[Momo's POV]

Somehow during the night Mina had found her way to sleeping even closer to me. The majority of her svelte body was lying atop me. I inhale deeply taking in her jasmine shampoo and kiss the top of her head. Although I dreamed of waking up like this too many times to count, I never thought it’d become a reality again.

I grab the notepad from the nightstand. I lift my arms and look over Mina's head to write.

I don’t have to wait too long for her to stir and let out a content sigh. “Mmmorning,” she mumbles as she rolls off of me and lies on her back.

I hand her the notepad and she smiles as she flips through it.

Good morning :)

You’re beautiful.

I didn’t tell you that enough when I could.

You’re smart.

You’re talented.

You’re kind.

You’re everything I wish I could be.

I still think I don’t deserve someone as great as you.

But I’m willing to work harder and harder to become more deserving.

That is… if you’ll accept me still.

Anyway…

This is me asking…

If you’ll be my…

Girlfriend…

Again…

Mina rolls over onto her side and props herself up with one arm. “I’d love that.” She smiles at me.

My heart soars as I flash my lopsided grin at her and lean upwards to kiss her on the cheek.

////

I sit at the small table that sits two, watching Mina cook breakfast. She’s humming and swaying her hips to the music in her head. I smile at her and then return to writing.

“Here,” she says as she places two plates onto the table.

She sits down and glances at the notebook. I nod at the food in front of her and she starts to eat in silence. I finish writing the sentence and then join her.

“So, when can I see what you’re writing?”

I take the little notepad that I’ve been carrying around. Soon.

“Okay.”

I continue to write in the notebook and eat at the same time. I glance up every now and again and catch Mina staring at me. Often times she blushes and looks back down at her food. I hear the clang of her fork on her plate and look up.

“I need to go open the store. You okay up here?”

I nod.

“If you need anything I’ll be right downstairs.”

I nod again and watch as she gets up. She then walks towards me and kisses the top of my head.

I sigh as I hand Mina the notebook. I then hand her a note from the notepad.

I wrote down as much as I could while you were working. I’m going to go to bed.

Without an answer I leave Mina alone on the couch and retire for the night.

[Mina's POV]

I open my mouth to say something, but Momo already gone. I let out a quiet sigh as I trace my hands over the notebook that she’s handed me. I open the cover and look at Momo's messy handwriting. It seems that it’ll be a long night for me.

Mina. I’m not sure where to start to be truthful. I made a lot of bad choices, but helping you get surgery is not one of them. I truly do not regret that a single bit. I know you feel guilty and bad about what has happened, but please don’t.

I guess I should start from the beginning though.

When I was younger, I was at the top when it came to boxing. But I made bad decisions during that time.

After one of my best fights, a man approached me. He explained to me that I had potential in a certain line of work that pays extremely well. I was young and thought that money could buy me happiness. That if I had money, things would be easier. But that wasn’t the case.

I accepted his job offer even when I knew it was wrong. I was a paid muscle. I was paid hundreds of dollars to beat up people for loan sharks. The job paid so well and I let that blur my vision. I let myself ignore the pain I was causing people. I wasn’t the same person as I am right now. I ended up quitting boxing to make more money. I regret that decision so much.

During my time working for Lee Yoobum, I didn’t think twice and didn’t feel bad about hurting these people. I just did my job. I never crossed the line of killing anyone or bringing them close to death… until Jaebum. I never thought that I would be the cause and motivation for someone to attempt to take their own life.

I really regret what I did to him, but somehow he forgave me. In that way, he reminds me of you. He’s kind just like you. He’s accepted me and seen me change and grow, just like you.

Due to my bad choices, I ended up being arrested and imprisoned. I deserved every moment that I spent there, I truly did. It wasn’t easy, but it did help me see that my choices in the past had been the worst I possibly could have made.

That’s when you met me. When I was trying to be a better person. Trying to move on from my mistakes. You changed me Mina. You showed me that life was worth living.

At that time I’d do anything for you. And still will. I have never loved someone as much as I love you. When you took me to meet your parents… everything changed then. You couldn’t see me, but when I was around you I couldn’t look you in the eyes. It was hard being around you because I knew that I had caused all of the pain in your life. I knew I couldn’t undo what had been done, but I could help you live your life once again.

Once I learned that you could get your sight back, I set my mind on getting that for you. I didn’t have the money though, so I contacted someone I knew that did. She led me to a man who gave me thousands of dollars up front. The exact amount you’d need for the surgery.

I accepted it willingly and was sent to Thailand. Before I left, I threw out everything that could connect me to you. It was for your own safety. They put me in a fight and I’m not proud of it. I turned desperate and did things I never would have thought I’d do. The fight was until one couldn’t fight any longer. Luckily the woman I fought didn’t die, but I guess she had killed people before in previous fights.

For winning, I was rewarded a prize worth millions of won. When I got back to Korea… I was hit by a car and the prize was taken. I was supposed to bring it to the man that had hired me, but obviously that didn’t happen. I was stabbed twice in the back by one of the people that stole the prize.

That’s why I couldn’t move my body when you saw me in the hospital. The head trauma I went through caused me to lose the ability to communicate. Luckily my brain functions fine, I just can’t speak. The doctor called it something… aphasia I think he called it.

Anyway I thought I didn’t deserve you. I was crippled, scarred, and couldn’t even speak. Nothing about me was what you knew or had grown to love. I was a shell of myself.

When I was released, I couldn’t help but find you. I needed to see you one last time. When I went to your store, I hadn’t meant to run into you. I had waited until you were gone, but fate had it that we still met. I wanted to yell to you and tell you who I was, but I obviously couldn’t.

The fact that we met again at the river amazes me still. To be truthful I had assumed you moved on and were dating that skinny guy and brown hair. Mark you called him I think.

You told me you loved me though. I can’t believe that you still do, but you do. I’ve hurt you in so many ways Mina. And I’m sorry for all of it. Truly sorry. If I could go back and change things I would. If I could just go back to the time before I hurt Jaebum… I would.

I’m sorry for all of that. But there’s one thing I’m not sorry for. My love for you, Mina. I love you more than you can imagine. Unapologetically… I love you and always will.

You’ve always been with me even if you didn’t know. Downstairs there’s a night jasmine in a little pot. I left a little gift for you there, that I want you to take. It’s something that helped me get through all of this and I want you to have it now… now that I truly have you again… I don’t need it anymore.

I reread the words many times and each time my eyes are filled with tears. I can’t imagine the amount of pain Momo's gone through. And alone at that. She’s easily the strongest woman I’ve ever met and will meet.

I steady my breath and wipe the tears from my cheeks. Slowly I rise from the couch and make my way downstairs to the night jasmine. It’s just sitting there in all of its beauty in the moonlight that seeps through the windows. As I get closer, my breath hitches and my hand covers my mouth, stifling the cry that I know is building up. Tears flow again and my hand shakes as I reach out to the gift that Momo has left me.

The smooth surface finally meets my fingers and I play with the pebble in my palm. She had somehow kept it this whole time. This whole time the pebble that represented me was with her. I fall to my knees and sob as I realize how much she truly loves me and how much I truly love her back. To imagine that we may not have been reunited breaks my heart, but the fact that she’s upstairs in our bed makes it soar.

She’s home.

A/N: This is a pretty good refresher to a lot of the events that occurred in Always. As usual feel free to leave comments/votes and subscribe :)