“Thank you for saving Ellie,” Samar uttered as she carefully handed Micky a cup of coffee.

            “You don’t have to thank me. I guess I was just lucky I was nearer to that place than Jaejoong. The real ones you should thank are Jaejoong and the old man who told us where Lena went,” Micky said as he slowly sipped his coffee.

            Samar looked at Jaejoong. Somehow his mind was in another place. He was silently drinking his coffee while staring outside the window. Somehow she pitied him, but she knew that this was a personal matter that he had to solve on his own. She had no control over what was happening between him, Lena and Micky. Everything was all on fate now. No one among them had any idea what was going to happen next.

            Xiah looked at the direction where Samar was looking. He also pitied Jaejoong’s situation. He then just shook his head and tried to draw everyone’s attention on a different matter. “I told you guys to disguise yourselves and don’t attract attention to yourselves… But you and Jaejoong just did the opposite,” he said to Micky.

            Micky looked at Xiah. “It was an emergency. And there’s nothing wrong with asking people, especially when you’re looking for a missing person. Look… if Jaejoong hadn’t done it, then he wouldn’t have met that old man who told us where he saw Lena. And if he hadn’t told us where Lena was, then I wouldn’t be able to save her in time…. And those… those men were already molesting her when I found them. If I had arrived just a few minutes late, they would have already her,” he said with a flare of anger in his eyes after remembering what he saw.

            Xiah sighed. “I know… And honestly I’m not complaining. I’m really glad that the two of you are quite stubborn,” he said with a smile. He then placed his cup down on the table in front of him. “I’m really glad that Jaejoong found that old man. I just wish there was a way we could thank him.”

            Samar nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, what a pity. We can’t even thank that old man. Anyway from the bottom of my heart, let me thank all of you for trying to find her. I know what you guys did was quite hard. And I also want to say sorry that Krizzia and I weren’t able to help in searching for Ellie.”

            “Don’t worry about it. And besides we know you got hurt so you don’t have to apologize. By the way, how is your head. Does it still hurt?” U-Know uttered with concern.

            “I’m fine… I just lost consciousness, that’s all,” Samar replied.

            “You know… you should be resting too,” Max said with a sweet smile.

            Samar smiled as well. “Thank you for your concern. But I’m okay… really.”

            Suddenly Krizzia appeared in the living room with a wide and bright smile on his face. “Oh Samar… Ellie can talk again. She’s back to normal. She talks and she thinks on her own. I am so happy. Words won’t be enough to express my overflowing joy. We don’t have to worry about her parents anymore. She can now talk to them and we can finally get them to leave us alone again for a few months. So we already have one problem solved…”

            “Where is she? Why did you leave her alone?” Samar asked with concern.

            “Don’t worry. She’s taking a bath. She insisted she wanted to clean herself up,” Krizzia replied.

            “I see,” Samar uttered.

            Krizzia slowly looked at the DBSK boys. “Thank you for returning Ellie and thank you for saving her,” she said with a bright smile on her face. Then she slowly bowed down her head as if to show gratitude.

            “You don’t have to thank us. It is something that we will do without any condition,” Xiah uttered.

            “So are you really sure… she’s fine now?” Samar asked Krizzia seriously.

            “Definitely! She’s back to her usual… arrogant, stubborn and peculiar character,” Krizzia answered with a light laugh.

            “Are you sure she’s okay? I mean, Micky said that when he found Ellie… she was already being harassed by those men. I am worried that kind of experience might suddenly trigger some bad effects on her again,” Samar said with concern.

            Krizzia nodded. “Yes, I am concerned about that too. But… what can we do?”

            “For now, we just have to keep a close watch on her first. And make sure she doesn’t get her hands on anything dangerous. I am really afraid… she might start hurting herself again,” Samar said sadly.

            Max looked at Samar, quite confused. “Do you really think that there is a chance that she might start committing suicide again?”

            Samar gave Max a quick look and nodded. “Yes, there is a big possibility that she might do it. She usually goes into that kind of state when she’s totally depressed or something depressing happens to her. It’s been like a habit for her. That’s why we don’t keep anything sharp in the apartment lying around. All the sharp objects… knives, scissors, blades, even mirrors… are all locked in a drawer. Only Krizzia and I have the keys to open it.”

