Sun Mi sat rigidly on a couch in the living room; she kept glancing uneasily to the direction of Ji Hyo’s room – her hands were still trembling as she nursed a hot cup of coffee to calm her nerves.

She was having trouble shaking off the horrifying image of Ji Hyo from her brain. She had heard the hoarse wail from the younger woman’s room as soon as she opened the front door and had nearly had a heart attack when she found Ji Hyo curled up like a ball on the floor – her hair was all mussed up and there was a sign of disturbance in the room and on the bed.

The older woman had thought the worst as she rushed to Ji Hyo’s side. Ji Hyo hadn’t recognised her at first, flinching and whimpering at the slightest touch – she kept repeating the same words that Sun Mi couldn’t make the head and tail about. It had taken some time before finally she managed to calm Ji Hyo down enough so that the other woman stopped screaming with her barely audible voice.

Ji Hyo had been like an empty shell – she had shown no signs of recognition towards Sun Mi at first; she stared blankly to the space and she ignored all the questions directed at her. The only reaction Sun Mi had been able to coax from the young woman was when she said she was going to call Chang Joo for help.

At the mention of their CEO’s name, Ji Hyo’s eyes lit up. She grabbed Sun Mi’s forearm and looked at her fearfully. She forbade her to call anyone, insisting that she was alright. “Bad dream. It was only a bad dream, Unnnie – I promise. Only a bad dream. Please don’t call anyone.” It was a bad lie and both of them knew it; however Sun Mi didn’t have the heart to let her charge down so she gave in to the pleading.

Sun Mi had helped the woman to get on the bed very gently and covered her with a blanket when Ji Hyo complained that her head was throbbing – no wonder, for she had been screaming for god knew how long. As she pulled the blanket, she saw something unusual on the bed – pictures of Ji Hyo and Jong Kook. She fished the pictures away carefully so that Ji Hyo didn’t notice.

The pictures were now scattered on the coffee table in front of her and Sun Mi didn’t know what to say. The back of the pictures had the logo of their management company, giving out that it had been Chang Joo who showed them to Ji Hyo. Sun Mi’s heart dropped when a sudden thought hit her. Chang Joo had the key to their apartment from back when he and Ji Hyo were still in a relationship; he had called her out of the blue to do something that wasn’t in her job description at all – as if wanting to make sure that Ji Hyo was going to be alone in the apartment. What if it was him who had made Ji Hyo in her current state? Didn’t he hurt her before? She swallowed hard, having the worst case scenario playing in her head and immediately regretting not checking for any physical injuries when tending to Ji Hyo.

When she was busy with her musing, she heard the doorbell ring. She frowned, wondering who that might be. Gingerly she approached the door, peeping through the peephole before opening the door; she was surprised to see who their guest was.

Kim Jong Kook was at the door with his hands stuffed in his jeans’ pockets, awkwardly shifting from a foot to the other. “Park Sun Mi-ssi,” he greeted stiffly.

Had it been a normal situation, Sun Mi would ask him to immediately leave the building as it would create another scandal to have him here. But this was not a normal situation; Jong Kook was not the one who hurt her Ji Hyo and he might be the only person they could turn to at that moment. Therefore, instead of slamming the door on his face, Sun Mi stepped aside to let him in.

Jong Kook stood gawkily in the middle of the living room; he felt so much out of place – like a child in the middle of a ceramic shop. Waiting for the cold rebuke that never came from the manager, the man was quite grateful when Sun Mi told him to sit down. She studied him suspiciously and Jong Kook knew he didn’t know what to answer if she asked him what he was doing there.

“Ji Hyo–..” he began.

“She’s asleep,” explained Sun Mi calmly, “I really don’t want to wake her up.” She watched as disappointment swept into the man’s expression before he made a move to leave. Sun Mi stopped him, telling him that she wouldn’t mind if he wanted to wait.

It really wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Jong Kook frowned at the sudden change of treatment and when he lowered his head, he saw the pictures on the table. Slowly he traced his finger on one of it before picking it up, sighing. He smiled sadly at the image, wishing that they could be as carefree again. When he lifted his head back, he noticed that Sun Mi threw a fleeting look at the closed door next to the kitchen and he felt a nudge of suspicion.

There was something off about how Sun Mi spoke about Ji Hyo just now; the way she kept glancing worriedly at a closed door as though it would burst open at anytime made Jong Kook alert. What heightened his suspicion was how Sun Mi treated him so cordially at the moment when she had been overtly hostile towards him just the night before. Something was definitely wrong. 

"Park Sun Mi-ssi, is everything alright?"

Before the manager could open to reply, suddenly the closed door creaked open. Sun Mi grew pale, whirling around to the direction of the door. Ji Hyo staggered out of the room, limping a little. She was having a massive headache from crying earlier and her muscles were aching. Not noticing that Jong Kook was there, she leaned pitifully on the wall. "Unnie," she slurred; her voice was raspy, "Unnie I don't feel well." 

Jong Kook stared wide-eyed. Ji Hyo looked so awful – her hair was tousled and the big t-shirt that she was wearing was crumpled. What shocked him was her voice; Ji Hyo sounded like she hadn’t used her voice for a long time, or as if she had been screaming. He realised that she didn’t notice him at all. He was about to announce himself when he saw the younger woman sway as though she was going to fall. Jong Kook moved swiftly, like a tiger seizing its prey, and caught her before she hit the floor.

