CHAPTER NINETEEN - - 

- - healing

"Krystal, time to wake up."

The voice pierced through my dreamless sleep and I groggily cocked open an eye -only to be greeted by darkness. I shut my eye again as I frowned, gathering my bearings. I was in a moving vehicle, that much I could feel, and it was still night time, or at least very early morning. My frown deepened as I snuggled further into my pillow. I was tired, very tried and it wasn't just physically.

I felt emotionally drained.

A chuckle reached my ears.

"No princess, you can't go back to sleep," my pillow moved as the voice spoke again and I realized that my pillow, wasn't quite a pillow.

It was a shoulder.

Minho's shoulder.

My eyes opened themselves and I lazily glanced upwards. Minho's curious, yet entertained, gaze met mine. Even in the half-light I could see his features perfectly.

"There we go," he said softly as he laid a kiss to my forehead, "I promise you can sleep again later. As soon as we get to my house ok?"

I nodded and yawned, just, just covering my mouth with my hand as I did so.

"How long did I sleep for?" I asked, my voice laced with sleep. It was dark when I'd gone to sleep, but who knew how long ago that'd been? I wasn't even sure what time we'd gotten on the bus last night.

"About five, six hours," Minho replied as he squeezed my hand, "But you really needed it."

I couldn't argue with that.

I really did need to sleep and while you couldn't sleep away your problems, you could sleep away their effect on you.

Yesterday, after Sulli's plea and Minho's command, I'd asked him if we could leave straight away and he'd complied. We'd stopped at SHINee's dorm to quickly say goodbye and for Minho to get his stuff. We'd also stopped at my sister's and she'd given me some clothes to wear. I wasn't going back to fetch mine after all. Soon after the farewells, we'd caught the bus.

I just didn't realize how long of a drive it was.

Especially if we'd already been travelling about six hours.

"How are you feeling?"

I pursed my lips, "I'm not sure."

I wasn't really.

How was I supposed to feel, well other than conflicted?

My best friend had asked me for my boyfriend. And I'd almost given him up. But he'd fought for me and that'd given me the strength to fight for him.

It was a lot to process you know.

And now, we were on our way to his rural hometown where I was sure cellphone signal was nonexistent.

But that was probably exactly what I needed.

A place where my life couldn't reach me.

A place of new beginnings.

A place of healing.

I sighed as I lifted my head from Minho's shoulder. I winced as soon as the muscle ache became apparent. While his shoulder was wonderfully cushy, I'd been lying in an awkward position.

"Did you sleep at all?" I asked him while blinking the sleep from my eyes.

"Sort of..." he trailed, "In bits and pieces."

I frowned at this and reached out to cup his cheek, "What will your mother think of me? Not letting his son get enough rest?"

He smiled, "She'll thank you actually. I used to sleep way too late at home."

I shook my head and pinched his cheek.

"I can actually see that happening," I responded, remembering how he'd usually still be asleep when I left for university. Key had also told me that sometimes they'd have a hard time getting him out of bed for work. It was all endearing to me really. Everything about him was.

He just didn't have a flaw to me. Not even one.

"You and my mother are going to get along really, really well..." he groaned and rolled his eyes. This pleased me to no end. Truth be told, I was nervous about meeting his parents - especially so unexpectedly. Now that I'd had a moment to process my current situation, instead of just yesterday, I realized just exactly what was happening.

Meeting Minho's parents.

The two people I had to gain approval from.

Dread suddenly pooled in my stomach.

I knew nothing about them and I hadn't even brought them any gifts. I was honestly doomed. Doomed I tell you. They were going to think I was some rude, ungrateful city brat. I barely brought any clothes.

Oh dear.

"Stop worrying."

My eyes widened as I immediately focused my attention on Minho again, "You can read my mind?" I asked in disbelief.

He grinned playfully, "Something like that... but I figured that you'd start worrying about meeting my parents. But you don't have to worry. They aren't judgmental at all and if we explain the situation, I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms."

I bit my lip.

Would I really be able to tell them what'd happened to me? Would I be able to tell them about my dad... my mom and Sulli? They were people I'd never met before... didn't you usually wait a few years before you told someone something that... big? If they heard my story, they'd know exactly who I was, there'd be no more mystery and it gave them even more reason to reject me straight away.

"I told you to stop worrying."

I opened my mouth to protest, but no words came.

