"Eun-gi, wake up. Eun-gi, sweetie... Please wake up."

I groaned. I was never fond of waking up from my deep slumber. I tried to tug on my blanket to cover my face, but something heavy was sitting on it, preventing me of further sleep.

"Come on Eun, this is important. Wake up!"

At the voice –which I deciphered with a hazy mind as my father’s– urgent tone, I sat up groggily. "I'm up, I'm up Dad. You can leave now. I will take a bath and get down in twenty," I grunted, rubbing my eyes, still half-asleep.

"No, no. Look, I've got you a bag and everything you'll need inside. Just pack some comfortable and efficient clothes for yourself," my father sprung up from the edge of my bed and frantically opened my closet, his hands gesticulating madly.

A bit more sober, I glanced at the window and frowned. The sun had not even risen. The clock on my bedside table blinked; 2:18 a.m. My father usually wakes me at eight in the morning.

"Is everything alright...?" I asked, suddenly more alert of my father's nervous state.

"No... Sweetheart, I'm sorry," my father said, kneeling on the carpeted floor next to my bed. His hands were trembling and I had to hold back a wince as he grabbed my own, it's clammy and I hate clammy hands. "Things are going downhill... real fast. You'll have to leave for safety –right now."

It took me a few seconds to digest what he just said. But when his answer fully sank in I didn't take it well. I couldn't. "What? Leave where?! What about you, Dad?"

"I... I-I can manage. Eun... come on, hurry up. We don't have time anymore. I have to send you away in five minutes," he got up again. I could see his eyes turned glassy. Clearly, it was just as hard, if not more, for my father to come to this decision.

It has always been my father and I. Ever since I could remember; it was just the two of us against the world. Mother had died giving birth to me. Early on my younger days, father had always told me that his job wasn't exactly safe. He had always told me that someday, something bad might happen to us and if the inevitable were bound to happen, I must follow whatever my father deemed necessary for my safety, no questions allowed.

Never in my worst imagination however, would the possibility of him sending me away ever happen. We were much too dependent on each other’s existence.

So when I saw my father, with fear and worry in his eyes, pacing back and forth in my bedroom, blabbering things my own chaotic mind couldn't comprehend, I was angry. I was confused, scared, and upset –but mostly angry.

Certainly Dad couldn’t be thinking of getting rid of me now? I got it. He was trying to hinder me from facing danger, but how could he be so selfish in wanting my own safety for his happiness? What about me? I couldn’t imagine life without him and I didn’t want to start now. I could never imagine the guilt I would have to live with if I ever left him behind to meet his demise alone. Yes, I too, am selfish. I want my father to be safe with me, otherwise I myself won’t be able to go on.

"I won’t leave, Dad. I won't leave you alone. I am seventeen now, I can defend myself and I certainly can help you fight whatever dan