I.  ; 
                can you tell me why?

"Taekwoon!"

Dressed in a colorful hanbok, the young lady, possibly around her early twenties, happily stridded towards a male wearing clothes specially worn by soldiers of the said town. 

The said man turned around. Visibly, he is in his early twenties as well, but he looked a lot more mature than the lady in the colorful hanbok. A smile was patched on his face before he bows in a perfect ninety degree angle. 

"As polite as ever, you adorable one, stand straight and regain your confidence! You know you don't have to bow at me."

"You're in a higher class than me, as far as I know, Minhwa."

The youngest among the upperclass Seo household, Seo Minhwa. Smiling and mingling with commoners. 

"You never bowed that low when we're not in public, so I find no reason for you to do such." Minhwa playfully said, smiling afterwards before she nudged the male soldier in front of her. 

"It's a sign of respect, do you not know?" Taekwoon, the said male soldier, says before smiling faintly. Minhwa, the fair lady wrapped in that colorful Korean dress, could only grin back before she chuckles softly. "Are your personal lessons finished, milady?"

"It is." Minhwa replies. "In other words, I'm left with nothing to do."

Taekwoon nods. "My troop will have a few rounds around the town in search of this criminal who broke into one of the residence's place a night ago." he reports. "Be sure to tell your guards to stay alert and that you and the rest of the Seo will be aware of things around, yes?"

"Of course." Minhwa smiles. "Besides, my protector wouldn't let me fall into the arms of danger, right?" she giggles, nudging the male, who was keepnig a faint smile on his face. "Taekwoon, didn't you promise me that we'll have a stroll around the town and by the valley?"

The male pauses for a while as he recalls a few incidents not long ago. He did remember that he made a vow to accompany the young lady around her free time, and well, "now" is a free time for her. 

Alas, it was not for him. 

"You could clearly see that I am busy in my guard stand this day, don't you?" Taekwoon frowns. "My deepest apologies, milady-"

"It will just take a few minutes or so!" Minhwa retorted, linking one of her arms with one of the taller male's. "It wouldn't be much of a bother, I promise! If it does become one, I vow to face the consequences all by myself!"

Taekwoon was always impressed on how Minhwa appeared brave. He loved how the fair lady kept her promises, how she kept a heart so innocent and pure to even be tainted by evil and all, on how those eyes sparkled with bliss as every second passes, not dying down a bit. He loved her angelic smile, that honey-like voice she was gifted with, everything. "Ah, fine." Taekwoon says in defeat, simply letting the shorter female drag him around. A wider smile forms on Minhwa's lips as she and him begin their lovely stroll.

Greeting the residing people. Young and old. Men and female. High-ranking, average or even those down-to-earth ones!

That's what made Taekwoon fall for the majestic Minhwa. 

Thunder roared. Lighting lit the inky black night sky. 

Rain poured heavily, as if the skies were agonized, mourning to its content. 

Broken sobs mixed with the rain falling down to earth,  along with the loud thunder were all that was to hear that night. Those sobs clearly had something that speaks of "pain" heard clearly by anyone to hear it.  

"Leo! Jung Leo!"

Shouts of worry were loud enough to pass through those thick walls. Someone was knocking on the door with all his or her might.

"Leo, please! If you don't open this door, I wouldn't hesitate to kick it open! Leo!"

It was Hakyeon. Cha Hakyeon. 

Instead of the expected loud thud of the door being mercilessly kicked open, Hakyeon calmly turned the knob of the once locked door. Using a duplicate key of the said residence, he unlocks the front door and enters, eyes hurriedly looking for the owner of those broken sobs filling the stormy night. With a soft cry, Hakyeon continues to scan the area for "Leo"

Hakyeon's eyes soon widened after seeing a horendous sight laying in front of him.

Glasses were shattered. A few picture frames had fallen down from where they were once placed, broken. The vase he could clearly distinguish as a gift from Leo's close college friend was now nothing but a shattered pile of nothing. A few books were thrown carelessly on the marble floor. Pages were ripped from a few notebooks, some were scribbled by some messy writings.

Hakyeon felt his heart skip a beat after he sees the next scene inside this dimly lit room.

A man, sitting down on the marble flooring, sobbing uncontrollably with a few shards of the broken glass materials he once owns. On his right hand, he held an object Hakyeon could notice as a broken piece of a glass and even with just a small source of light, he knew that the man's left wrist was bleeding greatly.

"Leo!" Hakyeon shouted, running towards the male, dropping the paper bags he once gripped tightly on. With a swift move, he slaps the shard away from the male's hand. Once he had done such, he grips on the sobbing man's broad shoulders, shaking him vigurously. "Get a hold of yourself, Jung Leo! What has gotten into you?!"