And then the bus came to a stop.

Momentarily distracted from my thoughts, I looked outside the window.

Only to find nothing around me.

Well, ok, nothing wasn't quite the right word. An abundance of vegetation greeted me, in colours of all hues as well plants of all varieties. This was a scene from one of those nature documentaries, I'm sure of it. But, besides nature... I couldn't see a single human or house or anything made my humans.

"Well, we're here," Minho announced as he stood and stretched. I looked at him, wide-eyed and confused. Here? But there was nothing... here.

He tilted his head to the side and rolled his eyes, "We've still got a bit of a walk to do before we get to my house."

I stood up hesitantly and grabbed the bag my sister had packed. It was relatively light luckily and I slung it onto my back. Upon seeing my actions Minho began to exit the bus, greeting the bus driver as he descended. I did the same, offering a timid inclination of my head before going down the stairs and onto the ground. The road beneath me was completely made of dirt.

I blinked at it a few times. It was something I wasn't used to after all. You'd never find dirt roads in the city, or even in the suburbs where my father and I had lived.

The dirt road then turned into dust as the bus started again. I coughed as the vehicle rolled away, leaving only a trail behind it. A trail that would soon settle and then it would seem as though nothing had ever been there.

Would the people in Seoul remember me?

Did the people here still remember Minho?

I frowned at the thoughts and turned to Minho. He was watching me with intrigue, the dim, wintery morning light casting shadows on his face. I bit my lip nervously as held out my hand.

"Lead the way?" I asked timidly.

A smile melted onto his lips as he grasped me hand, interlocking our fingers.

"Follow me."

And I would follow him.

Anywhere.

- - - - -

Well, he certainly hadn't been clear enough when he said that we'd have to walk to his house.

This was a marathon.

Maybe not quite, but to my unfit body it was like one.

We'd been walking for nearly an hour now and still nothing had come into view. Not even one farmhouse. The only plus side really, well besides being with Minho, was that I'd been able to see the sun rise. It'd been beautiful, gloriously so.

Sure you could see a rising sun in the city, but this was on a whole other level. There were no buildings here to distract you from the beauty of nature. You could focus on the scene completely and not have tampering from human creation. It would be nice if I could see this every day from now on you know, the sun like this and be with Minho when it happened.

It was almost like we were the only two humans in the world.

What a wonderful world that'd be.

I sighed as I looked ahead.

"I'm surprised that you haven't complained yet, you know."

Minho's words caught me off guard. We'd both been quiet for the past hour and a human voice was foreign within the sounds of nature.

"Complain?" I repeated while gathering my thoughts, "Oh yeah. Well, I'm not sure how long we'll be walking so what'll be the point of complaining when we might be five minutes away?"

"I'm impressed," he teased, "But we really are five minutes away, don't worry. Usually my parents will drive to the bus stop... but they didn't know we were coming so that's why we have to walk..."

I nodded, "It's ok, it's good exercise for me." Not that I really needed it, but somehow, I felt like while we'd been walking, I'd been leaving a few things behind.

I'd been leaving the bad things behind.

Sulli's words.

My forced fate.

My guilt.

...

The old me.

I wanted to start over while I was here.

I squeezed Minho's hand with this new resolution and he sent me an encouraging smile. He really could read my mind it seemed.

That's when a house came into view in the horizon and Minho's expression darkened for a moment.

He almost seemed afraid.

But just as quickly as it'd appeared, it disappeared.

I'd ask him later.

"Well, there it is," he spoke softly, "That's where I live."

My heart jumped nervously.

It was time.

"You ready?"

I nodded.

Time to put that resolution into action.  

- - - - -

And I'm back here again.

I guess you can't run forever, can you?

I almost want to turn around and run... take Krystal and run. We could go live in amongst nature. We could just simply forget everything and anything and live in isolation. 

But I can't.

Krystal...

You faced your fears.

Your worst nightmare came true, didn't it? And you survived and I'm still here. 

Maybe... just maybe... you'll still be here if I face mine.

It's time to be brave. 

- - - - -

I cut this off here because otherwise it'd be too much happening at once. I just wanted to give you some insight into Krystal's thoughts and how she feels after everything you know? So yeah, I'm glad she's decided she wants to be happy. She wants to be a new person - one without the hangups of the past ^^

Thanks, as usual, for all the support my dear readers. I will try update soon again <3