The rain was pouring hard against the window as the driver pulled up to the estate, but after a long time, I didn't care about the bad weather. I just wanted to get out of the car and take a real breath.

I looked down at my left hand. The diamond ring sitting on my finger felt cold and heavy. It wasn't a symbol of love, it was just a promise I made to my dying father.

Lee Minjin, the man I was engaged to, hadn't even called me when I told him I was leaving for this trip. He was always cold, distant, and busy with his own world. Being around him felt like living in a room with no air.

"I'm finally here," I whispered to myself, opening the car door and running into the warm house. The moment I stepped inside, the familiar smell of wood and expensive perfume hit me, immediately followed by loud laughter coming from the main hall.

"Y/nnn…you actually made it!" Julia rushed toward me with open arms, pulling me into a tight, warm hug.

She was my close friend from college, and seeing her bright smile made a weight lift off my shoulders. Behind her stood Zade, her fiance and my college senior, wearing a relaxed smile as he took my coat.

"Look at you, you look so exhausted, Y/n," Julia said, pulling back to check my face with genuine concern. "I heard about your dad...how are you holding up?"

"I'm hanging in there," I gave her a small, genuine smile. "I just really needed to get away from everything for a few days. The hospital, the wedding talk, it was suffocating."

"Well, you are safe here now," Zade said kindly, clapping my shoulder. "No serious talk allowed for the next seven days. Only drinks, food, and fun. Go up to your room, change into something light, and come down to the backyard…we’re having an indoor pool party to kick off the week!"

"A pool party? In this weather?" I laughed, feeling a spark of real life returning to my chest. "The indoor pool area is heated, girl…now go!" Julia shoved me playfully toward the stairs.

Upstairs in my room, I unpacked my bag. I picked out a simple black two piece bikini and threw a sheer, light cover up wrap over my waist. Walking to the full length mirror, I stared at my reflection.

For months, I had been wearing conservative, boring clothes to fit into Minjin’s high society world, but looking at myself now I felt like PARK Y/N again…a girl who actually wanted to live, laugh, and feel alive.

I left my engagement ring on the nightstand near the table, which I didn't want to wear tonight.

Taking a deep breath, I walked down the stairs and followed the sound of warm water and loud party music toward the heated pool room. Glass doors slid open, releasing a cloud of warm, scented steam into the air.

"Y/n…over here!" Julia called out from a lounge near the water, waving her glass. I smiled, stepping closer to the pool edge. "The setup looks amazing, Julia, I—"

My voice was completely cut off, the sentence died in my throat. Standing at the deep end of the pool, leaning back against the tiled wall with water dripping off his broad shoulders, was a man holding a drink.

He had his wet hair pushed back, his chest bare, and his sharp jawline dripping with water droplets.

Jeon Jungkook.

My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it felt painful. My feet froze to the cold tiled floor.

Three years.

It had been three long years since I ran away to another country to escape him, but seeing him right here, in the flesh, stripped away every bit of air left in my lungs.

As if feeling my presence, Jungkook slowly turned his head. His dark, heavy eyes locked straight onto mine. There was no shock in his face, just a sudden, dangerous stillness that made my knees tremble.

His eyes slowly dragged down my exposed body, taking in every inch of skin I was showing, before rising back up to burn into my gaze.

In a single second, all the memories of his heavy touch, his dominant side, and the uncontrollable fire we used to build together came crashing back, completely drowning me.

Jeon Jungkook, my ex...my hot, ridiculously hot ex was standing right in front of me again after 3 whole years.

Just when my life was finally starting to feel a little bit easy, right when I thought I could breathe after months of feeling suffocated, I had to face him.

The way he was looking at me right now, I knew that look all too well. It was the exact same dark, possessive look he had in his eyes the last time we had sex three years ago. That wild, unforgettable night when we broke every single boundary between us, right before I broke his heart the very next morning.

We used to be so careless. We were crazily, dangerously in love with each other, and our sex life was unlike anything else in this world. It was raw, loud, and completely out of control. He was obsessed with my body, and I was just as obsessed with him. Every single night spent together was a tempting, addicting haze of sweat, tangled sheets, and breathless moans.

We couldn't keep our hands off each other for even a second. And after a year of intense dating, he couldn't wait any longer. He proposed to me to get married.

