Jiyong, they found something. Come home, son.

 

 

His father’s voice and words kept on echoing inside his mind that it was making him jumpy on his seat as he drove down to his father’s mansion. He would have preferred someone than something but at least, there’s a development right there.

 

Upon reaching the place, he jumped out of his car, asked the maids where his father was and almost flew through the stairs as he sped up to his father’s home office.

 

He was panting the moment he reached the room. His father was sitting on his chair while two men were sitting in front of him. He disregarded the two men and looked directly at his father. He can’t really describe the look on his father’s face so he can’t tell if a good or bad news awaits him.

 

“Dad,” he called in a whisper.

 

“Jiyong, sit.”

 

“I’d rather stand,” he said.

 

Silence enveloped them. Jiyong wasn’t sure how to react or how to feel. He’s not even sure if he’s still capable of reacting or feeling anything.

 

“They found this on the wreck,” his father then said, pushing a little plastic container at the edge of his desk.

 

Jiyong’s feet felt heavy as he closed the distance between him and the desk. He stopped two inches away from the desk when he saw what’s inside the little plastic container. It was a ring.

 

It was Dara’s wedding ring.

 

He tried to recall that day. The last time he’d seen her. She was wearing his clothes. But was she wearing her ring? He can’t remember and it frustrates him so. There was a possibility that she took her ring off and eventhough it stung him a little thinking she took it off, he’ll gladly accept it because if that’s the case, there’s a big possibility that Dara’s indeed alive. But the question was, why did she take it off?

 

If she didn’t take it off, it could only mean one thing. But she couldn’t even think of the word. No, he can’t. He slowly reached for the container. The ring still looked the same, shiny and glossy. Dara obviously handled the ring with care. It would be – his thoughts suddenly stopped.

 

“I don’t understand,” he said.

 

“So do we,” his father said. “I swear to you that we searched the whole place, even the investigating team wasn’t able to retrieve anything from the wreck. But this. . . this ring just showed up out of nowhere and it’s totally unharmed.”

 

“Dara’s still alive,” he said.

 

“The possibility of that grew higher,” the old man went on.

 

Jiyong wanted to shout or clap or laugh from the good news. Instead, he weakly dropped himself in a nearby chair. “I need to find her.”

 

“We’re working on it already,” Mr. Kwon said. “Don’t push yourself too much. You need to rest too. You-”

 

“No,” Jiyong cut off. “I can only rest after I found her.”

 

The old man sighed and signaled the men to leave. When they were alone, he looked at Jiyong with weariness. “You do know that you’re being followed by the press people, don’t you? I think it’d be better if you just let my men do-”

 

“Yes, I’m fully aware of that. But I won’t let that fact stop me from looking for my wife.”

 

Mr. Kwon sighed. He always wanted his son to be mature, to be more responsible and it was so sad how Jiyong achieved those things by going through something as hard as this. “Just do some precautionary measures when you’re searching for her. And I think it’d be helpful if you won’t use your car for the meantime.”

 

“I understand,” he nodded. “I need to go.”

 

“Jiyong, it’s already late.”

 

“It will be if I don’t find her first,”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Ok Taecyeon’s looking for her, too. Well, at least that’s what he told me.”

 

- - -

 

He wanted to keep on pushing. The lack of sleep didn’t matter to him but his body got needs and he knew that in order to keep himself up, he needed to eat.

 

It was already noon so he decided to dine in a nearby family-run restaurant a bit off track from where the explosion happened. His search for his wife was not making any progress. His emotions weren’t of help, either. If Dara’s still alive, why hasn’t she come home? Why hasn’t she come to him? A lot of possibilities came to his mind but he can’t really afford to dwell on negative thoughts right now.

 

He momentarily shook the thoughts away as his meal was served. The aroma of the food made his stomach grumble. As he tasted the food, a warm feeling spread through his system and he could just taste the faint sweetness of honey on the rice – he suddenly straightened up. He glanced at the glass of water in front of him and stared at it. Then, he grabbed it and took a sip. Honey, the water tasted honey. His heart started beating frantically. He looked around, not really sure what he’s looking for. Slowly, his brain started to keep up with what happened. He immediately called for one server.

 

“Sir?”

 

“Do you usually put honey on the rice and water you serve?” he asked.

 

A frown marred the forehead of the other. “I’m actually not sure-”

 

“Can I talk to your manager or your chef?” Jiyong quickly cut off. As the other went to call the manager, he can’t seem to keep himself in the chair. He fidgeted here and there until he can no longer contain it. He stood up and started pacing round and round. Upon seeing the server and a man he presumed as the manager head his direction; he quickly went up to them and asked the manager the same question he asked the server.

 

“No, sir,” the manager answered. “We-”

 

“Can I talk to your chef?”

 

“Well, certainly.”

 

His heart was on a roll. He felt like his chest was going to explode as he was led to the kitchen. His eyes roamed the area but to his disappointment, he didn’t find the person he expected to see. But still, he went to ask the head chef about the honey in his meal.

