“No…” Hye Yeon mutters.

Hye Yeon is seated on the passenger’s side of her car, her hands and feet are tied up with duct tape. She squirms but it was useless. She then directs her eyes to the person beside her. It was Na Ji Woo driving her car.

“Na Ji Woo, what are you doing?” she asks her.

“Choi Hye Yeon, let’s die together, okay? If Park Dong Joon wouldn’t be mine then no one will. I will die with you. No one will get Dong Joon. Understand?” Ji Woo said before laughing hysterically.

Hye Yeon curls into a fetal position while her hand grips the sheets of the bed. “Please no.”

Hye Yeon is scared but she tries her best to stay calm. “Ji Woo, talk to me. Don’t do this. You have a brighter future. You will meet other men that will love you back.”

“No!!! I want Dong Joon!!! He’s the one for me. He’s meant to be with me. But you came around and seduce him. You stole him from me!!!” Ji Woo said as she steps on the gas and shifts to 5th gear. She’s swerving and passing so many cars. Hye Yeon starts to cry. She can’t even move because Ji Woo is driving too fast.

Suddenly, Ji Woo hit a gutter and the car flies few feet up before---

“NO!!!” Hye Yeon screams as she rises from lying down. Dong Joon wakes up and gets up to checks her. He touches her arm but Hye Yeon immediately flinches away from him, looking at him with her eyes wide open. Dong Joon can see how frightened Hye Yeon is.

“Hye Yeon, it’s me,” he said. Hye Yeon’s expression softens and she crawls towards him. She straddles his lap and wraps her arms around his neck while she buries her face on his shoulder. Dong Joon engulfs her in his arms. “Are you okay? You were screaming.”

“Just a nightmare. Just hold me please,” she told him. Dong Joon runs his hand on her back to calm her. Dong Joon can sense that she’s crying on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s just a dream. It’s not real. I am here.” He comforts her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispers.

“Do you need anything? Water? A bath? Anything?”

“Just hold me,” she says.

“I will lay down, okay?” Dong Joon asks. Hye Yeon nods. Dong Joon carefully lies down, pulling Hye Yeon with him. They are facing each other and Hye Yeon is still holding on to him like her life depends on him. He whispers comforting words to her, telling how much he loves him until he noticed that Hye Yeon fell asleep. He makes himself comfortable while still holding her. He wonders what her dream is about for her to be this frightened.

---

Dong Joon was awakened by the brightness of the sunlight coming through the floor to ceiling window of Hye Yeon’s room. He looks at her side and she’s not there. He got off the bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

When he went out of Hye Yeon’s room, he found her preparing breakfast. He observes her for a while. She looks normal and happy, not like last night when he looks so fragile and scared. Hye Yeon just placed the soup she made when she noticed him.

“Good morning. Come, let’s have breakfast.” She smiles at him.

Dong Joon walks the dining table and took a seat. Hye Yeon serves him some coffee before she sat down on his right side. Dong Joon watches Hye Yeon as she happily put some food on his plate. Hye Yeon noticed that he’s staring at her.

“What?” she asks.

“Are you okay?” he asked in concern. Hye Yeon nodded as she places food on her plate. “Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

Dong Joon sighs. “You had a nightmare a few hours ago. You were screaming and you look frightened,” he paused. “You’re holding me tightly until you fell asleep.”

Hye Yeon sips her coffee and shrugs. “It’s just a bad dream, Oppa.” She had a spoonful of soup.

Dong Joon didn’t buy it. “Hye Yeon?”

Hye Yeon glances at him.

“Is there something wrong?”

Hye Yeon tensed but she tries her best not to be obvious. “Everything is fine, Oppa. It’s just a nightmare. Everyone has that from time to time.” She smiles sweetly at him. Dong Joon raises his hand and cups her jaw. Hye Yeon blinks at him.

“You know that you can tell me everything, right?” he says.

Hye Yeon nods at him “I know.”

Dong Joon pulls his hand away from her face and starts eating. Hye Yeon keeps on staring at her boyfriend, feeling guilty of keeping her mental health condition at him.

---

Days go by and Hye Yeon starts her therapy for her PTSD. Dong Joon visits and stays with her from time to time but still clueless about her condition. Dong Joon is busy with so many meetings and gathering that he needs to tend.

Hye Yeon was in her therapy session at that moment. The doctor is asking her question. There is time that it made her sad and cry but the doctor continues to talk to her. She also opens up about her anxiety whenever she has to go out. She feels like something bad is going to happened that she wants to go far away from where she is.

“I know that she’s gone and nothing is going to happen with me. But whenever I go out, I feel like someone will just pop out like she did and kidnap me. Am I being weird?” she asked.

“You’re not, Ms. Choi. It’s normal for someone who has PTSD like you to have this kind of thinking.” The doctor paused “Have you consider going far away? Like outside Seoul? Or maybe going out of the country?”

Hye Yeon was silent. She remembers the time when she was depressed and suicidal. After her rehabilitation in South Korea, she went to France to have a new environment. It did help her a lot.

“I was depressed before. After my rehab, I went to France. Being in a new environment did help me in a way” she explains.

The doctor nods “Do you plan on going back there? I know some psychiatrists there. Maybe she can help you more than me?” the doctor teases her. Hye Yeon smiles shyly but she has thought of it. Gwang Jae even opens up the idea with her a few days ago.

*Flashback*

“Hye Yeon, why don’t you just go back to France and have your treatment there?” Gwang Jae said. Hye Yeon looks at her brother who was sitting across her. She blinks.

“Think about it. You’re scared of going out, you feel unsafe when you’re alone, you can’t even go out to buy snack a block away from here,” Gwang Jae points out. Hye Yeon sighs and brushes up her hair using her fingertips.

