Brushing away a stray fringe, Jaejoong subconsciously reached out and barely touched the tear-stained face before his fingers recoiled sharply in realization of his actions. A small voice in his head tells him that they may have grown too close over time. This is not the first time since his kidnapping of Kwon Yuri that he had wondered if he divulged more than he should yet he brushed that thought aside for the umpteenth time.  

"Did he hurt your family too?"  He recalled how the girl, whom he has hurt too many times with his incessant bullying, had questioned him earlier. Softly uttering the words, seemingly afraid that her words could cause him pain. It almost seemed that she may have taken an entire week just to muster the courage to bring up the topic. The naivety was almost cute. From his perspective, it seemed to have taken forever before he managed a reply. For he was appalled at her strength and capacity to even consider anyone else besides herself at this point in time. The trait that he never thought he would ever be able to see in another; the trait that reminded him so much of Min Ji who should have had the chance to grow up and experience life as she deserved. And so, somehow, he shared with her what he had never fully shared with anyone else – the story of his sister who died in a car crash, Na Sang Hoon who managed to bribe the only witness to lie about Min Ji running recklessly onto the road and his mum who then eventually died of grief. For the first time, he shared his hatred for the man and she listened.

A cold sensation on his wrist caused him to jerk back to reality, only to find that it was Yuri's hand that was wrapped around his wrist. For a while, Jaejoong subconsciously held his breath, afraid to move, worried that his previous embarrassing action may have woke her. But that was it. The gentle contours on her face remained peaceful and calm, much to his relief. Using his free hand, he pulled the blanket up closer to her neck before sitting down on the cool floor beside the bed, cushioning his head on the arm that she continued to hold on to.

Ironically, for once in the longest time, he felt a strange sense of serenity. It was weird that it was her innocence that calmed him – the innocence and belief in others that he hated so much and that he firmly believed was one of the things that killed Min Ji and his mum. At that moment though, he had a flickering thought that perhaps, just perhaps, he would not mind if time froze for a while; if they could stay like this just for a little while.