Please note that italics are either pasts or flashbacks.

“Sunhee.”

“Sunhee, wake up.”

A low groan escapes Sunhee’s lips as consciousness slowly envelops her. She can feel the winter air blowing inside her room as the curtains dances above the window sill. For the first time in days, the sun is shining down her frail body, but that didn’t stop her from dreading the morning. With eyes still closed she grasp and pull on her blanket to cover her face. It’s been days since she last saw the sun, and her eyes have been too sensitive because of the endless cycle of a mess that is her life.

“Sunhee, you have to get up.” The voice travels in her ears, yet she couldn’t tell if it was of a man or a woman’s, she had only gotten a full hour of sleep after all.

All Sunhee wanted to do at the moment is to heal her weatherworn body and somehow have her heart recuperate from the blow it took. She refused to get up because she found that the mornings have not been kind to her. She ached from yearning, and it stunned and startled her in a way that she couldn’t seem to handle. Sunhee never knew she can love someone so much, and she never knew that someone she loved can be so heartless. She had a taste of what it was like to be cared for, to be in the arms of the person she love, but all that’s left now after that are the memories. Memories so beautiful that it lingered in her mind, etched into her flesh and forever engraved in her soul. Memories that were once happy now haunted her, mocking her in every waking hour of her life. Sunhee felt the weight of her own story, and she feared she can never go back to the normality that she grew to know.

“What am I going to do with you?”

The person beside her can only sigh and stare at her as Sunhee kept still, wishing for the person to leave her be. After a few moments, she didn’t hear anyone speak, causing her to take a sigh of relief as she conditions herself to sleep once more. It was the only way she knew how to get rid of thoughts of him.

The past few days were nothing short of unforgiving. Her head was in shambles, she couldn't seem to get herself together. All Sunhee did was cry herself to sleep, hoping and praying to the Gods to take her pain away, yet it progressively grew stronger and stronger. In the morning she found it hard to wake up, and at night, sleep is but a stranger to her. There were times when her friend Hana is around, silently watching over her as she wallowed in the pain. Sunhee refused to let anyone see her in this state, so she forced her new friend away, not even caring if she hurt her in the process. All she can feel at the moment is her own pain, and no matter how much Sunhee begged for them to go away, she couldn’t help but feel the intensity that it almost drove her to the brink of madness.

“I’m just gonna stay here until you decide to wake up.”  The person says, and the same time she felt a weight on her bed. The warmth of another body against her cold skin felt foreign and unwelcomed. In an instant, Sunhee opened her eyes, frantic and alarmed that a stranger is inside her house in her own bed next to her. She turned to look at the person, ready to push if needed, but all the adrenaline quickly went away when she came face to face with him.

“Good morning beautiful.” His smile so soft that it almost threw her off guard.

“Do you still remember me?” He asked jokingly, yet his eyes were indifferent.

“Chanyeol?” She breathed.

“I thought you already forgot about me, given that you refused to show face.”

Chanyeol stared at his best friend for the longest time. He wanted to ask her questions. To show her how broken he felt when she refused to have him around. How much more time does she need until she caves in and ask for him? How long will it take her to realize that she’s not alone in the world?

It’s been days, weeks even, but she never called and asked him to come over. She never asked him if he’s a shoulder she can cry on, because in reality, he’ll do everything for his best friend, and it hurt him because she doesn’t understand how important she is for him.

Nevertheless, Chanyeol understands her. He understands that Sunhee wanted to feel the pain all on her own. Maybe when she’s left with nothing, when she learns to accept, she can feel whole again. Chanyeol stopped coming over when Sunhee told him to leave her alone for the fifth time. It was clear that she didn't need his aid. He knew she’s only going to kick him out again, so he stopped so he can give her the space she needed. He wanted to let her breathe and figure things out for herself. He knew his best friend to be a strong woman, but when Hana gave him a call this morning, his worries increased tenfold.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work today?” Sunhee rose from the bed, her eyes a little red and swollen, her face as white as the snow outside.

“Tell me you’ve been eating.”

“What?” Sunhee frowns.

Weeks have passed since everything happened, and Chanyeol can tell the nightmare his best friend had gone through. That one fall has fractured her very existence, forcing his best friend to hide herself from the world.

How cruel can a man get for him to shatter the safe haven Sunhee fought to protect? How brave was he to take away her light?

Chanyeol can only imagine the things she had to go through. Sunhee's smile that sheltered him in times he needed a little pick-me-up is no longer there, even her stares felt cold and lifeless. Chanyeol didn’t want to admit it, but he felt her pain, and all he wanted to do is find that bastard and with his face, the same way he ed with his best friend’s heart. He doesn’t deserve to roam around unscathed, not after what he’s done to her.

“You look like hell Sunhee, we need to take you to the hospital.” Chanyeol abruptly gets up the bed, took her hands and roughly pulls her up. He was frantic, he needed to know her health isn’t on the line, before anything else.

“What are you doing? I don’t need to go to a hospital.”

Sunhee tried to pull away from his grasp, but the man didn’t hear a word. He was determined to have his friend checked, if only to have his mind at ease. He wanted to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid to hurt herself. It was his stupid decision to let her be, and God forbid, but if something bad ever happens to her, he wouldn’t know how to live with himself.

“Chanyeol please,” He turned around