Yongsun’s POV

Three weeks. Wheein hasn’t showed herself, answered my calls, and responded to my texts for three weeks. I’m a hair thin away from going to the police and asking for them to organize a search party. Saying that I’m really worried is an understatement. I’m beyond worried that I took a leave from work to go look for her myself.

There were times that she wouldn’t show up on our dates but she’d always inform me on the day or at least the day after that she had an emergency. I wasn’t that worried when she didn’t show up to one of our dates one time. Then she never answered my calls nor my texts. That’s when I started getting worried.

As much as I wanted to go look for her, I don’t know where to start. She told me her address but it wasn’t a specific address. However, I kept driving over that district, hoping that I’d get to see her.

I was also afraid that the reason why she didn't show up anymore was because of me. On our last date, I asked her if I could kiss her. I stopped and didn’t force her anymore when she didn’t allow me to kiss her lips. We were fine after that. I knew we were because she allowed me to kiss her cheeks when I said goodbye to her. She was even smiling so wide and waving at me enthusiastically when we parted ways.

I was already losing hope when I couldn’t find her. I was losing my mind and couldn’t sleep at all, thinking that something bad might’ve happened to her. And then suddenly, after three weeks of nothing from her, she finally contacted me. She apologized for making me worry and will explain everything once I’d reached her place.

That’s where I’m at now. She finally sent me a specific address of where she lived.

She lived in a very exclusive and strict subdivision, in which I could only get in if someone from the residents invited me. I guess that’s the reason why I could never find her. She also lived in a two-storey white house that’s completely fenced unlike their neighboring houses.

She opened the gate for me when I arrived at her house and let me park in front of their garage. She looked fine. In fact, she looked just like I remembered her, except for the dark bags that could also be found below my eyes.

I moved out of the car and ran to her right away, hugging her tightly. I buried my face on her neck while she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back. “I missed you. I thought something bad happened to you. I was worried, Wheein.” I cupped her cheeks and saw her pouting at me before I kissed her forehead, hearing her sigh when my lips touched her skin. “What happened?’

“I’m really sorry for making you worry, Yongsun. Let’s talk inside. I wanted to introduce you to someone as well.” She held my hand and led me to the front door of her house.

“Someone?” I whispered, leaning closer to her. “Are you living with someone already?”

“I am living with someone”

I stopped walking and tugged on her arm to stop her from walking as well.

“What’s wrong?” she nervously whispered.

“You’re living with someone already? Who are you living with? Why didn’t I know about this? We’ve been dating for almost a year already and you didn’t tell me you’re living with someone. Why are you cheating, Wheein?”

“I—” she said before she closed and bit her bottom lip, trying to suppress her smile.

I pulled my hand away from her and closed them into tight fists. “Answer my question” I whispered between clenched teeth.

She covered when a laugh escaped and ducked her head while her shoulders shook uncontrollably. She started giggling as she held my hands and jumped on her heels. “Are you jealous? You sounded jealous. You’re jealous, right?”

“Answer my question or I’m going to smack that stupid smile off your lips, Jung Wheein”

She stopped jumping and giggling and pouted at me. Before she could even answer my question, the front door opened and a tall, super tall woman walked out. She also looked so beautiful that I couldn’t blame Wheein if she’d choose this woman over me.

The woman smiled at me before she looked at Wheein and said, “Wheein… shouldn’t you invite Yongsun inside first before talking to her?”

My eyes widened when she knew my name before I looked at Wheein and raised my eyebrows at her, silently asking her who this woman is.

“Oh yeah… I’m sorry, Dr. Lee” Wheein hurriedly whispered and walked us to their house. “Yongsun” Wheein said when we reached the front door. “This is Dr. Lee”

Dr. Lee reached her hand towards me and offered me a wide smile. “Nice to finally meet you, Yongsun”

“Nice to meet you too” I said as I hurriedly held her hand and shook it.

“She’s jealous of you, Dr. Lee” Wheein suddenly whispered as she started jumping on her heels again while I instantly glared at Wheein, which effectively stopped her from moving.

“I wasn’t jealous”

“You were” she whispered, pouting at me. “Your face turned red and your cheeks looked really fluffy”

“I wasn’t” I whispered, sighing heavily when I could feel my face heating from being caught. I was being way too obvious as well but I just couldn’t help myself either.

