"Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase."

—Martin Luther King Jr.

He continued to repeat her name like a prayer from a newly devout Catholic while she just stared at him with that unsettling blank expression of hers. At one point, the nurses had to take him out the room because he was making too much noise and Dara's heart rate was picking up because of it. Jiyong struggled with a growl but he eventually complied and left the room when Dara urged him in a whisper to go. 

So there he waited on the empty benches adjacent to her door. His shaky hands found its way to his face where he start panting as if he was losing air. A choked sob escaped his lips when he straightened up and lolled his head back to the wall. She came back. He knew that she would never leave him and he was goddamn lucky that he stuck out until the end and never lost hope.

Of course he had weak or strong lapses of despair but at the end of the day, Jiyong knew that he still needed to be by her side every step of the way. Dara had been doing that to him ever since he knew and he was his turn to finally prove to her that she was a staple in his life. 

It was only a few minutes later that he realized that he left his phone in the room. His hesitant hand hovered over the door knob, slightly scared that the doctor might lash out on him again. Yet his reason was thrown out the window as soon as he heard her scream. Slamming the door open, he marched towards her in a hurry, ruthlessly, pushing the nurses who were on his way.

"What happened? What did you do?!" He roared accusingly at them all as his hands took hers to calm her down.

"Ms. Park is experiencing a state of confusion and agitation." The doctor explained gently, almost pitifully. "It's quite normal for patients who have just gotten out of a coma. Just give her some space and time to adjust to her surroundings. For all her memory knows, she remembers that she was nowhere near a hospital until now." He said. "Ms. Park needs to adjust."

"Then why the ing hell did she scream?" Jiyong bellowed. "You did something!"

"We were administrating our regular tests and Ms. Park went into shock because her mind is still in the process of comprehending the changes. We immediately gave her space when it looked like she needed it if that's what you're worried about."

Jiyong growled in response before his demeanor completely changed. He switched to a calmer expression when he looked over at Dara who was in the verge of tears. Cautiously, he stepped closer and held her hand tentatively. Dara instantly relaxed at his touch and it didn't escape his concerned eyes. A faint smile painted his lips and he let his other hand rest on her head where he started giving it a comforting pet.

"Everything's okay. I'm here." He whispered. Dara sniffed in response and weakly nodded her head against his chest. "I'll stay with you, alright? Would you be fine with them checking on you?" 

She eyed the strangers warily before she directed her disoriented look at him. "W-What's going on?" 

He shushed her softly and patted her head. "I'll tell you everything you need to know after they test you, okay?" he said, his hold on him tightening reassuringly when she tensed when they approached her. 

"They told me... I... I was in an accident?" She asked him unsurely as the nurses carefully checked her vitals. 

His jaw clenched at the mere memory of her lifeless body on the street and he let out a grim breath to try and calm himself down. He needed to keep his head together especially now that Dara needed it. 

"Yeah." It came out as a hoarse croak. "You were crossing the street and a car hit you. Noona's already pressed charges to the one who did this to you." His tone grew menacing at the recollection of what Dami told him. "Drunk driver... ing bastard."

Jiyong noticed her probing eyes when he looked down at her. It seemed that she was too caught up in her thoughts as she looked at him, her movements distracted while the nurses asked her to move some parts of her body. A long pained groan escaped her lips when the nurses helped her to sit up. Hearing her immense discomfort made his alarms go through the roof. Jiyong cast another accusing look at them and was about to snap once more when the doctor beat him to it. The old man put a sympathetic hand on the girl's shoulder before switching his gaze to him. 

"Completely normal." The man cut to the chase. "Ms. Park has been immobile for more or less a month and her body's adjusting from it. She'll be stiff for the next few weeks but gradually, she'll regain her muscle movement. It will also help if she'll be put in a couple of physiotherapy sessions to bring her back into full capacity." Seeing the younger man's skeptic gaze, he continued, "I assure you that everything she's experiencing is normal for a coma patient that has undergone such great trauma. We'll do everything we can to bring her back on her feet, Mr. Kwon." 

