Ren’s POV

I gripped the bed sheets tightly while leaning all of my weight onto my forearms, wincing in both pain and pure ecstasy as JR ed into me from behind. This had been going on all night, occurring multiple times until the early morning when the sun started to pour in from the windows at the front of the room. Although he had been a bit apprehensive before we had begun, once I had showed JR that there was nothing to worry about and how natural it felt, he finally relaxed and his body developed a rhythm. The first two times had been slow, soft and romantic – full of humiliating errors on his part as well. JR had been a fumbling mess and clearly he was embarrassed by it, but I never said anything. I didn’t want to discourage him. Besides, it wasn’t his skill I was seeking – it was him.  The third time was where the actual fun began and JR started to get more into it and became rough and passionate. The act of making love with JR was addicting. After all, he had been the one person my heart couldn’t forget and had been longing for all of this time. And now that he was here like this with me and we were actually becoming one, neither one of us were able to stop. We were finally together at last.

JR suddenly pulled out and tiredly collapsed onto the area of the bed next to me, laying on his left side. There was nothing left inside him and he had worn himself out. While trying to catch my breath I rolled onto my right side and laid down facing him, taking in the sight of his bare beauty. His eyes were shut. Had he already fallen asleep? A small smirk spread in the corners of my lips. Well, he had worked hard all night. I glanced down at his slender figure and unconsciously found my hand reaching for him, my left index and middle fingers lightly trailing over the curves of his hips and his waist. His tan skin was surprisingly smooth to the touch as if he took special care of it during the years even though I knew the likelihood of him doing something like that was slim to none. As my fingers traveled up his stomach I brushed my whole palm against his soft, warm chest. I watched as JR’s eyes slowly flickered open and met my gaze. For a moment we spent several seconds in silence, simply staring at each other before a beautiful, heart-warming smile spread across JR’s lips as he looked at me.

“What is it?” I asked, finding myself growing nervous. Over the past year I had become accustomed to being watched by crowds of several and it never really bothered me. So why was it any different when JR looked at me? Maybe it was because there was nothing left of me to hide. He had seen and experienced all of me. Perhaps part of me was still scared that he would leave again despite the promise we both made last night. JR slightly shook his head.

“It’s nothing.” He replied. There he was, back to his limited one-word answers that used to drive me crazy. Back then I blamed it on him just being shy, but after last night and especially now he could no longer fall back on that excuse. I frowned before gently shoving him onto his back with my left hand still placed along his chest. I pouted, trying to disguise my slight hurt at his easy dismissal of my question.

“What the heck… You’re obviously smiling about something!” I shot at him. JR chuckled, his response surprising me.

“Yeah.” He shortly admitted again. I found myself slowly starting to grow agitated with him. Did he know how much more insane he had made my life after entering it? I became many things because of him. I was a nervous wreck until the moment I confessed to him and then became a mental patient when he kept me waiting after. Then I really lost my mind when he vanished. JR… do you know what it is you do to me?

“Is it me?” I asked, cautiously watching and studying him. JR was smiling at me. Even though he had put me through a lot of heartache, he was the only one who ever had that type of hold and power over me. He just meant that freaking much to me – perhaps the only real reason why I couldn’t let go of him no matter how hard I tried. When JR failed to answer my question I shoved him again. “What???” I playfully whined, determined to get an answer out of him no matter what. He stared at me for a couple of seconds more before finally speaking up.

“I was thinking about the last time I saw this much of you.” JR surprisingly replied, causing me to turn red in embarrassment. He had been referring to that time I had passed out drunk in the hotel room while spying on Baekho.

“ert!” I scolded him while warily covering myself up with my arms. A bewildered, amused smirk spread over JR’s lips.

“ert?” JR innocently asked. To be honest I didn’t know why I called him a ert just now. I had been the one staring at his beautiful, body – ahem, getting carried away here…

“What did you do to me that night?” I suspiciously stared at him. When I had woken up the morning after I remembered absolutely nothing. All that I noticed was that I was completely stripped down, leaving me to question if I had done something to JR in my drunken state. Never did I really ever consider that he would have done something to me.

“Nothing.” JR simply said. I stared at him. His answer matched the one from the last time I had asked.

“Nothing?” I continued, just in case something had happened that he had just been too shy to talk to me about before. Suddenly a small, shy but devious grin spread across his lips. My jaw dropped. “Ok, that’s not reassuring!” I cried. JR chuckled.

“If you consider removing all of your clothes from you sleeping body ‘nothing’ like I do, then yes.” He honestly replied. Of course he would consider it nothing. JR really wasn’t the ert I was wrongly accusing him of being, but I’d be lying if I said that part of me wasn’t hoping that he had done something to me. Ok, wow. Yeah, I really am a ert.

“That doesn’t sound creepy at all.” I sarcastically replied. JR frowned.

“What choice did I have? No one asked you to run off in Jason’s main outfit... Before I knew it, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of having to retrieve it back from you… What was I supposed to do?”

“Um, geeze, I don’t know. You could have just asked for it back like a normal human being!”

“I didn’t know how and you were constantly on the move with trying to track Baekho…” JR’s voice trailed off. It sounded as if he were starting to grow upset. I paused for a second. Just when had this conversation started heading in the wrong direction? It wasn’t my intention to upset him. I was being careless again, wasn’t I? Quick, Ren. You need to fix this. I leaned forward and brushed my lips across his, catching him off guard and surprising him.

“It’s ok if you looked. There’s nothing about my body that I’m ashamed about.” I seductively whispered to him. “I want you to look…” I invitingly replied, pulling away from him. JR met my gaze before I watched his eyes slowly travel all the way down to my toes and then back up again, taking me up on my invitation. Maybe I was just imagining things, but for a moment he almost seemed stunned. I awkwardly fidgeted in bed and smiled. I really hadn’t been expecting for him to do that. “What?” I nervously asked.

“It’s just… ah, it’s nothing.” JR’s face turned slightly red before he glanced off to the side.

“No, what is it?” I asked, desperately wanting to know.

“You’re going to think I’m lame and uncool if I say it…”

“JR, I liked you even when you used to wear Crocs.” I . JR laughed.

“I haven’t worn those in a long time.” He attempted to defend his previous poor taste in fashion. I don’t care if people say they’re comfortable. They’re an abomination against mankind.

“Really?” I asked, surprised that he didn’t even wear them in his downtime anymore like he used to. JR nodded.

“Noona burned them.”

“Sounds about right.” I laughed at the mental picture I had of Dambi burning them inside of a trash can before nudging him. “Now tell me!” I continued to pester him until JR finally gave in.

“… I was going to say that… I’ve never seen anything more beautiful before in my entire life.” JR admitted then blushed. I froze. His words strangely caught me off guard. Never…? He didn’t really mean that, did he? This was coming from someone who spent a majority of his time being surrounded by beautiful things and people – even creating some of the most breathtaking clothes in the entire fashion industry. But yet the one thing he was completely mesmerized by was… me? I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach. I softly smiled back at him, touched.

“God, I can’t believe how lucky I am.” I replied. JR gave me a surprised look.

“Lucky…? About what?” He asked then paused, giving me an unsettled look. “Is it… because you’re with someone like me? A designer…?” He clarified himself.

“No.” I quickly replied. “It’s because I ended up with my best friend.” I watched the tension disappear from JR’s face as I said this. He took my left hand with his right and laced his fingers in between mine.

“… I’m lucky too.”

“Because you’re with me?” I asked.

“Because you gave me another chance – something I didn’t deserve from you.” JR quietly responded. I pulled myself up and shifted my weight as I leaned onto my right elbow beside him.

“Since the day you left, all I ever did was sit around and wait to give you another chance. But the more time passed without a single word from you it started getting harder and harder until there came a point where I didn’t want to forgive you – I didn’t even want to see you.” I admitted.

“And what changed?” JR regretfully asked.

“Seeing you.” I replied. “When I saw you for the first time in months standing out in the hallway in front of the elevators, waiting for me… I didn’t know it at the time but I was already yours. My heart had led me all the way here. It wasn’t until I actually got here that my brain started waking up, scaring me and telling me to push you out and run away. When you held me like that and refused to let me go… I suddenly remembered why I was here… because I wanted to see you again.”

“Ren…”

“I didn’t forgive you so that you could make things right.” I replied. JR stared at me.

“Then… why did you forgive me?” He cautiously asked.

“Because if our relationship really had been based on love like I believed it was, even when we were just friends, it was worth another try.” I replied. JR sat up in the bed.

“But… what about Baekho?” He asked. “Didn’t you love him?” I sadly glanced off to the side.

“I loved him too… but it was never in the way that I loved you. I thought it might be… but it took a lot of convincing myself to accept Baekho’s feelings and return them. It wasn’t until Baekho himself had to point it out to me that I didn’t love him and we didn’t match that I realized he was right. Baekho… if it wasn’t for him, meeting you here like this would have been impossible. I can’t imagine what it was like for him to have to put aside his personal feelings for mine. I hope… I hope he can eventually find his own happiness too…”

JR grew silent for a minute. “Yeah, me too…” His voice quietly trailed off, as if he were somewhat uncomfortable thinking about Baekho. Last night when he had told me that he and Baekho had fought over me at one point, it was an understandable reaction for him to have. But if JR even somewhat hated him he would have never wished for Baekho to find happiness, proving that he could actually put their differences aside when he realized what Baekho had done for us. I sat up and wrapped my arms around him, nuzzling the side of my face between his neck and collar bone, trying to change the subject.

“I love you.” I whispered to him.

“I love you too…” He responded. I released him and pulled away, smiling.

“… Again!” I demanded. I couldn’t get enough of those words.

“Now you’re just teasing me…” JR embarrassingly replied.

“It’s not teasing! Are you kidding me? I’m still in disbelief that you said them! I can’t believe how much you’ve changed during the time we were apart!” I replied. JR shifted his gaze down into his lap.

