0i4.

“Stay behind me,” Yoseob instructed her as he took a step forward and beckoned for Jiyoung to stay close to him. The phone call he was supposed to make was long forgotten as he quietly pushed open the door with a small creak. Glancing over his shoulder, he pressed a finger against his lips – to which Jiyoung reacted by clutching onto his arm tightly.

“Stay here first,” said Yoseob as he gently pried off her fingers. “If anything happens, or you hear something weird, get out of here as fast as you can and call the police.”

“What about you?” she asked back worriedly. Apparently, she wasn’t so keen on separating. And besides, she doesn’t want anything to happen to him – especially not in her house.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Stay here and wait for me, okay?”

She could only nod helplessly as she watched him entering the house, while silently praying that nothing would go wrong.

; ;

“It’s clear,” he told her about ten minutes later and motioned that it was safe for her to come in. Jiyoung heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped inside her own house.

“You should look around,” Yoseob suggested. “See if anything’s missing. I found one of your windows left opened, by the way.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “I’m pretty sure I locked everything up before I left. Especially, the door.”

Yoseob shrugged. “Maybe you thought you did? Or someone really did break in here – who else have the keys to your home?”

Her breath stopped short when realisation dawned upon her.

“Nicole.”

“You think she came by here after you left?”

Jiyoung shook her head. “That’s not possible. When I arrived at her house, she was already there getting ready. There’s no way she could make it here then return home and still have the time to dress up.”

Yoseob stared back at her thoughtfully. “She must’ve ran away while you were busy handling the guests. Everyone else was pretty much occupied too.”

“I don’t know,” Jiyoung let out a long, tired sigh. “I’m still thinking about her message and what she means. I just want to know where she is right now and if she’s safe.”

“You’ve had a long day. You should head to bed and get some rest. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

She managed a small smile. “Thanks, by the way. And sorry for troubling you.”

Yoseob grunted and rolled his eyes. “Don’t ever say that – I mean it.” Plopping himself down on the white couch, he made himself comfortable by propping both legs up the coffee table. “Go on in. I’ll stay here for the night, just in case the person decides to come back.”

“Yoseob – “ she started to say. “You don’t have to – “

“Sleep,” he ordered her sternly and picked up the remote control to switch on the television. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“About Dong Woon – “

His expression went rigid at the mention of his step-brother’s name, but he acted nonchalant and simply continued flipping through the channels.

“Tomorrow,” was all he said.

“Alright,” reluctantly, Jiyoung gave in. “Goodnight.”

He waited for her to leave, and only after did he hear her bedroom door closing, did he whisper, “Sweet dreams.”

; ;

At about 10a.m the next morning, Jiyoung came out of her room already dressed in a pair of denims matched with a white cotton button-down shirt. Her hair was tied up in a high-ponytail and she had her favourite purse slung across her body.

Plans had been made to meet up with Bomi for breakfast. She needed to show the girl Nicole’s weird message and discuss on how they should proceed.

But her tracks were halted as soon as she saw a pair of feet sticking out from her white couch. She had momentarily forgotten about Yoseob staying over (or a part of her was convinced he went home after she slept) hence she hadn’t expected to see him lying there in the middle of her living room, comfortably sound asleep.

Quietly, she approached him and knelt down on the ground next to him. She studied his face closely for a few good minutes, millions of thoughts running through her mind as she did so. She knew that it was wrong, whatever she feels for him is wrong – seeing how she and Dong Woon are technically still together; but with the amount of attention, care and concern he showers on her, a girl couldn’t possibly be blinded to all that.

Carefully, she lifted up his hand and placed it on his gradually heaving chest.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

; ;

July, 2009

“Nicole, you have to listen to me!”

She whirled around and yanked her hand out of his tight grasp. “Stop it! You’re hurting me!”

“Don’t do this to me,” he pleaded, grabbing hold of her hand even when he knew she hated it. She hated him. “Please, just give me one more chance. I’ll promise I’ll do better – “

“Himchan, are you even listening to yourself?” she demanded. “How many chances have I given you? How many times do you need to hurt me until you’re satisfied? Do you want to see the bruises?”

“This is about another guy, isn’t it?” his tone changed drastically, and his glistened gaze was now burning with anger. “You’re cheating behind my back, aren’t you?!”

“Listen to yourself!” Nicole retorted exasperatedly. “The problem lies with you – it has been all along and you are only blaming others instead of reflecting on yourself! You’re just so selfish and – “

He raised his arm, ready to hit her, but was intercepted in the nick of time.

“Go on!” Jiyoung challenged him. She now stood between the two of them, preventing him from inflicting anymore pain on her friend. “Go on and hit her, or me – whatever suits you. But I’ll make sure after this, not even your father can save your sorry .”

He pointed his finger at her threateningly. “I’ll get back at you the next time we meet! And you!” he looked over at Nicole who was shaking in fear. “You will never escape me!”

; ;

She cast a wary look around the dimly lilted room, with walls fully covered with various photographs – of hers, Jiyoung’s, Doo Joon’s and almost every other person she knows.

Her hand started to tremble again as the bedroom door was pushed open with a disturbing creak. The man, whom she had met with the day before (which was supposedly her wedding day) entered the room with a tray containing a bowl and a glass of water.

She watched him as he set the tray down on the bed, in front of her and took a seat on the only wooden chair in the room. Her eyes followed his hands as they picked the bowl and carefully stirred the hot porridge. After gently blowing it, he brought the spoon closer to – with the intention of feeding her.

She turned her head away in disgust, refusing to take even a spoonful, although her stomach has been growling since the night before. She couldn’t eat – not at a place like this, not when she had been kidnapped.

He tried to shove it inside , but that only made her throw it back out at his face.

A tight slap landed on the side of her right cheek.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she cried out and hit him continuously on wherever she could reach. “I did what you asked me to – I ran away without a word, I sent the text to Jiyoung and I already told you I won’t tell anyone if you let me go! Why are you still keeping me here?”

“It’s not that simple,” the low, gruff voice replied. “He needs to come out.”

A chill went down her spine when he said that.

“You told me...” her voice croaked. “You told me you won’t do anything to Doo Joon if I do as you say. You said you won’t!”

He snickered. “The world’s not that easy, Nicole-ssi.”

She stared at him, with the utmost hatred etched in both of her eyes.

“I trusted you.”