Tiffany woke up the next morning feeling sore all over her body. She hadn’t opened her eyes again and just kept still in her position. Suddenly, she felt a warm breath hit her neck and she heard a steady breathing very close to her ear. She bolted up and fluttered her eyelids opened. She realized that there was another person in her room, sitting on the floor with her, and that she had been lying on that person the whole night. She stared at the sleeping figure for a long time, thinking how did he get in her room and how did she ended up sleeping in his arms.

Taeng stirred in his sleep when he felt a weight being lifted off him. He sensed the warmth leaving him and suddenly he felt cold. He reached around him for his blanket, thinking that he was in his own room, but he didn’t find what he was looking for instead the cold floor greeted him. Without opening his eyes, he crawled onto the bed he thought was his and was falling asleep again.

Tiffany could not help but to chuckle at the sight, and thought Taeng’s sleepwalking was a very serious one. She got up from her position and fixed the blanket around Taeng letting him sleep a little longer on her bed.

“Five more minutes, ahjumma.”He muttered in his sleep.

‘Ahjumma?’

Shaking her head at Taeng talking in his sleep, she went to get her towel and entered the bathroom for a bath.

Tiffany eyed her reflection in the mirror and saw her sunken bloodshot eyes. She shook her head disapprovingly, took a deep breath and let the cold water wash over her.

‘I shouldn’t be like this. You promised yourself you would never be like this.’ she thought to herself.

She promised herself that she won’t break down ever again. She promised that she would never let anything bring her down. No one can crush her spirit, she will survive this world alone. She needs no one, and stops at nothing. She is strong on her own feet, even without the pathetic thing called love. She doesn’t hate love, it's just that she thinks that love and herself doesn’t go well. It never goes well. That is what she had convinced herself and determined to live by it.

Flashback

A teenage girl was sitting alone on a swing in a quiet playground, looking at her feet while swaying on the swing. Her cheeks were wet with tears that didn’t seem it will stop.

‘Daddy, why do you hate me so much?’

“Tiffany!”She heard someone calling her name. She wiped her tears and faced the figure that was running towards her.

“Oppa.”Her face turned bright when she saw that boy. The boy who had made her felt she wasn’t alone in the world.

“I got your message. You want to meet me?”

“Yeah. I just felt like talking to you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just want to see you.”She tried to smile but failed to when she felt the pain coming back.

“What’s wrong with your face? Did he hit you again?”He reached towards her cheeks and caressed it slowly.

“Um.”She nodded. “He was angry at me. I don’t even know why.”She looked down again.

“Do you remember what I told you the last time?”He said seriously. Tiffany looked up. “If he ever hit you again, I’ll take you away with me.”

“What?”

“I meant it, Tiffany. Run away with me. I’ll take care of you.”

“Oppa, I can’t. He’s my father. I have to stay and take care of him.”She insisted.

“For how long, Tiffany? He’s a grown up, he can take care of himself.”

Tiffany shook her head. She can’t leave her own father, who else going to look after him when he’s dead drunk.

“No, Oppa. My father cannot work anymore, he’ll starve if I leave him.”

“That’s because he’s an alcoholic. He is taking advantage of you, sitting lazily at home, drunk while you’re out working your off.”He spat out.

“Don’t say that. He’s not a drunk. He’s just having a hard time right now.”

“Really? You’re having a hard time too. Look at you, you’re only eighteen, but you are already working and taking care of the bills which what your father should do!”

“I’m fine, I can keep on working. I can’t lose him, he’s the only family I got.”She said bitterly.

“Think about it, Tiffany. If you come with me, I’ll take care of you.”Tiffany hesitated. “We will send money to him every month, if that will make you at ease.”He tried to convince her and it worked.

“Where will we go?”She asked curiously. The boy smiled and cupped her face. “Anywhere you want.” He leaned in and pecked Tiffany’s lips.

Tiffany came home from the park and was quietly making her way in the house. She was almost at her bedroom’s door when she felt her hand be