“When I thought that I had really lost everything… Noona was the one that helped me realize that the one thing Jason or Baekho could never take away was my voice. She taught me how to find the courage to be brave enough to listen to my heart and strong enough to chase after the life I’ve always imagined.”

“The life you’ve always imagined?” I asked.

“Becoming a designer that actually take’s credit for their own work.” He replied. “Truthfully falling in love had never been part of my plan. I thought that was something that happened to other people, lucky people – not someone lacking like me. That all changed in that one moment you chose to sit next to me at Jason’s fashion show and asked me what I was drawing.” He smiled. I playfully narrowed my eyes.

“Yeah, and from what I recall, you wouldn’t tell me!” I smirked.

“It was nothing…”

“Pfft! Same answer only a year later!” Now I was teasing him.

“Is this really going to be the one thing you choose to hold against me?” JR asked, amused. I shrugged.

“Eh, give it time. I’m sure there’s plenty of things you’ll do that I’ll choose to hold against you.”

“Wow…” JR replied, somewhat taken aback that I had really just said that to him. I chuckled then reached over and grabbed both sides of his face.

“I’m just kidding. Now get over here.” I replied then crushed my lips onto his. JR didn’t even hesitate to return the kiss and instead wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me over him. As I fell on top of him I felt his hands start to travel up and down my back and caress my sides. I slightly broke away from his lips. “Are you ready for another round?” I seductively whispered to him. He grinned. Before he could answer his phone resting on the night stand beside the bed suddenly started to ring. The both of us tensed up and froze. JR glanced over at his phone with a reluctant look before glancing back over at me. I smiled then nodded before climbing off him. JR quietly mouthed the word ‘sorry’ to me before reaching over and answering it.

“Noona-” JR said as he rose from the bed, taking the comforter with him and wrapping it around his waist as he exited the bedroom and entered the living room. I laid back in bed and closed my eyes, not paying his phone call any special attention. From what I understood, Dambi was playing a major role in JR’s new company. She wasn’t just the Top Model of the company but she was also helping him run it. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly shocking news to hear that Dambi was helping JR out. I figured her calling so early in the morning probably had to be business related so it didn’t even faze me until I suddenly heard JR’s voice raise in the other room, as if he had started yelling at her. Alarmed, I sat up in bed and furrowed my brows. What was all of that about just now? JR would never yell at Dambi… would he? I swung my legs from around the bed and took the bed sheet with me, draping it around my whole body as I traveled and froze in the door frame. JR, who had his back to me and didn’t even know I had entered the room, was urgently spaying off orders to her while the news played on the television on the wall. “What’s his status??? Does anyone know?” He asked, sounding panicked.

“The hospital and police haven’t released any further information-” I heard Dambi’s voice pour out from the loud speaker from his phone. Hospital…? What was all of this about?

“Then we need to move before they do. Dammit!” JR cursed, running his left hand through his hair and brushing it backwards as he heavily exhaled.

“I’m on my way.” Dambi replied in a serious, dark tone.

“Wait!” JR hesitantly paused. “You’re going to need to face him on this one.” He ominously replied. There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line until Dambi finally spoke up.

“I’m not saying I won’t, but… is it absolutely necessary to see him?”

“At least until I can get there. I’m still in Busan right now. I know you and Jason can get there quicker than I can, if he’s not already there. I’m going to need you to take care of the situation before he does – don’t let Jason act alone. For all we know, this was part of one of his plans to gain an upper hand.”

“… Do you think it was?” Dambi cautiously asked. JR paused. I could hear the sound of Dambi starting her car engine in the background on the other line.

“If it was, it’s about as tragic as it is brilliant to shift all of the attention and focus off of LOTUS Designs… If it’s true, I can no longer sit still.” JR gritted his teeth.

“Will you turn him in to the police?”

“We’re talking about attempted murder!” JR exclaimed. My eyes widened in horror as his words reached my ears. I had known through all that Jason had done to me and others that he was a horrible person, but would he really go as far to kill someone just to beat JR? My mind was racing. No… It didn’t sound that way on the phone with him last night. Jason apologized to me – and it actually sounded like he meant it. When he had explained all that he had done to JR, he sounded remorseful. As crazy as it seemed, when Jason had said that he was finished tricking everyone, I actually believed him. Jason couldn’t have tried to kill whoever it was they were talking about on the phone.

“We don’t know his status. Are you sure about this? Whatever decision you make you know I’ll support it, but really think it through. Turning Jason in means revealing everything that went on behind the scenes and exposing yourself.”

“It’s just a company!” JR shrieked. “It’s just another company… What is a company compared to another person’s life…? Noona, I owe it to him to at least protect him… It was never supposed to go this far. It was just supposed to be a harmless character…” His voice trailed off. “After all that he went through and all that he still did for me and Ren… how can I not do something?” JR asked. I suddenly felt my heart stop. The person they were talking about… was it…

I glanced off to my right where the large flat screen TV hung off the wall. Without saying anything I entered the living room and silently stood in front of the TV with the bed sheet wrapped around me, being held tightly in place by my closed right fist at my chest level that was trembling. I took in the image of an all too familiar car smashed into the bottom of a concrete bridge in Yeoju, which was on route back from Busan and just an hour outside of Seoul. My heart sank as one of the worst things I could possibly imagine was confirmed before my eyes. Baekho… that was Baekho’s car… I stared at the unrealistic video news footage. The front portion of the car was completely gone and crumpled up into the side of the bridge as if it had been made of the same aluminum as a soda can. Suddenly I couldn’t hear JR’s voice in the background anymore. All I could hear were the voices of the reporters talking about the scene of the accident but even then I couldn’t really understand them.

It’s not him.

I started entertaining the hopeless idea that it was someone else with the same car as Baekho even though I knew the chances were slim to none. The car was limited edition. Only a few people in the world owned this vehicle, and what were the odds that one of them were driving back from Busan the same night Baekho was? My bottom lip started to tremble in fear. Even still… it can’t be him. Did it make any sense for whatever god out there to try to take Baekho in a car accident? The irony was too unreal. After what we went through, spending all of our lives affected by that one day and finally learning to forgive one another… it was all for this? No, I couldn’t accept it. I glanced down at the headline on the screen which read ‘House of Kim’s Kim Baekho involved in serious accident.’

My heart started pounding inside of my chest. They were wrong. I had just seen Baekho last night… I felt the familiar sensation of my arms and legs increasingly growing numb. Without any further warning my eyes rolled to the back of my head and my knees gave in, sending me crashing to the floor. Everything went black. I heard JR’s voice calling for me, screaming my name in the darkness before I lost consciousness.

 

 

Jason’s POV

After hanging up the phone with Ren I placed it down on the desk inside of my office. I stared at my mannequin off to the side of the room that was draped in one of my next projects and frowned. Ren’s words had gotten to me, especially when he told me to live the right way. I scoffed. Was there really a ‘right’ way to live? Were there specific guidelines? And if so, where could I find a copy? Dammit… I hated being this clueless. Lately everything felt as if it were spinning out of control – more specifically, my control. I had grown so accustomed to everything falling into place for me as a result of my twisted efforts. But now nothing was going my way. For once I finally found myself in the power of someone else, and of all people, ironically it was JR. There was phrase for something like this – that’s right. ‘Oh, how the mighty have fallen.’ Not only had I fell, but I crashed hard.

What was my next move from here?

I had always been skillful and resourceful as a child growing up back in China. In fact, without it I would have never been able to launch JA Style in my home country and an outside country such as South Korea. I always had a plan. That’s just the way it was in the order of the universe – the sky is blue, the grass is green, Fu Long Fei has a plan, etc. But for the first time, ever since being stood up to, I didn’t have one. With LOTUS Designs debuting next week, I was in deep trouble even without facing JR’s threats. I had just lost my biggest weapon. Now I only had the talents of Minhyun and Aron to rely on for the remainder of their contracts.

Should I just quit?

I started considering doing the noble thing and hanging up my cape, finishing JA Style. My heart stung as I processed this thought. No, I didn’t want to quit. Designing had always been my dream. I might have been preoccupied lately with sales and numbers, but at the end of the day I was still a designer and my purpose was indeed to design. But after all the stunts I pulled… did I even deserve to continue to do whatever it was that I wanted? Did I deserve to design after taking away JR’s company and identity and giving it away to someone else? I pursed my lips and walked around the front of my desk to get to my mannequin behind it. I couldn’t believe how well JR had handled it. I knew that if the same situation had happened to me, I would have never been able to confront my attacker so calmly and have been able to keep myself together. JA Style was all that I had.

I started removing the unfinished blazer and held it out in front of me. At one point it had been about the clothes, not the competition. When and where did I go wrong and how could I return back to that time? Was it even possible or was I already in too deep in the grave that I had willingly dug for myself? I wondered…

You’re running out of time.

Although the collaboration fashion show had been a hit, I didn’t receive nearly as big a response as I had been hoping for. All of this new attention wouldn’t be enough to combat with the amount that LOTUS Designs would be receiving. Despite all of the orders I received from some of the top idol agencies, my company still wasn’t making the amount of revenue that I had been making back in China. At this point I had three options: a) stay and stick it out and risk a huge margin of profit; b) return to my home base in China while continuing to work on overseas orders; or c) give up. Both b) and c) felt like I was calling defeat and were a huge blow to my pride and ego. But if I didn’t, JA Style might never recover from the damage it will receive when LOTUS Designs debuts. Right now b) sounded like the best option even though technically it felt like I was running away from all the problems I had a hand in creating.