I was 24, he was 26, and I loved him so damn much that I said yes without skipping a single beat. I really thought we were going to have our happy ending.

Then the abnormal, ugly blow hit us out of nowhere. When our families finally met for dinner to discuss the marriage, a massive, disgraceful scene broke out.

It turned out my father happened to be his mother's ex. They had an extremely messy, pathetic breakup decades ago and had vowed never to see each other's faces again.

The tension in that room was suffocating, and within minutes, it exploded into pure chaos. It was pathetic and crazy. Our families fought, the drama escalated out of control, and no matter how much I cried, begged, and argued with my father, it didn't change a thing. Because of the high status and pride of our families, we were forced to break up…but staying apart was impossible for us.

Every single time we crossed paths after that official breakup, we ended up in bed. We had sex like crazy, obsessive, mad, pathetic sex that left us both wrecked.

After every single session, while I was trying to pull my clothes back on with shaking hands, Jungkook would wrap his arms around my waist from behind. He would pin me down, kiss my shoulders, and beg me to stay. He kept swearing he would find a way to make our parents agree, that he would fix everything if I just gave him time.

Deep down, I knew it was never going to happen. The war between our families was too deep, and the guilt was eating me alive.

The very last time we met before I left, the desperation in him was terrifying. He fucked me so hard that night, trying to physically mark me, trying to make my body remember him so deeply that I could never leave.

He held my face, looked into my eyes, and actually cried while he was inside me, begging me not to walk away.

It tore my soul to pieces, but I knew we were running in circles. I had to break his heart.

The next morning, while he was still asleep, I packed my bags, fled the country, and cut off all contact. We never spoke another word.

And now, three years later, here I was.

I only came back to this country because my father was on his deathbed with stage four cancer, and his last wish was to see me settled.

To give a dying man peace, I had agreed to an arranged marriage with his friend’s son, Lee Minjin, a cold, emotionally dead man who barely even looked at me. I thought I was strong enough to handle it all, until this exact moment.

I stood there by the edge of the heated pool in my black bikini, frozen under his gaze, the look in Jungkook's dark eyes suddenly shifted.

The heavy, intense hunger in his face hardened into an angry, dead stare. He slowly turned his head away, dipping back into the warm water, but not before I caught the flash of raw disgust and deep, lingering pain etched onto his sharp features. My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice.

I leaned closer to Julia, my voice shaking so badly I could barely form the words. "Julia...what is he doing here?"

Julia looked at me with a deeply apologetic expression, biting her lower lip as she winced. "Oh god, Y/n...he's Zade's friend too, don't you remember? They were in the same college senior group we used to hang out with. He's here for the whole week."

My breath hitched. I felt the floor slipping out from under my feet. I was completely fucked.

"I didn't know you guys were still..." Julia started, her eyes darting nervously between me and the deep end of the pool where Jungkook was now swimming away. "I mean, it's been three years. I thought whatever happened between you two was completely over."

"It was supposed to be," I whispered, my eyes involuntarily following the movement of his broad, wet back slicing through the water. Every muscle in his shoulders flexed with each stroke, water glistening over his tanned skin. He looked broader, bigger, and infinitely more dangerous than he did at 26.

"It was definitely supposed to be over."

"Y/n, are you okay? Your face is completely pale," Julia asked, taking my hand. Her touch felt miles away. "If it's going to be too uncomfortable, I can talk to Zade, or—"

"No," I cut her off quickly, swallowing down the lump in my throat. "No, don't do that. It's your engagement week. I'm not going to ruin this for you guys over my old baggage…I'm fine."

It was a total lie. I wasn't fine. Every nerve ending in my body was screaming. My skin was burning as if his hands were already on me, dragging me back into that dark, messy addiction we used to share.

I tried to act normal. I stepped closer to the poolside loungers, forcing a tight smile as Zade swam over to the edge, wiping water from his eyes.

"Hey, Y/n! Glad you finally came down," Zade grinned, resting his arms on the tiled edge. "Did Julia tell you the rules? No phone calls, no work, and absolutely no stress for seven straight days. We're going to drink, relax, and forget the rest of the world exists."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, my voice sounding fake even to my own ears. Just then, the water splashed softly behind Zade. Jungkook gripped the metal ladder and pulled himself out of the pool in one smooth, effortless motion.

Water ran down his defined chest, tracing the ridges of his stomach down to the waistband of his dark trunks. He grabbed a black towel from a nearby chair and began drying his hair, his back turned to us.

