We sat on a bench in our quiet park, facing each other. I waited for him to speak. He stared at me without saying anything, and I started to lose my patience.

"Do you want me to go first?" I finally asked. He nodded, relieved. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you learn to fight?" Yongguk finally said something.

"I have an older brother.. He is two years older than you. He got addicted to gambling and alcohol and he got into a lot of trouble. He borrowed money from people often, and sometimes they came looking for me when he was in debt. He was capable of offering me instead of the money he owes. I taught myself to fight so I won't have to deal with them when they come.. It was also useful afterwards." I smiled bitterly.

"Such an .." Yongguk muttered, annoyed. "Where is he today?"

"I don't know.. Probably dead because he owed people money. I'm not in touch with my family since I was 18."

"Why?"

"They kicked me out." I said dryly. I noticed his fists clenching.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to be a singer. My parents think that it's not a profession, it's a hobby. They told me that if I don't go to university and become a doctor or a lawyer or something I'm not their daughter anymore and I might as well leave the house. I wanted to be a singer so I left."

"What did you do afterwards?" he asked curiuosly.

"I had no money and I didn't make any friends so I slept on the streets like all the homeless people. When I had a little more money I slept in saunas and I practiced there as well. I was actually pretty stupid because instead of going to audition at a comapny I went to look for a job so I can survive. I just didn't think I would be able to pass back then.."

"How long did you live like that?"

"Hmm.. I worked in every possible job to earn money and after a few months I managed to rent a small room and I stayed there. That was my last apartment before I got into TS."

"Didn't they look for you? Your parents.."

"No. They don't care, it's like I never existed."

"I'm sorry.."

"Nothing to be sorry about, it's not your fault. They are dead to me just like I am dead to them." I smiled.

"Stop pretending."

"I'm not."

"I can tell when your'e lying." Yongguk said, staring at me intently.

"How?"

"You do this thing in your face when you lie." he stated.

"Liar."

"You don't have to pretend around me.. It's okay to break down sometimes." he caressed my cheek and it was enough for my tears to start falling. He closed the gap between us and hugged me tightly. I climbed onto his lap and burried my face in his chest, drenching his shirt with my tears.

"I just want them to say they are proud of me, for once. Is it too much to ask for?" I mumbled while crying.

"It's okay.." he said while caressing my hair. "I don't know about them, but I am proud of you." I burried my face further in his shirt.

"Look at me." Yongguk lifted my head gently. "If they don't want anything to do with you it's their lose. They are losing an amazing daughter." I scoffed. "You have all my respect and appreciation. I didn't think it was possible, but I like you even more right now." he wiped my tears with his thumbs. "I just want you to know that I am always here for you. You are not alone, and I think you are amazing. I promise to tell you every day how amazing you are so you won't forget it." he planted a kiss on my forehead. Why is he so perfect? He seem to know what to say to me in the right time so I'll feel better.

"I don't want to break down." I mumbled. "I hate feeling weak and useless."

"You can't be strong all the time.. Breaking down is human. It doesn't make you weaker nor useless. The most important thing is to get up afterwards." he smiled. I examined his face. His cheek was still a little red.

"Does it hurt?" I asked while caressing the cheek Sumi slapped.

"No." he smiled. "I've been through worse."

"That's not funny.." I said and looked at the scars from the encounter with Zico. It was all healed except for one small cut near his bottom lip that was still healing. "How is your other injuries?"

"Fine."

"Do you want me to move? You rib probably hurts.." I became self-concious about sitting in his lap. His ribs probably hurt right now because of our position..

"Stay here." he smiled, tightening his grip around me so I won't move.

"Are you feeling better now?" Yongguk asked worriedly after a few moments of silence.

"A little."

"You know, now a lot of things make sense to me.." he said while playing with my hair.

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

"You getting mad when I called you spoiled.. You insisting to do things on your own and keeping things to yourself.. Your strong personality and independence."

"I'm not strong." I shrugged.

"You don't see yourself from the outside. You are one of the strongest people I know, mentality wise. It's actually one of the things I like the most about you."

