For the past ten minutes, Hye Jung has been staring at the picture frame on the nightstand. A picture of her and Soo Chul that they took from the year she used to live in his old wrecked garage when she was still studying for school. Something that Soo Chul did behind her back because she needed to 'loosen up' and start having a bit more fun in her life. Those type of words weren't allowed when she was so focused on everything else. Through the tough one year or so that she had during her mourning and grief, Soo Chul has always been there for her. It wasn't until a year ago when she started feeling Soo Chul slipping out of her life and she has no one else to blame except for herself.

A year ago, Hong Ji Hong's apartment.

"Hye Jung! Yoo Hye Jung!" Soo Chul threw the stack of books against the wall as he glared at her, breathing in and out heavily. "Would you sit down and think this over?!"

"I can't!" Hye Jung screamed. "He almost died! And it's my fault!"

Soo Chul ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "It's not your fault! It was a piece of paper! No one would've believed that paper was a real threat!" He watched as she continued cleaning and stuffing her clothes into a duffel bag. "You can't leave him! You can't just go fly to Paris and leave the man that you love just because of some bastard! What we can do here is hand this type of information to the cops! Let them handle the rest! This isn't just a hit and run accident without evidence anymore." He grabbed the duffel bag and threw it across the room to stop her from packing again. "Don't you understand, Hye Jung? This is a stalking case! It's obvious that whoever this bastard is, he or she is clearly after you! Threatening the lives of your loved ones! The police will find the evidence to be heavily good and reliable enough to make a full investigation."

"That's exactly why I should leave!" Hye Jung argued back. "If whoever that person it is can do this," she moved aside her hair to show him the bandaged she has on her neck, a long and deep cut - luckily she only bled out and it didn't hit any important vein. "To me. They can do worse on you and everyone else! For goodness sake, Ji Hong almost died from a heart attack!"

"Do you really think giving up on the man that you love, someone who you spent thirteen years loving and missing while you two were apart - the best option out there?" Soo Chul scoffed when she went to grab the duffel bag. "You love him! He loves you! You're really telling me that you're willing to leave him while he's in coma?!"

Hye Jung looked at her friend. She knows how much Soo Chul cares for her and how much this is probably hurting him because it's hurting her to do this but it's something that she has to do. "I'm sorry."

Soo Chul took a deep breath. "If you really leave, I don't know what to say to you anymore. I've been with you on every decision you make 100% but this isn't something I can agree with." He walked over to her, his hands gripping onto her shoulders tightly. "You don't want to do this. Not only will you live in regret but Hong Ji Hong might hate you when he wakes up. Don't you get it? You're leaving him when he needs you the most. This is his most vulnerable and fragile state. Out of everyone, you're the first face he would want to see when he wakes up." He looked at the duffel bag and sighed. "Don't do this because of some kind of scary threat. You're letting whoever it is win the game."

"This isn't a game, Soo Chul." Hye Jung calmly said. "This is about life and death. I'm not about to endanger other people for my greed."

"Greed?" Soo Chul scoffed. "If happiness is what you call greed then be as selfish as you want to be. You're finally happy and you're letting them take it away."

Hye Jung shook her head. "If you call Ji Hong in coma what happiness is, it's not."

Soo Chul watched as she walked past him and headed out the door. "If you walk out that door, I won't be in your life anymore. I will not support your decision in this." Their eyes connected as he spoke the next words. "Think long and hard about this, Yoo Hye Jung."

"I'm sorry." She said lastly before she opened the door, leaving him behind.

Present Time, Yoo Hye Jung's house.