The sheer physical presence of him was overwhelming. He didn't say a word, but the thick, suffocating tension in the room centered entirely around him.

"Oh, by the way," Zade said, turning slightly toward Jungkook. "JK, you remember Y/N, right? She used to hang out with us back in the day."

Jungkook paused, he lowered the towel slowly, revealing his dripping wet hair sticking to his forehead. He turned around, his posture completely relaxed, but his eyes were like two dark ice cubes as they landed on me.

"Yeah…" Jungkook's deep, low voice echoed softly in the steamy room. It was raspy, sending an involuntary shiver straight down my spine. "I remember her."

He didn't smile. He didn't offer a polite greeting. He just stood there, towering over the space, staring at me as if I were a ghost that had come back to haunt him.

"It's...good to see you, Jungkook," I forced out, my fingers tightening around the edge of my sheer wrap. I hated how small my voice sounded. I hated how easily he could undo all the walls I had spent three years building abroad.

Jungkook let out a faint, bitter hum from the back of his throat. He tossed the towel over his broad shoulder, his dark gaze dropping down to my bare waist, then down to my legs, before snapping back up to lock onto my eyes.

"Is it?" he asked, his tone dripping with quiet, sharp sarcasm. "Good to see me?"

Julia cleared her throat awkwardly, sensing the heavy vibe instantly. "Um, Zade, can you go grab the fresh pitcher of margaritas from the kitchen? I think we all need a strong drink to start the night."

"Sure thing, babe," Zade replied blissfully unaware of the landmine he was standing near. He hopped out of the pool and trotted off toward the main house doors. "I'll be right back!"

"I'll go help him," Julia added quickly, giving me a quick, meaningful look that clearly said good luck, before rushing after her fiance. And just like that, the glass doors shut. The air felt ninety degrees, thick with steam, the scent of chlorine, and the heavy, electric pull of three years' worth of unspoken anger, lust, and heartbreak.

I stood near the lounger, my heart hammering like a trapped bird against my ribs. I wanted to turn around and run back to my room. I wanted to lock the door, pack my bags, and drive straight back to the city where my cold, safe fiance was waiting, but my feet felt like they were glued to the ground.

Before the unbearable silence between us could completely consume me, the heavy glass doors slid open with a loud thud.

"Hey…look who finally decided to join the living world!" A loud voice broke the heavy air as our mutual college friends, Sora, Hoseok, and Daniel, came walking in, carrying buckets of ice and extra drinks.

The thick, dangerous bubble surrounding Jungkook and me instantly shattered. I stumbled back a step, putting space between us, my chest heaving as I tried to regain control over my racing pulse.

"Y/n! Holy shit, it's been ages!" Hoseok beamed, coming over to pull me into a friendly, warm hug. "Look at you…you vanished 3 years ago, girl!"

"I...yeah, I had to move abroad for a while," I stammered, forcing a tight smile as I sat down on the edge of a poolside lounge.

"Well, we're all back together now," Sora said happily, setting her drink down and pulling up a chair next to mine. "It feels just like the old days, doesn't it?"

Jungkook didn't say a word. He walked over slowly and sat directly across from me on the opposite lounger. He didn't even try to hide it, he placed himself unnecessarily right in my line of sight. He leaned back, stretching his broad, damp legs out, his dark eyes locked onto my face.

Every move he made radiated pure authority and quiet control. The group started chatting, laughing, and catching up on work, life, and old memories.

I tried my best to participate, nodding and smiling, but I could feel Jungkook’s heavy gaze burning into my skin like hot iron. It was excruciating. My body was completely frozen under his attention, muscle memory reminding me exactly how those big, strong hands used to pin me down and take whatever he wanted.

"Man, Y/n, it really has been three full years since any of us saw you," Daniel chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. "We missed you at all the local hangouts."

"Yeah," Hoseok added, glancing at Jungkook. "JK, remember how she used to hang around our studio back then? It's been forever since you two were in the same room." Jungkook slowly raised his glass to his lips, taking a slow, agonizing sip. His face was a completely emotionless mask, but his eyes were pitch black.

"Of course I remember," Jungkook said, his deep, raspy voice sending a sharp shiver straight down my spine. A dark, bitter edge laced his tone as he added, "She’s always been good at running away when things get real."

