Monday evening I stood at Bella's door, smiling at her surprised face.

"Seokjin?"

"Hi, Bella. How are you?"

"I'm...fine," she answered slowly. "Why are you here?"

"I just want to talk," I replied. "Can I...can I come in?"

She hesitated for a second before opening the door wider.

I smiled as I stepped into her living room. I spun around to face her, but she wasn't smiling.

"Okay. Talk."

I inhaled. "Can we at least sit down?"

"Okay," she said again in a sullen tone. She sat down on the couch.

I sat next to her. "First off, I want to apologize even if I'm not too sure what I'm apologizing for."

She scoffed. "What type of apology is this? What do you mean you don't know what you're apologizing for?"

"I don't," I continued. "I just wanted to give you what you wanted, but I ended up making you angry, so...I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Unbelievable!"

"You're not making things easy, you know," I said. "I'm trying, Bella. I want to make you happy, but you hate everything I do."

"It's not that I hate it. You just don't seem to understand."

"Then help me understand," I said. "Can you at least do that?"

She rolled her eyes and stood up. She headed into the small kitchen and grabbed some bottles of water out of the fridge. "Seokjin, seriously, I've been telling you for a while. You act so clueless sometimes." She came back into the living room and held out a water bottle toward me.

I took it. "That's because I am. What is it that I'm doing wrong?"

She plopped down on the couch. "Well, I don't need you to give me things. You've got to stop spending so much money and acting as if we're still a couple."

"I'm not acting," I replied. I saw her struggling to open her water bottle and reached for it out of habit. I twisted the top loose and handed it back to her. "We are sort of still a couple. Everyone knows that."

"Stop being smug," she said as she grabbed the bottle and took a drink. "You think that you can just waltz in here and everything is back to the way it was. Opening a bottle for me does not mean we're a couple. I don't care how many flowers and rings and toys you send me."

"I'm not trying to be smug," I retorted. "And I don't expect you to go out with me because I sent you flowers or I can open bottles. Why are you so upset?"

"I'm not...ugh!" she sputtered. "Fine. Listen. I've had very little free time, so I don't really have a chance to go out and talk to anyone much. Cindy forced me to go with her and Tae to the carnival. I had no idea I'd see you there.  I'm working very hard right now on my studies. I can graduate in December if I take a max class load. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I was hoping you would understand that I need some space. I'm trying to get into a graduate program, and I'm shooting for a scholarship that allows me to start as early as next spring semester. I really need this scholarship or else I may not be able to continue my studies."

"Oh, well, I can give you the money--"

"Stop. Right. There," she interrupted me. "That's what I don't want. Listen to what I'm saying.  Is it so hard for you to understand that I'd like to accomplish this on my own?"

I exhaled in exasperation. "But, Bella, if I can help you, why is that so bad? As a matter of fact, I can make a few calls to the graduate studies department to make sure your application gets top priority. Your grades are stellar and--"

"Jin!" she said loudly. "I don't want your help with this. Can't you understand? I want to do this on my own. I don't want people to always point at me and talk about how Kim Seokjin made everything possible for me. Please tell me you understand."

I shook my head. "I'm trying. I know you've always said you have your goals, but I thought that, if we were together, they would become our goals. We could achieve them together."

Her large hazel eyes looked into mine. Her head tilted to one side. "That...that is such a wonderful sentiment." She smiled at me for the first time today. Oh, how I missed that!

I should have stopped there. I should've known to stop there. But I didn't.

I leaned closer to her and brushed my lips to hers in a gentle kiss. "Darling, I will help you, and when you're my wife, you won't have to worry about anything at all. I will take care of..." I let my voice fade out. Her expression changed. I could almost see the outrage building up behind her eyes until her entire face was hard and closed.

"That's it, Seokjin," she snapped and jumped to her feet. "Get out."

I also got up. "Wait, Bella--"

She stomped to the front door and held it open. "I'm done talking because you don't listen. Goodbye."

I walked out and turned back, but she slammed the door before I could speak.