I sighed while staring at the blazer. Maybe running away was the best thing I could do for everyone. People like JR, Son Dambi and even Ren didn’t want to ever see me again. Baekho probably didn’t even care where I went or what I did from this point on. He never cared for me anyways – once again I couldn’t blame him. The dull, aching pain started returning to my stomach and I frowned. My ulcer was acting up again. It only ever did this whenever I felt an immense sense of dread, remorse or guilt. I knew what this was. Even my body was physically telling me that running away wasn’t the right choice. I knew I needed to stick around, at least for a bit longer until I fixed everything. But… how? There were so many peopled I had royally screwed over. I glanced back at my phone on my desk that had suddenly started to ring. I folded the blazer and placed it back on top of the mannequin before turning back to my desk and taking the phone into my hands, reading the ID. Baekho was calling me. I furrowed my brows, finding it strange. He never called me, and if he did, he usually needed something. What could he want now?

“You need something?” I bluntly asked after picking up. Baekho and I never did have the best relationship. In fact I didn’t think either one of us could stomach talking to one another for very long.

“I did it.” Baekho replied. His voice sounded tight as if he had been crying. It also sounded far away, as if he were talking to me from his car speakers. Apparently Ren had never used the plane ticket to China I had bought him and he had instead decided to disappear on his own, ending up in Busan, as Baekho had informed me on his drive down. He must have been on his way back.

“Did what?” I boredly asked.

“Delivered the envelope.”

“Yes, of course I know. Ren called me to let me know.” I shortly replied in annoyance, wanting to keep our conversation short. Baekho’s line went silent for a couple of seconds before he spoke up once again.

“!” Baekho suddenly cursed. I could hear the sound of his tires skidding across the pavement. “The roads are icier at night…”

I paused. “Is everything alright?” I asked. It wasn’t that I particularly cared, just – asking seemed like the right thing to do. Ha! Look at me, Ren. I’m already doing it.

“Yeah, I’m alright. What was inside?” He asked, unfazed. I raised a brow. It almost sounded like he was trying to make small talk with me. Exactly how bored was he that he didn’t have anyone better to bother than me?

“You mean you didn’t look inside?” I asked back, genuinely surprised. I started giving up on the notion that this would be a short phone call. It was clear that I would be here for a while.

“I try not to make it a habit to read other people’s mail.” Baekho sourly replied. “So what was it?” He asked.

“His shredded up contract.” I bitterly replied, still sore about the whole situation. Giving up Ren was possibly one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. That day that I had saw him out in the street, I didn’t even know if he was a model or had any previous modeling experience. All I knew was that I had to have him and would pay whatever the costs. It came as a surprise that he had flunked several casting calls and so many designers had passed on him numerous times. But with that body and that face – especially that beautiful face that could pass for either male or female – I knew he was exactly what JA Style needed to get ahead. Upon learning about his obsession with House of Kim and Mr. Kim I felt a bit discouraged. Personally knowing the guy, I knew that JR wasn’t quite what Ren was expecting but I still wanted/needed him to sign. That’s when the lies and manipulation began and I couldn’t stop. Although every fiber in my being was opposed to letting Ren go, part of me was actually glad it happened. If JR hadn’t put a stop to it I might have still kept going, despite my deteriorating health and then who knew what else I might have done. But at last it was finally over. Ren was no longer affiliated with JA Style and I no longer had control over him.

“What? You mean you actually let him quit?”

“He didn’t quit, I let him go!” I sensitively snapped at him. It sounded bad on my part if my best model had ‘quit.’ It made me seem like a terrible designer to work for… well, it probably wasn’t too far from the truth these days, but no one needed to know that.

“Potato, puh-tato. Same difference.”

“Shut up!”

Baekho laughed then sniffled. “So that’s it, huh? You’ve run out of people to manipulate. What are you going to do now?” He grew silent for a moment. Although he had stopped speaking, it felt as if he still had more to say but didn’t know how to go about it. Finally after several seconds had passed he hesitantly spoke up. “What are we going to do now…?” His troubled, worried voice trailed off. I paused for a moment before running my left hand through my red hair and brushing it backwards, sighing as I took a seat in my office chair. I rested my left elbow on the armrest and leaned the side of my face against my palm while still holding the phone to my right ear.

“I don’t know.” I honestly replied, not having an answer for his question. “I was actually thinking about it just now before you called.

“What’s going to happen to Mr. Kim and House of Kim once JR debuts his new company?” He asked. I dryly scoffed.

“What else? It’s going to fail. I assume he’s leaving the clean-up part up to us now that he’s 100% done with House of Kim.” I murmured. Although I couldn’t blame JR for doing it, it didn’t make it any less annoying having to do damage control for the one company I despised the most. “House of Kim’s stocks are bound to plummet. You will have to make a lot of public appearances to save face and go down gracefully.”

“Me?” Baekho sounded surprised. “You mean it’s not over?”

“You’re still Mr. Kim, aren’t you?” I reminded. There was a long pause of silence on the other end of the line before Baekho finally spoke up.

“I thought it was over…”

“Of course it’s not over. has to hit the fan first before it can finally be over.” I replied.

“But it will be over soon, right?” I could hear the forced optimism in his voice. Baekho was trying to remain hopeful but it was evident he was starting to crack. I sighed again.

“There’s no telling.”

“I need a definite answer. That’s not good enough.” He said, starting to get upset with me. I narrowed my eyes, not liking his sudden change in attitude.

“Well, what do you want me to tell you, Baekho? Sorry, but you’re still Mr. Kim and you’ve got a job to do to the end whether you like it or not.” I replied.

“I want you to tell me just how exactly you plan to get me out of this contract!”

“Ohhh, don’t you snap at me, you little-”

“Little?” Baekho scoffed. I paused for a moment, remembering Baekho’s larger frame than mine. He could easily hurt me if he wanted to. I awkwardly cleared my throat.

“You signed the contract. Did you honestly think that there would be an easy way out when you threw everything away to become a completely different person? Newsflash – the Kang Baekho that you used to know doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, as far as the world knows, he never even existed. But Kim Baekho exists.”

Baekho paused. “There’s no way out, is there…?” He asked as if he had suddenly just now realized the painful truth about himself.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’m still working that part out-”

“There’s no going back – I’ll always be Mr. Kim, won’t I…?” He said in disbelief.

“For now. Like I said before you rudely interrupted me, I need time to figure that out. If you’re that dead-set against being Mr. Kim, I’ll try taking another look at your contract to see if there’s another way out. Honestly I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to be him anymore – even if House of Kim fails, JR has provided you with more than enough money to be set for several lifetimes-”

“Wait a second… weren’t you the one that wrote the contract?” Baekho asked.

“A majority of it. JR also wrote several parts, but they were miniscule things that really don’t hold much significance.” I replied.

“Find something, anything. I can’t do this anymore… I can’t.” He replied. I slowly sat forward in my chair.

“Baekho-”

“I want out, Jason. I don’t know how to run a company… When House of Kim fails, Mr. Kim is going to look like an idiot. I don’t want to stick around for that.”

“Don’t you think I want out too?” I asked in frustration, grabbing at my hair with my left hand. “If there was even remotely another way out, don’t you think I would have thought of or taken it by now?”

“Then maybe you should think harder.” Baekho scolded me. I froze, surprised that he was suddenly trying to order me around. I narrowed my eyes.

“Do you honestly think I want to run House of Kim for JR? Remember my original intentions! The plan was to take it from him and run it to the ground-”

“Well, you were somewhat successful. But now we’re stuck with it – I’m stuck with it. This was your evil plan, not mine.” Baekho grew silent. “… What were you originally planning to do to Mr. Kim after you got this far…?” He wearily asked. I hesitantly paused.

“I don’t remember.”

“Bull. You have an answer for everything.” Baekho called me out. I scoffed in annoyance.

“I said I don’t remember.”

“Were you going to kill me?” He suddenly asked.

“Excuse me?” I asked back, stunned.

“Ever since trapping me inside of that big, empty house, all I could do was think about it. It’s the only option so far that’s made the most sense after you yourself telling me that you wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of me.” Baekho explained. I threw my head back and dryly laughed before falling backwards into my chair, deeply offended.

“I knew you never had a good opinion of me to begin with, but to think you really thought I would sink that low…” I replied with venom in my voice. I might have bluffed a couple of times before that I would make Mr. Kim disappear, but to actually kill a man? Did he really think I was capable of doing something like that? I was a designer, not an assassin.

“With what you did – and what you forced me to do to JR… can you honestly blame me?”

“You’re lucky I don’t kill you now for having the audacity to say that to me!” I angrily snapped.

“Then do it!” He snapped back at me. “I’d rather die than continue to be him!” I froze. My eyes grew wide in shock as my mind processed his words. Baekho suddenly broke down into heart wrenching sobs as he pleaded me. The sound of his cries started to eat away at me. This was the first time I had ever heard him cry. There had been numerous times in the past where I had royally pissed him off, but never before had I ever made him cry. I uncomfortably pursed my lips together. Was this even about being Mr. Kim anymore, or something else?

“JR’s debut is set for next week. Let’s make it there first before doing anything rash-”

“Next week?” Baekho asked in disbelief. “Do you know how much can happen in the span of a week?!” He angrily screamed, startling me. What was going on with him?

“Listen, Baekho. First, calm down and-”

“You’re not even trying to help me… I knew it. The only person you ever cared about was yourself.” He despondently replied. I felt like I was at a loss. It seemed like nothing I was saying was working for him. How had he accused me of plotting to kill him one second to begging me to kill him the next? What exactly was his state of mind at this moment?

“Let’s go to China-” I started to say, returning back to plan b) to pack up JA Style and run away back to my motherland, only this time with Baekho.

“Dammit, I don’t want to go to China!” He quickly shot down my idea. I gritted my teeth.

“Then what do you want me to do?! Tell me what to do and I’ll do it!” I screamed back in frustration at him.