Tears slid down her face as the memory still felt so fresh in her mind. Once she walked out of that door, Soo Chul followed behind her - not wanting to give up. And because of that, they both got into a fight. It was their first physical fight since knowing each other. It's almost funny in a way. During their teen years, they were both known to be rebels and good fighters. Unintentionally, Hye Jung caused Soo Chul to hit hard on the ground that night and he was bleeding. Soo Chul wasn't dumb, he knew what to do in order to have her stay longer. He called the cops and had her arrested for an assault and battery. She went to jail for weeks, spending time behind bars because she caused Soo Chul to be hurt. Hye Jung was never angry. She knew that his intentions were to have her stay and not leave. He never visited her in jail. That night when she had handcuffs around her was the last time she saw him. It wasn't until now, a few hours ago - she finally saw her good friend, someone who she still cares so deeply for - walking past her as if she was nothing but a wall.

Hye Jung quickly wiped her tears away when the sound of someone knocking on her door rapidly disrupted her thoughts. She quickly got up from her bed and rushed over to the door. Her eyes widened in surprised to see who it was standing outside her door. "Hi..."

. . .

Kim Tae Ho chuckled at the scene he was watching from the television as he walked over to the front door. Opening the door, he arched his eyebrows in surprise to see Hong Ji Hong standing on his front porch. Checking the time on his watch, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his good friend and employee. At the way how Ji Hong was pantinig heavily, everything seems alarming at the moment. "What are you doing here at midnight?"

Ji Hong took a few extra breaths as he looked at Tae Ho. "What are you hiding from me?"

"What....what?" Tae Ho questioned back.

"Don't give me that look." Ji Hong demanded. "I know you and I know Yoo Hye Jung. She would do nothing as big as leaving me behind if she didn't know it would feel or be right. And the one person I can only assume that can reassure her to do so is from someone like you." He exhaled deeply and stared at his friend. "I am asking you as your friend not as your employee. "What are you hiding from me?"

Tae Ho sighed deeply. "There is nothing."

"Swear on my father." Ji Hong said.

Briefly closing his eyes as he run his hands on his face to control himself, he looked at Ji Hong. "I don't think - "

"Hyung...." It's the first time in a while since Ji Hong has called Tae Ho like that. He has spoken that term on occasion but rarely. "Please."

Tae Ho looked at Ji Hong before he gave him a smile. "It's nice to be called Hyung but I'm sorry. I don't think there is anything to tell you. Maybe you're just overthinking on certain things. You should go home and - "

"I always thought it was strange." Ji Hong interrupted him.

"What was strange?"

Ji Hong shrugged his shoulders as he thought about the past, how almost everything is making sense now. "I always wondered how did this complete random stranger on the streets helped me walked all the way to the cafe and meet you. How did that stranger know you were there? Inside a cafe that's across the street from where I was?" He scoffed as he thought the situation over and over in his head. "If you can't tell me then just answer me one question. It's all I need to know."

Tae Ho nodded his head. "Go ahead."

"She...she didn't want to leave me on purpose, right?" Ji Hong took a deep breath as he waited for Tae Ho to answer the question.

"Ji Hong-ah, I can promise you one thing. Everything that she has done or been doing, it's for you and everyone she cares about." Tae Ho sighed. He knew he shouldn't be saying anything at all. "Trust me on that."

. . .

Hye Jung cleared as she placed down the cup of tea in front of Soo Chul. She sat down across from, her hands clenching onto each other as she looked at him. "It's been a long time."

Soo Chul nodded his head as he wrapped his hands around the warm cup of tea as he looked around the apartment. "A year."

"I saw you earlier tonight in the hospital," Hye Jung said. "I don't know if you saw me but - "

"I saw you." Soo Chul interrupted her. "I had other priorites to deal with so I didn't say my greetings."

She breathed in and out deeply. "Was your priority Doctor Hong?"

"Someone has to consider him as a priority." Soo Chul said.

"That's not fair." Hye Jung furrowed her eyebrows together. "You know that I - "

"Had to do what you needed to do?" Soo Chul finished the sentence for her. He shrugged his shoulders as he chuckled softly. "Even after a year, I still don't think what you did or doing is right. Not only have you lost everyone in your life but look at you." He looked around the apartment, it's a lot smaller in the house that she used to share with Soon Hee or even Ji Hong's apartment. "You can do better than this little place."

Hye Jung looked at him. "It doesn't matter to me."

