“If I say… I love you… will you give up everything… and be with me?

Lee Min Ho’s eyes widened an imperceptible amount as his face shocked at the words. His body went rigid, as if the three words suddenly made the whole world stopped moving around him.

I love you… I love you…

“I…”

After what felt like an eternity, Shin Hye finally broke the silence in a soft whisper when she didn’t get any response from him. “I don’t know when it started… and it just happened. I hate to admit it, but I know something is changing between us.”

Min Ho’s face was still filled with shock and what Shin Hye said drove his heart rate up to the max. Yes, he knows something between them is not the same anymore, but he never thought she would admit that she loves him. ‘Love’ is a very precious and meaningful word. A person like Shin Hye will not easily utter the word unless she really means it. To be honest, he is happy… very happy with her confession. But… he is not in the position to accept her love and he undoubtedly doesn’t deserve the three words from her.

Gently pulling himself back a little, his breath was once again caught somewhere in his throat when their eyes locked on each other. Deafening silence filled the gap between them again as he saw the expectancy in her eyes. They were so close, so close to the point they could clearly feel each other’s warmth.

Biting her lower lip hard, Shin Hye has no choice but to speak again when he still keep quiet. “In a moment like this, as a man… I think you should probably say something.”

Right, she was right. He should at least say something. Holding her gaze, he swallowed the lump in his throat before he let his voice comes out. “I… I’m happy.”

“And?” Shin Hye asked expectantly.

“And…” Min Ho paused, staring deep into her eyes. “… I’m sorry.”

Shin Hye gasped, suddenly feeling a stingy pain in her heart. Both her hands slowly pulled away from his shoulders as she lengthened the space between them. As much as she wanted to hide her emotions, her facial expression betrayed her. She looked away, disappointment covering her face. And coldness slowly crept up her face. He doesn’t need to explain further for her to understand why he is apologizing to her.

Coward. 

Pressing his lips tightly together, Min Ho hate to see the beautiful smile on her face is now vanished because of him. When she pulled away from him, he wanted to hold her back, to stop her but he clenched his hands tightly and forced himself not to. He can’t.

Shin Hye chuckled softly, sarcasm laced in her voice. “Men are all the same.” She said, looking back at him again. But now, her gaze is shielded with disgust. “They attracts you, they lingers around you, and they play with your feelings, play with your heart… and then… they just said… ‘I’m sorry, it was a mistake’.” She laughed bitterly, trying hard to fight back the tears. “How can I still fell for it when I witnessed what happened to my mother? I thought I’m smart, but I’m wrong. My mother and I… we are actually the same, no difference.”

“Shin Hye…” Min Ho reached out to hold her hand but she quickly avoided him.

“Don’t touch me!” Shin Hye warned angrily, glaring at him at the same time.

“Shin Hye… listen to me.” Min Ho reached out to snatch her hand forcefully and held it tightly in his own, so tightly that she couldn’t break free from him.

“I don’t want to listen!” She screamed and struggled to pull her hand away at the same time. If not because of the cast wrapping around her leg, she has already stood up and ran away from him. “I’m tired of listening to the same thing over and over again.” She paused and inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m not your sister. No matter it’s in the past, now or in the future, I’m not your sister and will never be your sister. So stop saying how much you care for me because you are my brother. A brother wouldn’t kiss his own sister and bring her to see the damn fireflies. A brother wouldn’t be jealous when there is a man who is interested in his sister. Stop lying to me and stop lying to yourself. We are not…”

“I know! I know!” Min Ho shouted, cutting her sentence off. His voice was thick with emotions and his eyes were literally bloodshot. He doesn’t need her to tell him how wrong he was.

Shin Hye stopped talking, panting heavily and keeps staring at him.

“Believe it or not…” He continued. “… I hate this relationship between us. I hate the fact that you are related to Park Doo Jun and we have to meet each other through such a painful situation. There’s not even a single second that… that I want to be your brother. I don’t want to be your brother.”

