A/N: yo this starts out sad but it ends happy ok just in case you thought i was gonna pull another chapter 22 on u i'm not u can read this one ok.

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Dearest Uee,

You asked me in your last letter to tell you about the day you came home. I know it's all a blur to you. I'll try not to sugarcoat, but it's hard for me to talk about this...

It's so hard to sleep without you. It's been a year and six days since you've been gone, and it hasn't gotten any better. I can't enjoy a second of my life imagining how much you must have suffered. It's been so long and the case is colder than ice. You must be dead. That thought kills me inside; the image of your lifeless body. It comes to my mind and I cry, my knees hit the ground and I pull at my hair, I throw things at walls, I shrivel up in a ball on the floor, choking on my tears and gasping for air. But this tiny part of me has hope that you're alive somewhere. And that's why I'm still here. I'm living for you, Uee. Because if you find your way home and you cried because your Jooyeon is gone as hard as I cried the day someone took you away... That would be unforgivable. But I wonder, is it sick to hope you're still alive when if you are, you're probably still in the hands of your captor? But isn't it sick too to hope you've been put out of your misery if you had no chance of escaping? The whole situation is ed, Uee. Nothing will ever be right again in my life. I'm an empty shell of a person; a walking ghost. When that person took you, they took the life from me. I would kill him without thinking twice about it. I have this image of him in my head, and sometimes when I'm cooking I take the chef's knife and sink it into the meat and imagine doing that to their chest and for a moment I feel this incredible sense of relief. I'm become a sick person, Uee. Could you even love me anymore? Does it even matter if I'll never see you again? Does anything matter if I'll never see you again?

That's what I was thinking before there was a knock on the door. I thought it strange; given my state the few friends I have left that haven't given up on me always call or text before they come over. I looked through the peephole and I swear my heart stopped. I thought I shouldn't open the door, that I'd finally gone off the deep end and I was hallucinating. Then I thought that even being with a hallucination of you would be worth it. But I opened the door and there you were. But you were disheveled. Your hair was a mess and you had the deepest bags under your eyes; there were wounds on your arms. I was speechless. This should have been the happiest moment of my life, but I was so overwhelmed I wasn't sure how to carry on.

“Jooyeon” was the only thing you could say as you stepped into my—what used to be, and was again our—house. I held you carefully. I knew you were fragile now. I wanted to grab you and kiss you passionately, over and over and all over, but I knew that wasn't right.

“Uee, my Uee...” I began to tear up as you put your head on my shoulder and I felt you breathe in, reminding yourself of my scent. “Oh god, I missed you like hell. I can't put it in words.”

“I'm so glad to be home...” You started to weep on my shoulder and I hushed you.

“You're safe now. Everything's going to be okay.” I reassured you even though I wasn't so sure. How had you gotten away? Would he be after you? Would I be able to protect you, or would I fail again?

You smiled at me, but deep in your eyes you looked so changed. So broken. I wondered if you could ever be repaired. Could I learn to be happy again? With each other, could we slowly rebuild ourselves?

“I love you so much, unnie...” I felt a surge of emotion course throughout my body at those words I'd so sorely missed hearing.

“I'll always love you, Uee. I'll always be here for you.” I kissed the top of your forehead.

“I-I need a shower.” You pulled away from me and started to walk toward the bathroom, and I followed me. You looked at me nervously at I entered the room. “I'm not ready.” You said, hanging your head.

“I understand completely.” I wanted to make sure you felt no pressure from me. I left to respect your wishes, waiting in our bedroom for you.

You came out and looked at me awkwardly. I tried to avoid looking at you because I knew you couldn't handle that right now, but your body was so different. You were so thin and frail and there were so many scars all over you. I felt myself about to snap with anger, my hands forming into fists wanting to destroy whoever did this to you. But I restrained myself. You needed calm. I wouldn't dare do anything to trigger you.

You seemed surprised to still see your clothes in the drawers. But I haven't moved anything of yours. I couldn't possibly bear to, it would have been the ultimate admission that you were gone. Your old clothes hung on your body now like they were on hangers. I just wanted to take care of you, nurture you, nurse you back to health. I walked back to the couch with you and took you in my arms there, knowing you wouldn't be comfortable with any intimacy on the bed.