He nodded his head as he took a sip of the tea. "A lot doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"If you're here about something else, why don't you just spill it."

Soo Chul narrowed his eyes at her. "Where are you and Director Kim at with the mystery person? It's been a year. I suppose that you've been getting the information you need."

"I've gotten nothing."

"Even after a year?"

Hye Jung knew that she should've found out information but she was scared. In her time in Paris, she wanted to focus on things that could distract her. She chose to live in the path that wouldn't affect anyone. "Staying away from such information is for the better."

"Is it?" Soo Chul questioned. "Is it really for the better?"

"Do you know anything that I should know?"

"No." Soo Chul answered. He stood up from his seat and exhaled deeply. "I just wanted to come by and tell you that I'm back but it wouldn't matter anyway. I'll be back in Japan soon. We won't see each other for possibly another year or so." He started walking toward the door and looked at Hye Jung for a long time. "I'm glad to see that you're alright."

Hye Jung walked closer to him. "Do you hate me?"

"Would I really hate the person that I put in jail?" Soo Chul asked. The question seems almost too odd to ask but what else could he say? He opened the door and looked at her, his eyes filled with concern. "Be careful."

"Be careful?"

Soo Chul shrugged. "Be careful of those around you." It's all he could say before he walked out of the door and down the stairs toward his car.

. . .

Closing the hotel door behind him, Soo Chul searched for the light switch in the dark. As soon as he felt the switch, he turned it on and sighed out deeply as soon as he stared at the wall. From the very top corner of each room, it was filled with pictures - endless pictures of Oh Anna and Lee Jun Ki on every single part of the wall. Personal notes of every single thing he has seen is written on some pictures. He grabbed the folder on his desk and took out two new pictures of them that he had taken earlier tonight. Anna, when she was hiding behind the bush taking pictures of Hye Jung before he broke her camera. Jun Ki, when he was helping Hye Jung get into her car. Slamming and taping the two pictures on the wall next to the bed, he took out a post it notes from his back pocket and wrote down some information. 1. Female seems to be in command. 2. Confusing character. Slamming the post it notes onto the pictures it belongs to, he shook his head.

Soo Chul slowly backed away and narrowed his eyes at the other side of the room. One particular wall was labeled Paris and it was filled with pictures of Lee Jun Ki and Hye Jung. He has never set foot in Japan, he has been lying to everyone since coming back. For the past year, he has been flying back between Paris and Los Angeles - where both Hye Jung and Ji Hong was residing during their time away from the hospital. He kept his eyes on those two to make sure they were safe and he has learned a lot more than he had expected. His eyes lingered longer on the picture of Oh Anna and if there is one definite thing he knows - Oh Anna is not only dangerous but she is one of the most manipulative person there is. There is something about her that people easily saw as a sweet and God-like type of person due to her surgical skills but Soo Chul knows that she is the complete opposite. While he is certain about who and how she is, he still remains to be confused on what exactly Lee Jun Ki's motives are. He's not as dangerous as Anna. In some ways, Soo Chul has been the least worried about him than about Anna. Maybe that's why he was rarely ever worried about the time that Hye Jung spent with him in Paris and even now.

The sound of his phone distracted his thoughts, he walked over to the counter and opened the text message. I didn't get to say this when you where here but...I've missed you. - Hye Jung. Soo Chul briefly closed his eyes before he ran a hand through his hair out of frustration. He doesn't hate her, he doesn't even resent her. With everything that she has been through, the last thing she needs is a person to hate her. And knowing how she is, she doesn't ever deserve anything evil or bad to her. Even with those thoughts roaming his head, he still can't be close to her right now.

Following Anna and Jun Ki for a year was like playing behind the fire. After what happened tonight, his confrontation with Oh Anna and how he has made himself known about her secrets - he isn't playing behind it any longer. From now on, he is going to start playing with fire.

. . .

