"Accepted."

Ahyoung sat on the sofa in silence as her mother talked privately with Doctor Kane in another room. 

"The experience of people who have PTSD is unique to them. We can't say what she experienced was past or what happened recently but it is a matter of accepting the facts she faces."

Mrs. Kim listened to Doctor Kane carefully while looking at Ahyoung who was sitting outside. "I think coming back here can help her. She looks a little better lately but just now—"

Right now, only Ahyoung and Doctor Kane were in the room. This is not the first time for her to do this kind of counseling.

Doctor Kane started, "Doctor Peter told me about you. He entrusted you to me, so you can speak comfortably with me." She smiled sympathetically at Ahyoung.

"How's Seoul? Are you getting comfortable here?"

Ahyoung was quiet for a long time and doctor Kane waited patiently for her until she starts to open . "I met someone which I wish I wouldn't have dealt with when I came back here."

"Why...don't you wanna deal with that person?" Doctor Kane tried to respond without being intimidating.

"I don't want him to find me like this." Ahyoung smiled a thin smile. 

"A man?"

"He is my first love. We ended up badly enough before I went to New York, I was really hurt about it. But what's worse, his family was indirectly involved in the incident."

"You mean, 2007?"

"Mm."

"So, that's your reason?"

"I don't hate him for that. I didn't want to meet him because of that but I was afraid he saw me who was very different from the old me. He and his family are already on good terms, I don't want to mess up."

"He knows about the incident?"

"Strangely, I kept seeing him. He approached me first but I pushed him away then he asked me about that night. I'm so scared to even say it." Ahyoung paused then continued, "But as time goes by, I can no longer run away from him. The more I see him, the more I want to see him again."

"Do you still like him?"

"At first I didn't know. Is this just because of our past or I feel nostalgic but there was a moment I realize that I fell in love with him...again, for the second time?"

"Even if his family is involved?"

"I... just love to be around him. It feels warm and makes me feel that I deserve to live." Ahyoung smiled sincerely. "As I watched him desperately seek me out thinking I was dead, I felt that our wounds from losing each other were the same. So, I asked him to wait for me. I told him my story-"

"You share your story with him?"

"I just... did it." Ahyoung now looked at Doctor Kane and added, "but...I didn't say anything about his family. I don't want him to know-" 

"Are you afraid he knows?"

Ahyoung nodded as she swallowed the lump in . "I'm afraid he thinks it's right not to be with me. Many things make him feel guilty to me, I'm afraid his feelings are just because of his guilt...then he can easily end it again like then."

"Do you believe he's someone like that?"

Ahyoung didn't answer. She didn't have an answer for that either. "I..don't know," Ahyoung replied softly.

"Did you sleep well after seeing him again?"

"I even forgot the last time I had a nightmare." Ahyoung looked down and snorted, "But today I feel like dying." Ahyoung was breathing hard and started talking fast, "She's in my head and... I thought I was really going to die. She says I have to die. I have to die because I don't deserve to live. I was so scared and I wanted to die so I wouldn't hear her voice again. I was so scared and he...he—"

"He begged me to live."

Ahyoung was silent with tears starting to fall down her cheeks. Hoarsely, she said, "He told me to hang on and made me want to run to him because I was afraid I would die then." She looked at doctor Kane while holding back her sobs.

"It's because you still want to see him, right?"

Ahyoung sat silently in her room with a blank look, she just stared at her cell phone which was ringing. She glanced at the sleeping pills on her desk, however, she hasn't decided to fall asleep yet. She felt uneasy. we

"...sometimes we often do not realize our own desires. More than anything else, you want to live and want him to accept you no matter what." She thought about what Doctor Kane said then she decided to leave and go, met someone who insisted on appearing in her head, said something enough to make her last.

Eonni, do you know where Sehun lives?

Ahyoung was standing at the door of room 103. Then, without hesitation, she knocked on the door and saw someone she wanted so badly to see. She calmly looked at him, "Can I come in?"

Patiently, she waited for him at the door as he told her to wait. "You can come in now."

Ahyoung could notice that Sehun was in a hurry to tidy up. He left the empty bottle on the sink in quite a mess. But, what became the center of attention was Sehun himself. It feels funny to see him a little clumsy and she felt breathing.

When it feels so difficult and choking, there will always be people who we want to meet and talk to, even if it's just to make us sure that we're okay.

When Ahyoung looked at his back, she just wanted to come to her peace. "I almost couldn't hold to die today." She hugged him tighter as he was about to turn around. She was quite embarrassed to show her face. "I thought I could die today if I didn't see you."

