CHAPTER 7

For most of the morning, Yonghwa and Seohyun puttered around the house. It wasn't until early afternoon that they got out into the yard.

"I would like to introduce you to your garden." Yonghwa waved an arm broadly over a patch of dirt and overgrown weeds.

"Garden?"Seohyun snickered, "Yeah, this indeed looks like something I tried to grow."

"Actually, it started out pretty good." Yonghwa commented, "But, well." He scratched the side of his head, searching for a nice way to break the news of her un-green thumbs to her, "Let's just say the plants weren't ready to do much growing."

"No need to spare my feelings."Seohyun assured him, "This isn’t a new thing. You should have seen the pathetic attempts I made when I was younger. Daddy seemed to always be able to salvage them, though."

Yonghwa considered the patch. He'd never thought much about digging in the dirt. This had always been Seohyun’s project, "Not that I know a thing about gardening, but perhaps 2 not-green thumbs can make a right. Maybe we should work it together."

Seohyun looked up at him, mildly surprised, "Really?"

"Sure."Yonghwa told her, meeting her gaze, "You used to tell me it was therapeutic."

"Well…okay."Seohyun seemed buoyed by the idea, "Where do I keep my tools?"

"In the utility house."Yonghwa started towards the squat little building that sat to one side of the yard, "Why don't I get them?"

"I'll come with you."Seohyun followed him, "It might help me remember something."

Yonghwa froze momentarily. That was the first time she'd actually admitted to wanting to remember her life with him. A warm glow settled over him as he waited for her to catch up. They continued along to the utility house together.

Hours later, they stumbled back into the house, laughing. Yonghwa scrubbed his fingers through his hair trying to shake out some of the dirt, "Did you have to aim at my head?!" He demanded, laughingly.

"It's the biggest part of you."Seohyun giggled uncontrollably, flicking another finger full of dirt at him.

"You're really asking for it!"Yonghwa warned her, coming towards her in a menacing manner.

Squealing, Seohyun turned to move quickly away from him. Yonghwa gave chase, "You can run but you can't hide." He said, tearing around the opposite side of the chair when she changed direction.

Seohyun managed to get around the chair before he could catch her, but she was laughing so hard that she didn't get much farther, "Wait!" She cried, between grasps when Yonghwa was within grabbing distance, "Wait!"

Yonghwa paused, watching her laugh, "Three. Two." He began to count down, wiggling his fingers at her for good measure, "One!" He announced, just as she turned to run again, squealing all the way.

Yonghwa lunged at her, catching her. Seohyun struggled weakly in his grasp, trying to slip away. Then, suddenly her fingers were on him, and she was tickling him. Surprised, Yonghwa’s grasp immediately weakened and she slipped away.

Seohyun obviously thought that was hysterical, because she doubled over in laughter before turning to run again. She fled in the direction of the steps. As she grabbed the handrail, she threw a look over her shoulder at Yonghwa.
"Seohyun, wait." Her angle was all wrong. He could tell before she lifted her foot that she would miss the step. His warning came too late.

She cried out as she fell, landing hard on the orange parquet floor at the bottom of the stairs.

Yonghwa thought his heart would stop when she didn't move, "Seohyun. Seohyun, honey." He called from above her, worried even to roll her over. She'd landed on her side, her body faced away from him.

Groaning slightly, she rolled over so that she was looking up at him, "That wasn't such a good idea." She said, smiling weakly up at him.

Yonghwa sighed in relief, brushing a hand over her hair, "Are you okay?"

"Define okay." She breathed, attempting to push herself up into a sitting position.

"Well, at least you can move." He said, "That's something at least. Can you stand?" He hovered over her, assisting her until she was standing.

"Okay, standing is good."Seohyun said softly, "Except for the pain. Ow." She wrapped an arm around her waist and settled back down on the step.

"Seohyun?"Yonghwa stooped beside her, gently grasping her arms, "Where does it hurt?"

"Same pain." She breathed, "Only more."

"Huh?"

"I've been a little sore since the hospital, but it's worse now. I think maybe I just re-injured something."

"We should get you back to the hospital."Yonghwa insisted, trying to help her to her feet.

"No!"Seohyun objected, "It was a lot like this that first day. I'm fine. I just need to be still for a bit, that's all."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."Seohyun assured him.

20 minutes later, Yonghwa was helping Seohyun into bed. Having given her a dose of the pain medication that Dr. Changmin had prescribed, he was attempting to clean the garden dirt from her fingers.

"You should be happy you're not the one with dirt in your hair."Yonghwa said a teasing smile hovered about his lips. It had taken considerable reassurance to convince him that she would be okay.

"Oh, I am." She replied, hoping that the painkillers would kick in soon. Yonghwa’s ministrations were doing a number on her nerves. If he would just rub a little more firmly, the entire exercise wouldn't have such a seductive feel to it. Instead, he continued to gently rhythmically wipe between each of her fingers.

Watching her from the corner of his eye, he smiled before focusing again, on her hand. Seohyun began to suspect that he knew exactly what he was doing, and she was gearing up to tell him so when he turned her hand over and began to gently caress the center of her palm.

She gasped, quickly pulling her hand away from him, "I think t…that's clean enough. Thank you."

Yonghwa shrugged, giving in without the slightest fight, "You're welcome." He told her, his expression showing no sign of mischief.

She frowned, wondering if she'd simply imagined that he was trying to subtly seduce her.

Yonghwa reached towards the dresser, and placed a tray containing a sandwich and tea before her, "Sandwich and tea, milady." He told her, "and you'd better eat up. Previous experience with that painkiller suggests that you have about 5 minutes before you're outta here."

Seohyun was beginning to feel the familiar heaviness that she'd come to associate with the pills, "5 minutes, huh?" She asked drowsily, reaching for half of the sandwich. Picking it up, she handed it to Yonghwa.

He took it curiously, "Making sure that if it kills you it kills me, too?"

Seohyun smiled with an effort, "Something like that. Tea?"

"Don't mind if I do."Yonghwa took a sip of her drink and bit into his half of the sandwich.