For a moment, Shin Hye couldn’t feel or hear anything except his warmth and their pounding hearts. The coldness and rage were slowly fading as her expression softened.

“But I have no choice.” Min Ho shook his head softly, despair evident in his deep brown eyes. “I met her first… I gave my words to her first. I made a promise that I’ll never leave her. I can’t let myself to break the promise. I can’t.” He paused, bringing his hand up to cradle her face.

“But here you are…” He said, looking deeply into her beautiful eyes. “… so close… yet so far. So beautiful… yet so dangerous. I guess my heart have already been captured by you since the first time we met thirteen years ago. I dream about you every day and night, wondering how you were and when we could meet again. And when we finally meet again, it wasn’t the way I want it to be. The only thing I saw was the strong hatred in your eyes. You hate them… and also hate me. I don’t know what I can do to help you. I know you don’t need any help, but knowing your past and what you have gone through, I don’t want to let you go again. I was totally in a dilemma. I was torn between my loyalty to my family… and my feelings for you.” He touched her cheek gently with his fingertips, caressing the contour of her face. “And being your brother… is the only way to keep you by my side.”

Tears could no longer hold back as Shin Hye let them slowly rolled down her cheeks. Besides those times when she was frightened by the rain or thunder or having nightmares, this was the first time she cried in front of him. She doesn’t cry because she doesn’t want to show anyone the weak side of her. But now, she couldn’t control herself anymore. “If you can’t let her go, then what is the point of keeping me by your side?”

“Because you are right.” He replied. “I’m a man after all. I’m a selfish and a greedy creature. Although I know it’s wrong… but I still couldn’t bring myself to let you go.”

More tears brimmed in her eyes as she pulled her lower lip between her lips and continued to glare at him. “I hate you.”

Min Ho nodded before pulling her into his arms, hugging her tightly to feel her soft body so close to him. Holding her tightly in his embrace made him feel at ease. “You should hate me. It’s the right thing to do.”

They kept quiet for a long moment, neither of them knows how much time has passed. They just stayed in each other’s arms and listened to each other’s heartbeat. The shining fireflies, the darkness and silence has somehow brought them peace and calmness. 

“I will not be a pet…” Shin Hye finally broke the silence. “I will not be kept like a pet at home, hiding behind your back and become a shameful mistress.”

Min Ho let out a long breathless sigh. “I will not let that happen either. You deserve better.”

“Then what are we now?” She asked, resting her face on his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

There was another silence before Min Ho spoke again. “I told her that I’ll stay with you for a month until your leg is fully recovered. After that… I’ll go back to her…” and… announce our engagement. But those remaining words did not come out from his throat. He doesn’t know how to tell her, or… he doesn’t want to tell her just yet. The selfish side of him, he still has a tiny hope in them. “We… we still have three weeks left.”

“Three weeks…” Shin Hye murmured in a soft whisper. So this was what he meant by wanting their time spent together to be filled with beautiful memories. It was because they only have three weeks together.

Min Ho tightened his arms around her as he closed his eyes, feeling his heart hurting badly in his chest. Three weeks… they only have three weeks.

“What if I say no?” Shin Hye asked.

A tiny crease formed between his eyebrows as he pulled back just enough to look down at her. “I’ll do everything in my power to make you say yes… even if I have to beg you to stay. I know I’m very selfish… but I don’t want to let you go. Even it’s only for three weeks.”

Still holding his gaze, Shin Hye pursed her lips as she considered his words carefully. Three weeks… if she says yes, if she agrees to stay, they will have three weeks together. It was a short period of time and it will definitely hurt her pride if she stays. She is not her mother. She will not sacrifice herself for love. Especially for someone who doesn’t belongs to her.

But… if she says no, she will have to leave now and… this might be the last time she can see him. Her rational side is telling her to go but her emotional side is telling her to stay.

