When Hyuna awoke she was cold. Every muscle in her body screamed against the bathroom floor, and she could not help the violent shivers that shook her frail frame. She didn’t know how long she had been passed out on the floor, or how long Siwon had been gone. All she was aware of was how achingly empty she felt. In that moment, Kim Hyuna felt more smaller than she had ever felt before.

When she had finally summoned the energy to pick herself off the ground, she felt as if her body was about to shatter into a million pieces of glass. She gripped the counter tightly as support as she pulled herself up to stand.

Hyuna held her head in her left hand, dizzy for a moment, while her right hand still gripped the counter for support. She blinked, clearing her fuzzy vision before her eyes found her reflection in the mirror before her.

Hyuna gasped.

Her right cheek was swollen, sporting an ugly purple bruise and the right side of the corner of was split. Her tongue tentatively darted out to the corner of to taste the blood that had long dried. She flinched at the stinging sensation.

Hyuna’s left wrist was slightly bruised from Siwon’s strong grip, and when she lifted her shirt up, she found that her hip had become a plethora of galaxies as well. She took in a shuddering breath, not quite believing her eyes.

She continued to stand there, staring at her reflection in a daze.

Why?

Was the only thought that kept running through her head. Why had she become so angry with Siwon and uncharacteristically exploded, and why had he hit her? Why had Siwon once again become the kind of man that she hated, and why did she continue to mess their relationship up?

Squeezing her eyes close, she let out a shaky sigh.

There was nothing but heavy silence until the sound of a ringing phone made Hyuna jump in surprise. Snapping out of her daze, she exited the confines of the bathroom. Her eyes detected her phone screen lighting up on the bedstand.

Stupid Dragon

Hyuna hadn’t quite known how to address him in her phone, and for several days his number remained nameless. In her eyes, he didn’t deserve a respectable name so she had settled for a childish nickname.

Hyuna’s throat tightened and she could feel go dry. Why was he calling her? He never contacted her after work, and he rarely called. Hadn’t they just met? There was no way that it had been more than a few hours since she had last seen him. It had to be at least 3am.

Hesitantly, with shaky hands, she answered the call. “Yoboseyo?”

“Hyuna-ssi, I’m glad you were able to pick up.”

“Ah… GD sunbaenim,” she couldn’t help the slight tremble in her voice.

“Are you alright? You don’t sound so well right now,” Jiyong’s tone showed clear worry.

For a moment, Hyuna was silent. She wanted to reply in her usual snarky and arrogantly cold attitude, but she couldn’t. Her mind was jumbled and nothing she said came out correctly. “I’m fine,” she weakly replied.

“Are you sure? You missed our meeting today and you wouldn’t answer any of my texts, so I was worried. I called you about an hour ago, but it went straight to voicemail.”

She froze. “What time is it?”

“It’s about 9pm now,” he answered.

9pm? But it was around 12am when we left the studio, right?

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Hyuna quickly checked the time and date. Her eyes widening when she saw that Jiyong was not lying. She had been passed out for not just a few hours, but nearly  entire eighteen hours.

“Hyuna-ssi?”

“Y-yes?” quickly bringing the phone back to her ear, she stuttered.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Jiyong seemed more concerned and suspicious than he had before.

“Ah...yes.. can we just meet at the studio tomorrow? I’m not feeling so well.”

“Sorry, but the deadline is close, and we still have yet to discuss mv concepts with your PD nim,” he apologised. “I just don’t think that it’s smart to miss anymore days, especially when we have a lot to work on still.”

“Of course..” Hyuna mumbled.

Silence.

“Are you at home?” Jiyong asked.

“Yes, why?”

“If you’re unwell, would it be alright for me to come to you?”

Their conversation succumbed to another moment of awkward silence.

“That is, unless Siwon sunbaenim wouldn’t take too well to it,” he let out a nervous laugh.

“He’s not home. It’s fine,” she answered.

“Really? That’s great. Just text me the address and I’ll be over soon.”

He hung up before she even had time to reply.

Hyuna blankly stared at her phone after the call ended, not quite believing what she had just done. She hadn’t met to invite him over. The words just tumbled out of like runaway marbles before her mind had time to process a logical response. At that moment, the mention of Siwon’s name had sparked anger in her, and she found herself responding on impulse. She sighed deeply, air filling her tired lungs. 

With shaky fingers she texted Jiyong her home address, noting the extra set of keys hidden in the flowerpot next to the door.

Returning to the bathroom, Hyuna began to apply a heavy layer of foundation to cover up the bruises and bags under her eyes. Though Jiyong was usually mindful about minding his own business, there was no way he would leave her be if he saw her current broken state, and there was no way that she would let him see her as other than the arrogant person he thought her to be.

