Regret Me Not | 김석진

Nineteen

Victoria woke slowly, her head pounding much like Yoongi's the night before. She blinked a few times and looked over at the heap sleeping next to her.
It was a tremendous relief to still wake up next to Jin after the previous night. She was stupid and drunk and wanted to forget about everything—especially Yoongi's confession.

She rubbed Jin's back and pressed against him, placing kisses on his bare skin. "Morning, baby."

He only shifted a little, and the nights events after the party began coming back to her.

-

Victoria shimmied down the fire escape that was next to the window in the kitchen. She landed on the ground clumsily, almost falling over.

Somehow she stumbled around to the car port in the front. Her car was there, but she didn't bring her keys. She sighed heavily.

"Hey," a familiar voice called to her. She ventured further inside the dark port to see a silhouette leaning against the hood of her vehicle. He tossed her the car keys and came closer, revealing himself. "Drive."

Victoria was not in any condition to be driving, but neither was Yoongi. He sat in the front seat silently, head lolling as if he were about to pass out.

Since he was in worse shape than her, she decided to drive him home. It was silent until she stopped the car in front of his apartment. She only stared ahead, not being able to stop thinking about her fight with Jin. It made sense to her drunk brain that she broke up with him. What she was mostly upset about was him hating her—or just her convincing herself that he did.

Yoongi rested his head on the headrest to look at her through hazy eyes. "What."

"Huh?" She turned toward him and really looked at him for the first time since he got into her car. "Your face..." Her hand reached out instinctively to touch his bloodied nose.

He let her, his inebriation blocking his near-paralyzing intimacy issues. "You look upset."

Victoria sat back and sighed deeply. "Yeah...Jin hates me."

"Really?" he asked, genuinely believing her. "What a dick."

"Yeah," she agreed, nodding to nobody in particular. Seriously. Drink responsibly. "We broke up...It's like I can't do anything right, you know?" She ran her fingers through her hair before peering at him again. "I can't do anything right."

Yoongi reached out to run the back of his fingers over her cheek. "You do everything right, though. Like," he started, settling his hand behind her neck. "You helped all of us and we...like, we love you so much, Vic." She only stared back at him silently, eyes burning from the heaviness she felt. "Like...you, like, you taught Jungkook love. Like that's the shit he really needs and you gave it to him without even..." He paused to swallow some of the alcohol that threatened to come back up. "Without even trying. Hoseok and Jimin have never been closer, thanks to you. And, like, Jin isn't bitter anymore because of you—he's still childish but he's more mature than he ever has been."

Victoria watched Yoongi's mouth as he spoke in broken, slurred sentences. Her intoxicated state romanticised the words he was spewing.

"You made Namjoon try again, you empowered Taehyung, you inspired me to play piano again." He sighed. "You don't even—know the impact you've made on us."

She stopped. Did he really just say that? "You..." Her eyes flickered with something unrecognizable. "You started playing again because of me?"