The Foolproof Plan

Chapter 4: WITH THIS RING

My jaw dropped when she said those words. She doesn't know if she wants to get back together?

"I-I don't understand," I sputtered. "Wh-why not? What do you mean you don't want to?" I disliked the whine that had crept into my voice. It suddenly reminded me of a 16-year-old me trying to negotiate with my then-girlfriend into staying with me. I had sworn to never be so pathetic in the future. Yet, here I was.

She glanced over her shoulder then pulled me further into the hallway. "Everyone's looking."

"We can go into one of the rooms--"

"No," she cut me off. "I don't need you to try and seduce me."

"Seduce? What? No!" I said indignantly. "I thought you'd want some privacy. Everyone is listening, you know. Whatever we say right now might as well be on the news."

"Fine!"

"Tae!" I leaned my head out of the hallway. "Tae, I'm going to use your room."

Taehyung's eyebrows went up in surprise, but then he nodded.

I pulled her into Taehyung's room and shut the door.

"Oh, that was the opposite of private!" she complained. "You might as well have announced that we were going to have sex!"

"We're not." I gulped. My heart was beating even faster, if that was possible. "Are we?"

She crossed her arms and scowled.

"Talk to me, Bella. Why won't you come back to me?"

She exhaled loudly. "Listen to me, Seokjin--"

"Jin," I corrected her. "You always called me Jin, and it felt so special, so intimate."

"Seokjin," she said pointedly. Ouch! She went for the jugular! "Listen to me. I don't think we should get back together. I need a little bit of time to figure out who I am as a person."

"What? Why do you need time? I know who you are!" I sputtered. "You're my girlfriend!"

She sighed. "You're not listening. I don't want to be just someone's girlfriend. I need to figure out what I want from a relationship. So much has happened to us in such a short time. It's like a never ending saga." She looked down. "I don't know. I'm 21, but you were only my second real boyfriend. I don't think I was ready for everything that happened. Maybe I need to grow up a little more before I can have a good relationship. You know how the first one with Jimin ended up. Then with you--well, I can't say either has been very positive."

"That's not true!" I protested. "Our relationship was very positive. The whole forced wedding thing was a blip--granted a huge, terrible blip, but my feelings for you never changed. I've always loved you. I love you even more now. Your feelings never changed either." I inhaled. "Have they?" She didn't respond, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

"Bella! Are you saying that you don't...love me anymore? Have you fallen out of love with me? Please, just tell me," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Just tell me the truth."

She shook her head. "No. I still love you. I can't deny that."

I swept her up in my arms. "Oh, my sweet baby, that's all that matters. Everything else will fix itself, you'll see!" I leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her face, and my lips fell on her cheek instead. "What's wrong?"

She pushed away from me. "I still feel love for you. I do love you, Jin, but that's the problem. I don't want to get caught up in just being your girlfriend again. It's not easy being Kim Seokjin's girl. Everyone assumes things without really knowing. I need time.  I just...I need some space."