"What else do you like about me?" I stared into his eyes.

"Not telling." he stuck his tongue out.

"Oppa.." I whined.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what you like about me." he tacked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"No, it's embarrassing."

"I like you. A lot." Yongguk said while staring into my eyes. My stomach was filled with butterflies, but I ignored it. It's not the time for that.. I have a mission.

"Tell me your story." I asked.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything, from the start."

"But you have to hear the whole story."

"Of course." I smiled a little.

Yongguk took out his cellphone from his pocket and played with it for a bit.

"Here." he showed me a picture in his phone. It was a picture of him and another girl. It looked like it was taken a few years ago. Yongguk was hugging the girl and both of them were smiling brightly to the camera. What caught my attention was the girl's appearance - She looked like Sumi. If I didn't know better I would have thought they were related.

"This is Hana." Yongguk said when he noticed my confused expression.

"She look like Sumi.." I mumbled.

"Yes, but they are not related, thankfully. This is the girl Sumi talked about earlier."

"Were you dating?" I couldn't help but ask. It looked like it from the picture, but I wanted to be sure.

"Yes. She was my girlfriend. We dated for a year and a half." My heart sank. I knew he had girlfriends before, it just hurt hearing it from his own mouth and seeing a face. She looked pretty.

"What happened?" I turned my gaze back to Yongguk.

"You know I used to be an underground rapper before.. She and Sey used to come to one of the clubs I performed in. She was her best friend."

"Our Sey?" I asked confused. I didn't think they are related, although that can explain why she knows him so well..

"Yes. She was three years older than her, so she was about a year older than you." he poked my forehead. "We met in 2010. Sey was underaged back then, so Hana used to sneak her in. Hana really liked my rap, so she came there often to see me perform. She tried to hit on me and I always refused. It took a while until I eventually agreed dating her."

"So what happened?" I nervously played with my fingers. I had a feeling I'm not going to like this story.

"At some point I became a trainee at TS. She always supported me and wanted me to follow my dreams, but I had to practice a lot and I didn't have much time to spend with her. I also visited the club less ans less, but she continued going there." he took a deep breath before he continued talking. "Those places.. There are a lot of things going on over there, including illegal stuff. If your'e not careful it can end badly."

"So did she do something wrong?" I asked carefully.

"At one of the times she went there by herself someone offered her drugs. She took it, and that was when things started to go wrong. She became more clingy and she kept wanting more attention from me. I couldn't give her what she wanted because I had to train. As a result, she became depressed and she turned to drugs again. The more she was depressed because I couldn't be with her, the more drugs she took and she started losing it."

"What about Sey? She wasn't with her to stop her?"

"She didn't know, and neither did I. Hana slowly distanced herself from the both of us. We found out when it was already too late.." he said, and a tear slipped from his eye. It hurt seeing it, but I tried to remain unaffected so I can hear the rest of the story. I can't break down now.

"How is Zico connected?"

"He was there at the club as well. He had a crush on Hana and he always tried to hit on her, but she kept rejecting him because she liked me. When I was busy training he tried to make moves on her again, but it was useless since all she could see was me."

"So what happened?"

"One day I got a call from her. She was crying and begging me to come and meet her. It was weird, so I left everything I did and went to see her. She wanted to meet at a roof of a building. We used to go there sometimes to watch the stars and the sunrise. When I got there, she was standing near the edge. I called her, but she just smiled at me and then jumped. I tried to save her, but it was too late. The police said she commited suicide while being high." he was crying uncontrollably now, and so was I. It was the first time I saw him like this, and it broke my heart.

"It's my fault.. It's all my fault.." he mumbled while leaning his head on my shoulder, hiding his face. I hugged him close to me. "If I just got there earlier or if I just gave her the attention she needed.. I am a terrible boyfriend."

"It wasn't your fault.." I caressed his head. "She was high, she didn't know what she was doing. It wasn't your fault."

"I should have noticed. I should have spent time with her. If I did, she wouldn't try those damn things in the first place."