“You saw the scars.” You pointed out, not looking in my eyes. I nodded and you lifted up your sweater. I gasped, feeling nauseous when I saw the thick lines across your stomach. I hadn't noticed those as you were dressing. You hesitantly pulled up your skirt just enough to show me the deep X marks on your thighs. I looked at you and I just broke down in tears. That's when you held me, showing me that you knew there were two sides to this story; I experienced this nightmare in my own way too. But it was nothing like the hell you went through. I'll never be arrogant enough to conflate the two. Part of me wanted to ask about them, part of me wanted to never know, and I concluded that if you wanted to tell me, you would on your own accord when you were ready. But there was no way in hell you were now.

“It's over, unnie.” You reminded me as I bawled on your chest. I had no idea how you could be so composed, except maybe that you were just so shattered that you didn't feel such strong emotions at that time. Maybe that was for the best.

I heard your stomach growl and I lead you to the kitchen. You were elated at the sight of leftover chicken wings in the fridge and dug into them voraciously, gulping down chocolate milk. I half-smiled as I watched you cutely devour so much food; I'd never seen you eat that much. But it hurt me to think how hungry you must have been. You finished and you wanted to watch TV, you were so excited about it. But I was detached, thinking about how removed from the world you must have been for so long. But at the same time, I couldn't wait to take you out and show you the world again.

You surprised me that night by wanting to sleep in my arms. Holding you was the best feeling I'd had in so long; this deep sense of warmth. “Jooyeon.” You spoke up as I was falling asleep, but I didn't care, I was still so glad just to hear your voice. “I feel happy.” I smiled genuinely for the first time in over a year, and out of instinct, I grabbed you and kissed you.

“I'm so sorry.” I backed away. “I shouldn't have--” You silenced me with another kiss.

“You can kiss me. That much is okay.” You cuddled up against my chest again.

“Uee.” You moved slightly to let me know you'd heard and weren't asleep. “I feel happy too. I thought you'd never come home. You're my miracle.” You nuzzled me.

I knew our life wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't going to be normal. It was going to be a bumpy road with lots of baby steps and sometimes steps backward too. But I knew it'd be worth it. I knew we could recover together and when it got tough, I would help you fight through it. And we did fight hard to get where we are today, with you as my bride. We've come so far from then to the day I write this letter. There's only two days left on my trip, and two days left until our wedding. It'll be the second most important day of my life.

Love,

Jooyeon.

Jooyeon and Uee were cuddling on the couch after Jooyeon came home from the airport. “Jooyeonnie, tell me more about when I came home. What was it like after that?”

“Well,” Jooyeon sighed. “I remember how agonizing it was to not be physical with you. That's just naturally how I express my feelings, and I couldn't have you that way anymore. But I told myself that you were worth waiting forever if I had to. As much as I wanted to, the night that you broke away from our kiss and told me you were ready, I was scared. I remember asking if you were sure and you nodded enthusiastically, but it didn't reassure me. It was such a big step, and I knew easing back into this would be part of your healing process to return to normal life, but I was so afraid of triggering you. So I decided to keep things simple and comfortable. I let you on top of me and I watched you rediscover my body, exploring me with your hands like it was our first time. I was nervous as you slid my hand between your soft thighs, but you were perfectly happy to receive me. I just rubbed you and listened to those cute moans I missed so much.” She smiled at Uee.

“Go on...” She prompted Jooyeon.

“Alright. I remember feeling your breath as you whimpered with your head against my chest. I petted your back as you got close until I felt you grab me and shiver as you came, and you said, 'I forgot how good it feels when you touch me.' You smiled and my thighs, and you said, 'Now I need to remind myself of how much I love touching you.' I was nervous about it, but I relaxed when you had no problem and your hand just felt like heaven.” She pulled Uee closer into her lap. “It was always like that. You always surprised me with how strong you were, how you were able to move on.”

“I had the best support in the world.” Uee leaned in and kissed Jooyeon. “Did you ever imagine this? Did you daydream about being with me again?”

“Honestly, after a while, no. It just hurt so much because I thought I never would and I didn't want my life to be consumed by it.” Jooyeon paused. “It still was, though.”

“I did. I knew I would get away and get back to you someday.” Uee smiled proudly.

“I've always wondered... How did you...” Jooyeon skirted the question.

“How did I get away? He got careless and left the basement unlocked one day, so I took the baseball bat and gave him a dose of his own medicine, then while he was unconscious I tied him to a chair so he couldn't get away when I called the police.” Uee glowed as she recalled her triumph.

Jooyeon's jaw dropped. “You're a ing badass.”

“You do what you have to do in a situation like that.” Uee shrugged it off.

“You never cease to amaze me.” Jooyeon kissed her softly. “Let's go to bed, we've got a wedding to rest up for.” Uee nodded as Jooyeon took her hand and lead her down the hall.