The nightmare that she had three days ago was still so vivid in her memory that she felt her heart raced and chest tightened whenever she think about it. The picture of him leaving her with Park Bo Young is so painful. She is not even sure she could bear with the pain if she has to leave now.

Everything seems to be too late. Since the moment when she allowed him to bring her to his car and bring her back to his apartment, everything was already too late. She let her heart wavered, she let her guard down, she let him come close to her and slowly break through her hardened heart.

She hates them. She hates Park Doo Jun, she hates Jang Ji Ae, she hates Park Bo Young. She hates them to the point that she wanted to hurt them badly. And now, the man in front of her is giving her a chance to make her plan successful. She can use these three weeks to make him cheat on Park Bo Young and hurt her deeply. Even if he will still go back to her at the end, both of them will never be the same again. An unfaithful man is like a broken mirror. The cracks will forever be there.

But… but at this moment, she realized revenge is not what she want anymore. What she wants now… is him, even it’s only for three weeks.

Taking a deep breath, Shin Hye looked at him again. “You don’t need to do anything. You don’t need to beg either. I’ll stay with you for three weeks…” She paused and breathed softly. “… but with three conditions.”

Min Ho’s lips curled into a happy smile, but quickly vanished when he heard the last sentence. That was how he threatened her when she needed his help to delay the meeting for her. So, she is now copying his old trick to threaten him back.

“What conditions?”

“First…” Shin Hye bit her bottom lip. “… during these three weeks, you have to stay with me… only me. You cannot go home and… cannot see her.”

Cannot see her. He knows the ‘her’ is referring to Park Bo Young.

This is going to be tough… because in order to pacify her anger, he promised her to go home to have breakfast with her every Monday and Friday morning in this one month. He sneaks home to see her last Friday and quickly rushed back to the apartment before Shin Hye wakes up. She was already very upset to let him stay in the apartment to take care of Shin Hye for a month. And now… if she knows he has to break his promise and couldn’t go back, he can’t imagine what is going to happen.

But… he has a lifetime with her… and only has three weeks with Shin Hye. Isn’t that worth everything?

“Second…” Before waiting for him to respond, Shin Hye continued. “… don’t ever call me your sister again.”

Min Ho held her gaze firmly, as if worried that he will miss out something in her eyes.

“As I told you earlier, I’ve never wanted to be your sister. Being your sister means I’m related to that person too. I would rather we are just strangers than have any relationship with that person.” She continued.

Min Ho didn’t say anything and just looked at her.

“And finally…” She paused again as she gently pushed his chest and completely pulled away from his arms. “… no matter what happened, after these three weeks… you have to let me go.”

Min Ho’s brows knitted together and felt an unexplainable pang in his chest. Let her go? “What does that mean?” He finally broke his silence.

“It means… I will move out and… stay away from you.” Shin Hye said, her voice is soft but evidently firm. “We will be going back to where we are supposed to be and… forget everything between us.”

Min Ho chuckled bitterly as he averted his gaze and looked away. Forget everything? Can it be so simple? They are human, not computer. They don’t have a ‘delete’ button in their heart.

in a sharp breath, he needs to take a sufficient air into his lungs before he die from suffocation. He slowly looked up to meet her eyes again, letting out a weak smile at the same time. “Do I have other choices?”

“No.” Shin Hye shook her head. This is her limit, her bottom line. “If you don’t agree, I will go now and… hmmm…” Her sentence was abruptly cut off when Min Ho suddenly leaned over and kissed her urgently. She was totally surprised by him and her hands naturally moved up and pressed against his chest, trying to push him away.

It hurt his eardrum just by hearing the words ‘go away’ and without even trying to control himself, he silenced her with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her once again, pulling her close and pressing his body against her. Although the kiss is fierce and urgent, but his movement is very gentle, worried that he will hurt her injured leg. His hand held the nape of her neck firmly in place, not allowing her to struggle or break free from him. He braved himself further, his tongue brushed along the seam of her lips, gently coaxing them to part for him. He quickly entered her parted mouth when she gasped and his tongue swirling with hers. A soft moan escaped Shin Hye’s lips, her hands were balled up in the fabric of his shirt. Deeping the kiss gradually, her moans were completely swallowed by his kiss. He pulled her face closer to his, their mouth still tightly locked together as their tongues battling in a heated battle.