After she was done, she headed towards the living room and carelessly slumped into the couch, and for thirty minutes she was once again left with that empty silence that she hated so much. It reminded Hyuna of too much. It reminded her of broken canvases and splattered paint. It reminded her winter nights and shattered picture frames. It reminded her of everything that she had lost.

“Hyuna-ssi?”

“Yah!” she jumped up, blinking in surprise, too lost in thought to notice that Jiyong had already entered through the front door.

He raised an eyebrow from the foot of the couch. “You really don’t look so well.”

Hyuna internally grimaced. Even the makeup couldn’t hide the fact that she looked like hell. Luckily, it had done it’s part in covering up the bruise on her cheek and wrist.

“It’s a good thing I dropped by the market to grab some medicine.” He lifted up the bag in her hand for her to see, smiling.

“I-

“You need a glass of water to take these. The pills are kinda big.” Jiyong’s eyes wandered around the house, searching for the kitchen.

“No, it-

“Ah, it’s over here right?” he was already halfway across the living room.

A minute later, he returned with a glass of water in hand. When Hyuna reached for the medicine, Jiyong had already snatched it away, tearing the bag open and disposing two blue pills in her hand.

Instead of thanking him, Hyuna eyed him silently. Putting the first pill in , she took a sip of water before repeating the process once more.

“I wrote some new lyrics and rearranged the sound-track again. I think you’ll really like it this time.” Jiyong was quick to plop down next to her, setting sheets of paper on the coffee table and starting up his laptop.

He began to talk to her about a different and cooler concept for her comeback, sharing some lyrics he had written up. Any other time Hyuna would have listened with an annoyed expression, but that night her mind was a raging ocean struck by a storm. She could not hear his words between the rolling sound of thunder in her head and the crack of lightning. Her whisky eyes could not find his when she felt like she was drowning in turbulent black waves.  

“Hyuna-ssi? Hyuna-ssi!”

Her mind only came back to reality once Jiyong had rested a hand on her shoulder. Under his light and warm touch, she felt as if he had just pulled her from the drowning despair that had nearly consumed her. 

“Ah…” she could not find her voice.

“Are you okay? You’re shaking. Are you cold? You look pale,” Jiyong’s tone was urgent and his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He stood up quickly, taking off his jacket. “Here, wear this.”

Hyuna pushed it away, but Jiyong was quick to throw it over her shoulders. “Please take care of yourself,” he whispered. Their faces were close now, as he leaned towards her to guide her hands through his large jacket.

Hyuna had always know that Jiyong was handsome, every girl in Korea knew he was handsome, and yet she had never taken the time to closely observe his features, but with him closer to her than he had ever been, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. His skin was flawless and his eyes were the dark color of the coffee she drank Monday mornings.

“I don’t care.” She finally responded, eyes never leaving his.

“Why?” he stared back, and for a moment, Hyuna was only aware of his eyes boring into hers. It was different from the time in the studio. It wasn’t awkward or flirtatious. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to work out her missing pieces.

“Because,” she said, finally breaking eye contact, “I cared a lot once. and it ruined me. So now I don’t care for much at all. I work in extremes like that.”

Hyuna fell back on the couch, unconsciously tightening Jiyong’s jacket around her small frame as if it was the only thing keeping her old bones together.

Jiyong was silent. He gave no witty response, or soft chuckle. Hyuna didn’t know what kind of expression he was making, and she didn’t want to know.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked suddenly, not wanting to give him a chance to mule over her words.

“Why the sudden question?”

“Just answer,” she demanded tiredly.

“Yes. She’s a model.”

“Do you love her?”

He didn’t hesitate, “yes.”

“But what do you do if you fall in love with someone who doesn’t love you the way you love them?”

She could hear him breathe in deeply. “Maybe you have to walk away,” he tells her, “or maybe stay and let it kill you.”

Another silence consumed them. She still didn’t know what kind of expression Jiyong was making, and she still didn’t want to know.

She didn’t know if he had ever shared her pain, or found himself sitting at a park bench at 2am feeling so lonely he could die.

Because right now, Kim Hyuna felt like she could die.  

Sorry for the extremely short chapter (my shortest chapter yet) I didn't have the motivation to write in a lot of detail because I've been working on my art all day so I was drained of all creativity. I had meant for this to be a deep and feely chapter, but I feel as if I've failed immensely just because I wasn't feeling the angsty mood. A bit disappointed in myself since this is the first break through Jiyong has with Hyuna, so I apologise for dumbing it down. I will most likely end up rewriting it. Once again, I apologise for any grammatical mistakes. I don't finish writing these chapters till 3-4am and dont end up editing them till the next day. 

Also, thank you all soooo much for 100 subs!!! I appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to read and comment on my story :)