I snapped my head up, looking at him sternly. My jaw tightened, a flash of hurt and anger burning in my chest.

He was mocking me right in front of everyone, hiding his bitter jabs behind casual small talk. But when I searched his eyes for any sign of soft memory, there was nothing…just a cold, emotionless void that scared me to my core.

Just then, my phone buzzed on the lounge chair beside my leg, the screen lit up in the dim light.

Minjin: Is it really necessary for you to stay there for a whole week? You should come back early.

I stared at the preview on the screen, a tired sigh escaping my lips. Minjin didn't send that because he missed me. He didn't care about my feelings at all. It was just his usual controlling bullshit, making sure I was still behaving like the obedient, quiet bride my father promised him. Living with Minjin felt like suffocating in a room with no doors.

"Ooh, look at that immediate phone check!" Sora teased, leaning over with a playful grin. "Who's texting you so late? Boyfrienddddd?"

"No," I cleared my throat, quickly turning the phone face down. "It's my fiance."

"YOUR WHAT?!" Sora almost dropped her glass, her jaw dropping in absolute shock. Daniel and Hoseok both stopped talking, staring at me like I had just grown two heads. "Wait, you're engaged? Since when?"

"It...it happened recently," I murmured, my voice tight. "It's an arranged match, my dad's health isn't good, so..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. My instinct forced me to look up at the man sitting directly across from me. The moment the word 'fiance' left my mouth, the emotionless mask on Jungkook's face completely cracked.

A terrifying, dark rage filled his eyes. His jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle ticking violently beneath his skin. His hand tightened around his glass so forcefully I thought the thick crystal would shatter in his bare palm.

Slowly, his deadly gaze dropped down to my hands resting on my lap. He stared at my bare, wet fingers. He looked at the exact spot where a ring should have been resting.

Oh shit. The ring!

My heart completely stopped. I had left Minjin's expensive diamond ring sitting on the nightstand upstairs in my bedroom.

As Jungkook realized my fingers were completely bare, the dangerous rage in his eyes shifted. A slow, dark smirk spread across his sharp lips. It was dirty, arrogant, and filled with a sinister kind of satisfaction.

He leaned back against his chair, his eyes snapping back up to lock onto mine. He knew…he fucking knew I wasn't wearing my fiance's ring while sitting in front of him.

"Alright, alright, you guys!" Zade called out, clapping his hands together as he walked back into the pool area, breaking the heavy, suffocating spell between us. "It's way past midnight, and we've all had a long drive. We should all get some sleep and rest up. We still have seven straight days under this roof."

"Yeah, Zade's right. I'm exhausted," Hoseok yawned, pushing himself up from his chair. Everyone started standing up, stretching and saying their goodnights.

I stood up as well, my knees feeling dangerously weak, but as I turned to head toward the stairs, I caught Jungkook rising to his full height across from me.

He didn't say a word. He just stood there in his wet trunks, broad chest rising and falling, his dark smirk fading into a heavy, promise filled stare that promised absolute ruin for the remaining six days.

Jungkook turned away from the group, walking slowly toward the stainless steel mini refrigerator near the edge of the poolside lounge to grab another cold beer. Zade paused at the glass sliding doors, turning back over his shoulder.

"Hey JK, you coming inside soon, man?"

Jungkook didn't answer immediately. He cracked the metal tab of the beer bottle with a sharp, echoing snap, his dark eyes never once shifting away from me.

"In a bit," he murmured, his deep voice carrying through the quiet, steamy air.

"Alright," Zade nodded, holding the door open. "Oh, by the way…Jimin, Yuri, and Taehyung are coming tomorrow to join us. I have to drive out to pick them up in the morning."

Jungkook gave a brief, lazy nod of his head. "Got it." The moment the glass doors slid shut behind Zade, leaving the lower level completely silent, my survival instinct kicked in.

I didn't wait around for another second. I turned on my heel and practically ran toward the staircase, taking the steps two at a time until I reached my room. I slammed the wooden door shut behind me, leaning my heavy back against it as my lungs burned for air.

Fuck.

I huffed out a ragged breath, pressing the back of my hand against my heated face. I was fucking sweating. My skin was practically vibrating from the sheer heat of his gaze. How the hell was I going to survive seven straight days under the same roof with him?

