Natalie’s POV:

Before I knew it, I was pinned up against the wall.

All the air in my lungs was out of me within a second’s time span.

“Don’t touch me,” the masked man hissed angrily, his fingers slowly digging deeper into my neck, causing me to gasp for air. I desperately attempted to pry his fingers off me, but he didn’t budge.

“If we ever happen to meet again, leave me alone. If there’s anything I hate the most, it’d be people that try to stick their nose into other’s business,” he warned finally before loosening his grip.

I dropped—limp—down onto the floor and tried to piece together what just happened when a loud slam rang out. Running into the kitchen, I found my front door swinging back and forth, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

Ungrateful bastard.

I carefully placed the last bouquet of flowers down in front of the tombstone before standing back up.

It had been exactly 17 years since my parents had passed away. Although I was too young to remember how they died, I knew there was definitely something wrong.

A tall man stood across from me. Although it was difficult to see his facial features because I was blinded by my tears, I was able to catch a glimpse of him before we left.

He was dressed in black and white—just like everyone else around me.

Probably just a family friend, I thought.

But I was wrong.

When they lowered my parents' casket into the ground, the first thing I noticed was the smirk that slowly grew on that man’s lips before he turned and left the scene.

Until this day, that horrific image was still stamped clearly into my mind. Whenever I questioned my grandparents about it, they would promise to tell me when I was older. But now, my grandmother has passed away, and my grandfather was no longer able to speak. 

Occasionally, I would think of the possible outcomes of my future if my parents had still been living with me until this very day. Maybe I would’ve been given a chance to go to college; maybe I wouldn’t have to take on two jobs. The more I thought about, the more accusing I felt towards my parents for leaving me behind. I felt my tears forming in my eyes as I stood up. Bowing politely, I showed my parents gratitude and respect before leaving.

On my walk back to the parking lot, I felt strangely uncomfortable. I turned around to find only the sun shining and the green scenery surrounding me.

Could’ve sworn I heard footsteps…

I hastened my pace and quickly got into my car, beginning my drive to the hospital to visit my grandfather.

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

“It is hard to tell when he will wake up, but until he does, there isn’t much we can do for you, Ms. Lee,” Doctor Kang informed me before exiting the room.

I was used to this. They repeated the exact same line to me every time I came by to visit, and although I smiled acceptingly at them, I was truthfully disappointed inside. He has been in a lifeless coma for a little more than a year, and as the months went by, I felt myself slowly losing hope towards my grandfather’s recovery.

I observed his face, noticing many age spots scattered over his wrinkly—but smooth—skin. I haven’t seen his twinkling eyes open in so long that I could feel myself forgetting what it felt like. I grabbed ahold of his hands and listened to his consistent breathing pace.

“Halabeoji, please wake up soon. Natalie is very lonely and is waiting for you to come back and hug her in your arms and tell her that everything is going to be alright like you always do…” I whispered, finding myself crying uncontrollably without even consciously knowing it.

After calming myself down, I left a lunch bag containing a small bowl of homemade pork porridge and a bottle of fruit juice behind, hoping that the nurse would be able to feed my grandfather these things.

I tied on my apron and let out a great sigh as I carelessly threw my bag of clothes into my locker.

I always dreaded this part of my day the most.

I left outside and—like usual—began taking orders and preparing drinks.

Halfway into my shift, I noticed a middle-aged woman—dressed in a fancy fur coat and heels that were a bit too chunky—strutting cockily into the club. Behind her was a man dressed in a fitting tuxedo and a pair of white gloves—who walked with his hands folded and his back slightly bent.

The woman looked around, as if she were looking for someone, and immediately stopped when her eyes landed on me.

Her face suddenly grew red with anger as she walked hastily towards me.

Before I could detect what was coming, I felt a hand colliding against my cheek. The pain set in a few seconds after as I gasped in shock and surprise.

“YOU!” she shrieked, pointing a finger directly at me.  “This is my last and final warning—STAY AWAY FROM MY SON, DO YOU HEAR ME? You are nothing but a piece of trash, what makes you think you can climb up to a throne next to someone like him?”

I palmed my cheek and slowly turned to face her. Tears were already trickling down my cheeks.

HimChan rushed out of the kitchen.

“Oh my god… Natalie, are you all right?” he asked, his brows creasing in worry.

He followed my eyes and found Mrs. Lee looking back at him.

“Yah, ahjumma, who do you think you are?! You rich people think you can just come into any place and act like you ing own it? You—“ HimChan went on a rampage.

“Yah, HimChan, that’s enough!” I hissed under my breath.

Mrs. Lee snorted as she rolled her eyes.

“Look at this low class trying to tell me what to do,” she scoffed.

“Mrs. Lee, please watch what you’re saying. It’s already bad enough that you brought me into this, don’t bring him into it too. Fine. You want me to stay away from your son? I’ll do it. Now, if you could please leave and stop disrupting everyone,” I argued.

Although I could tell she wanted to say more, she knew all eyes were on her. Under the magnifying glass, she had no choice but to watch what she said—otherwise, her reputation as the CEO’s wife of a fashion industry would be completely destroyed.

Quietly, she dismissed herself along with the man behind her.

I exhaled deeply.

HimChan gave me a tight hug as a gesture of comfort.

“You wanna take the rest of the night off? I’ll talk to the manager for you,” he offered kindly.

“No, it’s—“

“Are you sure? You really look like you need it.”

I hesitated at first, but gave in. I had enough stress for one day. I nodded reluctantly at HimChan and gave him a tight hug before changing back to my clothes and leaving.

As I walked to my car, the tears began to form once again.

I found an empty bench and began sobbing my eyes out.

After crying hysterically on end for half an hour, I breathed in deeply and stood up—stretching up towards the sky.

Walking to my car, I felt the same strange sensation I felt earlier at the cemetery. I looked behind to find no one there.

Calm down Nat. You’re probably just being paranoid. Go home and get some sleep.

I gulped nervously before unlocking my car.

Before I could get in, I felt a strong hand press firmly against my mouth—compressing any sound or noise I was able to make.

The last thing I remember was the moon shining down on me—as if it pitied me—before I completely out.