Mount Vernon.

Dara knew there was something in this town that called her.

It's not only the nature, its laidback people, or the vast land that tells it's a progressing town but it symbolizes something to her.

New beginnings.

She took a deep breath as she parked her bicycle in front of her apartment complex. She put a lock in it just in case as she stared proudly at the humble place she called home for the past three weeks.

It's located in the quiet part of town with a small park nearby. Cute little shops around but you can still spot old Victorian-style buildings that might need renovation but for Dara, it gives off a classy vibe. However, her apartment is on the second floor of this old building with uninhabited stores on the first floor maybe because the businesses were not doing good or the place just looks like something out of a horror film. It's dark, gloomy, and secluded. Very private.

Maybe that's why Dara likes it. The rent is cheap too and she felt it was the best place to call home within her budget.

She smiled at the thought. Home.

She knew she would live here the first time she set eyes on this place upon seeing the rental advertisement during her acting gig in Kim Jaejoong MV last year.

She wondered if the MV had finally come out, so far she hadn't heard anything about it but she hoped it would give Jaejoong a good fortune so he could come back as a successful idol soon.

She might find him annoying but she wishes nothing but good things coming his way. Even she admitted he's too talented to continue hiding like a monk in a faraway town like Malcom.

Malcom...

Her smile dropped as her heart throbbed fast with a deep sense of longing.

She left everything there in seek of new beginnings. New solace and soul searching.

And Jiyong generously let her...and didn't contact her since she left the city.

Which she finds suspicious and mind-boggling at first. He saw her off, didn't even ask where she was heading, and just kissed her on the cheek with parting words such as,

"Enjoy your freedom, my love."

She narrowed her eyes remembering that. But she shrugged it off back then.

He called her soul-searching 'Freedom', but she called it 'Control' - taking control of what she once lost.

Her life.

Her identity.

Her self.

The sense that despite everything that had happened last year, she could still regain control of where she wanted her life to head.

She sighed as there was another important matter.

She meant what she said to Jiyong when she told him she was doing this for both of them.

She didn't tell him personally that he had become her new purpose, her new guidance so she wouldn't feel lost once again. Just as her mother's words were her guidance before, but for this year and the upcoming years, she decided it would be Jiyong.

If Jiyong knew about this, there's no doubt he would be very happy to hear that from her. But she will keep it to herself for now. Instead, she'd show it through her actions.

She would cling to him, and be by his side, for better or for worse.

But to do that, to be his woman who was going to accept him completely regardless for who he is, she needs to find herself once again, to find what was lost, and collect her thoughts to finally accept the fact that she's a new person now...and not the person she was last year or the years before that — a person who was afraid to let anyone in.

So, to move forward. She needs to regain the little control she could have over herself and emerge stronger worthy to be on Jiyong's side and not wallow in misery at the sight of mere blood.

Because blood...blood...she would see more blood if she became Jiyong's woman.

She bit her lip as she started towards the front door, and keyed in the passcode before heading to the stairs towards her second-floor unit.

She took out her keys and smiled seeing her place once she got inside. She felt a deep sense of satisfaction being here.

How she dreamed of having her place using the savings she earned from her previous jobs.

When she texted Madame Kwon about her desire to quit being Madame's ma