DARA’S POV

I was beyond shocked when I saw Jiyong appearing and running to the witch’s aid. I knew I looked stupid with my eyes wide opened. I might have been shaking that time.

Jiyong’s appearance was really unexpected. He was supposed to be at school. It wasn’t his break, as far as I knew. What was he doing here?

And the fact that he shouted at me… that was beyond unexpected. He had shouted at me before, yes. It happened when he lost patience on me because I was acting all immature just because of that Teddy. (Refer to Chapter 10 to recall)

Him shouting at me was one of the things I didn’t want to experience ever again, which was why I behaved properly.

But the way he shouted at me just a while ago, along with him grabbing my arm as if clawing out my flesh, it was one of the things that would probably haunt me for life.

He was there, standing up for his grandmother who was obviously faking the ‘heart attack’ act. I saw it with my own eyes. When Jiyong was looking away, she pulled up a small smile, a glint of joy in her eyes. That was how evil she was.

But of course, Jiyong couldn’t see that. She was his grandmother after all. And I was only his girlfriend. Of course, the family will win over someone unimportant like me.

Walking out, I bumped to someone but I didn’t dare look back and apologize. My eyes were hurting due to crying and my heart was aching due to the emotions building up inside of me. I just wanted to be alone, to sort things out, and to analyze things. To find out why fate had been against me all this time.

“Dara!” Jiyong’s voice called out.

And it took me all the will not to turn back, hug him, and find the comfort and warmth I needed. But I still reminded myself that Jiyong was partly the reason why I was becoming like this and wanting to be alone.

I didn’t want to talk to anyone – most especially Jiyong. After all the words I shouted and the actions I was about to do, with him witnessing all of them, I just couldn’t face him. I was already too ashamed of myself to start with.

Besides, it hurt me so much how he treated me – the shouting and the grabbing-of-the-arm. It wasn’t the Jiyong I used to know.

I hastily stepped inside the elevator and pressed the ground floor button.

“Dara!” Jiyong’s voice was there again.

I widened my eyes as I saw him running towards me. I prayed that the elevator will be closing right now and that he won’t be able to be on the same elevator with me.

Few feet more and the elevator doors were almost closing.

“Wait! Dara!” Jiyong’s voice was cut off when the elevator doors came to a close.

As I was alone inside, I dropped to the ground and cried my eyes out. There were too many emotions surrounding me and I couldn’t recognize all of them – fury, shame, anger, hurt, they were the only ones I recognized…

I just wanted to crawl back into the comforts of my bed and stay in a tight ball, blacking out everything and everyone else around me.

There was a ping sound as the elevator door opened. I was thankful that in between floors, no one was able to disrupt my being lonesome. I sniffed as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

A couple of people were already outside of the elevator waiting to ride it and go to wherever they planned to go. I squeezed myself in between them as I tried getting free.

Just as I did, the other elevator door opened, revealing Jiyong.

I widened my eyes and ran outside of the building as fast as I could.

I just wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want him to see me.

“Dara! Wait! Let’s talk!” he shouted.

Let’s talk, the exact thing that I wanted to escape from. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to face him, not just yet.

As I continued running, I didn’t notice that I was already on the streets, the people probably throwing bewildered glances at the lost girl running for her life.

But I didn’t mind them. There were far more things to mind than what they think of me. Right now, I was more preoccupied with the thought of escaping that I didn’t notice that I was already about to cross the road.

I stared as the sign said that it was going to go red for the pedestrians, signaling that the car would be driving now. I watched as the crowd of people was already a few feet away from me. I looked at the cars which were getting ready to drive off, probably tired for just a couple of minutes of waiting for pedestrians to pass by.

For a while, I thought if I would just make a run for it.

“Dara! Stop right there!” Jiyong’s voice called again.

I stared at him as he made a run towards me. And I knew my answer.

I stepped into the road as I willed myself to reach the other side. There was only one goal in mind – to get away from him, to get away from the shame and hurt I was feeling for all the things I had done and the things he did.

But the cars were already running past me as I tried not to be bumped. Honks were heard, together with the drivers’ curses on me. I tried backing out but there was also a car which almost bumped me too, if he wasn’t fast enough to dodge me.

“Do you want to die?!” he shouted.

I turned my back as I stared at the car zooming off. I was lost and confused. I didn’t know what got into me but I knew I was lost.

I turned to run towards the other side of the street again, this time composing myself for me not to be able to be bumped. I saw a cop calling for me and probably shouting at my stupidity. But I couldn’t care less.  I was desperate on getting to him, rather than staying at the middle of the road or on the other side where Jiyong would be.