“Find me a way out or-” Baekho’s voice cut off before suddenly –

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

BAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I froze in horror as the deafening sound of tires screeching and sliding across the frozen pavement suddenly colliding with something massive poured out from my phone’s speaker. The line abruptly went dead, ending our call. My phone slid out from my palm and fell into my lap. For a couple of seconds it seemed like reality had escaped from me. My entire body went numb. When I finally snapped back I apprehensively glanced around at my surroundings. The office was dead silent. It was just me – all of my other models had gone home for the night. The only sounds I could hear were the faint humming from the air conditioning unit and the loud pounding of my heart inside of my chest. What just happened…? In a state of shock I glanced down at my phone and shakily picked it up with my right hand.

I had just been talking to Baekho before…

Adrenaline surged through me. I immediately shot up from my chair and dialed an ambulance as I messily grabbed my keys and wallet and stuffed them into my pockets. The phone rang for what felt like an eternity. When the dispatch center finally answered I practically screamed into the phone, frantically telling them all that I had known while I ran from my office and down the stairs to the shop level, flying through the door. I accidentally dropped my keys as I was trying to lock it behind me. I swooped down and snatched my keys while still on the phone with the call center. As I stood back up they were telling me that they had tracked the last location the GPS signal in his phone had put out. He was near a bridge in Yeoju and they were sending an emergency vehicle to Baekho’s location. A sudden thought occurred to me.

Was this my fault too?

I shakily locked the door and left JA Style, rushing towards my car in the parking garage across the street. When I reached the driver’s entrance I tried unlocking the doors with my remote control only to fail by accidentally opening the trunk instead. I kicked the side of the car as if it was somehow it’s own fault that it didn’t open correctly. With several thoughts racing through my mind I couldn’t think clearly and started to panic. No, hold it together. Clear your head. You need to get to the hospital in one piece. We don’t need two accidents. At least people care about Baekho, but you? You’d be lucky if a single soul showed up to help you. I walked around to the back of the car and shut the trunk lid. As I brought it down I was met with a sharp pain in my stomach and I hurled over, grasping at my side while shrieking. Dammit… I was too stressed out. I tightly pursed my lips together and forced myself to stand back up straight, ignoring the pain as I walked around and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Our medical team has made physical contact with him. They’re transferring him into the ambulance as we speak.”

“Where are they taking him?” I asked the emergency dispatch as I started my car.

“We’re sending him to the medical center in Yeoju.” The emergency personnel responded. I winced as I reached forward and programmed the directions for the hospital in Yeoju into my GPS. It would be at least an hour before I could reach him. I started to switch the gears into reverse but paused before making any sudden movement.

“What is his condition?”

“He was breathing with a pulse when EMS arrived at the scene.” The woman replied. I heavily exhaled as a wave of relief washed through me. Thank god he was still alive.

“One more thing. I’m going to need you to do me a favor.” I replied, pulling out of my parking spot. I shifted the gears back to drive. “The man you are transporting is no ordinary person, but a celebrity. I ask that you do not reveal any information regarding his status or current condition to the public. As Kim Baekho’s publicity representative and manager, you do not want to know the legal consequences of breaking your silence on the matter. Understood?” I asked.

“Yes sir. We will keep all reports regarding his status confidential.” She nervously responded.

“Make sure you do.” I replied then quickly hung up, tossing my phone onto the passenger seat beside me. I pulled out into the road and started driving towards the highway with Yeoju as my set destination.

 

 

When I arrived at the hospital an hour later, it was already well past midnight. I calmly approached the front desk and asked where I could find Kim Baekho. My question was met with a strange look but she typed in the information to her computer anyways before shaking her head and informing me that there wasn’t a ‘Kim Baekho’ registered. I paused for a moment to think before giving her the name ‘Kang Baekho’ and telling her to try again. She did and was met with the same result. I furrowed my brows in confusion. What was going on just now? Had I arrived at the wrong hospital? I explained to her the situation that happened. When I mentioned the car wreck her face lit up with recognition and she started typing into her computer again. This time something pulled up. She glanced up at me from the screen and told me that the patient had entered the hospital unconscious to give a name and therefore the EMS personnel had looked inside of his wallet to get a name. Apparently Baekho had been registered underneath the name ‘Kang Dongho.’ I raised a brow. This was my first time ever hearing about this name. I didn’t have time to question it’s authenticity. I explained to her that he was a VIP and gave her the entire spiel that I had given the emergency dispatch worker about revealing anything about his status, and in this case, this other name. She timidly agreed. Before leaving the front desk I had her change the name ‘Kang Dongho’ back to ‘Kim Baekho.’

When I stepped into Baekho’s dark room, I found him laying on a hospital bed in the right side of the room, unconscious. His left arm and foot were wrapped in bandages. I closed the door behind me and quietly made my way over to his bedside. As I stared down at him all I could hear were the remnants from our last conversation where he begged me to help him escape from Mr. Kim. I guiltily sat down on the chair beside him and hung my head down low, not knowing what to do next. Baekho was in stable condition but he had yet to wake up, according to the brief report the nurse at the front desk had relied to me. My mind began racing. What if he never woke up? Putting him here was my doing. I was the one who found him and signed him on to become Mr. Kim. I was the one he was pleading to help him find a way out before he crashed his car into that wall… Perhaps… had it been on purpose? A suicide attempt? I paused, remembering how distracted Baekho had been on the phone at the time. It couldn’t have been. Although he sounded upset, he was actively looking for a solution out. Why would he try to kill himself? I glanced over at Baekho as a thought occurred to me.

“Baekho… who is Kang Dongho?” I asked him.

No response.

I pulled my phone out and texted my assistant to reschedule all of my appointments for the remainder of the week and that I would not be coming in. I also texted all of my models to take the next few days off and contacted my security crew to come in to my location to guard Baekho’s room from potential reporters. With as rare a car as Baekho drove, reporters were bound to figure out who it belonged to and connect it to him. Once I finished making all of my important contacts I leaned all the way back in the chair and threw my head back, finding myself now staring up into the hospital ceiling. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for Baekho to wake up again, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I placed my hand over my aching stomach. Baekho’s car accident couldn’t have been a bigger wakeup call. Although I couldn’t stand the bastard, I felt responsible for him. I always had. I was always the person he reported to. He did everything I said – reluctantly. I owed it to him at this point to protect him until he woke up, and once he did I needed to have that solution, that way out, ready for him.

I spent the remainder of the night sitting next to him, waiting for any signs of improvement. I didn’t realize how much time had passed until beams of sunlight started to trickle in through the blinds. I tiredly glanced up at the monitors beside him. Nothing had changed since last night. He was still stable and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. I heavily sighed then rubbed my forehead with my right thumb and index finger. My legs and bottom ached. I stood up and started to walk around. I slightly slid the door open and peered out into the hallway to see the guards I had contacted standing at their posts. They silently greeted me as I stepped out of Baekho’s room, making my way for the hospital cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee to help keep me awake. I didn’t even make it to the end of the hall before running into the mob of reporters camped out in the connecting hallway to my left, the closest my security team would allow them to get to us. As I passed by the hall I was immediately blinded by camera flashes going off in my face. I shielded myself with my hands and quickly turned away, not having any other choice than to return back to the room.

As I was re-entering Baekho’s room my phone suddenly rang while I was sliding the door shut behind me. I pulled it out of my pocket to see that it was an unknown number. Figuring that it might be a reporter I started to inch my finger towards the ‘reject call’ button on the screen but then paused when I realized it could be JR calling me from that private phone of his. I swiped my finger over the ‘answer’ button and held it up to my left ear while walking back over to Baekho.

“This is Jason.” I tiredly spoke into the phone.

“Jason, it’s me, Dambi.” A female voice poured out of the speaker. I froze in my tracks and nearly dropped the phone from my palm as I heard that particular name. My heart started pounding inside of my chest. She was the last person I had ever expected to hear from. What was she doing calling me?

“Is that so?” I unnervingly replied. “How did you get my number, Miss Son?” I asked. All of the old bitter feelings of tension I had built up inside of me towards her was starting to resurface even though I had been entertaining the idea about apologizing to her lately. I knew that if I wanted to have any hope about putting the past between us that I needed to calm down and be on my best behavior, something which was easier said than done.

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to. I’m on my way to the hospital now.” She coldly replied, not sounding as if she wanted to speak to me either. I dryly scoffed, already taking offense to her brash personality that seemed to clash so easily with mine.

“JR couldn’t be bothered to make an appearance himself?” Of course that was the only reason she was talking to me now. Other than acting on JR’s behalf, she had no reason to even think of me. Not that I blamed her – I wouldn’t want to associate with someone like me either, especially after framing her.

“Don’t act as if you know everything.” She said rather defensively, resuming her role as the protective mother hen she had always played when it came to JR. If it hadn’t of been for Dambi constantly getting in my way, I wouldn’t have waited so long to do what I did to JR. But maybe that was a good thing. Who knew how differently things might have turned out if I had done it then versus having done it now. Would I still be doing it?

“And I shall once you start doing the same.” I bitterly shot back. I wasn’t angry at her – I was angry at myself for having these thoughts. Everything I had ever done… I regretted it and the toll it was taking on my body.

“You and I both know this isn’t the time or place to be doing this.” She scolded, being the bigger person in this situation. I paused as I realized I was unintentionally taking my frustration out on her. This needed to stop.

“Time is something that’s quite important to me that you’re wasting, Dambi. What do you want?” I muttered, somewhat feeling ashamed of myself.

“How is he?” She immediately asked, choosing not to retaliate against my comment. I glanced over at the unconscious blonde.

“Stable.” I shortly said.

“Good. From this moment on JR and I will take over and relieve you of your duty towards Baekho.” She bluntly replied, startling me. I furrowed my brows.

“Excuse me?” I asked, stunned. What did she mean by ‘taking over’? I was the one that had been on the phone with Baekho when it had happened. I was the one that found him and had him brought here. I had been handling everything just fine without the need of their help. What made them think they could just show up unannounced and try to fix this? This wasn’t their problem to fix but mine. Baekho was my responsibility. I refused to leave.

“JR thanks you for taking care of the situation with the media until now but agrees that you’ve done enough.” Dambi replied. I heavily scoffed.

