It took a while until Cheng Xiao’s condition stabilized. After taking her medicine and following Bona's guidance to stabilize her breath, she felt much better, though, as usual, embarrassed. She always felt that way whenever someone saw her go through an anxiety episode. Vulnerable, as if an intimate part of her had been exposed. Somehow she would always end up scaring people away. And looking weak. Looking weak was absolutely inexcusable when you had the kind of responsibilities she did over such a large corporation. And now that Eunseo had seen her like that, would she treat her as kindly? Would she be scared and pull away from her?

“Thank goodness I was already on my way. Seriously, you can’t handle an anxiety attack? Didn’t you say you were able to take care of her?” Bona said coldly as she began to unbox the new latest generation smartphone she had brought for Cheng Xiao, then proceeding to set it up for her with all the necessary contacts, apps, and security procedures.

“You didn’t tell me about this or what I should do in this case. Couldn’t you have warned me? Did you expect Cheng Xiao to remember it and tell me herself?” Eunseo looked away as she spoke in a low voice, between nearly closed lips. Anger manifested itself within the sadness of her tone. But Eunseo wasn’t one to be vocal about anger, or confident enough to do so with assertiveness.

“I was going to talk about it as soon as I arrived. That’s why I went out of my way to buy her prescription medication. I’m trying my best to keep up with everything, you know? It is not easy at the company without the CEO present, it’s not easy that this happened to her, and it’s certainly not easy to have your mother end up in the hospital on top of it.” Bona seemed to have her guard down, at least compared to her usual bossiness. She still sounded annoyed with every single word, but she seemed to be much less explosive.

Eunseo huffed, but didn’t say anything. Cheng Xiao, who was uncomfortable with the way they were talking as if she wasn’t there, saw her opportunity to shift the conversation.

“Your mother… what happened to her? Is she alright?”

"She was hit by a car. It wasn’t too serious but she did end up with a minor fracture on her leg. She’s a tough woman, though. She will heal quickly.” Bona swallowed. ”They say it was a hit and run. We will have to take it to investigation. I’ll reach out to Sojung. Knowing her, she won’t take long to see us again about you case anyway.”

“I hope your mother has a speedy recovery. I’m glad it wasn’t that serious.” Cheng xiao nodded reassuringly.

Eunseo also wished a speedy recovery. Bona thanked them both and showed a faint smile.

The assistant filled the CEO in on some more company business. She had scheduled the meeting with ‘seaweed girl’ (“Oh, you’ll understand what I mean.”) for the day Cheng Xiao was scheduled to go back to work. While she was away, President Kim would take care of the decision-making, along with the rest of the board. Even though it made her anxious that she was away and not fully in control, it was unlikely that in the period of a week something critical would come up. Cheng Xiao remembered President Kim and a fair share of the board and employees as Bona spoke about them. The assistant promised her that before the incident she had great trust in each and everyone of them. She also guaranteed she would inform her instantly should she notice something she judged Cheng Xiao wouldn’t have done in such a way. It was a relief. She trusted Bona's judgment.

Unfortunately, the topic she most dreaded talking about came up.

“So, are you going to go back to your house with it looking like that? It needs to be taken care of. Should I call a cleaning team?”

Cheng Xiao tensed. Eunseo, who had been absently pretending to do chores while listening in, shot her a worried look.

“A cleaning team? What about Mei Qi?” Cheng Xiao steered the conversation.

Bona looked confused. Then she sighed.

“Yeah…. Right, about that.” She paused. “You fired her weeks ago.”

“I did? Why? I thought I liked her. I only remember great things about her. She’s caring, and meticulous and... timely. Did she do something bad?”

“Yes? Not exactly? I don’t know. She messed up on something related to your aquarium. But I don’t think it was that serious. I thought you really overreacted at the time, and believe me, I made my case to you back then. You didn’t have to treat her like that.”

Cheng Xiao was puzzled. She had no idea what Bona was talking about. Eunseo was the one who had told her about Mei Qi, including the aquarium situation, but she didn’t say anything about firing her. Though judging by the fact she had suggested calling Mei Qi earlier, she probably didn’t know about it either.