Ji Hong glanced at his watch as soon as the rain started pouring heavily on him. He has been walking on the side of the streets for the past two hours, it's almost three in the morning now. Unknowingly, he left his car on Tae Ho's driveway when he left the house. Just a walk, just a small nice walk to clear his mind. He has been reminding himself that despite all the thoughts roaming through his head. With his clothes drenched and his hair wet and dripping, he knew that he should start heading back to Tae Ho's house but he couldn't stop. Without realizing where his footsteps were taking him, he halted his steps and looked up at the building in front of him. Someway and somehow, he managed to walk all the way to Hye Jung's new apartment. Ji Hong searched and counted for the ninth floor and saw one particular room's lights still on. He doesn't even know if it's her.

Everything she has done or been doing, it's for you and everyone she cares about.

Those words has been repeating in his head since he heard it. It wasn't that he didn't understood what it meant. The part where he said been doing is what got him confused and worried. If leaving him was something she had to do a year ago, what else is she doing for him right now? He stopped at the door, his finger hesistating over the doorbell - pondering on if he should press it or not. Shaking his head, he slowly started backing away. What could he say? He doesn't even know how he feels about everything. Maybe he just needs another day to think this out and if he sees her tomorrow, he can possibly bring up the topic to one of their rare conversations in the hospital. Convincing himself to leave, he turned around and started walking into the rain again when he heard the sound of the door opening.

"Doctor Hong?" Hye Jung squinted her eyes to get a better look through the dark and rough rain.

Ji Hong cleared his throat as he slowly made his way back over to her. "Hey..."

Hye Jung knit her eyebrows together. "What," she looked around for his car. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just walking and.....found myself here." Technically, it isn't a lie. Ji Hong shivered in the coldness. "I didn't mean to wake you. I didn't even press the doorbell so I don't know how - "

"Oh, no." Hye Jung gives him a small smile. "I was throwing out trash and someone on the floor below me informed me about someone standing outside our building." She chuckled a bit as she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess with my neighbors knowing that I used to fight a lot, I'm considered as the security guard nowadays."

Ji Hong's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry." He peered around the opening doorway to see one of her neighbors looking. "Ma'am, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to - "

Hye Jung laughed as she looked behind her, waving goodnight to her neighbor. "You don't have to be sorry."

His eyes couldn't look away from that beautiful smile of hers - one of the many reasons why he fell in love with her. He breathed in and out quietly as he held onto his own hands, not knowing what he should do or say next. "I actually should go..."

"I'll drive you. It doesn't look like you have your car nearby." Hye Jung looked down at her pajamas and cleared . "Why don't you come upstairs and wait? I have to change and I'll drive you."

Ji Hong furrowed his eyebrows together at the suggestion. "I don't know if that is the best option possible..."

"Oh." She forgot that they're both still in the awkward phase on becoming senior and junior who talks to each other. "I'll go change, just - "

"Yeah. That's the best idea."

Hye Jung nodded her head. "Alright."

Ji Hong clenched his fists together as she pushed her way through the door and start heading over to the elevator. Let her go, don't say anything. Don't try and say anything. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "Hye Jung..."

She turned to look at him after pressing the elevator button. "Yeah?"

"Is there anything," he stopped himself from continuing while looking at her. Why is he doing this? They barely just started talking to each other again. If he ask one wrong thing, he could ruin everything that has been building up for the last few days. Granted, they still have the same awkward talk but at least they're having conversation. Suddenly, he remembered about the voicemail messages he heard a few hours ago. The way how she sounded when she was confining to Soo Chul - she was worried, scared, and always alone. Kim Tae Ho is right. Everything that she has done is for everyone she loves and cares for. The memory of how he called her selfish that night at the welcoming party came rushing back, he was completely wrong about her. "Is there anything you're hiding from me?"

Hye Jung's eyes widened from the sudden question. "I don't understand what you mean."

Ji Hong watched the way her eyes were batting from side to side. How could he never notice that when he came back from Los Angeles about her? The way how she continuously keep trying to look at everything from sides, it's a habit she does when she is lying about something. It was one of the first things he noticed her since knowing her. He was so focused on hating her the first few weeks that everything that he knew and loved about her became just a loss memory. "You're not hiding anything from me?"