“That’s not a decision JR gets to make for himself!” I angrily shot back. JR thanks me? What a laugh! Was that something he personally said or something she made up on the spot? I bet there were a number of things JR might prefer to tell me other than the word ‘thanks.’

“Really?” Dambi asked back, questioning my integrity. I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like the tone she had used. “Tell me then, Mr. Bigshot. What’s your next move once Baekho wakes up? What are you planning to do?” She said tauntingly. So much for being the bigger person. I suppose it only took a few minutes with me before even someone like Dambi lost their composure.

“I’m not sure.” I replied, frustrated.

“Enough is enough. It’s time to get Baekho out of this mess that both you and JR created.”

“Don’t you think I know that?!?!” I snapped at her. Dambi grew silent for a moment.

“You agree then…?” She asked, sounding surprised that I had arrived to the same conclusion as her and JR.

“Of course I agree! Do you think I’m stupid? – Don’t answer that.” I quickly replied, already knowing what her answer might be. “It was one of the last things Baekho said to me over the phone before the accident. He was asking me, begging for a way out…” My voice guiltily trailed off.

“And what did you tell him?”

“I told him I didn’t have it, but to wait for me to find it.”

“Are you?”

“… I’m trying.” I shamefully replied, feeling somewhat hopeless that I hadn’t already figured it out.

“Wow...” Dambi replied, stunned. “You’ve always had a plan for everything. You seem to be slipping with age, Jason.” She joked. She must have sensed my frustration with myself and was trying to lighten up the mood.

“And you?” I snorted. “Last I recall, we’re around the same age.”

“I age like fine wine – I only get better with age. It’s unfortunate the same can’t be said for you. We could really use those problem-solving skills of yours at a time like this.” She said with a two-edged compliment.

“I’ve never had any skills. I’ve bluffed my entire way here.” I admitted then scoffed. “Everyone really does give me too much credit than I’m capable of.” I murmured.

“What do you mean?” Dambi asked.

“Baekho thought I was capable of committing murder.”

“You mean you’re not?” She joked again. Or at least I think she was joking… I’m going to go ahead and believe that she was to preserve the conversation.

“He thought I was going to kill him once my need for Mr. Kim came close to an end.” I scoffed. “I mean seriously, me kill another man? I’ve done some pretty horrible things in my life but that is one thing I won’t do-”

“That’s it…” She sounded as if she had just reached an epiphany. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

“What’s it?” I was lost.

“That’s Baekho’s way out!” She excitedly exclaimed. I turned my head and stared at the phone in my palm like it was crazy before holding it back up to my ear again. I blinked several times.

“You want to murder him?” I asked in disbelief. I glanced over at Baekho’s unconscious form. Who would have thought that Dambi was the one everyone had to worry about?

“No, not Baekho, you idiot. Mr. Kim!” She said as if it made perfect sense.

“I still don’t understand what you’re getting at…”

“Because you were quick to handle it so well, the media has little to zero knowledge of Mr. Kim’s current condition. As far as they know, he could be clinging to life as we speak – and that’s exactly what we’re going to tell them.” Dambi darkly crafted out this morbid plan. I paused to contemplate the possibility of it. If we let the fictional ‘Mr. Kim’ pass away in the hospital even though Baekho was fine, technically we could sneak him out and set him free of this persona without anyone knowing, but there was still one small problem…

“They’ll recognize him.” I replied. Dambi chuckled.

“No they won’t.” She said all knowingly. “The media might have seen what Mr. Kim looks like, but they’ve never really seen what he looks like.”

I froze. “The sunglasses clause!” I exclaimed, referring to the contract that both JR and I had drawn up for Baekho which required him to wear sunglasses at all times. It was one of the pettier things Baekho had hated me for – little to his knowledge that it was actually JR who had personally requested for it to be written in and for him to do so. Of course it was just easier on him to take out all of his hatred on me. Whatever, I didn’t really care. At the time I didn’t really understand why of all things JR wanted it in there, but since it was something so miniscule I humored him and wrote it in. It only just now occurred to me that perhaps JR had been thinking about an exit plan for Baekho since the beginning.

“That’s right, the sunglasses clause.” Dambi sneakily replied. “I’ll stop by the store and pick up a few things he might need for when he wakes up. You try and work on how to get me in and Baekho out undetected by the media. I’ll text you when I’m in the parking lot. Good luck.” She said before shortly hanging up.

I sighed then dug my phone back into my pocket and sat down in the chair next to Baekho’s bed. I glanced up over at him, thinking about all of the times he had stepped outside in public. He had actually done pretty well with remembering to wear the sunglasses, therefore it really was possible for Dambi’s plan to work… I sourly laughed. Of all people to save my … I had been wracking my brain since early last night to come up with a plan when it was literally right there in front of my face. It was almost unbelievable how fast she had thought of it. Maybe I really was slipping… not that it was necessarily a bad thing. Being a snake these days wasn’t something I was enjoying. But Dambi wasn’t doing this for my sake. Whether it was for Baekho’s or JR’s, I really didn’t care either. All I cared about right now was getting Baekho out of the Mr. Kim contract like how he asked, even if that meant working with her. Ren had told me to start living the right way and this was as good a start as any. I thought about how odd it was that something like this had to happen in order for me to ever meet with Dambi again. I was never really a big believer in the whole ‘fate’ idea, but I knew that if left up to me, I would have never voluntarily met with her. That meant that I probably never would have apologized for framing her and ruining her career all because of my petty jealousy. But in less than an hour she would be here, therefore I didn’t have any reason not to… except my heavy pride. I shook my head. No. I needed to apologize, even if it killed me. If I didn’t, the stomach pain might never stop. I stood up and quietly walked over to the front door again, sliding it open. I turned to the guard standing to my right out in the hall.

“He’s going to have a special visitor that will require your assistance walking in undetected.” I instructed him. He hesitantly paused.

“But sir, there’s a whole hallway lined up, full of reporters-”

“Don’t concern yourself with it. I’ll provide the distraction while you sneak her in. Be ready at my call.” I replied before stepping out into the hall, walking in the direction of the reporters I had walked into from earlier. The hallway was filled with the sounds of loud chatter that quickly fell into a dead silence the moment I approached them. All eyes were on me, waiting. Several of the cameramen in the crowd already had their equipment recording. I scanned the hall. “I appreciate your patience with us and your concern about Mr. Kim, but how long have all of you been camped out here?”

Once reporter rose his hand. “I’ve been here since last night!” He admitted.

“Yeah, me too!” Several others joined him. I paused and tiredly tilted my head to the side.

“Your dedication is inspiring but you should all go home until there is something to report.” I tried to convince them.

“We’ll wait.”

“But aren’t you all tired? Hungry even?” I asked, trying to find other plausible excuses to distract them with. I rubbed my forehead with my right hand, starting to get a headache.

“How can we eat when there’s been zero word on Mr. Kim’s current status?” One reporter asked.

“You’re close with Mr. Kim – do you know what his current state is?” Another one asked.

“Tell us! The world deserves to know the status of one of its most beloved designers. So far there hasn’t been any word other than the footage of the scene of the crash.” A third replied. I frowned.

“The silence is out of respect of your beloved designer, who is a person as well.” I shot back, a bit agitated. Where had all of this concern been when I was in the hospital for several weeks? It was hardly even touched upon in the news. Of course… I wasn’t the designer for House of Kim, therefore I wasn’t important enough. This tragic truth hurt, but it was something that I had to accept. I was never good enough to beat House of Kim and I was certain the same could be said for LOTUS Designs. I sighed. It seemed I rarely ever got an article written about me or JA Style these days. The last thing I needed was for one to pop up about my sour attitude. “I’m afraid there hasn’t been any improvement… We’re worried. The level of injuries Mr. Kim sustained were critical. The doctors are carefully monitoring him as we speak but all we can do is wait...” I said with a dark look on my face, sticking to Dambi’s plan and setting up the stage for Mr. Kim’s death. There were several gasps from the crowd in response.

“Critical injuries?” A reporter asked while scribbling down my response on a notepad.

“Can you tell us what those injuries were?” They continued to ask a slew of further questions. I remained staring at them with an empty, blank expression written on my face, putting my acting skills to good use.

“I apologize. This is really a lot. Kim Baekho is my dear friend… As you know, we just finished wrapping up a fashion line together and now he’s in this state… I’m just in just as much an utter state of shock and disbelief as you are…” I replied.

“Will we be updated with further news of his condition as it progresses?”

“Only time can tell. But I do know everyone starving themselves for the sake of another news story isn’t going to make him get any better. He would feel horrible and I feel the need to take responsibility in his stead. I’ve been so distraught about his condition that I haven’t eaten since yesterday. I need to eat as well. Shall I order enough for everyone?” I cautiously asked, waiting for them to take my bait. Just as I suspected, several hungry eyes stared back at me. I had to suppress the urge not to smile at how clever I was. Just then my phone vibrated. I took it out from my pocket and read Dambi’s text, notifying me that she was here. I forced a sad smile on my lips as I glanced back at the crowd. “Then it’s settled.” I said then turned my back to them, making my way towards my two guards standing outside Baekho’s door. I made a nudging motion with my head for one of them to go find Dambi as I called a Chinese delivery restaurant and placed a rather large order and hung up.

I waited out in the hall for about fifteen minutes. Finally I saw Dambi arriving with my guard from a different hallway. I held my hand out to him to tell him to stop and hide. He nodded then placed Dambi in one of the hospital rooms while he waited for my call. We waited for several more minutes until the delivery man finally appeared carrying several large boxes of food with him. I started walking towards him to greet him. As I took one of his boxes I glanced over at my guard and gave him the signal to start moving with Dambi. He nodded, taking his black blazer off then pulling Dambi out from the room and covering her with it as I started to distribute all of the food with the delivery man to the hallways of distracted reporters. It took a while to finish handing out everything but when I did I quickly paid the delivery man then made my own way back to Baekho’s room. When I stepped inside Dambi was standing at the foot of Baekho’s bed, carrying a large tote bag over her right shoulder. As I entered she glanced over at me, immediately reaching inside of her bag and pulling out a cylindrical can, holding it out to me. I wearily glanced down at it and then back up at her as if it were poison. She rolled her eyes.