“Where did you even learn about getting jealous, Wheein?” Dr. Lee asked, opening the door wider for us to get in.

“Dr. Park told me about it” Wheein mumbled as she led me inside while Dr. Lee laughed softly as she shook her head at Wheein.

Dr. Lee faced me and smiled at me again. “I think she left the part that I’m her adoptive mother”

“Oh yeah… I’m sorry about that” Wheein said, facing me and Dr. Lee again. “Dr. Lee is my adoptive mother. Don’t be jealous of her” she whispered teasingly before she started giggling again.

“Stop it” I whispered, sounding like I was mad at her even though I felt so relieved that they’re not together.

She gave me a cheeky smile to show off her dimple. I snuggled my nose on the side of her face, tickling her and making her lightly giggle. Then I quickly kissed her temple before she headed off to the kitchen.

Dr. Lee led me to the kitchen while Wheein went to the kitchen to offer food and drink for me. My eyes scanned around their place, hoping to catch a picture of Wheein but surprisingly there was none. There were no pictures of Dr. Lee, as well as pictures of her with Wheein. There were some decorative paintings around the walls but that’s it. I couldn’t even find pictures of Wheein when she was still a baby or a kid.

I find that odd because Dr. Lee looked like a welcoming and loving person. It’s so not her to not place pictures of Wheein in their house. I couldn’t exactly say as well that she’s not proud of having Wheein as her daughter. It doesn’t suit my first impression of her.

Wheein and Dr. Lee sat across from me. I stayed still because Wheein now looked so nervous. I could also sense the mood turning serious compared to how it was earlier. No one even touched the food on the table in between us.

Wheein was nervously chewing the inside of her cheek while fidgeting with her hands. Dr. Lee just looked at her and waited for her to say something. Wheein opened and closed several times, attempting to talk but she always ended up bending her head low.

“Wheein…” I said, calling her because I don’t think waiting would work. She looked really nervous. “Is there something you wanted to say?”

“Yongsun…” she whispered, slightly raising her head but still avoiding eye contact and just pouted at the food on the table. “I—We need to—I don’t think we should see each other anymore”

My eyebrows furrowed from confusion and shock. She was just telling me not to get jealous earlier and now she doesn’t want to see me? I looked at Dr. Lee and saw her just watching Wheein closely.

“Why? Are you mad at me?’

“No…” she whispered as she shook her head, her short hair flicking sideways from the action.

“Then why? There must be a reason. Are you not allowed to see me anymore?” I turned to Dr. Lee and asked, “Is she not allowed to see me? Am I not allowed to see her again, Dr. Lee?”

“I am not limiting her to the people she’s seeing, Yongsun. This was her decision and I only knew about it now”

I nodded at her and sighed in relief before I turned to Wheein again. “Why?” I whispered softly.

“Because… I think you should see someone else”

“I don’t like to see someone else”

“Yongsun… ” she groaned as she pouted hard at me. 

“Why? I just want to know why, Wheein”

She nervously glanced at me before she pouted at Dr. Lee, silently asking help from her. Dr. Lee just smiled and nodded at Wheein, encouraging her to speak instead. She reluctantly nodded at Dr. Lee before she sighed heavily. She bent her head low and ran her tongue on her lips, wetting it. I just watched her closely and waited patiently, knowing how her nervousness would give her a hard time to speak.

She finally glanced at me while I gave her a small smile as I nodded at her, hoping to encourage her to speak. She pouted at me before she bent her head low, hiding her face from me. “You should see someone else, Yongsun,” she whispered, making me frown at her. “I… I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be seeing someone… someone like me. It was not my intention to go out on dates with you when I kept meeting you”

“What was your intention then?” I whispered softly.

“I like spending time with you”

“I like spending time with you as well. If you don’t want to date me, then we’ll just keep on seeing each other. We both like spending time with each other so there’s no need to suddenly stop this, Wheein” I said sincerely. It was a bit disappointing but if I could see her again, I’ll be fine with that. I’ll try to be content with just that.

“But we have to stop” she mumbled, finally looking at me.

My eyebrows furrowed from confusion. I opened my mouth to say something but she beat me to it.

