She wasn’t sure at what point in the process she’d dropped into the dead zone. The point where she was still conscious but no longer concerned herself with the outside world as she was so focused on staying strong inside. 

Her father had talked to her about it. Warned her that under horrible conditions, he’d often had to go there just to keep alive. Although she’d come close to that point in the cabin, tied up and lost, she’d still been outside. This time, with silence being paramount, she’d gone inside easily. 

He’d been right. It was the place to go to survive. 

She’d never have made it through that torture otherwise. 

Even calling it torture made her wince. It was hardly that. But it had been painful as hell. Nothing compared to the psychos out there who really were into torture, but it had been enough for her. She couldn’t imagine if she was captured and taken overseas. She didn’t think she’d survive. She wasn’t like the strong men who’d rescued her. She couldn’t imagine the training they must have gone through. 

She hoped she’d never have to go through anything worse than this. She almost laughed but as she was still not moving her feet in case they started pounding with pain, any sudden movement was out of the question. 

She wiped her eyes on the sheet beneath her cheek, thankful the tears were long gone. She knew they’d have noticed. How could they not? But there were only so many things she could worry about. 

Tears didn’t make it on that list. 

But bawling like a weak wuss did. 

She couldn’t remember how she’d been during the process. Hopefully she hadn’t shamed Min-seok or her father too much. 

If she had, too damn bad. She was Jisoo. Not their clones. She’d do her best, and if she didn’t match up to their expectations then… well, it wasn’t the first time. 

A gentle hand lowered onto her shoulder. 

“How are you feeling?” 

The voice so close to her ear made her freeze. Slowly she raised her head and looked around. Not only was she no longer crosswise on her bed, she was lying normally on one side, her feet propped up on pillows, the rest of her body covered by blankets. Her gaze slowly moved from her propped up feet to Suho’s jean covered legs and… she swallowed as her gaze wandered higher to his bare heavily muscled torso, up to the broad shoulders and his shadowed features, the narrow gaze full of concern… for her. 

She wanted to smile. 

iest looking man ever. In her bed. And not for her. But because of her. Sigh. She managed a wan smile. “From the look on your face I guess I was in rough shape?” 

His features relaxed and he lay back down on the bed. “You could say that. But looks like you’re back.” 

He propped his arms under his head, but his gaze never wavered as he studied her face. Her face that felt like it had been pummeled with a hammer, hot, swollen. 

“I am.” Now if only she understood where she’d been. She remembered a lot of last night. But not all of it. Evidently she’d dropped off to sleep at some point. She felt better. But a long way away from good yet. She forced her gaze away from his massive arms and stared down at the pillow in front of her. Tear stained, it showed the evidence of a hard night. 

“Sorry for worrying you.” 

He sat up, dropping his hands to rest on his knees. “Oh, we were worried all right. The fever broke finally, and I think we got that mess out of your feet.”

“Is that what the problem was?” Her gaze cut over to his. “My feet?” 

“Yeah. Not sure if it was the slivers that were in there, the rocks you had embedded, or you’d been bitten. Honestly, they were so swollen, I couldn’t tell.” 

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?” At his nod, she twisted around to take a more careful look at the bandages. 

“So no dancing today, huh?” 

His grin was wide and devilish. “Not unless it’s lap dancing.” 

“Oh.” She blushed hot. “I’ll forego that pleasure for a while, thanks.” 

“Too bad.” He hopped to his feet, bare feet, she registered at the last moment. “However, there are other priorities to consider.” 

She struggled to sit up, relieved to see her bra and