“Oppa, that’s not true. I even bought ice cream yesterday alone,” she said proudly.

“Yes, because you treated some kids playing on the playground that also lives in this building,” Gwang Jae said. Hye Yeon scowls at him “Are you spying on me?”

Gwang Jae ignores her question. ”Just think about it. New environment, it’s Paris, you’ll be safe there. Besides, you can also help Ava and Young Jae with their baby.”

“I’m a baby sitter now?” she chuckles.

Gwang Jae sighs “Choi Hye Yeon, please think about it. France is a better place for you than here. The memories of that incident will always haunt you. Just for a while,”

*end of flashback*

Hye Yeon looks up at the doctor. “I’ll think about it. You can give me the name of the doctor and I will try to contact her,” she said. Her doctor just nodded and smiles. “I know I can help you, Ms. Choi, but I think being in a new place will help you more,” she said.

“I know. Thank you,” Hye Yeon said.

After her session for her PTSD, Hye Yeon went to KEBN to bring Dong Joon lunch. Thankfully, Song Yi’s driver is with her. It’s still a scary ride but the driver played some calming songs that will make her relax. She’s still tensed but she’s glad for the driver’s help.

They stop by in a Chinese restaurant to buy some food. After getting her take-outs she went to the KEBN building. She’s on the elevator going up to Dong Joon’s office floor, it stopped on the 7th floor. To her surprised, it was Ki Bum, Haru, and Dong Joon, who was unconscious while Ki Bum carries her. There are other staff behind them but only Ki Bum with Dong Joon in his back and Haru came in. Haru pressed the floor number where the clinic is.

“Ms. Choi!” Haru said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Hye Yeon stares at Dong Joon whose unconscious on Ki Bum’s back. “What happened to him?”

“He fainted,” Ki Bu said, “He’s fine, Hye Yeon-ssi. He’s just exhausted,”

Hye Yeon brushes her fingertips on Dong Joon’s face. “Is this the first time that this happened?”

Ki Bum remains quiet. Hye Yeon looks at Haru who looks nervous. Hye Yeon looks at her pleadingly. Haru sighs. “This is the second one, Ms. Choi. He also had a nosebleed frequently and he also fell asleep during office hours,” Haru said.

“Yah!” Ki Bum warns Haru. Haru scowls at her colleague. “What? That’s the truth. It’s not like Mr. Park told us to keep it from her,” Haru defends.

“He didn’t but these are stuff that our boss doesn’t want to tell Ms. Choi to make her worry,” Ki Bum hissed. Haru sulks.

“He didn’t tell me but I know some. His sister told me,” she whispers. The door opens and it was the floor of the clinic. Ki Bum walked out followed by Haru and Hye Yeon. They went to the clinic and Ki Bum laid Dong Joon in one of the beds there.

The clinic doctor checks on Dong Joon. After a few moments, the doctor sighs and faces them. “He’s still working overtime, isn’t he?”

Ki Bum nodded. “He is. I keep reminding him not to work too much but he wants to finish the task earlier than expected time.” Ki Bum said.

The doctor shook his head. “He is already over-fatigue but still working like a horse,”

“Over-fatigue?” Hye Yeon asked.

“Yes. He had his general check-up recently and his doctor informed me about his condition. I had to explain it to Ms. Park so his family knows. He just needs enough rest and sleep. That’s why I told Mr. Moon and Ms. Shin to let him sleep when he falls asleep in his office”

Hye Yeon looks at her boyfriend. She didn’t know that he’s over-fatigue like he didn’t know about her PTSD. She looks at Ki Bum and smiles. “Can I wait for him at his office? I don’t want him to see me here. I don’t want him to feel embarrassed or something. When he wakes up, just tell him that I’ve arrived. Okay?”

Ki Bum and Haru look at each other and look back at Hye Yeon. They both just nodded. Hye Yeon glances back at her boyfriend before she left the clinic. She felt bad that Dong Joon is going into something that she wasn’t aware of but she understands why he didn’t tell her.

Thirty minutes later, Hye Yeon is waiting on Dong Joon’s office when he arrived. He looks normal and not the unconscious man she saw when she arrived. She stood up from her seat and smiles at him.

“Did you wait too long? Sorry, I was in a meeting,” Dong Joon said as he approaches her.

Hye Yeon shook her head “No, it’s fine. I bought some food,” she said. Dong Joon smiles before he pulls her closer to him and embraces her. Hye Yeon giggles and wraps her arms on his waist.

“Have I neglected you?” he asked with concern in his tone.

“No. I know you’re busy. I’m busy too. I’m working on a movie script that I will submit to a producer,” she said while patting his back. She leans back to look at her boyfriend’s face. She can see the concern in his eyes. She leans up and pecks on his lips. Dong Joon was surprised by her gesture but it made him happy.

“I bought lunch. I hope you have time to eat,” she said before she let go of him. They sat on the sofa and check the food.

“By the way, are you free at New Year’s Eve?” Dong Joon asked.

“Yeah. I don’t have plans that day. Why?”

“The company will have a New Year’s Eve Party. I want you to come with me,” Dong Joon said.

Hye Yeon blinks, “A party?”

“Yes, I don’t usually attend such an event but since I’m the CEO President, I need to be there. It’s a formal party so we need to dress up. Can you come with me?” he paused “It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“I’m okay about going but that’s like less than 2 weeks away. I don’t know if I can find a dress for such occasion,” she shrugs before she gave Dong Joon some chopstick. Dong Joon took it.

“We can go dress shopping this weekend. I’m gonna find a suit too. I’m giving Ne