            Micky just shook his head in disbelief. Somehow he couldn’t imagine Ellie had experienced such a hard and troubled life. He then sighed. It was such a bad fate, but he was willing to help her change everything… if she allowed him to.

            Jaejoong just continued to stare outside the window while listening to the conversation between Samar, Krizzia and his friends. Somehow he didn’t want to talk… The truth was he didn’t know what to say. It was like he was totally lost for words. His mind was going in different directions. Different images and different ideas were clouding his mind. He was afraid that if he did managed to talk, everything he said would just seem foolish or nonsense to everyone who heard him. So it was better just to keep quiet, he told himself.

            “What were you guys talking about?” Ellie suddenly asked as she entered the living room. She was trying to dry her hair with a towel. Then she carefully sat down beside Samar.

            “Ellie? How … how long have you been listening to us?” Krizzia asked with shock and surprise on her face.

            Ellie smiled. “Oh! Not long. I just got out of the bathroom. See…” she said as she pointed to her wet hair.

            “Oh I see,” Krizzia uttered with a sigh of relief.

            “So what were you guys talking about?” Ellie repeated.

            Krizzia worriedly looked at Samar. “Oh! Nothing dear. We were just talking about how to thank the old man who told Jaejoong where to find you,” she tried to cover up her nervousness with a smile.

            “Jaejoong? You mean he also searched for me?” Ellie suddenly asked, as if surprised.

            “Yes. All of the DBSK members searched for you. Krizzia and I weren’t able to look for you so we asked their help in finding you,” Samar answered. She was also very nervous. She didn’t know how much of their conversation Ellie had heard.

            “Samar… about that…. I am sorry about what I did to you. Can you forgive me? Krizzia told me about what I did and I really feel embarrassed that I did such a horrible thing to you. Please forgive me,” Ellie said with a sad look on her face.

            Samar smiled. “You don’t have to say sorry. I know you weren’t yourself… “

            “Thank you…” Ellie uttered with a sweet smile. Then she slowly faced Micky. “And I should be thanking you as well Micky…” she said with a soft voice.

            Micky’s heart suddenly jumped with joy after hearing Ellie say his name. But then his conscience immediately took over.

            “Jaejoong is the one who you should be thanking not me. He was the one who found that old man who told us where he last saw you. If it weren’t for Jaejoong, then I wouldn’t have been able to get to you in time,” Micky confessed.

            Ellie gave Jaejoong a peculiar look. “Oh really?” was all she could utter.

            Jaejoong sadly stared at Ellie’s direction. It was maddening for him to actually see Ellie but not be able to get near her or even talk to her.

            “ I see. Then…. I guess it is just proper to say this …. Thank you, Jaejoong…” Ellie slowly uttered with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

            Surprised, Jaejoong quickly looked at Ellie. He wanted to say something. But the words wouldn’t even form in his mind. He was too afraid to talk. He wanted to ask her something, but he knew it wasn’t the right time to do it. He didn’t want to cause any further trouble. So he just nodded his head and quickly turned to face the window again.

            The other DBSK boys were all shocked with Jaejoong’s actions. He acted too coldly towards Ellie.

            A sharp pain unexpectedly shot through Ellie’s heart. It was something she didn’t expect. She was suddenly shocked with her own emotions that she quickly stood up. “I am tired. I… I think I need to rest now,” she said with a quivering voice.

            Micky saw the confusion in her eyes. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but he then decided it was better not to say anything.

            As Ellie hurriedly went inside his room, she felt like her whole body was trembling. “Why? Why am I affected? He means nothing to me. So why do I have to be affected with his actions? I don’t love him anymore. I hate him… I hate him…” she continuously tried to convince herself.

            Then the events that happened that night quickly rushed into her mind again. And without any warning, her tears quickly poured.

            “What do I expect? I am trash now… Why would he want to care about me? Maybe he’s just being nice for the sake of his friends… I am already a worthless human being…. I don’t deserve to be happy. I don’t deserve to be with someone…” she uttered as she silently cried herself to sleep.