The doctor took the boy's curt nod as a sign of agreement and understanding. Smiling faintly to himself, he closed the folder that he held as the nurses worked around him. "According to this small check-up, everything seems fine but that goes into saying that it's only the exterior that we checked. Also, we have yet to undergo a full check-up to see what we have in our hands." he said. "For now, we advise her to rest for a bit while getting things ready. We'll perform scans on her to check her internal make-up. We may be doing it later in the day or tomorrow morning depending on her ability to conform and cope with all that's going on." 

"What the ?" Came his incredulous breath. "Why can't you just do it today? What if there's something wrong inside of her and you'll be too late to find out?!" He felt a weak tug on his hand and instantly calmed at the sight of her concerned expression. There she was again worrying about him instead of herself. Jiyong cursed inwardly and behaved. 

"Her surgeries were successful, Mr. Kwon. And we've been checking up on her every so often to see if our team did a good job keeping her alive. If there was something wrong with her, you would've known on the first few weeks of her stay." he explained and sighed in relief. "Thankfully, she didn't experience any complications but if you'd like, we'll do the testings as soon as we can."

He suddenly motioned Jiyong to come closer to him and he reluctantly pried himself off her hold to come nearer. "If you'll just kindly calm her through the process, we'd greatly appreciate it." he said, only loud enough for him to hear. "Patients like her who've forgotten some of her memories often turn to aggression and refuse to comply during testing—"

"What do you mean she lost her memories?" Jiyong was in a mix of dread and fear as he interchanged between him and Dara. 

An apologetic look crossed the older man's face before it quickly changed to one of assurance. "We asked her earlier if she remembered how she got here, or the priors relating to that, but she had no clue. Again, this is normal as she did experience a major concussion and again, we've yet to find out just how much of her life she lost."

How much of her life she lost...

Jiyong glanced over at her once again before running up to her when she saw Dara trying to evade the nurses with a lost and horrified look on her face. Glaring at them, he waved a dismissive hand to shoo them away while he put her head on his chest. The small act of her clenching her weak fists on his shirt as she hid and sobbed on his chest made his heart beat painfully. It made him want to protect her from everything but letting them administer to her was the only way that he can keep his sanity. 

"I'll talk to her." Jiyong told the doctor. "I'll call you as soon as I calm her down."

"Take as much time as you need. We'll have our people on stand-by just in case... And if you see something wrong... like if her heart rate becomes too fast or if she experiences vertigo or nausea of some kind, please call us immediately."

Jiyong nodded and went back to her without another word. The medical staff quietly let themselves out and the two were instantly enveloped in silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward. 

"Is this it?" She pierced through the silence with a stuttering breath. "I'm gonna..." 

"Don't even say it." he growled, interrupting her. 

Dara looked at her, expression on the brink of bawling as parted to let out another staggering breath. "J-Jiyong—"

"You're not dying." he insisted vehemently. "Nobody's ing dying, alright?" 

"You don't know—"

"I ing know." he interrupted yet again. "I know about your stupid family curse bull. Cut the crap, Dara, because I don't wanna hear it anymore." 

Tears continued to slip past her cheeks onto which he would dutifully wipe them away. Dara felt completely exhausted, both physically and mentally. Her whole body ached while her brain was in a total haze of uncertainty. She'd look at Jiyong and try to remember her last encounter with him but her mind was still too much in blur. As far as she could recall, Kwon Jiyong was just fresh out of university. This Jiyong however... he looked slightly aged and more mature. The thought only made her more uneasy. 

Jiyong grew alert when her heart rate monitor started beeping fast and loud. He cast one panicked look at her before he went for the attendee button. He was about to push it when Dara reached for him, her heart gradually calming. 

"Stay." She pleaded. "I-I don't want them here." 