Bona seemed to have read her face, so she continued explaining.

“You yelled at her… a lot. Made all sorts of remarks about her competence, accused her of some pretty serious things, and you may or may not have said some even nastier words.” The blonde bit her lip.

Cheng Xiao didn’t seem to have in her book any sort of reaction suitable for what she had just heard. Even though she barely knew herself anymore, it was hard to swallow that she had treated someone, who was supposed to be her friend on top of her housekeeper, in such a way. She was incapable of picturing herself acting like that. Especially because she had no memory, from before or after the incident, of acting like anything even close to that. She had snapped at Eunseo amidst an anxiety attack, but it hadn’t been nearly as serious… right?

“Why… why would I do that?” Cheng Xiao's lips were tightly shut, as her eyebrows knitted together. “I need to fix it.”

“I guess only you would know. But since you don’t, nobody really knows. Like I said, I still think it was completely uncalled for. You really hurt her feelings... When I asked her about it, she guaranteed she didn’t want to be in your presence ever again. Right now, it's probably pointless to hold you accountable for something you don’t even remember doing, but you should probably give her some time."

Bona lightly squeezed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. Cheng Xiao nodded weakly.

“So, cleaning team it is? You bet they will be done in no time and you’ll be able to return home today.”

Cheng Xiao didn’t know how to approach the subject she wanted to touch. Besides being quite personal, it was also something really big to ask of her. She looked around the room for Eunseo, hoping that somehow, she would know that she was trying to ask Bona the question they had been talking about. And so, as always, she would come to her rescue and find a great way to help her introduce the subject. No matter how silly of a thought that was.

But she was cleaning the food counter, still as absent and gloomy as before. She had been acting like that since her anxiety attack. That was definitely the reason. She was scared of her, maybe even repulsed. This had happened way too many times, and she probably didn’t remember all of them. But losing Eunseo when she had found someone like her was going to hurt especially.

Cheng Xiao couldn’t help but want to hate herself. But that would have to be left for later. She was on her own now, and Bona was starting to worry about her lack of an answer. She held both of Bona's hands in hers.

“Bona unnie. I don’t have any way to possibly ask you what I want to ask, so I’m just gonna say it like it is.” She took a deep breath. “My anxiety attack was caused by the thought of going back home. I’m terrified of it. I can’t go back to that place and be able to live with myself simultaneously... Please let me stay with you.”

She lifted her chin and nodded at the end of her speech, unconsciously thinking it would make her appear more confident and sure of herself. Maybe it would be more persuasive. As far as she knew, she was an expert at dealing with Bona, but she felt anything but that at the moment.

The blonde's eyes widened, and she blinked a few times in surprise. She gulped before she spoke.

"That's not a good idea."

Cheng Xiao pouted and her head lowered in disappointment. She released Bona's hands.

"W-why not?"

"I have a lot to do at the company, I barely have time to stay home. Don't you think it's a lot worse of an idea to be alone in a house all day until you get back to work, if you're scared of being attacked again?"

The CEO didn't answer. Bona was right. But it wasn't just the fear of being attacked. The thought of living in a place where such a thing happened to her was a lot harder to deal with.

"You should stay with Miss Bestseller here. At least she sits at home all day and you'll be safer." Bona continued, now with her signature blunt sass.

Eunseo finally showed some sort of a reaction, making it obvious she was listening in. But that wasn't really a secret.

"What was that for?" Her head snapped back, her face and voice showing how upset she was. "Weren't you saying I was incapable of taking care of her just minutes ago? Why don't YOU stay with her? Doesn't the company have more employees?"

"What?! Do you think if I really thought that way I would be telling her to stay with you? She SHOULD stay with you. It's for the best. I know you understand as much. I don't get it, you did seem really eager about Xiao staying with you yesterday. What's gotten into you?"

Cheng Xiao had seen happy, bubbly, cute, clumsy Eunseo. She had seen blank-faced, mysterious Eunseo. But not angry Eunseo. Though she felt she was about to, as the writer's cheeks started to turn red rapidly, and all of her muscles seemed to be tensing at once, not breaking the glare at Bona.