Feeling a pair of muscular hands breaking her fall, Ji Hyo stiffened in an instant. She reacted out of fear, struggling against the gentle restraints. “No, no – let me go! Don’t hurt me!” she screamed with what was left of her voice. “I’ll do it; please, I’ll do whatever you want – just let me go!”

Both Jong Kook and Sun Mi froze as her words sank in, thinking the worst. The tone in which she said it was so full of terror that Jong Kook accidentally fastened his hold on her instead of loosening. It resulted in Ji Hyo throwing wild punches at him, still with her head hanging low. Jong Kook let her hit him, not backing off even a bit.

“Ji Hyo, Ji Hyo,” he called out to her very softly, trying to calm her down. Who did this to you, Ji Hyo-yah? Who hurt you? Jong Kook screamed inside his head but the only thing he could say was, “Ji Hyo-yah, it’s Oppa – Jong Kook Oppa. Ssshh... it’s okay now; it’s alright. You’re safe.”

The punches halted midair when Ji Hyo heard the name. Oppa – Jong Kook Oppa, her mind told her, Kim Jong Kook, not Chang Joo Oppa! She drew a ragged breath, bracing herself as she lifted her head. She was met with a pair of kind, worried eyes that she would recognise anywhere. Ji Hyo felt her fear ebb away in an instant and her tensed body became relaxed.

Seeing that Ji Hyo finally calmed and seemed to have recognised him, Jong Kook sighed audibly. “Hey,” he whispered in a cracked voice, “hey, you’re okay now.”

“Jong – Jong Kook Oppa?” she whispered back, choking, “You are not – you are not him.” Hot tears blurred her vision. The man in front of him nodded and Ji Hyo sobbed a little as she pushed him away, much to his surprise. “Jong Kook Oppa, go away. No. No – you can’t be here. He’s going to –..” she didn’t finish her sentence as she feared that saying it out loud would make it real.

 “I’m not going anywhere, Ji Hyo-yah, you need to calm down,” Jong Kook said, anger bubbled in his head. He could make a rough deduction on who the ‘he’ she mentioned was. He was still kneeling on the floor, still holding Ji Hyo’s arms. The woman shook her head, telling him that he didn’t understand – that he needed to leave now. The pain and concern he saw in her eyes was like a stab of knife in his chest as he knew that the fear in Ji Hyo's eyes wasn't for herself but for him - he was afraid for his safety. Jong Kook felt his throat closing as fresh wave of tears began to form in his eyes. He blinked them away; he couldn't cry, not when Ji Hyo needed him to be strong. He pulled the woman closer until she was half sitting on his lap, thankful when she didn’t resist. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“He’s going to hurt you,” Ji Hyo mumbled to his shirt as she buried her head in his chest. “Oppa, you need to leave.” A part of her shouted to her, telling her to push him away – to protect him; he knew what Chang Joo was capable of – but Ji Hyo couldn’t deny the tranquillity she felt in the arms enveloping her, making her feel protected.

Jong Kook gritted his teeth until his jaw hurt. “He can try all he wants; I’m still not leaving.”

Ji Hyo was torn. She needed to make him understand that it was dangerous to be close to her now. He was like a brother to her and she didn’t want him hurt. But why was it so hard to make him understand that? “He doesn’t understand that we are only friends. He won’t listen, Oppa. And now you won’t listen to me, either. Why can’t I make either of you understand? Why won’t you listen to me?” she said in resignation.

Jong Kook didn’t respond. He couldn’t. What did he have to say? Ji Hyo was too panicked to have a rational discussion with at the moment and as much as he wanted to follow her wishes that he should leave, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. What kind of man he was if he left a woman in distress – and this was not only a random woman; this is Song Ji Hyo, his friend and the woman he cared a lot like family. No, he couldn’t leave.

He felt a cold hand on his cheek and he blinked. “Oppa? Jong Kook Oppa, please don’t cry. Please don’t cry, I’m sorry,” Ji Hyo suddenly spoke again. It was then when Jong Kook realised that he had been openly crying, heaving in broken sobs while holding the smaller woman in his embrace.

“Don’t apologise, Ji Hyo-yah. It’s not your fault; it’s never your fault,” he murmured his reply in between sobs.

Sun Mi stood apart from the two figures huddling together on the floor and she felt so left out – like an outsider. She cried too – for Ji Hyo and because she was disappointed in herself for being so helpless in this situation; she was supposed to help Ji Hyo but right now she could offer nothing for both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook. Very slowly, unnoticed, she backed away and went to her own room leaving the two broken people to comfort each other. This wasn’t her battle and yet she had a bad feeling that this was only the tip of the iceberg. 

A/N: I really hope that none of you will plot to murder me after this chapter. Honest, I wasn't planning on writing it like this. Please let me know what you think of it; should I go on or should I go to another direction instead - one with less heartache?

Anyway, thanks a lot for everyone who has read, subscribed, and commented. You are all daebak! And here, have some brownies and chocolate to help ease the trauma you had on reading my rambling.