"You don't know if it would have changed things. Stop blaming yourself." I tried to reason. Poor thing.. He blames himself for everything even if it wasn't his fault.. It must have been hard on him.

"It was my fault." he lifted his head to look at me. "Zico is after me because he blames me for everything, and he is right. Sey also blamed me for a long time, and I can't blame her. I'm responsible for it."

"It wasn't your fault." I wiped his tears. "Please don't blame yourself." new tears streamed down my face.

"I can't."

"Did you talk to her family afterwards?" I asked carefully.

"Yes. They don't blame me. It didn't help, though, because I still blamed myself for everyhting that happened."

"Then you shouldn't blame yourself either." I tried to smile, wiping my own tears with the back of my hand.

"You know, I pushed you away at first because I was scared something will happen to you and that I wouldn't be able to protect you.. I don't want to go through this again."

"You won't. I can take care of myself, and we are going through everything together." I cupped his face. "Zico can try as much as he want, I'm not budging."

"I was scared to death when that thing almost fell on you." he admitted. I always thought he was strong and that's why I leaned on him, but I guess it was all an act so he can be there for me..

"I'm here thanks to you and nothing happened." I smiled, trying to reassure him.

"I didn't finish the story." he said, tightening his grip around me. I looked curiously at him. "I was like a zombie for a while and I started burying myself in work so I won't have to think about it. I wasn't in touch with Sey afterwards and I didn't came back to the club either. Shortly after, the club closed because the police caught them selling drugs. Two years later, Sey showed up at TS for an audition. I met her by chance at the hallway that day and she told me she came to make my life miserable. After she got accepted she probably realized I was suffering as well, so she forgave me. We made up and we helped each other move on."

"She is a good person, I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose. She was probably hurt as much as you."

"I know." he finally smiled. "As for Zico, he was quiet for a while, but he started bugging me again when you showed up. I guess he is mad that I'm trying to move on.."

"You need to move on." I made him look at me. "And so does he."

"He is probably using Sumi because she looked like Hana and she hates you." Yongguk said bitterly, looking at the distance.

"They can try, I'm not leaving you or the company." I smiled.

"You are not leaving me?" he asked surprised.

"Of course not." I poked his forehead. "As long as you don't hide things from me and tell me the truth I'll be here for you. Always."

"I promise." he smiled, looking at me.

"Is she the girl that appeared in your nightmares?"

"Yes. I keep replying that night when it happened.."

"Please talk to me if it happenes again.. I want to know."

"I will." he smiled, and it seemed genuine.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me everything."

"I'm a terrible boyfriend, aren't I?" Yongguk asked after a few moments of silence. "I'm always making you cry.." he wiped the remaining tears from my face.

"You are amazing." I smiled. "And you are making me laugh and smile as well."

Yongguk kissed my lips gently. I kissed him back and our kiss heated. It was good, but at some point it felt a little weird.. There was something else there as well, something I didn't feel before. Need, despair, relief, eagerness, sadness and joy. We parted and he started planting kisses on my jaw line and my neck. It was new, but I let him do it. It was nice, and the butterflies came back. When he finished exploring my neck he looked up at me, smiling brightly.

"You are the best."

Author's Note:

I'm sorry if it's not what you expected.. I had things in a certain way in my mind but I can't manage to write them properly and I still think it's lacking.. My writing is a bit off lately (in the last chapters) :\

I'll try to do better in the next chapters.

Anyway, I hope it made things clearer right now.. I tried to fill all the blanks.

Please tell me what you think and if it matched your theory\guesses.

And.. Finally the long period of Yongguk&Hyeri duet is over. The next chapters will focus more on ths girls.

I'm not sure when I'll update next.. Since it's not a cliffhanger, maybe I'll take a few days off to rest and rearrange my thoughts about the plot and hopefully get my writing back on track (and to succeed writing chapters I'm satisfied with).

Don't leave me, I'll be back fast.

P.S - "Kingdom" is killing me, especially Himchan's intro and english.. It's so good and he improved a lot :)

Thank you so much for reading, commenting and subscribing! <3

M.