"No." The elevator doors opened and she quickly got in. "I'll see you in a few - " she jumped when Ji Hong held onto the door to keep it from closing. "What are you doing?"

"I might regret on presisting about this but as of right now, I don't care about anything." Ji Hong has always been the straightforward type and he can't let this little fear stop him from asking. "I spoke to Tae Ho and he didn't want to tell me anything."

Hye Jung exhaled. "Then you will understand that I won't be saying anything either."

"Yeah? So it's true what he told me?" He stepped closer to her, still holding onto the elevator doors. "You didn't leave me because you wanted to. You had to do it?"

"I left you because you lied about your eye condition." Hye Jung lied. "It's the only sole reason. Whatever Director Kim has told you, I wouldn't know anything about it."

Ji Hong sighed. "Let me ask a different question then." It seems as if he has to ask certain questions in order for Tae Ho or Hye Jung to speak the truth. "That day at the police station, you told a random stranger to help me. You gave him Tae Ho's number so he knew that I should be at the cafe across the street. You watched the stranger to take care of me all the way across the street until I was seated at a chair. Didn't you?" Hye Jung held onto her hands tighter as she slowly nodded her head. "And did you do it out of generousity?"

"Of course I did. What else - "

"Or was it out love?" Ji Hong interrupted her.

Hye Jung looked at him. "No."

Ji Hong could only scoff softly as he nodded his head. "What else would I expect from you? You would never admit to anything. You know, it's always been like you to be like this. You're always so quick to deny everything rather than tell the truth. Granted, it's practically pointless for me to say that since I hid my eye condition from you during our engagement." He moved away from the elevator. "But there was a difference between us while we dated and a difference even now. I was more forward with my feelings, I had no problem hiding how much I loved you." He breathed in deeply as he covered his face for a few seconds to control his emotions. "You always knew how to hide it so well. Sometimes, I didn't know what you were thinking or feeling. Or how much you even did love me for."

"You should stop talking..." Hye Jung said. She could tell that Ji Hong was getting emotionally railed up.

"I just thought that for one moment, this very moment - you could just tell me one truth out of a thousand lies. It's all I want to know." Ji Hong sighed. "Just one truth, something that I can hold onto despite everything that we've been through. A year has passed and the first thing we did was argue and yell over each other." He chuckled as he thought about their past. "It's funny because it's just like how we first met outside that cd store." He let silence take over for few seconds as they stand there and stare at each other. "I guess even if I know there is more to what you're saying to me, I'll take it." Without wanting to, tears started b against his eyes. "I can delude myself into forgetting that this conversation never happened because it's probably the best for you."

"I don't know," she hates that she has to keep repeating the same thing. "I don't know what you mean by that, Doctor Hong."

Ji Hong took a deep breath before he started talking. "After what I say, forget this conversation ever existed." He smiled as he looked at her, the face that he missed for 365 days while he was in Los Angeles. "I missed you so much. Everyday when I was going through my treatment, I always thought of your face. It made me feel better at my lowest moments. During the time when I had bandages on my eyes, I couldn't see but think all the time. Hye Jung, Hye Jung, Hye Jung. Your name was repeated every single second of the day." He could feel himself losing all the self control emotion he held onto, letting all the barriers break down. "No matter how much I tried to make myself angry at you for leaving me that day, I just couldn't. And when I flew back and saw you, I almost lost it. I didn't know how I should've felt or even do. Anger. Disappointment. Resentment. Those are all the emotions I should've felt toward you. But they weren't."

Hye Jung shook her head. "Please stop."