It was like a knife pierced through his chest at the sound of the girl's raw plea. Seeing that her pulse was settling, he took a step back from the button and sat on the side of her bed, carefully pulling her to him for a warm embrace. The woman would moan and grunt in discomfort from his hold and he'd arrange himself to make her feel more comfortable. One thing was for certain though, nothing would make him leave her side. Call him clingy or whatever you want, but when you see the one you love go through all that and come out barely alive, you'll realize some things that you've taken for granted. 

Jiyong knew he wasted all that time with her and in the back of his mind, he knew that he was taking advantage of her feelings too. He was much too afraid of experiencing the same pain that he did from three years ago that his subconscious wanted to see and make her grovel and try to win his heart. He wanted to see her fight for him and he would turn a blind eye every time just to give her a taste of her own medicine. He felt ruthless and guilty at what he did. 

And when he finally caved in and owned up to his feelings, this is what he got in return. Dara got into an accident and he almost lost her... he almost lost her because of his bitterness and fear. 

He vowed to never let that happen again. 

"Can you tell me the last thing you can remember?" 

Dara knew his name so she shouldn't have lost a big chunk of her memories. Her sense of familiarity towards him was still there as well and it gave him hope for a fast recovery. 

"I... I don't know." she said truthfully, closing her eyes while she furrowed her brows. "Everything's just so... I-I can't."

He nodded gravely and cupped her face gently. "You remember me, don't you?" 

She nodded, although a little reluctantly, and said, "Of course I do."

But there was something in the way that she looked at him that his body tense and his heart beat for all the wrong reasons. 

"Where's omma?"

He noticed it earlier when he found her awake and he noticed it again when they stared at each other while she was being examined. He thought that it was just because she was still in shock. 

"Where's Seunghyun?"

Her eyes didn't show the same glint of affection anymore and dread was starting to creep up on him as the girl continued to ask for Seunghyun. 

No... No, no, no. Please, no.

"Dara." he muttered hoarsely.

"Yeah?"

He his drying lips but it still felt brittle somehow. His hand grew cold against hers but she couldn't notice since she was too preoccupied looking around the room. She was looking at everything but him and it made his skin prickle a thousand fold. 

"Do you love me?" 

The woman stilled and finally looked at him. Again, they began the stare-down they were doing earlier. Jiyong sighed in relief when Dara suddenly burst out into a smile. 

"This guy..." She shook her head amusedly, thinking that it was a joke. 

But it wasn't. 

"Do you love me?" he asked again, eyes unblinking. 

Dara eyed him warily and removed her hand from his.

"Don't make things weird, Jiyong." she whispered. "Please." 

-when she was 14 - attraction-

"Dara-yah~ Your boyfriend's here!" 

The girl growled under her breath and glared at the boys who kept making kissy faces at her. It was lunch time and she thought that she'll be free from him for today because she was eating in class but apparently that wasn't the case. Dara slammed open her classroom door and there stood a 10 year old Kwon Jiyong who was slowly reaching her height. 

"I waited for you for like 20 minutes." he hissed accusingly, his lunchbox dangling in his hand. 

Dara crossed her arms and scowled. "Do you expect me to eat lunch with you everyday? We already eat breakfast and dinner together! Let me breathe!" 

They shared the same school even though Dara was already in junior high while Jiyong was still in elementary. The only other schools in their districts were private schools that were too expensive or public schools that were too far away. Now that Jiyong was older, her duty as his babysitter was gradually decreasing but the little fly still kept clinging on to her like food on a trashcan. 

Dara was about to shoo him away but the boy was already making his way to her desk and grabbing the neighboring chair for him to sit on. She grumbled and let out a defeated sigh as she made her way back to her chair. Usually, they'd eat out by the mango tree when it wasn't raining. It was sunny that day but Dara didn't want to eat out with him. It has only been the 2nd week of school but the kids in her class kept teasing her about Jiyong. She grew more conscious now about what people thought since she was at a sensitive age. It also didn't help that they'd only made her