Three years of international distance, three years of telling myself I was a mature, moved on adult, completely shattered in a matter of minutes.

My body still craved him. It was embarrassing, dangerous, and completely out of my control. I had genuinely believed that we were done, that the fire had finally died out into cold ashes.

But standing in front of him proved how big of a lie that was. He still had the exact same damn effect on me.

My eyes landed on the vanity dressing table across the room. There was platinum ring with its cold, flawless diamond sitting resting on the dark wood.

I walked over with trembling legs, picked up the ring, and slid it back onto my left finger. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, forcing myself to look at the metal band.

But my stomach instantly dropped into a cold pit…where the fuck was my phone?

It hit me like a splash of ice water. I had left it lying face up on the poolside lounger when the group was talking.

"Damn it," I cursed under my breath, clutching my sheer wrap around my waist. I couldn't leave it down there. I unlocked my door and forced my steps to be slow and quiet as I crept back down the dimly lit hallway and down the stairs.

The pool house was silent, just the faint pitter patter of rain against the high glass roof. I thought everyone had gone up to bed and the space was empty, but my breath hitched.

Sitting on the edge of a lounger, holding a green glass bottle in one hand, was a tall, dark silhouette. The soft blue glow of a smartphone screen illuminated the sharp, dangerous angles of his face.

My entire mind went instantly fucked the moment I realized he was holding my phone, his long thumb lazily scrolling down the glowing glass.

A surge of pure panic and adrenaline flushed through my veins. I rapidly marched straight toward him, my bare feet slapping against the warm tiles. I reached out and snatched my phone right out of his large hand.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Jungkook?" I demanded, my voice tight and shaking with anger as I pulled the device back against my chest.

Jungkook didn't flinch. He slowly tilted his head back, his dark, heavy eyes lazily rising to meet mine. I glanced down at the open screen before it timed out, he had been flipping through my photo gallery, staring straight at the engagement pictures of me and Minjin standing together at our formal dinner.

"Why the heck are you going through my privacy?” I asked, my chest heaving as I glared down at him.

"Privacy?" he questioned, letting out a dark, mocking scoff from the back of his throat. He leaned back against the lounge chair, resting his forearm over his knee as he looked up at me with absolute contempt.

"You didn't even change your fucking password, Y/n. It's still the exact date of the day we got into a relationship…what the fuck did you expect me to do?"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My cheeks burned with a searing heat. I needed to be strong. I couldn't be pathetic in front of him. I couldn't let him see how much power he still held over every tiny detail of my life.

"I didn't have time to change it," I lied through my teeth, my jaw clenching tightly. Jungkook let out a soft, bitter chuckle, shaking his head as his eyes swept over my body. "You didn't have time to change a six digit code...but you changed the whole Park Y/n."

I glared at him, the sting of his words cutting deep into the raw, unhealed wounds in my chest. "Don't do this, Jungkook..."

Jungkook set his beer bottle down on the floor with a dull clink and pushed himself up from the lounge, rising to his full height. He took a deliberate step toward me, closing the distance until the air between us became suffocatingly thin.

"Three FUCKING years," he said softly, his deep, raspy voice carrying a sharp, dangerous edge that vibrated right through my bones.

He stopped just a few inches away, close enough that I could feel the intense, radiating heat coming off his broad chest, close enough that my lungs filled with the familiar, dark scent of his skin mixed with chlorine and fresh rain.

"Three years, Y/n...not a single phone call, not a single text message…you just vanished like I was nothing to you."

"Jungkook, please..." I pleaded, taking a shaky breath as my back hit the edge of the pool space. "Don't do this here now."

"Don't do what?" he asked, stepping even closer, completely invading my personal space until I was trapped between him and the pool edge.

He towered over my smaller frame, his bare, damp chest rising and falling with heavy, controlled breaths. "Don't ask my ex why she ran across the world after making me beg for her on my knees? Don't ask why she's standing in front of me three years later, wearing next to nothing, looking like she never fucking left?"

His dark gaze dropped down to my left hand, which was gripping my phone tightly against my stomach. His eyes locked onto the sparkling diamond ring sitting on my finger. A dark, sinister smirk spread across his lips, but his eyes remained deadly cold.

"You're wearing it now?" he asked, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling murmur. "Why? Because you were scared to face me? Thinking the old days will come back haunting you? Still craving it?"