"Love. Care. Worry. Fear. Loss. That's what I felt toward you this whole time. No matter how much I tried to stop myself, they just kept crawling back to break me down. And tonight, I realized something. Yeah, I was vulnerable and scared but it's not comparable to you. Even right now, you are always alone and vulnerable. Whatever it is that you're going through for everyone who you love and care about, you don't have to tell me. You don't need to share anything. Keep all those secrets to yourself." He walks over to the door, ready to leave and go home. "Before I stop talking and offically make this conversation go away and never heard of again - just know that I...." he paused and opened the door, the sound of rain was getting heavier. "Just know that I love you and I never stopped." He cleared his throat and looked at her one last time. "This conversation didn't exist. Have a good night, Hye Jung."

She walked out of the elevator as the front door closed. Her hands clenching into fists on her sides as she turned back around to the elevator. Hye Jung took a deep breath as she cried to herself, her hand clenching onto her heart as she wait for the elevator to come back. I love you and I never stopped. I love you and I never stopped. "Why did you do this to me..." she muttered to herself before she ran out of the door and into the harsh rain. Hye Jung started running to search for him. "Doctor Hong! Doctor Hong!" She stopped running once she found him, turning around - a distance between them as they squinted their eyes to look at each other. "And only for this very moment," tears slide down her face as she clenched her teeth, shivering from the coldness. "Just know that I still love you so much. I missed you every day, I cried every day over what I did to you. I left you! The one moment you needed me the most, I just left you in cold blood." She started to cry uncontrollably the more she spoke about all the feelings she hid. The rain was starting to prick against her skin due to the harshness of it - the both of them are drenched and cold. Hye Jung wrapped herself with her arms as she exhaled deeply. "So I'm sorry to add to a conversation that never existed but I had to say what was needed, right? Goodnight."

Ji Hong stood in the rain, watching her turning back toward the apartment building. "And for just this moment......if this moment can continue for a few more seconds," he started walking closer to her. "Would there be anything else you would say to me?"

Hye Jung looked at him. For just this one moment. "Oppa," she could tell that he was surprised by her answer. "Calling you oppa one last time is what I would've said."

"Oppa?" He has only heard her call him that term of endearment twice in their relationship. Ji Hong smiled as he nodded his head. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She looked at him with confusion written all over her face.

"Sorry for what I'm about to do." Ji Hong took one full stride step closer to her, his eyes staying in contact with hers - not wanting to let go. Just like that, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. After a few seconds, he could feel Hye Jung kissing him back and that's when he pulled her in closer because every single seconds count in this one moment between them.

The apartment's front door slightly opened and from the small doorway that can be seen, Lee Jun Ki watched as Hye Jung and Ji Hong kissed. Taking a deep breath, he backed away from the door and stood alone in the apartment building. As he ran a hand through his hair, he calmly went upstairs to the ninth floor and started packing his stuff from Hye Jung's apartment. He looked around and smiled to himself as he can see that he's possibly won't be needed anymore. As he walked out of the apartment, he headed toward the back way of the building. Now that Hye Jung can be happy, there is only one problem and he has to fix it before it's too late.

. . .

Soo Chul looked at the clock on the wall and groaned once he saw it was past four in the morning now. Getting off the hotel bed, he walked over to the door. Furrowing his eyebrows together once he saw who it was, his hand automatically reached over to the baseball bat. Hiding it behind his back, he opened the door and stared at Lee Jun Ki in front of him. "Can I help you?"

"No." Jun Ki answered as he clenched onto his duffel bag. "The real question here is would you willing to help me?"

A/N: Hello! Ahhhh, here is the next chapter! I wrote this for over nine hours straight and I feel so happy at the way this chapter ended up. Thank you so much for the beautiful and most kindful comments for the previous chapter! Many of you have sent me a message and it literally made my day! Comments, support, and love for this story is truly tremendous and beautiful - I want to cry! Most of you are coming from my kdrama based instagram page, thank you so much for reading! And most of you are also just people who found this story by chance and ended following it - thank you so much. each and every comment is loved and cherished, trust me! long comments about how you guys think about the story makes me so happy! thank you for reading this story! so here it is! chapter 15 isn't as long as per usual but I think the details of it would make you happy! sorry for any mistakes! (: