Amber flutters her eyes open and places her hand on her throbbing side. Aigoo…!’ she thought. Where am I?’ she looks around, slowly peeling herself off of the bed that she was lying on, resting her weight on her elbows behind her. Suddenly, snoring startles her, she looks next to her and Key was there, with his face buried in his crossed arms, fast asleep. He was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top with a white towel around his neck. She smiles at his innocent sleeping face and then looks out the window on the other side of her. This clearly isn’t the cave that we were in before I dozed off. Where are we?’ It’s bright and sunny out, no longer dark and gloomy, so she decided to go out and find out. She sat up and got off the bed, careful not to wake up Key from his sleep. Her side is still throbbing, but it has been a lot better than before. Her forehead isn’t hot anymore either so she figured that Key nursed her back to health. But then that means that she has been asleep for a really long period of time. How long was I unconscious for exactly?’she asked herself. But clearly, she had no answers. No at the moment at least. Her surroundings were wooden and old, it had a large scent of manure as well. She entered a room which looked like the main room. The kitchen was to her right, in front of her was a dining table, a little more to the back of the room was a worn out, brown couch facing an old television. To her left was a door which seemed to lead outside so she headed towards it. She was about to grab the handle when the door swung open.

“Key!” the man shouted in her ear, not knowing that she was on the other side of the door beforehand. He was wearing a straw hat, checkered shirt and brown overalls. A stereotypical farmer outfit. “My apologies. You’re finally awake eh Amber?” he asked her. She looked at him in confusion and then shook it off.

“I’m sorry, how do you know me and who are you?” she asked him. He was about to answer when a loud scream coming from the top of Key’s lungs stopped him.

“JOE!!!!” Key yelled running down the hall. “Amber’s-” and then Key cut himself off when turned the corner to see that Amber is talking to the farmer. “Amber! You scared the heck out of me!” Key shouted, walking towards her.

“I’m fine.” Amber told him, trying to calm him down. “The bigger question is, who is he,” she said pointing to the man that she was standing in front of, “where are we, and how long was I asleep/unconscious?”

“Lemme introduce me-self lassy. Mah name’s Joe Nam. But ev’ry one calls me farmer Joe cuz I’m the only local farmer in dis village. Welcome to our little gyunhyeong village.” Joe greeted.

“Gyunhyeong? That’s quite a peaceful name. But how’d we get here?” Amber asked.

“Long story short. One of the tunnels that I walked through lead us here. I figured that it is probably safer to be here than there so I brought you along and got you proper treatment from a local doctor here.” Key explained.

“What?” Amber asked in surprise.

“Yeah. Your wound is properly stitched up now. We’re taking you to the doctor tomorrow to get the strings removed.” Key finished.

“Uh…. how long was I asleep for?” Amber asked in fear.

“About a week lassy.” Joe answered. Amber’s eyes widened in shock.

“A WHOLE WEEK?!” Amber shouted.

“More unconscious than asleep.” Key corrected, scratching his head. Amber was falling back and Key rushed for a chair to cushion her fall. Amber sat on the chair, all numb. Victoria and the others must be worried sick. I’ve been missing for a total 3 weeks.’Then Key grabbed himself a chair and sat next to her.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Joe said, heading back outside, closing the door behind him.

“I understand what you’re worried about.” Key told her softly. “But a ship is being made for us and is still in progress. It’ll take about another week for it to be complete. I don’t like this either but all we can do is make the most out of our stay.” She buried her head in her head, overwhelmed, breathing in and out, making herself a little lightheaded. Key left to go into a room to get something. He comes out with a set of clothes. A white t-shirt, blue overall jeans, a pair of socks and a pair of hiking boots, all clean and new. Amber lifted her head as Key held it up to her face. “It took me a while to trade things in for a set of clothes like this.” Key explained but Amber didn’t say anything. All she could do was stare. “I know that it’s not something that you’re used to cause I’m not used to it either but-” and then Amber cut him off.

“No. It’s fine.” she said softly, taking the outfit. “Thank you. For everything.” Amber told him, staring at her new clothes.

“I figured that you might’ve wanted a hat to go along with it because you always had one on your head most of the times that I’ve seen you. Joe said he’ll lend one to you. It’s in the room on a coat rack. I’ll be on the fields helping out Joe if you need anything. Feel free to come out whenever you feel ready. But I suggest you to not do anything reckless.” Key said, turning around for the door. Amber, her eyes still glued to her outfit, didn’t bother to look up when he left. She felt herself tear up. But she couldn’t figure out if she was crying because she was happy or if she was sad. So she got up and headed back for her room to go change.

~

The sun gleams over Key’s head, making him sweat even before he has gotten to work. Key grabs the hoe on the ground provided by Joe and got to work immediately.

“Ya know ya don’t have to do this if yer not used to this. Ya know, born in a royal family and all.” Joe told him as they worked.

“It’s okay. You’ve helped us out so much during our stay, helping you out whenever I can is practically my only way to show gratitude.” Key explained, jabbing the ground over and over again, loosening the soil. “Also, I’m done with being ignorant about everything. During the whole time that we’ve been stranded on the god forsaken island, I’ve relied on Amber the whole time. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“Oi, ya like that lass eh?”Joe asked him.

“Pshhh…. what are you talking about?” Key shot back, unsure of himself.

“I can tell by da way ya look at her. I know that look. I had a wife too ya know.” Joe told him.

“What happened to her? How come I’ve never seen her?” Key asked.

“Died from snake venom. She risked her life saving mine. Brave women that she was.” Joe admitted openly.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Bad memory to be thinking back to.” Key stated apologetically.

“No worries. Telling this story just reminds me of how lucky I was to have her. many years ago though. Doesn’t even bother me anymore.” Joe told him smiling. Key smiled back and turned his focus back to his work. But he really wasn’t focused on loosening the soil, what he was really thinking of was Amber and how she risked her life saving him from the creeper dude. The memory made him smile. But then, his smile made him cry. Thinking back to all the horrible things that he has done to Amber, she was still willing to risk her life to save him and protect him. He felt like a complete . There was no way that he’ll be able to repay her and there’s no way that she’ll forgive him.

“Are you okay?” Joe asked worryingly. Key looked up to him, his tears blurring his vision. He then realized that he has stopped working so he took his hand to wipe the tears and stifle them.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Key told him. He breathed in and out.

“You know. She has done a lot for ya. If ya did end up liking her, it’s not unnatural. Question is, does she feel the same way.” Joe told him.

“Are you reading my mind or something Joe?” Key asked him, jerking his head back.

“Lad, your mouth may say ‘I don’t care’ but your eyes are saying ‘I do care’. You may be able to fool me, her, the rest of the world, maybe even yourself, but never your heart.” Joe told him. Key smiled at him, nodded understandingly and got back to work.

In the distance, Amber is making her way to the fields. Joe noticed immediately and waved to her. Amber smiled and waved back. Key looked over his shoulder to see who Joe was waving to. Amber waved to him and Key waved back. Then he got back to work.

“Oi! Ya look nice lassy. Key here really has good taste in clothes eh. How’s that hat doin’ for you?” Joe asked.

“Good. It’s actually quite comfortable.” Amber smiled. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Are ye sure ya want to help? Yer still in mending process.” Joe told her.

“Well, I feel a lot better now and sitting around all day doing nothing makes me feel useless.” Amber told him.

“Alrighty then. In the shed over there are a couple of watering cans. Water is in the well just behind the shed. Since your wound isn’t completely healed,  won’t make you do any garden work that requires a lot of movement. You can start watering the crop over there.” Joe told her, pointing to his left where the tomatoes and potatoes grew.

“Sure.” Amber responded happily. And then she got straight to work.

~

After a long day of work, Amber finally fell back on the bench that is place right in front of the big tree, right across from the barn. She made herself comfortable and watched the sun set, slowly darkening the sky. Key joined her soon after that with Joe, coming back from putting the things away back into the shed.

“Want some watermelons? There’s some in the fridge leftover from yesterday.” Joe offered.

“Yes please!” Key shouted.

“Watermelons would be nice. Thank you Joe.” Amber said. Joe smiled then headed inside for the plate of watermelons.

“Do you mind?” Key asked, glancing at the open seat next to Amber. She scouted over, making some more room for him to sit and gestured him to the seat. He smiled and sat next to her. There was an awkward silence between them.

“Uh… I-” they both started at the same time. So then Key continued.

“I wanted to say thank you. For saving me back there on that island. I never really gotten a chance to do so before.”

“Actually, I need to thank you as well. If it wasn’t for you, we would still be on that island and I probably would’ve died a long time ago.” Amber told him. They both turned to look at each other. Nothing else was said. That same moment that they felt back on that island was returning. They’re breaths were drifting off, slowly coming to a stop. Key swallowed and then whispered,

“Amber… I-” and then Joe came in.

“Who wants watermelons!” Joe says speaking with a mouthful. And then they turned away from each other, breathing again. Joe looked at them with confusion for a couple of seconds and then grinned understandingly. Then he held the plate of watermelons in their faces. “Here.” Joe tells them. Not looking at each other, they each took a piece and ate in awkward silence. “By the way, I got a call from the people who were working on the ship. They said that they’re almost done and after a test run tomorrow, you guys can set sail for Seongnam in two days.” Joe told them. They both nodded and thanked him.

After dinner they both went off in separate rooms. Key lied on his back with his head resting on his hand, staring at the ceiling. Although his room is just across from Amber’s, he missed her already. You’re mouth may say ‘I don’t care’ but your eyes say ‘I do care’. You may be able to fool me, her, the rest of the world, maybe even yourself, but you can never fool your own heart.’ The things that Joe has told him runs through his head endlessly. He finally understood how important Amber means to him. But after all he’s done to her, he doesn’t think that she’ll ever be able to recover. He started to cry. ‘I’m such an idiot.’ he scolded himself. Then he flipped over and buried his face in his pillow.

Across the room, Amber lies on her good side, staring at the wall away from the door with her head on the pillow, her arms lying in front of her face. Do I still like him?  she asked herself. Her heart has finally mended but the scars will always be there. She doesn’t know. She has asked herself, her heart, the same question over and over again. But the answer she got each time was ‘I don’t know.’ She doesn’t know if she can trust him again. She doesn’t know if he’s worth to go through that pain again. All she knows is that she still longs for him, but she doesn’t want to. Because she’s scared that if she falls again, he won’t catch her. In fact, she thinks that if she falls for him again, he’ll just watch her hit the ground and shatter. Then, he’ll just point and laugh, the same way he did before. Something about him has changed though. She feels that he has finally matured. But no matter how much he has matured, the way he feels may not be the same as the way she does. She wants to love him again, she’s just afraid to. That’s her conclusion.