“No…” Dara mutters.

Dara 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.

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

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

Dara 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 Seung Hyun!!! 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. Dara 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!!!” Dara screams as she rises from lying down. Seung Hyun wakes up and gets up to checks her. He touches her arm but Dara immediately flinches away from him, looking at him with her eyes wide open. Seung Hyun can see how frightened Dara is.

“Dara, it’s me,” he said. Dara’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. Seung Hyun engulfs her in his arms. “Are you okay? You were screaming.”

“Just a nightmare. Just hold me please,” she told him. Seung Hyun runs his hand on her back to calm her. Seung Hyun 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?” Seung Hyun asks. Dara nods. Seung Hyun carefully lies down, pulling Dara with him. They are facing each other and Dara 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 Dara fell asleep. He makes himself comfortable while still holding her. He wonders what her dream is about for her to be this frightened.

---

Seung Hyun was awakened by the brightness of the sunlight coming through the floor to ceiling window of Dara’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 Dara’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. Dara just placed the soup she made when she noticed him.

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

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

“What?” she asks.

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

Seung Hyun 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.”

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

Seung Hyun didn’t buy it. “Dara?”

Dara glances at him.

“Is there something wrong?”

Dara 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. Seung Hyun raises his hand and cups her jaw. Dara blinks at him.

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

Dara nods at him “I know.”

Seung Hyun pulls his hand away from her face and starts eating. Dara keeps on staring at her boyfriend, feeling guilty of keeping her mental health condition at him.

---

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

Dara 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. Park. 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?”

Dara 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. Dara smiles shyly but she has thought of it. Seon Woong even opens up the idea with her a few days ago.

*Flashback*

“Dara, why don’t you just go back to France and have your treatment there?” Seon Woong said. Dara 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,” Seon Woong points out. Dara 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,” Seon Woong said. Dara scowls at him “Are you spying on me?”

Seon Woong ignores her question. ”Just think about it. New environment, it’s Paris, you’ll be safe there. Besides, you can also help Hyo Rin and Young Bae with their baby.”

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

Seon Woong sighs “Park Sandara, 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*

Dara 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. Park, but I think being in a new place will help you more,” she said.

“I know. Thank you,” Dara said.

After her session for her PTSD, Dara went to KEBN to bring Seung Hyun 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 Seung Hyun’s office floor, it stopped on the 7th floor. To her surprised, it was Dae Sung, Bom, and Seung Hyun, who was unconscious while Dae Sung carries her. There are other staff behind them but only Dae Sung with Seung Hyun in his back and Bom came in. Bom pressed the floor number where the clinic is.

“Ms. Park!” Bom said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Dara stares at Seung Hyun whose unconscious on Dae Sung’s back. “What happened to him?”

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

Dara brushes her fingertips on Seung Hyun’s face. “Is this the first time that this happened?”

Dae Sung remains quiet. Dara looks at Bom who looks nervous. Dara looks at her pleadingly. Bom sighs. “This is the second one, Ms. Park. He also had a nosebleed frequently and he also fell asleep during office hours,” Bom said.

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

“He didn’t but these are stuff that our boss doesn’t want to tell Ms. Park to make her worry,” Dae Sung hissed. Bom 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. Dae Sung walked out followed by Bom and Dara. They went to the clinic and Dae Sung laid Seung Hyun in one of the beds there.

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

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

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

“Over-fatigue?” Dara 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. Kang and Ms. Park to let him sleep when he falls asleep in his office”

Dara looks at her boyfriend. She didn’t know that he’s over-fatigue like he didn’t know about her PTSD. She looks at Dae Sung 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?”

Dae Sung and Bom look at each other and look back at Dara. They both just nodded. Dara glances back at her boyfriend before she left the clinic. She felt bad that Seung Hyun is going into something that she wasn’t aware of but she understands why he didn’t tell her.

Thirty minutes later, Dara is waiting on Seung Hyun’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,” Seung Hyun said as he approaches her.

Dara shook her head “No, it’s fine. I bought some food,” she said. Seung Hyun smiles before he pulls her closer to him and embraces her. Dara 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. Seung Hyun 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?” Seung Hyun 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,” Seung Hyun said.

Dara 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 Seung Hyun some chopstick. Seung Hyun took it.

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