“It’s an energy drink. Take it.” She surprisingly replied. I arrogantly turned my head to the side and away from her.

“And why would I take such a thing from you?” I declined even though every fiber in my being was already craving it. My damn pride…

“Because you sounded like death on the phone. Hey, drink it or I will.” She said, about to open it up for herself when I quickly reached over and snatched it from her, surprising even myself.

“Thanks, I guess.” I muttered. Dambi shrugged her shoulders then rolled her eyes.

“I suppose that’s about as good as it gets from you.” She sighed, sounding as if she had given up all hope on me. She pursed her lips then forced a smile on her face, as if it were quite literally killing her to be in the same room with me. “That was pretty clever what you did out there.” She surprisingly complimented, something I wasn’t expecting to hear. I tried to hide my bewilderment by shrugging my shoulders.

“And the reason I had to hide you was…?” I said, trying to shift the focus off me. For some strange reason it was unnerving hearing her say nice things about me. Probably because I still felt guilty for the feud between us that had never been settled.

“I’m the one that’s going to walk Baekho out of here.” She replied matter-of-factly. I narrowed my eyes and glared at her.

“Is that so?”

“It would be too obvious it’s him with you by his side, wouldn’t it? And besides, I’ve got everything he’ll need right here waiting for him when he wakes up. We’ll change his clothes, his hair… by the time he walks out of here, no one will notice a thing. They’ll just think I came to my non-celebrity boyfriend from the hospital.”

“Look here-”

“Don’t protest it and just go with it. It’s going to work.” She replied.

“Don’t act like you’re the one that’s done everything.” I shot back. Dambi stared at me. She forced a small, half smile on her lips.

“Then should I sit back and watch you destroy another person’s life? Haven’t you done enough?” She quietly asked, uncomfortably shifting her gaze away from me. I took a step closer, confronting her for her statement. For a minute the two of us stood there with me staring at her while she tried to avoid my gaze until she could no longer and finally glanced up at me. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting you…”

“Then what do you want me to do about it?” I suddenly asked her.

“What?” She asked back, stunned that I was finally addressing the problem between her and I. I had spent so long dodging it, not wanting to admit the truth to anyone. In fact the only people who knew what had really happened that day were us and whoever else Dambi might have told, if she did. She never outed me in the media. When she stepped out of the spotlight she did it quietly and gracefully, never denying or confirming whether she had truly stolen something from me.

“I want it all to stop just like you do. Since I’ve already ‘done enough’ as you so nicely put it, it’s your call. I’ll swallow my pride and listen for once. How do you want me to make things right?”

“Jason…”

“Do I need to get down on my knees and apologize?” I placed the unopened can down on the foot of Baekho’s bed before climbing down to my knees in front of her feet. Dambi took a step back, startled. “Should I bow like this?” I asked, bowing down several times.

“Stop it!” Dambi uncomfortably snapped at me. I continued to bow. When I refused to stop she reached down and yanked me by my right arm, pulling me away from the floor. I stared up at her with wide eyes. For a second it almost looked like she was about to hit me.

“Then what do you want, if not an apology?” I desperately asked, just ready for this all to end. Dambi pursed her lips together and looked off to her right as if she were trying to prevent herself from crying.

“You really want to know what you can do?” She asked, turning her head back down to face me. I silently nodded. “You can wish me well for my next show.”

“Is that… really all you want?” I asked in disbelief. It couldn’t be that simple.

“The career that you sought to destroy… I want you to take responsibility by acknowledging what you did and then wishing me an even better one. I’ve already gotten what I want… for you to learn your lesson.” She replied.

“My lesson?” I asked. She nodded then sniffled.

“With just one look at you I can tell that you have. You don’t hold your head up as high anymore. You actually have shame – something I didn’t think at all was possible from you. I’ll admit it. I helped JR orchestrate taking back House of Kim and running it to the ground in place of LOTUS Designs.”

I shifted my gaze down to my knees. “I had a feeling.”

“I didn’t do it for myself, but for JR. I did it to encourage JR to stand up for himself to you in the way I wish I had but never did. You once took away my voice, but I wasn’t going to let you take his.” Dambi painfully admitted, expressing regret over the way she had chosen to handle it, even though I couldn’t have thought of a better way for her to have handled it than she did. She probably did what was expected of her as opposed to what she really wanted to do, which was probably deck me like she had tried so many times before whenever we ran into each other.

“I’m… sorry.” I finally said it. Dambi’s eyes suddenly grew wide and she paused for a brief moment as my words reached her ears. A small smile slowly stretched across her lips that she fought her best to hide.

“What’s done has already been done. You can’t take back what you did because you already did it, but I’ll tell you what you can do: don’t just be a designer. Be a human being too.” She replied.

“A human being…?” I was speechless.

“No human being is perfect.” Dambi replied with silent tears in her eyes. “I’m not asking the world of you. I just want you to admit it whenever you do wrong and say it whenever you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry…” I admitted, my voice shaking. “I’m sorry for framing you. I’m sorry for costing you your career. Even more, I’m sorry that it’s taken me this long to apologize to you...” It was funny how there was once a time where I would rather die than say sorry and so I almost deleted it from my vocabulary versus now when I couldn’t seem to stop. Dambi stared down at me then slowly outstretched her hand.

“I’m sorry for my part too.” She said, waiting for me to take her hand as I stared at it. I glanced up at her before taking it and allowing her to help me up.

“Yes, well, I needed it.” I murmured. “In a way I’m actually glad JR stood up to me. I don’t know how much further or sicker I would have gone or become if he didn’t.”

“Then I’m glad you stopped.”

“I hope… that you can return back to that status I greedily took away from you.” I awkwardly replied. This was the first time in my life I had ever wished an enemy good luck. Well, Dambi wasn’t exactly an enemy anymore, was she? Dambi smiled.

“Heh. I will.”

“That confident in yourself, I see?” I raised a brow. She shook her head.

“I’m that confident in JR and LOTUS Designs.” She proudly said before glancing down at Baekho. “In the meantime, let’s just wait until this guy wakes up, huh?” She grabbed her bag and walked around to the couch on the other side and sat down, crossing her long legs over one another and opening up a magazine. It seemed that if she held any ill feelings towards me, they were certainly gone now and she looked more at ease. I awkwardly took the energy drink and sat back down in the chair on the opposite side of Baekho’s bed, not really knowing what else to say or do. I popped open the can and took a drink. Even before I had apologized to her, she put aside our differences and still bought this for me, knowing how tired I must have been. Although she wasn’t completely innocent and had played a hand in helping JR scare me, I couldn’t bring myself to be upset. Knowing full and well that if she and JR had actually wanted to hurt me they would have, I was glad that it was just a lesson when I deserved so much worse. Instead they gave me the opportunity to learn and grow from it, something I was determined not to let go to waste. I paused as Dambi’s words replayed in the back of my mind.

‘I just want you to admit it whenever you do wrong and say it whenever you’re sorry.’

Since yesterday when I had the idea to run away before thinking against it, I had been contemplating how I would make things right with all of the people I had screwed over. I had already addressed and solved the problems with Minhyun, Aron and Ren, but there was still a few more. I hadn’t been sure of what it was that I was going to do until hearing Dambi make that statement and then it became clear as day. Needless to say, after Baekho woke up and LOTUS Designs finally had its debut, for the first time in a long time I now knew what my next move would be.

 

 

Baekho’s POV

When I opened my eyes everything was a complete blur. At first I was stunned. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. In the background I could hear the faint sound of a machine beeping. I furrowed my brows in confusion. What in the world was that? As my vision cleared I noticed that I wasn’t in the comfort of my bedroom, but someplace else. I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I was inside of some fancy room, but there were machines all around me and wires protruding through my skin, connecting me to them. I glanced down at the cast wrapped around my left foot and then the one around my left arm. Memories of the accident flashed through the back of my mind. That’s right… I had lost control of my steering on the icy roads and had slammed into a bridge on my way back from Busan… I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as everything sunk in. I was lucky to be alive. I remembered being so terrified the moments before the airbag had hit me, knocking me unconscious. I had been so certain that I was going to die the same way my parents did, but at the same time I remembered feeling peace knowing that I would be reunited with them at last. But apparently it wasn’t meant to be.

I tried recalling the drive back to Seoul before the wreck. Before I had left Busan I had told Ren my final goodbye, something that had been more grievous and tormenting for me than it probably was for him. Of course it was – I was a hundred percent certain that I loved him. And it was because of that love that I knew I had to let him go, even at my expense. I had cried for several minutes while sitting inside of my car. I knew crying wouldn’t ease my heavy heart but it was the only answer I had. After I had calmed down I started to do a lot of thinking, mostly about how much unhappier I had become ever since taking on the Mr. Kim persona. Granted, if it weren’t for the Mr. Kim persona I wouldn’t have met Ren and finally put the mystery of my parents’ car crash to rest. But I had lost so much to the point where none of it seemed worth it anymore. I remembered calling Jason while on the road in attempt to find a solution to ending this mediocre contract of mine and that’s when it happened – I felt the tires of my car start to skid, sliding me off the road and hurling towards the side wall of the bridge. Someone must have found me and brought me to the hospital…

I silently glanced over to my left to see a short haired brunette woman sitting in the chair beside me, flipping through a fashion magazine. Whatever she was reading, she seemed deeply intrigued to the point where she hadn’t even noticed that I had awoken. I stared at her beautifully painted features that for a second almost seemed unreal and out of this world. Everything about her seemed perfect, as if she were no ordinary woman. But… who was she? And why was she in my room? I froze as a horrifying thought occurred to me. Maybe she wasn’t real. Had I died after all? Was I in some sort of purgatory between heaven and hell that for some reason resembled a hospital room? The woman glanced up from her magazine when she noticed me staring. A smile lit up across her stained red lips and she placed the book down, standing up and leaning over the side railing of my bed.

