Seohyun could not bear to look at Kris as he recounted the events of the past hour. She felt guilty. The bruise on his cheek flawed his perfect complexion and was testimony to her carelessness. Who knew how long that mark would be there?

But Kris did not seem to take notice of her unease as he continued to chatter on, rather cheerfully, as if the events were just casual happenings of life which he encountered on a regular basis. 

"Ya! You should have seen the look on his face! I showed him!" exclaimed Kris excitedly, and Seohyun noticed the way he shyly rubbed the nape of his neck before mentioning the part where her weight made his arms feel numb.

But Seohyun did not partake in his excitement, and instead continued to brood. Eventually, all of the guilt-ridden thoughts caused Seohyun to burst. "You don't have to pretend to be okay! Just yell at me for being stupid! Scream and holler and tell me! Tell me that your cheek hurts!"

With that, the tears came forth and became a torrent upon her face, as if she were a hopeless leaky faucet. Seohyun sobbed and for some reason, she could not stop. She didn't care if he saw her in this state.

She was incredibly sorry for dragging him into this mess.

She was sorry for ruining his perfect face.

She was scared out of her mind and she feared for her life.

She missed her mom and she missed her dad. She missed Minjee and she wanted a hug.

She was tired and her body ached.

Seohyun cried because the feelings were just too much, too numerous, and too incomprehensible to express in simple words. She hoped the tears would do the explaining for her.

And she would have continued to sob, maybe for hours even. But then she felt his comforting touch upon her shoulder. And that was enough. 

That simple touch allowed her to understand that he forgave her. Thank you. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Kris kept his hand firmly on the steering wheel, his eyes trained on the road. But his mind was focused on Seohyun, his ears acutely tuned to the every sound she made. What should I do? She's crying! I would hug her but I need to drive. Darn it. We should have run on a bus instead.

The palm of his hand became sweaty and he nervously threw a glance at Seohyun, quickly diverting his gaze once it fell upon her. Shakily, he reached out a hand and cautiously placed it upon her shoulder. Kris prayed that this single, nervous and shaky touch would be able to channel all the emotions he felt.

Hopefully, she would understand that he was not bothered. Hopefully she would realize that saving her was not burdensome. He hoped through this touch, she would understand that he truly did care.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seohyun fell asleep after the fit of tears, and she dozed off in the car. The late night did nothing for the amount of Seoul traffic, keeping them on the road for half an hour more than expected. Her face was peaceful as a gentle smile played across her lips. In her sleep she had found safety.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kris gently shook Seohyun, hoping that she would wake up. However, today was definitely not his lucky day as she remained in a deep slumber. Looks like I'm going to be carrying her again.

His arms still ached but he didn't mind much. As her scooped her up gently from the seat, her scent comforted him. It reminded him of home. Her light perfume had faded, leaving behind a faint hint of vanilla and sunshine.

He carried her into his house, not forgetting to shut and securely lock the door behind him. 

He snuck a glance down at her and suddenly, embarrassing feelings flooded his mind. Oh no. My raging hormones. What was he doing with a girl in his house? Her soft lips looked quite alluring in the middle of the night. I must be delirious. Her lips do not intrigue me, it is merely due to the fact that I am exhausted. People tend to go a bit crazy at 1 in the morning.

Kris sighed. It was going to be a long night. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Seohyun awoke to find soft blankets wrapped around her. They seemed to be newly washed and the refreshing scent brought a feeling of contentment. Instead of rising, she continued to lay there, letting the feeling of being truly happy seep into her. It was as if nothing bad had ever happened and the world had stopped revolving for a bit, just to let her soak in the joy. 

The warm sunshine streamed in through the curtains and fell along the bed. Seohyun basked in its warmth. Goodness, I'm getting lazy. 

She slowly climbed out of bed, smiling to herself as she shuffled into the living room. The house was nice, a comfortable size for one person. Seohyun found Kris snoring on the couch, his long legs draping over the edge.

He seemed quite uncomfortable and his position told her that he would be awaking with a sore neck. Poor you, saving me and then sacrificing your comfortable bed for my sake. She walked over, and gently leaned down.

She studied his cheek. The bruise doesn't seem to be too bad, nothing a bit of concealer can't hide. His lip doesn't seem to be too badly cut either. The thought of putting makeup on Kris caused her to burst into giggles, the idea of bold red lipstick and heavy shades of purple eyeshadow were hilarious to her. His usual stoic demeanor with clown makeup made Seohyun laugh more. Clown Kris! 