"I'm fucking engaged," I stammered, my voice cracking slightly as the weight of my reality slammed into me. "My father is sick, and this is what I have to do...you know how our families are, Jungkook."

"I don't give a fuck about our families," he growled low in his throat. His heavy body suddenly lunged forward into mine. The unexpected weight and force threw us off balance.

I gasped out loud as our feet slipped on the wet, slick tiles surrounding the pool edge, and with a massive, echoing splash, we both plunged deep into the heated water. The warm water engulfed us instantly, bubbles rushing past my ears.

Before I could even swim toward the surface, Jungkook's powerful arms wrapped tightly around my waist underwater. He pulled me up with effortless force, hoisting me out of the deep end until he pinned my lower back against the smooth, tiled ledge of the pool, caging me completely between his broad body and the wall.

Water poured down my face and hair as I gasped for air, my heart threatening to burst right out of my ribcage.

Before I could even process the sudden movement, his large, warm hand wrapped firmly around the back of my neck. His long fingers tangled tightly into my dripping hair, tugging my head back gently but firmly.

He forced me to look straight into his dark, storm filled eyes. His calloused thumb pressed hard against my jawline, holding my face completely still under his absolute control.

"And I don't give a fuck about your fiance," he whispered against my soaked lips, his hot, heavy breath intoxicating my senses. "You can try to lie to yourself all you want, Y/n…but the second I saw you walk through those doors...I knew you were still mine."

My breathing was ragged, my chest pressing directly against his wet, solid pecs. "You're wrong, Jungkook..." I forced out through my trembling lips, my eyes burning with unshed tears. "Things ended a long time ago."

His eyes literally flared with a dark, blood red rage at my words. The grip on the back of my neck tightened just enough to make me catch my breath. I knew I craved him, my body was betraying me, every nerve ending screaming to wrap my legs around his waist and let him fuck me right here in the water…and he wanted me to give in just as badly…the hard, unyielding line of his body pressed against mine proved it.

"And why the fuck do you think you get to decide that alone?” he growled into my face, his voice trembling with years of built-up pain and anger.

“When we used to fuck on my bed, it was us! When we were in love with eachother, it was us! And when the time came to actually commit and fight, you chose to just fucking walk away?!"

"That was the past, Jungkook!" I yelled back, my hands coming up to hit his hard chest.

Instead of letting me go, he yanked my head back by my hair and slammed his mouth onto mine in a rough, punishing kiss. It wasn't gentle, it was a violent collision of three years of resentment, obsession, and desperate longing.

His sharp teeth clamped down hard on my lower lip, biting down with enough force that a sharp sting shot through my mouth. I felt the warm, metallic taste of blood instantly dripping onto my tongue.

A cry of pain escaped my throat. I hit his broad shoulder with my fist to make him leave me, but he wouldn't budge an inch.

Furious, driven mad by the pain and the taste of my own blood, I leaned into the kiss and bit his lower lip back even harder.

Jungkook hissed sharply against my mouth, breaking the kiss as he finally let go of my hair.

We both hung there in the warm water, breathing heavily, our faces inches apart. Blood was visibly dripping from my swollen lower lip, and a crimson line was trickling down his own mouth, staining his jawline.

I stared at him through a blur of hot tears spilling over my eyelashes. My chest rose and fell in violent heaves.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU,” I sobbed, placing both of my hands flat against his chest and shoving him away with all the strength left in my body.

Jungkook stumbled back into the deeper water, wiping the smear of blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He didn't look hurt; he looked like a predator that had finally tasted blood.

"Keep lying to yourself, Y/n," he said, his deep voice slicing through the sound of falling rain. "I'll make your whole week a living hell."

I didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. I dragged myself up out of the pool, my wet body shivering as the cool night air hit my skin.

I snatched my phone off the tiled floor with shaking hands and ran straight up the stairs to my room. I slammed the heavy door, locked it twice, and collapsed against the wood, sliding down to the floor.

Fuck.

I regretted coming here. I regretted agreeing to this trip, and I regretted meeting him again.

Everything I had told myself over the last three years…that I was over him, that I was ready to settle down with Minjin, that I was moving on...was a lie. A complete, fucking lie.

I raised a trembling hand to my mouth, touching my swollen, bleeding lower lip, and hissed at the sharp sting.

I closed my eyes, terrified to even imagine what the remaining six days of this week had waiting for me.

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