“So you’re up, Kang Dongho.” She cheerfully said then grinned. I stared at her in disbelief. Up close her beauty only seemed to intensify. I had been so distracted by her presence that I hadn’t even noticed the name she addressed me by.

“… Are you an angel?” I asked. A strange, amused look flashed across her face before she grinned.

“Close!” She laughed. “I’m Son Dambi.” The woman I had spoken to on the phone the other day…

“Why are you…” Had she been the one to find me? But… how?

“Here?” She asked. “Why not? I feel with as much as you told me that day, I’m close enough to visit you, don’t you think?” She skipped around my question.

“Uh…”

She smirked again. “Relax. JR sent me. You’ll be coming home with me.”

“Wait, what?” I blanked out. There were so many things going on in that last statement that I didn’t even know where to begin questioning it. What did she mean ‘JR sent her’? Just how in the world did JR even know my whereabouts or what had happened to me? He couldn’t have found me, at least not when he was busy spending the night with Ren. Someone else had to have been responsible for bringing me here.

“Well, you don’t exactly have a home to go to anymore, sweetie.” She responded to the one thing I had managed to forget to question.

“Of course I have a home.” I oddly replied. Dambi slowly shook her head and smiled.

“Kang Dongho doesn’t have a listed address. In other words, he’s homeless, isn’t he?” She said, repeating the name I hadn’t been addressed by in years. It finally registered the second time she said it. I stared at her.

“How do you know my birth name?” I asked. How could she have known a name that not even my own parents called me by?

“So it is your real name!” Dambi excitedly exclaimed before growing more serious and standing up straight again and folding her arms across her chest. “Jason said that when you were first brought in, they went through your wallet and ran your ID and insurance information.”

“Jason was the one that found me?” I was stunned. Dambi nodded.

“Yes, but more importantly, wanna explain to me why you signed your name as ‘Kang Baekho’ on your legal contract with Jason and JR?”

I paused. “… Am I in trouble? Kang Dongho is the name registered on my birth certificate, but Kang Baekho was always the name I used in school and signed on legal documents. I’ve never been questioned about it before. It was a nickname that always just sort of stuck with me since childhood because I hated my real name.”

“Jackpot!” Dambi pumped her right fist in the air. “You just made things ten times easier for us.”

“I still don’t understand what’s going on here…”

“It’s your way out, kid.” Dambi ominously replied, waving her index finger around in the air. “Didn’t you hear? Kim Baekho didn’t survive the accident.” Her words hit me like a bag of bricks to the face. Kim Baekho didn’t survive the accident? My way out? It suddenly occurred to me what she was implying. She turned back around to pick up a large tote bag that had been resting on the floor beside her chair before holding it over my bed and dumping its entire contents out on top of me. I watched as a grey hoodie, a pair of dark jeans and a pair of sneakers tumbled out beside a box of black hair dye. It looked like a disguise kit, something that one might use while on the run from the cops. But it wasn’t the cops that I would be running from – it was the media and the rest of the world. I blankly stared down at them before glancing back up at her.

“I’m alive, but Kim Baekho didn’t make it… that must mean that Kang Dongho is the one that’s going to walk out of here, isn’t it?” I quietly asked her.

“Bingo.” She replied. “Well… more like roll. Let’s face it, kid. You’re not going to be doing any walking for some time for now. But you’ll get to resume your normal life as Dongho once again.” She cheerfully said. I picked up the box of black hair dye.

“… It’s not that I’m against the idea, but…”

Dambi scowled. “No one is going to recognize you with the hair color and the lack of sunglasses. You’ll be fine!” She tried to encourage me. I stared at her.

“That’s not what I’m worried about-”

SLAM!

Both Dambi and I glanced over to the front of the room where the door loudly slid shut, followed by Jason entering. His eyes grew wide in excitement once he realized I was up. He clapped his hands together. “Oh, good! You’re finally awake!” Jason exclaimed.

“Yes, finally! Just going over the plan with him!” Dambi replied, matching his enthusiasm.

“Good, good. I’m listening.”

“I was just telling him how we were going to sneak him out-”

“And I was about to explain it to her that it’s not going to work.” I said, interrupting their conversation about me. They both paused and glanced back at me, their matching enthusiasm fading by the second.

“What do you mean it’s not going to work?” Dambi asked.

“When a person dies, a death certificate is made. Kim Baekho was a real person who needs a real death certificate. In order to obtain one of those, it has to be issued by the hospital. Unless you’re able to convince a reputable establishment like this one to lie and forge the document under Kim Baekho’s name, it’s not going to work.”

“… You had to put logic into this, didn’t you?” Dambi glared before pouting in frustration. “The hospital will never agree to such a thing!”

I sighed. “It was a nice try…” I said as I watched one of my potential chances to escape from the Mr. Kim persona wash down the drain. Jason suddenly extended his right index finger into the air.

“Not quite.” He said, grabbing both of our attention. “For the right price, even the most ethical doctors will dance.”

“Huh?” I asked then paused. “Do you really think you can bribe a doctor with money?” I asked in disbelief, knowing full and well that most doctors were loaded. The promise of more money was hardly motivating to most of them. Jason walked over towards the side of my bed and picked up a remote, pressing the notification button to send a doctor in.

“We’ll find out.” Jason said as if he knew exactly what he was doing. He glanced over at Dambi, who in turn gave him a cautious, suspicious look. “Are you and JR going to assist me in this?” He asked. “I’m positive I can afford a doctor’s asking price, but in the spare chance that I cannot…” A dark, serious look spread over Dambi’s face.

“We’re behind you 100%.” She boldly replied.

“Then follow my lead.” Jason laced his arm underneath hers and turned the both of them facing toward the door. Several minutes later a male doctor slid the door open and stepped into the room. The three of us watched as he approached us. I immediately took notice of his textured, spiky black hair and his dark brows which sat on his pale, smooth complexion. For a second I managed to forget where I was and found myself somewhat attracted to him. He glanced at Jason and Dambi with his hazel eyes and shortly smiled at them, extending his hand out and shaking both of their hands.

“Good evening. I’m Dr. Park.” As he finished introducing himself he returned his gaze back towards Jason.

“Doctor, he just awoke. Will you check his condition?” Jason asked him. Dr. Park nodded then walked around them, stopping at my bed side to check my vitals. The room was silent in the minutes that followed as the doctor made several notes on the clipboard beside my bed. When he came to a result he finally looked up at the two and smiled handsomely.

“Kim Baekho is in perfect condition. He only suffered minor fractures to his arm and ankle. Although he took quite the hit to his head, the CT scans aren’t showing any major damage or anything to be alarmed about.” The doctor replied. “In fact, he can leave as soon as tonight.” Jason frowned.

“That’s not good…” He replied. The doctor paused for a moment and gave Jason an odd, confused look.

“It’s not?” He asked, wondering if he had heard wrong.

“You see, that doesn’t work for any of us.” Jason began.

“And why is that…?” Dr. Park asked. Jason walked closer to the doctor and approached him. Now finding less than a foot of distance between them, Dr. Park seemed to grow noticeably uncomfortable and he shifted his gaze away from Jason, looking off to the side.

“Dr. Park, how often would you say that you ‘help’ your patients?” Jason asked. Dr. Park paused and slowly glanced back at him.

“I help patients all of the time.” He confidently replied.

“I mean really ‘help’ them?” Jason continued to hint. Dr. Park stared at him.

“What is it that you’re implying?”

“I’m not implying… more like asking for a favor.”

“Which is…?” Dr. Park asked, starting to sound annoyed.

“Could you kill him?” Jason darkly asked. The room once again grew silent. I kept my eyes on the handsome doctor’s face, trying to gauge his reaction. However, there wasn’t one. I had at least expected him to seem somewhat shocked to hear such a serious, odd request, but Dr. Park acted like it was something he heard quite often. It made me question if this was a common, underground practice that most medical professionals faced, especially with celebrities and important businessmen. Dr. Park dryly laughed before narrowing his eyes at Jason.

“You have ten seconds to explain yourself to me before I bring security in to you from the premise.” He surprisingly threatened. Jason didn’t budge.

“Let’s see how well your security fairs through mine. It’ll make for quite an interesting show, won’t it? Do you have popcorn or should I send for some?” Jason taunted. The doctor smirked, acknowledging defeat.

“You are quite the headache.” He replied. Oh, you have no idea…

Jason smirked back at him as if somewhat proud. “So will you help him?”

“And how is killing the CEO and designer of a major powerhouse fashion company considered ‘helping’ him?” Dr. Park shot back. Jason laughed.

“Aww, you’re a fan!” Jason glanced back at me over his shoulder. “Did you hear that, Baekho? He’s your fan.” He asked, awkwardly bringing me into this mess even further. I silently nodded, wishing I was anywhere else but here. Jason turned back to the doctor. “Then why won’t you protect him?” He darkly asked, switching his tone on a quick whim. Dr. Park stared at him in confusion.

“The last time I checked, the words ‘help’ and ‘protection’ never fell under the same category as ‘murder.’” He replied.

“We’re not asking you to slit his wrists and kill him with your scalpel, but with your pen on paper.” Jason replied. Dr. Park stared at him, looking somewhat intrigued as he listened on to Jason’s crazy antics. “House of Kim is about to go down the toilet once Mr. Kim’s assistant debuts LOTUS Designs, which means Mr. Kim is about to face utter humiliation. He took a chance on that kid and took him under his wing – now look at what good that has done him. Do you think he deserves this?”

