Asking for forgiveness means admitting you’re not the hero of every story. That takes a big person.

Most people run a version of events in which they were reasonable and the other person was not. An apology means putting that version down in front of a witness and saying the less flattering account is the accurate one. That is the actual difficulty, not the words themselves, which are short and easy enough to say.

Go to the person without the explanation attached. Name what you did, say you were wrong, and do not follow it with why. Leave them room to still be angry, because the point is repair rather than being let off quickly.