'' Sandeul-ah...are you alright? How long do i have to stay like this? " Ah-ra bit her lips as she now relaxes her head on his shoulders.

" Jagiya... A little while more. Don't move...stay like this. " Sandeul gazes intensely into Baro's eyes as tears starts to fill his sweet eyes.

Baro shakes his head as he dramatically backs away from his best friend. The pocket knife that was now on Ah-ra's back, although he didn't want to believe that Sandeul was able to threaten him like that, he just did it. Baro could hear his heart beat in his ears as Sandeul presses the knife on her back to make sure that Baro was clear that he didn't want him to be near her.

" Deul-ah...don't harm her. I'll back off...so don't..." Baro eyes his best friend agonizingly as he reaches for the gun that he had kept hidden in between his jacket.

Although he was backing off, Ah-ra's safety was his responsibility, the girl was as pure as a gem. Her eyes that captivated everyone that was brave enough to stare into her mesmerising eyes, it was as if it was a trap. He knew he had to protect her with his life the moment he heard her laugh. Her ignorance accentuated the need for him to shield her from danger. His hands finally met the cold metallic handle of the gun.

* Sandeul slowly puts away the pocket knife in his jeans *

At that point of time Sandeul knew that Baro had chosen to protect Ah-ra. Who wouldn't? The reason why he drew the knife close to Ah-ra was because he wanted to draw a line where his best friend should stop, he didn't want Baro to stop him. If he did try to stop him with his devious plans then Ah-ra's life was going to be compromised. 

* Baro goes away from the scene *

* Sandeul drops to the ground as he held his head *

'' Yah! Are you alright?'' Ah-ra grabs his head as she gently slaps him a couple of times on the cheeks.

Sandeul observes Ah-ra's unforeseen actions, 

" I'm alright. Just a minor headache..." Sandeul bit his lips as he acted like he was having a throbbing headache and tried to stand up.

" You have a slight fever... here. I'll piggyback you. " Ah-ra swiftly slings her bag onto Sandeul and bends down to carry him.

" Pi-piggyback me? Shin Ah-ra..." Sandeul stutters as he widened his eyes at her back. 

" I'm really strong... I've done this umm...five times... Faster...my back is aching..." Ah-ra hurried Sandeul as she looked infront of her.

--------------------------------

* Ah-ra's flashback *

One year ago.

" I'm not drunk! Let me go... Is it wrong to love?! Oh? Why am i doing this?" Dal-rae yelled as she hits Ah-ra.

" Onni... calm down. Are you alright? Ah...this is embarrassing..." Ah-ra covered her face as she supported her elder sister.

" I-I'm Shin Dal-rae! Yah! Shin Ah-ra... can't I own everything that you have? I don't like him at all...but I want to be with him...because he's yours..." Dal-rae falls to the ground as she laughs and cries to herself.

" Who? Yah...what's wrong with you...you already have everything that I have...Onni... Get a hold of yourself..." Ah-ra shakes her sister as she listens to the gibberish Dal-rae.

" For once... can't you just let Mom and Dad down...I hate you... Shin Dong Woo! Is Ah-ra all you see?!" Dal-rae hits her head on the pavement as she cried her heart out.

" Are you crazy?! Yah! Why do you think I'm choosing the music career...Onni! What's wrong with you?" Ah-ra shields her sister and tries to slap Dal-rae into her senses.

" I'm sick and tired of you! You're the cause of my misery! Why, why must you act like an angel...oh? Even in Jinyoung's eyes...you're like a gem to him...Can't you just die?" Dal-rae hits Ah-ra repeatedly and finally crashes into her little sister arms.

" Jinyoung? Who is he? Onni...you're right. I deserve to die...Let's go home now. You're drunk..." Ah-ra bends down as she carried Dal-rae on her back.

* Dal-rae on Ah-ra's back *

" Shin Ah-ra...don't hate me too much. I loved you once. Whatever you have, i must have it. So, don't remember anything..." Dal-rae whispers to herself as tears fell from her eyes.

" Onni... Let's not hurt anymore. I love you too. You can have everything that I own. However, my precious memories...I want to have them back. That's all I can ask for right now...So Onni...don't hurt yourself anymore..." Ah-ra comforts the drunk Dal-rae as she carried her sister home.

---------------------------------------

Ah-ra laughs as Sandeul got on her back. Although, it was weird to be carrying a guy, she felt like as she finally accomplished something great in life. Proving to others that she wasn't weak even though she appears to be fragile-looking. 

" Aegi-ya... Are you feeling better?" Ah-ra grins to herself as she called Sandeul 'baby'.

" Am I not heavy? It's better if you put me down." Sandeul who heard the word 'Aegi' felt as if his heart was stabbed a thousand times.

" Surprisingly, you're not that heavy... I'm really strong! You can rest... I'll wake you up when we reach your house." Ah-ra persuades him to go to sleep as she gently walks to his place.

Sandeul closes his eyes as he reminisces the times when he was a child and his mother would always piggyback him whenever he was feeling upset. Not only that, his mother favourite pet name for him was ' Little duckling ' and ' Aegi '. No matter how many times he convinced himself that he shouldn't love Shin Ah-ra, he was already falling for her bit by bit. All his reckless actions were because he didn't want to see her and he wasn't brave enough to look at her in the eyes as he was afraid that she was going to discover all of his secrets. At the same time, he wanted to stay away from her to cool those burdensome feelings.

" Not yet. Not now. Lee Sandeul...you can do it. Endure..." Sandeul thought to himself as he wraps his arms around Ah-ra's neck.

