"In order to understand where Bae Jiwoo came in," Jisung leaned forward. "We need to go back a few years ago, when Hyunjin's Grandmother passed away,"
"After her death, Hyunjin changed dramatically," Changbin muttered. "It was like he'd been switched from the goofy, funny and good-natured boy he was to something else,"
"To what?" Jarim tilted her head as she listened.
"To a boy who barely smiled," Felix shut his eyes tight as he reminiscised the old memories that ran through his mind. "He wouldn't talk to anyone and he was moody all the time,"
"At first, we thought it was grief," Seungmin explained. "We thought it was because both his grandparents had passed and they had raised him in one sense,"
"But it wasn't just grief," Jeongin continued. "Hyung was devestated, and he didn't know what he was going to do next,"
"So he did the thing that he could do best," Chan said, darkly. "He decided to play some games, to ease his heart that was hurting. He decided to entertain himself by playing with girls' hearts, and hurt theirs,"
Jarim's jaw dropped. Of course, the boy was extremely handsome, but that gave him no right to mess with people's emotions.
"Thats... insufferable," The girl whispered, not quite being able to believe that the man she'd married had been such a player.
"He'd disappear off to clubs, attend school parties and hook up with some girl, go out with her for a bit before breaking her heart," Minho shook his head. "The boy was a flirt, but he used his good-looks invalidly,"
"Did the King and Queen find out?" Jarim questioned.
"They knew something was strange with their son," Changbin leaned back in his seat. "But, they, like us, thought it was just grief. They were so busy with his Grandmother's funeral arrangements, they didn't take much notice of him,"
"It took around a year until he stopped," Jisung proceeded with the story. "He was slowly returning to his normal self, and he also apologised to the girls he'd played with,"
"Until she came along," Jeongin hissed. "She ruined everything,"
"Bae Jiwoo," Jarim said softly.
"She- " Felix hesitated, as though trying to find the right words. "She was alright at first. See, she's the daughter of the Minister of Health and Welfare,"
"So she's in a pretty high position," Jarim commented.
"Yeah," Minho rolled his shoulders that were aching slightly. "At first, she was sweet, caring for Hyunjin and we all liked her,"
"Speak for yourself," Changbin folded his arms as he looked away. "I knew that something was off about her from the start,"
Chan rolled his eyes. "The point is that she was genuinely alright when we first met her. It also happened to be that Hyunjin had developed... feelings for her,"
Jarim felt her stomach tie into a tight knot at the mention of this Bae Jiwoo liking her husband. For some odd reason, she felt strangely protective.
"She began to feed things to him," Jisung looked furious as he said the words, and the engineering student had never seen the normally elated boy look so angry. "She told him things that weren't true!"
"Like how we were only his friends for money," Seungmin snorted. "Rather unoriginal if you ask me. I've been his best friend since we were in diapers,"
"She also said that we despised him because of the fact that we disapproved of him playing around with the girls," Jeongin added. "We did disapprove, but we didn't want him, or anyone, to get hurt because of his actions! Nothing more!"
"She fed him more and more lies until she made him turn completely against us," Chan swallowed. "He wouldn't talk to us, it was like a repeat of after his Grandmother's death, but worse,"
"Did - did they ever date?" Jarim asked nervously, anxious for the answer she would receive.
"I think they did," Changbin blinked at Jarim's obvious discomfort. "Not to worry, Jarim, what they had is long gone,"
"But what if she lights the spark for the fire?" Jeongin demanded. "We all know that Bae Jiwoo is trouble the second she steps back into the palace,"
"That's not happening," Chan said firmly. "Hyunjin's married to Jarim, and he is definitley not the person who would cheat. We're all here, and Yeji's here as well,"
"Don't forget Sora! She'll kick ass, too!" As the boys turned to Changbin, a light pink tinted the boy's cheeks.
"What?" He asked, defensively.
"Changbin, do you have a crush on my best friend?" Jarim smirked as the boy avoided her eyes.
"We've been talking,"
"Then, if you hurt her, I'll be the one kicking your ass,"
