L.Joe walks Minhe to her house after a long visit to her dad. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"I.. Yes. No. I won't," she whispers. She doesn't want to be in an empty house. She feels as though the emptiness will consumer her whole.

"Do you want me to stay with you for the night? It'll be just like old times," he smiles.

She looks up at him and searches his eyes. "Would you really do that for me?"

L.Joe nods. "Of course. My parents even insisted on me staying by your side until you get back up on your feet! And besides, it won't hurt to have an extra person in the house right?" he smiles.

She nods with teary eyes and gives him a light hug. "Thank you." She pulls away and opens the door to be greeted by the darkness. She quickly turns on the lights and makes her way up to her room, L.Joe trailling behind her.

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to go make you something to eat?" L.Joe asks after she plops down on her bed.

"No, I'm okay. I think I'm just gonna call it a night," she mumbles.

"Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need me okay?" he says as he walks to the door.

"Wait!" she calls. He turns to look at her with curious eyes. "Can you.. Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" she asks. *I don't want to be alone.*

L.Joe sits next to her on the bed and gently her hair. "Go to sleep, Minhe. I'll be here until you do."

"Promise you won't leave me?"

"I promise."

Her eyelids flutter open as the sunlight streams into her small room. She feels someone leaning on her and widens her eyes when she realizes she fell asleep in L.Joe's arms last night. She looks at his peaceful face and can't help but feel guilty. *Am I hurting him by asking him to stay with me? Am I being selfish?* She lets out a soft sigh and gently pulls away from him. She covers him with the blankets before heading downstairs to make breakfast for them.

A little while after, L.Joe comes stumbling out of her room. "Minhe? Why didn't you wake me up?" L.Joe mumbles as he rubs his eyes. 

"You looked like you were sleeping pretty well so I didn't want to bother you. Besides, I wanted to thank you by making breakfast." As he sits down at the dining table, she places a plate in front of him and sits down across from him. "We have school soon, so-"

"You don't have to go if you don't want to Minhe," L.Joe cuts in.

She shakes her head and smiles at him. "It's fine. Daddy... Daddy wouldn't want me to miss school. He.. I'll be fine," she chokes.

"Minhe-"

"Let's eat before we run out of time!" she says, almost a little too cheerfully. 

L.Joe takes one last glance at her before digging in.

"I'll see you at lunch okay? Hang in there, Minhe," L.Joe encourages.

She gratefully smiles at him and nods. "Thank you. I'll see you later." She waves at L.Joe and slowly walks to her usual seat in the back. Her heart stops when she sees Kris sitting at the desk next to hers, his head resting on the table, eyes closed. She ducks her head and briskly walks past him and plops down in her seat.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him get up and look at her. Before he can engage her in a conversation, she pulls her phone out and sticks the earbuds in and blasts the music. She bites her lip and squeezes her eyes shut and rests her head on the table, facing away from him. She hates herself for doing this, but she can't bring herself to look at him. How can she? Everytime she looks at him, she's reminded of the man who almost killed her dear dad. He's the only family she has left, and if she were to lose him... 

*No! Don't think of such terrible things Minhe. Daddy is strong. He'll make it through this. He won't leave me alone,* she thinks tearfully. She quickly wipes away a tear that managed to escape and takes in a deep breath. *Everything will be okay.*

"Minhe!" *Don't come near me! Please!* He grabs her arm and turns her around to face him. "Why are you avoiding me?"

She looks away and bites her bottom lip. "Please, let me go," she whispers. "Oppa is waiting for me."

"Minhe, please look at me," he begs. "Why are you doing this to me? I'M your boyfriend, not L.Joe. So why can't you depend on me?"

"Everyone is staring Kris. Please, can we not do this now?" 

"Minhe-"

"Please!" she bursts out. "Please just let me go, okay? I-I'm not ready for this." Kris eventually releases his grip on her and she uses the opportunity to run away.

*I'm starting to lose her...*