Dr. Park glanced over at me. “But you said you let him go so that he could grow.” He said, referring to the press conference I had held in response to all of the articles surfacing about my secret assistant. I froze in my bed now that I suddenly had all of the attention on me. I glanced over at Jason who was giving me a stern look to say something and not mess up. I shifted my gaze back over to the doctor.

“What is said in a press conference is hardly ever the truth, but the truth the media wants to hear.” I cryptically responded. Dr. Park subtly smirked as if he were impressed by my response.

“That sounds about right.” He replied. Nailed it.

“So we’re asking you, Dr. Park, to give Baekho a second chance at life and help him avoid suffering through this public humiliation by not letting him survive that accident.” Dambi pleaded him. Dr. Park folded his arms across his chest and remained silent for almost a solid full minute before finally speaking up.

“The two of you must be incredibly rich or naïve to ask a doctor to break his code of ethics to write Mr. Kim a death certificate. You do realize what you’re potentially costing me?” He darkly asked. Dambi paused for a second before confidently smiling and walking up to him, softly caressing the side of his face with her right hand.

“Tell me, how much does the cost of a signature and your silence run these days?” She seductively asked, leaning in closer to his ear. My eyes grew wide in shock as I sat behind them, feeling much out of place as I watched one situation quickly start to turn into another. I couldn’t believe how bold a person JR chose as his best friend. I watched as the doctor brushed her hand away with his arm, taking a slight step backwards and away. Dambi furrowed her brows in confusion at the notion of rejection, possibly for the first time ever. It was then when Dambi and I, almost in unison, noticed that the doctor had nervously glanced over at Jason who looked as if he had tuned out of the conversation and was boredly standing off to the side. When Jason suddenly realized everyone was looking at him, it must have occurred why and he quietly raised his right index finger up and pointed at himself.

“Me?” He asked, somewhat surprised. The doctor who had previously seemed so suave, cool and collected sheepishly nodded. Dambi and I both shared a look. Oh. An amused smirk spread across Jason’s lips. He glanced back over at the two of us. “It looks like I’ll be taking care of this one.” He proudly stated before turning back to the doctor and flashing him a wink. “Wanna show me your office?” He asked before following Dr. Park out of the room to finish attending to ‘matters.’

Dambi sat back down in the chair at my bedside. “I gotta admit, I did not see that one coming.” She said with an amused grin on her face as she leaned over and picked up the box of black hair dye. “We should probably get started on this, huh?”

“Miss Son,” I called out to her. She glanced up at me with curious eyes.

“Hmm?” She carelessly asked.

“Were you… really about to offer yourself to him just to get me out of this mess?” I asked. I had to know. She barely even knew me and yet she was already willing to sacrifice something so crucial –

“I used to dislike you, you know.” Dambi bluntly said. “If you hadn’t of called me, I would have continued on disliking you. You were the enemy because you were ‘Mr. Kim.’ It wasn’t until after speaking with you and hearing all that you would do and sacrifice for Ren and JR, I couldn’t help but begin to realize that there was a person inside of ‘Baekho,’ and that person wasn’t bad. In the end, you were just another one of Jason’s victims that he added to the list with the rest of us. It’s best for us all to stick together in this, isn’t it? It makes it a hell of a lot easier.”

“But still…” I protested. Dambi faintly smiled.

“It wasn’t just to help you, but to help JR too.” She admitted. “I owe a lot to that kiddo. He’s taking a big chance on me by making me his Top Model, giving me a second chance to get back into the industry at my age.”

“Didn’t you help him get this far though? Isn’t that enough?” I asked. Dambi softly laughed.

“The things that I’ve done for him doesn’t even compare for what he’ll be doing for me next week. That’s why I was prepared to make that kind of sacrifice for the both of you…” Dambi’s voice trailed off. “You’ve led a pretty lonely life until this point, haven’t you…? Believe me, I know what that’s like. It having to hide yourself away like that… You know, you don’t have to make decisions on your own or be alone in your suffering anymore. I’ll be your friend.”

I stared at her, surprised. “With someone you hardly even know-”

“I know you quite well, Dongho.” She teased me, holding up her hand to her ear to mimic that of a phone, reminding me that I had given her enough information about my life to have turned it into an autobiography. “So, what the hell? Let’s be friends.” Dambi replied, going from graceful to blunt in the span of less than five seconds. She made a fist with her right hand and held it out to me. “Fist pump, bruh.”

“Are you really a super model?” I asked, questioning her credibility. On the outside she looked like an angel but on the inside she was… well, a lot of things. Overly confident, blunt, crude… those were just some of the aspects about her. But when the situation called for it, she seemed to be someone reliable, understanding, and who could get things done – someone you could trust.

“Pfft!” Dambi exclaimed. “I’m a human being, not a doll. Come on. Don’t leave me hanging.” She replied. I finally raised my right arm that wasn’t in a cast and made my hand into a fist, giving in to her demand. Dambi smiled. “That’s the stuff. Now that Jason’s getting busy, let’s say goodbye to that blonde hair of yours, shall we?” She deviously grinned. I cringed at how easily she dismissed reality.

“I mean you didn’t really have to put it like that…” I said, a bit disturbed at the mental image I received of the two going at it inside of Dr. Park’s office. Dambi shrugged then laughed.

“Hey, at least he was eager to do it. I did not expect that…” Her voice trailed off in wonder as she tilted her head to the side. Was she really thinking about them doing it like I was? I smirked, amused. She seemed to have the dirty mentality of a man.

“Really?” I asked. “Jason would sleep with anyone with a pulse!” I joked. Dambi glanced back at me, amused.

“Would he?”

I nodded. “He hit on me the first time we met.”

“Pfft! Who wouldn’t, am I right?” Dambi awkwardly laughed. I paused and gave her a curious look. When Dambi realized I was staring at her she stopped. “Hey, I call handsome as I see it.” She tried to logically explain.

“I’m surprised too.” I replied, not reading too much into her last comments. “That Jason brought me here instead of letting me die out there under that bridge… Think about it. My death could have been one less problem for him to deal with.”

“Nah, shockingly Jason isn’t like that.” Dambi replied.

“Huh?”

“It turns out he’s nothing but all talk. He even admitted it. The terrible things he’s done are a result of his ability to manipulate people, but aside from that, there’s not much else he’s good at doing. He wouldn’t have let you die.”

“You seem so confident about someone who supposedly backstabbed you…”

“He apologized.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all I needed.” Dambi simply replied. “Well, that and for him to learn his lesson, which he did. As a result of JR’s wakeup call, Jason has changed little by little – I can see that. When JR and I learned about your accident he wouldn’t let us take control and refused to leave your side. And now he’s over in the next room, humping a doctor’s brains out for Mr. Kim’s death certificate. You can’t say he’s not trying to help you out of the Mr. Kim contract.” I nearly choked on air at her last couple of statements.

“… Are you really JR’s best friend?”

“His bestest!” She proudly exclaimed. I stared at her for a brief moment before laughing. Once I calmed down a nostalgic smile spread across her lips. “It seems strange, doesn’t it? JR was always so quiet and reserved and well, you see how I am. But we complimented each other – that’s how our friendship worked. He needed someone cheerful and outgoing who could push him to do things out of his comfort zone. I always needed someone who could anchor me and prevent me from flying away.” Dambi replied. I stared off into the distance.

“That must be why they worked so well…” My voice sadly trailed off.

“Who?”

“JR and Ren.” I replied, shifting my gaze down into my lap. “The person you just described… that’s Ren.” I said, remembering Ren’s similar personality. Dambi frowned.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean-”

I shook my head then sighed. “I’ll find my own happiness someday.” I said, accepting that I couldn’t be Ren’s anchor. That role was never mine to begin with and I couldn’t allow myself to take it away from JR. “I won’t get in the way of someone else’s.”

Dambi smiled. “I believe you’ll find it too. We all will.” She said then stood up with the box of hair dye in her hand, excusing herself to the bathroom in the corner of the room where she began to mix the components in the bowl that came with the kit. I laid back in bed and shut my eyes as I waited. I could hear the sound of the water from the faucet running, accompanied by the faint sound of her pleasant humming. Her voice sounded so natural, as if she had been a singer at one point in her life. Almost half an hour later she reemerged inside of the room carrying the bowl of mixed hair dye and an applicator brush with her gloved hands. She walked over to me and stood by my side, asking me if I was ready. I nodded then allowed her to get to work. She softly began to paint over my blonde hair with the brush. Since I tapered my hair on the sides, I didn’t have much to work with so it didn’t take long until she covered my entire head, being gentle the entire time. We waited for the dye to settle before washing it out. She helped transfer me out of the bed and into the wheelchair beside it, wheeling me over to the bathroom where she helped lean me over the sink. I watched as the black water finally became clear. Dambi placed a towel over my head then leaned me back into the chair. I scrubbed my head dry and slowly removed it as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. It had been years since I had gone back to my natural color.

“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have blonde hair.” I said.

“It suits you.” Dambi tried to encourage me. I nodded.

“It looks good. Thank you.” I replied, bringing a smile to Dambi’s face. For an instant she shyly smiled before clearing and shrugging it off, leaving the room. She returned with the change of clothes, tossing them on my lap.

“I’m assuming you’re not going to want my help with that.” She said, purposely looking away from me. I laughed.

“I’m good, thanks.” I said, not needing any help to get changed. She silently left the bathroom to allow me to undress. It took a while – a lot longer than usual, at least, to get changed while having a cast on my left arm and foot. When I was finally successful, I knocked on the door to get Dambi’s attention. She slowly opened the door then helped wheel me back out. As she rolled me to the center of the room Jason suddenly slid the front door open and stepped inside, both his hair and clothes disheveled. The two of us glanced up at him. After shutting the door behind him he slowly turned back around holding a paper document in his hand. It was Mr. Kim’s death certificate. He slyly grinned.

“Look what I’ve got.”