“I have DID, Yong…” she whispered, frowning at me before she bent her head low. Her shoulders drooped down as well. She looked so small and vulnerable in front of me. “I have DID…” she whispered so softly this time, her voice shaking like she’s about to cry. “I can’t be with you”

I waited for Wheein to explain furthermore because I have no idea what she said. She looked like she doesn’t want to say anymore and just wanted to hide her face from me so I turned to Dr. Lee. “What does she mean?” I asked her.

“Dissociative identity disorder. It’s a mental condition wherein her mind creates multiple personalities as a coping mechanism against a certain situation or experience that’s too violent, traumatic, or painful” Dr. Lee explained, staring at me intently this time.

Multiple personalities? Violent? Traumatic? Painful? Everything was too much to handle in that short explanation that all I could do was sigh heavily and look at Wheein. What happened to her? Who hurt her?

“Was this something recent? Did you have this just recently? Wheein…” I whispered while she only shook her head. “When?” I asked again but she shook her head again. “Can you tell me what happened?” I asked and she shook her head once again.

“Okay…” I breathed deeply as I leaned back on my chair and looked at both Dr. Lee and Wheein. Dr. Lee must’ve been her doctor because she looked like she knew so much about Wheein’s condition. “Can you expound more about this, Dr. Lee? I’m having trouble keeping up”

Instead of answering my question, Dr. Lee turned to face Wheein. “Wheein… Would you want to explain it to Yongsun more?” she asked her while Wheein just stayed still and didn’t say anything more. Dr. Lee sighed before she gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I can’t tell you more, Yongsun”

“Wheein…” I whispered softly as I leaned forward, wanting to get closer to her more. “Please…”

“You shouldn’t—”

“Then how will I understand if you’re not explaining to me about it. All I know is that you don’t want to see me because you have DID. I’m an accountant, Whee. I don’t know a lot about this so I’m having a hard time catching up. You expect me to leave you and not see you anymore when all I’m feeling right now is confusion. That’s kind of unfair. Right?” I breathed deeply before I gulped hard and whispered, “Please…”

“It’s not safe for you”

“Why?”

“Because I’m dangerous to be around people”

“You’ve been with me this whole time. Not once, not even a single time that you hurt me”

“But I might hurt you?!” Wheein said, sniffing back her tears that started appearing. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

I bit the inside of my cheek when I saw her tears. I immediately stood up, making Wheein flinch. Then I walked around the table and sat down beside her. She pulled away from me but I turned her chair so she’d be facing me. She looked apprehensive when she saw me sitting closer to her so I slowly lifted my hand to her until she’d allow me to touch her without flinching.

When she stopped moving back and slowly relaxed on her seat, I cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears on them. “I’m having a hard time understanding that, Wheein. You never raised a hand or even raised your voice at me. How could you hurt me when that seems too impossible for me to believe?”

“Yong…” she whispered, closing her eyes as she cried harder.

I pulled her to me and hugged her, rubbing my hand on her back to comfort her. I glanced at Dr. Lee, silently asking her if this was okay. I saw her nodding at me so I tightened my hug on Wheein while she cried in my arms.

“Can you tell me more about this? Please…” I whispered when I heard her sniffing already.

“There’s Gabby, Hyejin, and Byulyi” she whispered.

“Okay…” I whispered, my eyebrows furrowing from concentration as I tried to keep up with her.

“They’re all the three personalities living in me” she whispered, which made me gulp hard. “Everytime I switch to either one of them, I have no idea what's going to happen. I don’t have any memories of what happened when I was them”

Wheein pulled back and wiped her own tears while I stared at her intently. What is going on?

“Those times that I bailed on you during our dates because I had an emergency, I switched alters during those times”

“What do you mean?”

“My other personalities were taking over me. I have no control of what I’ll do because they’re completely taking over”

What is going on?!

I opened my mouth to say something but I don’t know what to say. I only know Wheein. I’ve only seen Wheein. It’s hard to imagine Wheein not being Wheein. This is confusing and scary at the same time. How the hell did these things happen? How did I get myself here? This sounded really dangerous for me. But what about Wheein? This should be ten times, probably a million times more dangerous for her.

She must’ve seen the million expressions running all over my face when she frowned at me. She sighed heavily and turned her body away from me as she bent her head low. I hurried