" He's such a baby... Haha...I can't be any happy now with him on my back..." Ah-ra whispers those words to herself as she tilts her head to look at the sleeping Sandeul. 

* Sandeul falls asleep *

Baro who was following them couldn't hide his surprise at Ah-ra's hidden strength. For now, he knew that Sandeul was not going to do anything crazy to her. All he could do now was to follow Ah-ra and watch out for her.

* 20 minutes passes and Ah-ra and Sandeul finally reaches home *

" Aegi...wake up. We're here. " Ah-ra shakes Sandeul as she tries to catch her breath.

" Eung? You carried me all the way here? Really?" Sandeul rubs his eyes as he got down from her back.

* Sandeul enters his house *

" Come in..." Sandeul invites Ah-ra into his house as he heads straight for his room.

Ah-ra calmly entered his house as it was her second time visiting. Now, she was able to survey his house more closely. At first sight, it seemed to be cozy and warm however after looking at it again, the house seemed to carry a lonely and sorrowful atmosphere. There was no sight of a family portrait and all the utensils in the house was for a single person usage.

* Ah-ra sits on the couch *

* Sandeul comes out with a set clean clothes *

" This... It's my mothers...you can use it for tonight..." Sandeul passes the clothings to Ah-ra as he sat on the couch beside her.

" Oh...Sandeul-ah...I'll go change first." Ah-ra blankly heads to the toilet with the clothes in her hands.

* Ah-ra enters the toilet *

" Silk? That's weird... he's not rich and his mother...maybe I'm thinking too much. Even poor people can use these type of clothings...Wait. What am I supposed to tell Oppa...and my parents...Argh.." Ah-ra scratches her head as she stared into the mirror.

* Ah-ra changes into the clothes that Sandeul gave to her *

She calmly sat down on the toilet bowl and bit her lips. Who was she going to call... 

* Ah-ra dials for Jinyoung's number *

Ah-ra: Oppa....

Jinyoung: Oh? Why are you calling this late?

Ah-ra: I'm with Sandeul right now...

Jinyoung: Oh...WAIT WHAT?!

Ah-ra: Shhh!! 

Jinyoung: In his house?! It's already late. Yah. 

Ah-ra: Oppa...can't you say that I'm staying over at your house? Oh? Please...

Jinyoung: Araso! You're really a troublemaker...Text me his address. Hang up now. Bye.

----------------------

* One hour passes *

Ah-ra presses the water out from the towel and gently places the wet towel on Sandeul's forehead. He was running a high fever. 

'' Oh?! Your nose is bleeding! " Ah-ra panics as she sees blood dripping from his nose.

" It's cold. That's why... It's okay. Can't you hug me for a moment?" Sandeul turns to her as he tries to reach for her hands. 

Ah-ra gulps as she sat on the edge of the couch. There Sandeul was laying on his back while looking at her. Ah-ra slowly lies down next to him with her back facing him.

" You can hug me from the back. But don't touch else where. I bite. Sandeul-ah. Let's sleep. Good night." Ah-ra closes her eyes as she falls asleep with Sandeul's arms around her.

Sandeul blankly stares at her back as he watches her sleep. It was finally time. His heart was pounding at the thought of it.

* Ah-ra falls asleep and Sandeul slowly climbs out of the couch without waking her up *

Sandeul secretly walks to Ah-ra's bag and starts to dig out for something. His fingers were scrambling to find her phone but at the same time his eyes were focused on her. She was sleeping soundly.

* Ah-ra's phone vibrates *

Jinyoung: Babo. I'm reaching there in an hour. I'm sending your clothes for tomorrow. I've explained to your brother. He'll do the talking. Don't do anything stupid there. 

Sandeul's eyes quickly scanned the text message and instead he frantically searches for Dal-rae's number on Ah-ra's phone. His hands trembled as he went through Ah-ra's contact one by one just to find the long awaited number. His heart pounded and his eyes started to get teary. Then there it was, his sister's phone number.

* Sandeul runs to the kitchen and made the call with his cellphone *

* Dials for Dal-rae's number *

Dal-rae: Hello? Who is this?

Sandeul: Noona...Noona... *sobs*

Dal-rae: Yah! It's not funny...I'll put the phone down now... bye.

Sandeul: It's Junghwan...Noona... Junghwan... 

Dal-rae: Junghwan?! Junghwannie?! I've been waiting for you! Where are you?! Yah. Stop crying! Where are you?!

Sandeul: Noona... 

* Sandeul hangs up as he continues to sob *

----------------------------------

* Dal-rae *

'' Junghwan! Where are you?! Yah!" before Dal-rae could even get an answer from him, he puts down the phone.

Dal-rae frantically reaches for her jacket as she rushes out of the house. Using her useful app, she successfully tracked down the number and headed straight for the address. Her heart was thumping and beating, she was worried about him. How did he get to know her number? Why was he crying? Finally, after two days seeing the necklace with Ah-ra, he finally made the call to her. As if something had strucked her in the head, Dal-rae stops in her path and recalled something familiar.

" The necklace is with Ah-ra. So he knows Ah-ra...and...WAIT! Lee Sandeul?! Junghwan...Junghwan...is Sandeul?" Dal-rae softly utters those words to herself as she hails for a taxi.

* Enters the taxi *

In Dal-rae's head, it was no doubt that Junghwan was indeed Lee Sandeul. His innocent face and the way he looked at her the first time they met in school. It was indeed him. Dal-rae held her head as she regretfully looks out of the window.