Speaking of Jiyong, I hoped he gave up chasing af-

“Aaaaahhhhhh!” a woman, from the safe side of the road, screamed. I momentarily stopped on my spot as I thought she screamed because I got bumped by a car.

But I was wrong. I was safe, unscathed even.

Slowly, even though I was still in the middle of the road, I turned my head, afraid at what I would see.

There he was….

Jiyong….

Lying lifelessly on the middle of the road, body swimming at a pool of blood. He was just a few feet away from me but I failed to notice that he was still actually chasing after me.

I felt my whole body shaking as blood drain from my face.

People kept on pushing past me as they crowded over Jiyong. The cars surrounding us stopped.

“His pulse is slowing down!” someone shouted.

And that was the time when I budged from my spot, running towards Jiyong.

I paced back and forth in front of the emergency room as I waited for further news. The doctor said he would come back after a few minutes but he had been in there for an hour now.

What happened to Jiyong?

I rubbed my arms as I tried calming myself down but the memory kept on flashing in my mind – how his lifeless body looked like.

It didn’t help at all. My eyes were tired and aching from too much crying, but still tears kept on pouring down and I got tired from wiping them away that I let them freely flow. I couldn’t help it. It was my fault after all. Everything was coming back at me. Everything was going against me. Nothing was going well.

Finally, the doctor stepped out of the room.

“Miss Park?” he called.

I turned to him as he tried to speak. He was cut off, however, when four people arrived.

“What happened?” Madam Kwon asked the doctor, worry apparent on her face. “Tell me he’s alright,” she told the doctor.

“Calm down,” Mister Kwon said, rubbing Madam Kwon’s arm.

“Teddy-oppa, is Jiyong-oppa going to be okay?” Dami asked as Teddy nodded reassuringly at her.

“Are you Kwon Jiyong’s family?” the doctor asked. They nodded. He breathed in first before continuing. “I’ll be honest with you. No vital organs were hurt, however, he had bruises and some of his bones were broken. We couldn’t tell yet about his brain. There might also be some injuries, but hopefully not. We’re still checking on it. Also, his vital signs weren’t stable yet,” he said then left.

Dami started crying as she clung on to her father. Madam Kwon turned her gaze towards me. Rage took over the once worried eyes as she walked towards me. She slapped me hard on the face.

“It’s your fault!” she shouted. As if it wasn’t enough, she raised her arms in attempts of hurting me more. If it wasn’t for Mister Kwon stopping her and Teddy shielding me from her, I would be badly hurt.

But I was willing to receive them all. I didn’t care. I deserved them anyway. It was my fault anyway. I shouldn’t have run.  I shouldn’t have let my emotions come at me. I shouldn’t have walked into that company in the first place, to prove them something.

I was pathetic, yes.

As Mister Kwon escorted Madam Kwon, together with Dami, somewhere else, I was left standing there. Tears kept on trickling their way on my cheeks.

“Are you alright?” Teddy’s voice interrupted me.

I looked up at him, eyes blurred from the tears that were on the way. I turned my back on him and made my way somewhere else.

It had been hours since we stayed out. We had been waiting for news about Jiyong’s improvements but there were none. Of course I kept distance from Madam Kwon. As Teddy said it, she might hurt me again.

I tried many times to tell him that I didn’t care. I only cared for Jiyong’s recuperation. She could hurt me all she wanted. But as stubborn as he was, he stopped me many times from walking towards them.

And that was why we were here…at a bench that was meters away from Madam Kwon. Teddy said he would accompany me. I was too tired to refuse, too beaten up to bicker at him like I usually do. I just let him. I just let him as he offered me a coffee. I just let him as he wrapped his suit around my body.

“It’s my fault,” I whispered to no one in particular. I already knew this of course, but I still needed to let it out of my mouth.

I thought someone said something but I was too preoccupied on silently blaming myself to understand whoever said what.

“Ya!” someone poked me.

I turned my head towards him. And it turned out it was Teddy. Oh yeah, he was accompanying me.

“Stop blaming yourself. It won’t do you any good!” he scolded.

“What’s the difference?”

He sighed. “Just go home first and take a rest. Change into clean clothes too. Look at yourself. You’re hideous.”

I looked down at what I was wearing and I was still in my café uniform, though it was all stained with Jiyong’s blood.

Jiyong’s blood…

It brought the memory again as I cried yet again.

“Ya!” Teddy said beside me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, okay? You’re not hideous. Okay, fine!”

If it was an ordinary day, I could have laughed my a$s off.

But today wasn’t an ordinary day. 

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*poster credits to nanaISyeoni