But Seohyun was still extremely glad that he didn't seem to be too pained. After her giggle fit, she let out an unconscious sigh of relief, accidentally breathing onto Kris' face. His eyes fluttered open and he stared up at her. They were transfixed at the sight of each other, their faces merely inches apart. 

Her heart raced and for some weird reason, it seemed as if she would throw up. Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of rose and she quickly diverted her gaze, backing away. His warm breathe upon her cheek had done nothing for her poor heart.

 Why do I feel all antsy? She felt his gaze upon the crown of her head as she stared at her toes, the metallic polish seeming to reflect her embarrassment. 

His eyes bored into her and she felt the sympathy which they emanated. "I'm sorry for waking you," she mumbled. Suddenly, Kris sat straight up, a distraught look upon his face. "What's wrong?"

Kris let out an almost inaudible reply, "Today is the first Monday of this month...I need to go see my mom." Why does he look so upset then? His eyebrows were furrowed, and his lips pursed. It was as if he dreaded the idea.

"I will go with you if you would like me to." 

Kris shook his head. "I would rather you never meet her."

~~~~~~~~~~

Kris despised the idea of visiting his mother every month. Don't get him wrong, he dearly loved the woman who had brought him into the world. However, seeing her and the condition she was in caused waves of guilt to overcome him. 

He remembered his childhood, where his mother was always quiet and depressed. As a 5 year old, there was not much he could have done to comfort her except promise to forever protect her. He promised he would be her knight in shining armor, to stay by her side unlike his father. 

Her gentle smile towards him would say that she was happy for his concern, but her eyes told a different story. They were so clouded, so filled with sadness. They were exactly like Seohyun's, empty and hopeless. 

This explained why he was so drawn to Seohyun when they first met. Besides her striking resemblance to his mom, her eyes were what caused him to turn around.

He hoped to save Seohyun, unlike how he failed to protect his mom. He could not fulfill the promise of forever staying by her side, so Kris promised he would prevent Seohyun from ever becoming like his mother. 

When Kris was around 10, his mother began to come home much later. Her hair would always be disheveled, a cigarette upon her lips, and the smell of men would be upon her clothing. She turned to alcohol and the image of a loving mother quickly diminished into a drunkard who beat him. 

She would vent her troubles upon him, harshly using a belt to reinforce her control. Sometimes, she would forget to cook, leaving Kris to dig around the fridge. He was no longer one of her primary concerns.

He found pills of all sorts under her bed, the smell of the mysterious men became the smell of mom's men. Kris began to a put names to each of the smells when she brought them home. 

His innocent mind did not understand what they did in her bedroom for hours, screaming and hollering. But Kris knew that these men were bad, the way they threw dirty glances at his mom's body and how their eyes seemed to devour her. Not that she bothered to cover herself up.

She began to wear the most revealing robes, which carelessly hung over her shoulders. It was as if she invited the men into her home. One man became ten and eventually Kris lost count. 

There were no more loving smiles from his mother, just glares under hooded eyelids. His mom was gone, only leaving behind the shell of her outer appearance. 

But his heart refused to let him completely cut ties with her. Kris still loved his mother, and she was still his concern.

So as Kris rang the doorbell nervously, he hoped that his mom was well, that she had somehow miraculously stopped her drinking habits, and that the number of men who visited had somehow decreased. 

But once again, just as every other time he had paid her a visit, his hopes were quickly dashed. His mother was dressed scantily, her voice a lazy drawl as she greeted him. The smell of alcohol seemed to slap him as he stepped into her house, and the roses he had given her were carelessly tossed upon the nearest table.

"Nice of you to come by to see your dear mom once in a while Kris." Her raspy voice made his stomach curl, as if her words were poison upon his ears. He saw the figure of a man upon the couch and Kris bit back a smart remark. 

This is her business, there is nothing for me to do here. "I'll be leaving now mother. I have a meeting in 15 minutes and would not like to be late. I just came by to see if you were doing okay." With that, Kris turned and headed towards the front door. 

His mother simply let out a chuckle and he heard her yell, "Yah! Park Joon! Get up and put some damn clothes on" before he shut the door. 

Author's note: Hehe Hope you like this chapter! I worked really hard on this chapter. It took me a while to write, and I had scrapped the original draft. Please comment! I would really appreciate it if you voted for me too ^^ 

P.S. Do you guys like the background? With the stars? Since I'm not sure if it fits >.<