In a broken and faint voice, the male tries to whisper his response. "I'm tired.", he managed to mumble in between sobs. Hakyeon felt the latter's body tremble greatly. He was scared and worried and angered that he could just pull the other into a tight embrace.

"Hey, hey, it'll be okay." Hakyeon whispers, patting Leo's back softly as if he was a caring mother comforting his young child. He was pained upon seeing his friend as a broken mess, his left wrist bleeding and his body trembling either from cold, fear or both. He was hurt, as if he could feel the other's pain as well.

It was unbearable.

"It'll be okay, Jung Taekwoon. You're not alone." Hakyeon reminds. "Remember that. I'm here, yeah? You're not alone in this. Come on, you'll be fine."

A few seconds flew away before Hakyeon recalls the bleeding wrist. He pulls away, stands up and searches for a bandage and some anti-infectant medicine he could apply on Leo's wound. He searches quick and succeeds in his search. Once he got the first aid kit, he tended lovingly and carefully on Leo's red-tainted wrist. He frowns upon seeing Leo twitch in pain. "I told you cutting wouldn't do good. Look at you, you've gained another scar!" Hakyeon began to nag. 

Leo simply stayed quiet.

"Don't attempt to cut or do these things ever again, promise me that." Hakyeon pouts, eyeing the silent male. Leo manages to nod, making Hakyeon smile a bit. "Good, or else I'm really going to have a heart attack. You don't want that, right?"

"No." Leo answers softly. Hakyeon nods.

After wrapping the clean bandage around the wound, Hakyeon noticed the bandages slowly getting tainted by the crimson liquid. He sighs. The blood was flowing out greatly, and it wasn't good. Leo seemed pale too. "I'll go prepare dinner, okay? I'm sure you haven't eaten yet. And I don't care if you're not hungry, you're gonna eat!"

Hakyeon headed to the kitchen while Leo headed to the living room, sitting quietly on the couch.

This wasn't the first time, Hakyeon was aware of that.

He witnessed far more worse situations compared to this.

And he wouldn't want to recall and list them down.

Leo really is severely depressed and suicidal after the things that happened not only before but long time ago.

"Sir!" a soldier, noticeably younger, came running towards Taekwoon. Sweat drenched him and his clothing after he ran for probably quite some distance. Taekwoon and the rest of the troop turned around with expressions of worry.

"Any news?" Taekwoon asked. The young soldier shook his head and tried regaining his normal breathing pace before he opens his mouth and speaks his report.

"Four of our men are now chasing the masked criminal. We figured that he's heading out to the forest. The men have built a plan of cornering him in the forest so worry not."

Taekwoon nods and commands his troops to follow him. Right after they arrived back at the crime scene, Taekwoon felt that the air turned thicker that he literally gasped for air to breathe. 

He noticed a middle-aged woman he noticed to be the mother of his beloved Minhwa, calling him with a familiar gesture. Slowly, Taekwoon makes his way towards the woman. "You called, madam?" he asks, trying to conceal his fear on what the woman has to say.

"Is the criminal caught yet?" Minhwa's mother asks. Taekwoon shakes his head.

"Not yet, madam. Soon, he will be caught and given the equal punishment for his crime." he answers in a quiverring voice. "May I ask... how Minhwa is?"

"The doctors are tending on her." Taekwoon saw the rims of tears on the middle aged woman. "Oh, may heavens show her mercy. She is our only offspring and we cannot bear to have our Minhwa taken away!"

Taekwoon recalled those that happened earlier. He heard something break in Minhwa's room, followed by some rustles. He soon heard Minhwa's scream, which assured him that some invader had entered the Seo household. 

Once he entered the room of his beloved, he sees the fair lady laying down on the floor, the masked assassin glaring at him with something he could notice as "anger" and "grudge" or something similar to the two. Minhwa, on the other side, had her chest area bleeding uncontrollably. Her traditional night dress is now painted with red, bright crimson on some parts especially her chest area. It scared Taekwoon before he hears the criminal speak.

"See how your beloved died?" his deep voice said in between a maniac-like laughter. "Forever shall you live this curse, aye say. Time ticks and tocks yet your soul continues to repeat this endless circle of life. Forever shall you drown in pain. Forever shall you be separated from the fair lady your heart belongs to!"

Taekwoon snapped back to reality. Someone was screaming behind and when he turned around, he saw another middle aged lady dressed in white, tears rolling down her face. "Madam Seo! Madam Seo!" she cried loudly.

"What is it?" Minhwa's mother asks.

For a second there, Taekwoon felt his heart stop beating. It was as if he forgot how to breathe.

The words spilled out like water from the lady's lips.

"Madam Minhwa... she's dead."

"Your life will not end. Your poor and agonizing life will not end." someone whispered to him before Taekwoon broke down into a sobbing mess, astonished and agonized by the news of his beloved's eternal leave.