Surprisingly, Eunseo took a deep breath, relaxed, and looked the other way.

"You're right. It's best for Cheng Xiao to stay with me. And she will." She said, her voice and face unreadable.

Bona nodded in agreement. Cheng Xiao forced a smile and thanked her.

Normally, she would be thrilled with the fact she was going to stay with Eunseo a lot longer than originally planned. But she was now sure that her neighbor was trying to avoid staying with her at all costs. Eunseo was trying to get rid of her, to pass the burden she was to Bona. But not even Bona wanted to carry the burden. Just as it had always been. She reveals her anxiety, her problems, the dark side of her, and people back away.

The rest of the day went nothing like the day before – or even the morning of the same day. After Bona left to go back to work, the atmosphere felt even heavier. There wasn't any of the laughter, any of the tears, any of the giggling or blushing or swooning over Eunseo. It was plain and simply awkward. Both girls were avoiding each other's eyes, and neither of them talked much. When they did talk, the word count was usually lower than 5.

Neither of them was okay – that was clear. But neither of them dared to speak. The ease, the sense of comfort she always felt around Eunseo, that she could tell her everything that was going in her heart, that she would take all of her feelings and make them into happy, joyful ones, now seemed to be gone.

Cheng Xiao went through the day mechanically. Until she was in bed. That's when her thoughts would haunt her the most. In the dark, in the silence of the night. The events of the afternoon didn't leave her mind.

Cheng Xiao felt stupid for even having faith in any of them. Of course the way Eunseo had treated her and made her feel wouldn't last long. She only pitied her, but now that she had revealed herself to be a way bigger hassle, Eunseo, who she had believed to be absolutely perfect in every way, wanted to get rid of her.

But it was for the greater good. Eunseo didn't deserve to be forced upon the responsibility of caring for her, of carrying such a burden on her back. She was, indeed, perfect. Everything Cheng Xiao was not. She had hurt her housekeeper to the point she said she didn't want to be in her presence anymore, for crying out loud. She wasn't a good person. Who knew, maybe she had been attacked by someone who hated her so much for bad things she did they actually wanted her dead.

She almost chuckled at the thought of having longed so bad to recover her memory. Little did she know, that time she was oblivious had been blissful. She had been better off not knowing what she did now. How her true self really was. For the first time, she felt more terrified about remembering than about not remembering.

But it was for the greater good. And it was good that she would stop herself and her feelings before she could hurt Eunseo even more than she did already. Bona didn't deserve it either. She had been relying on other people to take care of her, expected them to do so. But that wasn't right. People like her had to be alone, and she only had herself now. Cheng Xiao knew she had to be independent, and knew she could - and would - fend off just right on her own. She was, after all, the CEO of a massive corporation. It was time to start taking care of herself again.

Eunseo's breath was now stable, slow, deep. She was fast asleep. Cheng Xiao got up, taking the utmost care not to make a sound, and left the room. She took her new phone and her purse, dressed herself in the clothes Eunseo had lent her to wear for the day, and wrote her a note thanking her for her care, promising to return her clothes as soon as possible. She left the paper on the dinner table.

As she was heading towards the door, she noticed the aquarium Eunseo had prepared for her in the corner of the room. She remembered Eunseo had forgotten to feed the fish before going to bed, so she fed them herself. Beginner's mistake, she thought. Cheng Xiao quietly watched the fish swim around for a while, as she enjoyed doing so much, and then continued making her way towards the door, which led into the hallway of the 13^th floor.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, revealing the majestic, luxurious hallway in front of her. She stepped outside. One foot. Then another. Then she closed the door behind her. The lock clicked. She was outside of Eunseo's house. She had left. Eunseo was free now. And so was she. She had to be.

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A/N: Hey everyone. I hope you're staying warm as the weather is getting colder. Christmas is arriving anytime soon, too. This time Cheng Xiao seems to have made a quite rash decision. How is this possibly gonna turn out? :o I hope you keep looking forward to this story. Thank you for your patience and support :) I hope this story is to your liking so far.