a sudden weight on his shoulder when she rested her forehead on it.

She uttered, "It's alright, Jungkook. I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming myself for being like this— a pathetic person." She chuckled sadly and continued, "I also come to you whenever I need you. I'm using you, too. You are not wrong."

She passed out on his shoulder while he just cried silently. He didn't know anything else, but he was damn sure that he was never using her for her body. From that club night to now, he had never considered her a means of pleasure. It was something else. However, he wasn't able to realize what this feeling was— the feeling that was developing inside his heart.

***

Yerin groaned before clutching her head in her hands. The striking pain was piercing her head. She looked around the room and found it to be Jungkook's bedroom. She tried to remember the events from last night, but wasn't able to. It rarely happened that she forgot the events due to alcohol. She was definitely very drunk.

She stood up and found that her clothes had been changed into a big hoodie. She sighed when she realized that Jungkook had changed her clothes. Nonetheless, she stepped out of the room while wincing in pain, trying hard to keep her eyes open.

She saw Jungkook making something in the kitchen. He turned around and froze for a moment after looking at her. He looked into her eyes briefly before continuing his work. This made her realize that she had definitely made a mess last night; however, she wasn't able to gather the memories.

She sighed before moving toward the table, saying, "I'm really sorry, Jungkook. I was pretty much drunk. I don't remember anything though." She cleared her throat before hesitantly asking, "Did anything happen between us?"

He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "No, nothing much. You were drunk, so I brought you here instead. I changed your clothes, though. I'm sorry for that."

She shook her head. "It's alright. I'm sorry if I blabbered something or created a mess last night."

He stayed silent and passed her the hungover soup he made for her. She silently started devouring the soup. Jungkook said, gaining her attention, "You remember that I won the bet. You owe it to me."

"Oh! Yeah, what do you want?"

He looked at her carefully as he asked, "What do you think I want?"

She pressed her lips together as she went into deep thought. His eyes pricked with tears because he already knew what she thought of him. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by him, "No, Yerin. It's not what you think."

She looked at him silently as his eyes turned glossy. He licked his dry lips before saying, "You have to accompany me tomorrow. We will not attend the classes."

She was going to resist the lecture-bunking thing but was again interrupted, "You said you would do anything, so don't make excuses now."

She sighed and continued her breakfast, while Jungkook went into his own deep thoughts. He slightly wiped away his tears; he was definitely hurt due to last night.