 

“No, I didn’t put honey in them and I don’t add honey to any meal I prepare,” the chef answered.

 

“Are you sure? I just tasted. . . are you the only chef here?”

 

“Well, no. I’ve got a junior chef, a trainee,” he answered and looked around. “She was here a while ago but she said she wasn’t feeling well.”

 

“What’s her name?”

 

“Sara.”

 

“Can you describe her to me?”

 

“Well, that’s really hard because she usually got a black veil on and she always keeps her head down. But she got brown eyes, brown hair and at one angle, she resembled the little girl in the shampoo commercial I’ve seen years ago.”

 

“Do you know where she lives?”

 

The chef’s eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion.

 

 

After a much heated argument, Jiyong was thrown out of the place. He cursed under his breath. As he looked around, he saw familiar faces from afar – some press people. He turned away and took the opposite direction. He’ll just have to manually search for her.

 

A girl with a black veil peeked around the corner. She has been hiding in the alley for quite some time now. She pulled the veil protectively around her and kept her head bowed. She took the other way in quick, frantic steps. As she passed another alley, a hand suddenly flew out and wrapped around her tiny arm. She gave a frightened and surprised squeak when the intruder hauled her in.

 

“It’s me,” a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

 

“Oh, thank God!” she breathed in relief and hugged the guy. “I-I saw him. H-he’s been looking for me.”

 

“I know,” he whispered, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “I actually thought he’ll see you.”

 

“I thought so too.”

 

“I’m glad he didn’t.”

 

“I’m scared,” she confessed.

 

He sighed. “I think it’s not safe for you to stay here anymore.”

 

“I agree,” she said and buried her face in his chest. “I’ve seen the news. They’re talking about Jiyong having an affair with Yuna and that he planned to kill me. He could have just filed for a divorce. I can’t understand why he would want me. . . dead. He was so sweet the night before the explosion.”

 

“We’ll figure out things soon, Dara.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

“But for now, I think it’ll be best if you stay with me in our rest house. You’ll be safer there.”

 

She pulled a little away from him. “Thank you for everything, Taec. I owe you my life and you’re the only person I could really trust right now.”

 

He smiled. “Let me get you home.”

 

Home. The word lingered inside her jumbled mind. She smiled back and gave him a tiny nod.

 

- - -

 

Taecyeon glanced at the clock. It was eleven in the evening already. Dara was fast asleep in his room while he was drinking all by himself at the living room with the television . A talk show was currently on air but he wasn’t really paying that much attention as his mind was filled with what he thinks a thousand of thoughts that he wondered how his brain managed to have that great number of thoughts in just a second. He wanted to throw the glass across the room or just punch and hit something but he feared that if he does that, he’d wake Dara up. No, he shouldn’t do that. She already went through a tough ordeal; a night of escape from her life’s nightmares wouldn’t hurt.

 

The weird thing was, a part of him wanted her to be up and about. A small part of him wanted her to be beside him and comfort him because right at the moment, he wanted to cry from frustration, confusion and a lot more he couldn’t name.

 

He sighed. He seemed to be making bad decisions one after the other. He wasn’t sure if it’s stupidity or foolishness maybe both but no matter what angle he looked at it, he’ll always end up being on a bad end of the rope. No, he’s not a bad person. He never saw himself going to that side. But in the end, he knew Dara would see him as a bad guy once she found out that he lied to her.

 

It wasn’t easy lying to her. It was hard but he didn’t have any idea what to do during those times.

 

The first major lie was the ditching thing. He never meant to leave her like that. He wanted to marry her but it felt wrong. He knew she just agreed to the marriage because of her family and he didn’t want that. It felt like he’s stealing Dara’s freedom. He was tired of watching her family make a puppet out of her. The thought of her marrying him, just because her family told her, hurt him. He loves her. God knows he loves her and it was too darn painful for him that she didn’t feel the same. Then, he discovered a little dirt on the well-respected family. He knew he couldn’t keep that kind of discovery from Dara but he also didn’t want that it’d be him who’ll reveal the discovery to her. It would be painful to see the expression on her face plus, he knew how she could be so blind that she’ll end up blaming herself. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want that at all. She was already blaming herself on too many things that weren’t her fault and he wasn’t going to add anything to that.

 

All of those mounted inside him that it drove him away. And it was the biggest mistake he made in his life. He thought everyone would think badly of him because it was him who left but he found out that the Parks took it against Dara. And then, her marriage with Jiyong happened. It was TOTALLY unexpected. The first time he heard it on the news, he wanted to fly back but he got coward. What if Dara was angry at him? What if she didn’t want to see him? It took him a while to gather his courage up and decide to talk to Dara.

 

But then, he realized SHE actually loves her husband and so it surprised him when she easily accepted and believed him when he said Jiyong planned her death.