"Did... something happen today?"

Sehun's question in his soft voice made Ahyoung's tears burst. 

"Hey..." Sehun twisted around at her as held her arms. He confirmed Ahyoung's gaze to stare at him.

That gaze was enough for her to open again, "I was so scared to death that the voice wouldn't stop in my head."

Then, wordlessly, Ahyoung felt very warm. The hug that she really needed, that from that day on she should have gotten from him instead of losing him. "It's okay... you're okay. You're with me now." Sehun patted her back gently while his other hand her hair.

They just hugged and the knock on the door ended it. Ahyoung looked away while wiping her tears.

"Wait a minute," Sehun said and walked towards the door. He opened the door and found Nara there. "Nara? What are you doing here?"

Nara chuckled, "Didn't my father ask you to have dinner together? I just finished work and came to pick you up."

"Isn't it too late to call dinner?" Sehun checked Ahyoung and she wasn't there. He looked back at Nara. "I can't today."

"My dad is serious enough this time. I know he threatened you, right?"

Sehun looked inside again. "There is a friend of mine today. I can't go-"

"Who?"

"Anyway, I really can't."

"I think it's about something you were looking for back then?"

Sehun frowned, "What is it?"

"Yongwon building fire case. I heard my father's little conversation on the phone, are you investigating an old case?"

Sehun's face changed and became a dilemma. Nara insisted, "Come on."

Sehun sighed, "Wait a minute." He closed the door and headed for the bathroom door where Ahyoung was hiding. He started, "...Chief Kwon asked me to come over to his house." Ahyoung didn't say anything. He continued, "Looks like he knows I'm investigating the Yongwon fire case. I'll see him for a bit, can you wait for me?"

The bathroom door opened and Sehun could see her. Ahyoung nodding as smiling, "It's okay, just go."

Sehun shook his head and shrugged, "You didn't answer me, can you wait for me here?"

"I'll be waiting for you here."

Sehun smiled, "I promise to hurry home."

Ahyoung nodded and told him not to tell Nara that she was here. Sehun took his jacket and came out.

"Let's go," Nara said with a smile.

"Oh, wait." Sehun opened the door again and went inside. As the door was about to close by itself, Nara noticed a woman's shoes that made her pause.

Sehun walked out before the door closed. "I forgot to bring my wallet." 

Nara was still staring at the shoes until the door closed, she looked at Sehun. "Is your friend okay to wait?"

"Yeah. Let's go-" Sehun answered casually and walked first.

In the car, Sehun seemed to be staring at his cellphone screen continuously after typing something there. Nara glanced at him, "Is it okay for your friend to be left alone?"

"Huh?" Sehun turned to her.

"Your friend might get bored of being alone."

"I told you, it is okay."

The woman's shoes irritating her. She could only think of one name about it. 

Sehun's photos with his fellow academics were stuck on the wall above his desk and Ahyoung found his face one by one there. Ahyoung looked around and felt so lonely. Her eyes caught a photo of Sehun's family plus Jiyoon on his bedside table.

Ahyoung took a long look at their photos. Sehun never smiled like that when he was with his family. It seems that in ten years he has been doing well. He was...

And the face next to him pulled him in a direction of a few seconds of the incident. How he was leaving her who was threatened and almost died. She still remembered his scared face when he saw Ahyoung dying.

Ahyoung swallowed and took a deep breath. Too quiet to stay here, she was afraid that the voice would appear again. So, Ahyoung went out for a walk.

Whenever she felt so lonely, she would look for a crowded and noisy place only so that she could not hear the voice.

Ahyoung just kept walking by the river, surrounded by people huddled with their group. Surprisingly, the place was getting busier at night. People want to enjoy it before winter comes.

The sound of bicycle tires rubbing against the road soothed her ears. Ahyoung sat on the ground watching the people then slowly lay down to look up at the sky.

"Yura Kim."

The expanse of the sky was blocked by a face she hadn't seen for a long time. Light brown eyes stared into her eyes, his thin curvy lips smiled at her. It's Peter. 

"That's right you.."

Ahyoung widened and quickly got up. "Peter?"

Peter nodded in excitement. He lifted his loose glasses a little and then shrugged, "I didn't think I'd actually meet you here." 

"I didn't think Peter Wells be in... Seoul?" 

Peter took a step forward with both hands in his pockets. "I'm attending an international seminar here." 

"Oh, really?" 

"Yep." Peter nodded an