After what seemed like an eternity of kissing her, to Min Ho’s dismay, he broke the kiss when both of them needed to breathe. He held her tightly in his arms, not allowing her to leave his embrace. There were heavy panting, hearts hammering as both waiting to see who would speak first.

As his breathing slowly return back to normal, Min Ho pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before pulling back slightly to look at Shin Hye. His lips curled up into a small smile when he saw her crimson red cheeks and dazzled eyes. How can he resist this woman?

Three conditions… Even if it’s three hundred conditions, he will still say yes.

Wrong… this is certainly wrong. But… he doesn’t care anymore. He will let the mistake goes on and face the consequences later. As for now, he just wants this woman. 

“Three weeks… you are all mine.” He whispered before diving in for another kiss.

--------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Shin Hye woke up to the sun shining through the window. As she opened her eyes, it took her a few seconds to restore her blur vision and when she does, she was completely shock to see a pair of dark brown eyes staring at her. 

Lee Min Ho.

Again… she was once again waking up next to him. If she remembers correctly, after they came back from watching the fireflies last night, Min Ho carefully carried her back to her room and he went back to his own room after that. It was already very late when they went to sleep last night. But… how come he is here sleeping on her bed now?

“Good morning.” Min Ho greeted her with a wide, cheerful smile painted on his face. She was surprised that he looked energetic and fresh early in the morning despite only having a couple of hours of sleep.

“What are you doing in my room?” Shin Hye asked, her voice was hoarse yet soft. “Why are you sleeping on my bed?”

“Because… I couldn’t sleep.” Letting out another smile, Min Ho moved closer to her as his arm stretched out and rested on her waist. “We only have three weeks together. I don’t want to waste time sleeping and rather just stay like this looking at your sleeping face.”

Shin Hye tensed, feeling her heart grew bitter and cold when she heard him mentioning the length of time they can be together. She couldn’t help but doubting her own decision last night. Was she too impulsive? Can she really let him go when the time come?

Taking a soft inhale of breath, she tried very hard to hide her emotion as she faked a small smile on her face. She held her hand up and pinched his nose playfully. “I didn’t know you are such a sweet talker.”

Min Ho took her hand away from his nose and pressed it against his lips, planting gentle kisses to her knuckles. His eyes were staring straight into hers, as if trying to look into her soul. No matter how fast the tiny emotion slipped through her eyes and how hard she tried to hide it from him, he could clearly notice the bitterness on her expression.

“You might think it’s just some sweet talks…” He whispered. “… but I really mean what I said. I don’t care how you think about me and how you think about all this. We only have three weeks. I don’t want to resist and don’t want to pretend. I just want to be my real self and spend the time with you with no regrets.”

Shin Hye held his intense gaze and saw the sincerity in his eyes. She agreed with what he said. There is no time to regret anything now. This is her choice and she should be brave and be happy for at least one time. Nodding her head softly, her lips curled up into a beautiful smile. Don’t resist, don’t pretend and be herself.

As if like a spell casted on him, Min Ho couldn’t take his eyes away from her. The smile on her face is… unusual and precious. It was rare to see such a beautiful, natural smile from her. Although all this might be wrong, but at least he got to see the real her… the real Shin Hye without a mask on her face.

The more he looked at her, the more his heart got melted and dazzled by her beauty. Without able to control his body, he suddenly hovered on top of her and leaned down. He couldn’t fight the urge of kissing her.

But before his lips touch hers, Shin Hye was faster and covered with her hand. Her eyes were big and wary. She knows what he was trying to do. Although she doesn’t hate his kiss, but…

“I