AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am so genuinely sorry for this uber-late update that was due months and months ago... so much happened in my life and I found myself in a neverending cycle of the good old writer's block. I hope you enjoy this chapter! the second part is coming soon :)

RECAP:

Kai and Lia distance from each other after Lia keeps her sessions, and overall psychological problems and haunting past from Kai. Both hurt each other very badly and take different approaches to the situation; as Kai thinks she doesn’t trust him enough to reveal her secrets, Lia is dead scared of losing Kai if she reveals them. Both are torn apart and want nothing more than to relish the company of each other like before.  Myung-Soo gets exceptionally close to Lia, beginning to form what looks like a new, headstrong friendship. 

KAI'S POV

My hands were clenched, blood no longer passing through the veins of my palm. I had to be rational, but heck, when had I ever been? I was one to act on emotions and nothing else. Where ever they took me, I was okay with it. But now, with the girl I was irrevocably in love with standing in front of my eyes, hands in hands of someone else, lines of her palm intertwined with some other than mine, I had to think twice before I took my first step. I knew I had to think; that’s what she always did, and wanted me to do. What was needed to take her back? Had I put her on hold for longer than necessary and she got tired of waiting? Maybe I had to accept her, with all the secrets

I did not want to give up, but how could I fight if she gave up on me already?

It was the truth. I value trust. If she weren’t to trust me with all the secrets she possessed; I didn’t know how to stay with her. Knowing she had a part of her life, which she was content with hiding from me, unnerved me greatly. We were to go on different paths in less than six months. How could I ask for a commitment with thousands of miles of distance between us, if she didn’t trust me with a single secret? How could I ask her to keep it going between us when I wasn’t trusted?

Clear cut, I liked. The anticipation of an ending or a fresh start put me at discomfort and stress. I wanted together, or split up.

I had waited long enough, but no. She was persistent, never approaching me. I thought that simply, the distance would pull her back. Make her take a step forward, for the first time in our relationship. Being the part to always initiate was not only wearing for me, but it also made me feel like I was fooling myself. One sided, it felt like at times.

I wanted to talk. I wanted to lay everything out there, release all that I had kept bottled up until today, for her to understand. And her too, letting me in finally.

I wasn't to delay the hard once again when she was in the arms of the devil.  That’s why; I swallowed my pride and ran to her.

***

LIA’S POV

“Well I better head home now,” I said to Myung-soo, a leftover smile on my face.

He smiled back at me with threefold of enthusiasm.

“I can walk you”

I chuckled, “I’d rather you not”

He looked at my face for longer than necessary, something I noticed him do quite frequently nowadays. You would, when the person in front of you is talking; but not when they stop and tell you they will leave. It wasn’t of common courtesy stare into the eyes for that long, right?

There was a moment of silence between us before he did the unexpected.

He slowly tucked my hair behind my ear, as if the moment was in slow motion, looking into my eye