Two months after the accident, the police closed off all investigations and blamed it on impaired driving.  They charged Jang Daeho, owner and chief executive officer of his own print publishing company, with driving under influence and slapped him with a fine that was a little more than pocket change.  He walked away from the accident with a scratch on his face and a broken finger.

Park Sandara, the victim in the crushed vehicle, suffered from broken ribs, punctured lung, fractured legs, and was in a current state of comatose. 

The entire investigation reeked of corruption.  Excluding the fact that the accused was only given a laughable fine and allowed to walk, the entire case should have been treated as an attempted murder because that was what it was.  Jang Daeho tried to kill Dara because she knew his dirty secret.  That he had and help confine an eleven year old boy for over seven years with the help of Dara’s mother.

As Seungho sat beside Dara’s hospital bed, he clenched and unclenched his fists.  He felt angry every time he entered the hospital room and powerless every time he laid eyes on her battered body.  He knew the real reason why Jang Daeho had wanted to hurt her but he had no proof.  In fact, he had no proof of anything that Dara had told him.  The only thing he had was an infallible trust in her.  He knew she was telling the truth.

He knew her mother would never tell the truth.  Even if her own daughter became a victim to her crime, she would never have the courage to turn herself in.  She’d stayed silent for two months without visiting Dara even once.  She was nowhere to be found when it came time to pay the hospital bill so the hospital took it out of Dara’s insurance and life savings.  After two months, they were starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel.  Soon, Dara would have to be moved.  To where… that was hard to say.

Seungho sighed and ran his hands through his hair.  He was considering dropping out of university and finding a job to help pay her hospital bills.  And if she had to be moved… well he could always make extra space for her at his apartment.

Seungho looked up as the hospital door opened.  Cheondoong walked in quietly, closing the door behind him.  He held a tote bag filled with the foods that Dara loved.  He believed that he might be able to wake her up through smells that were familiar to her, and talking to her every day. 

“Hyung,” he said, bowing slightly.  He set the bag on her nightstand and pulled up a chair. 

“Oh Cheondoong-ah,” Seungho replied, “Things are okay?”

Cheondoong nodded.  “Things are fine,” he said, smiling slightly. 

After Dara’s accident, Seungho had offered Cheondoong a place to stay but he had politely refused.  After a heated argument between the two about whether or not Cheondoong should drop out of high school and find a job, they settled on him finding a part-time job that offered room and board.  Through a friend of a friend, Seungho helped Cheondoong settle into a part-time job at a bakery close to his high school.  The family that owned the shop had an extra room on the second level.  They docked a portion of Cheondoong’s pay to help pay for rent but otherwise, things were working out. 

“I should get back,” Seungho said, standing up. 

Cheondoong stood with him and pulled out a plastic bag from his tote.  Inside were an assortment of breads and baked goods.  “Hyung, take this,” he said, “It’s just some leftovers from this morning’s breakfast rush.”

Seungho nodded, smiling.  “Thanks,” he said, ruffling Cheondoong’s hair, “I’ll visit again soon.”  With that, Seungho made his to the door.  With one last glance at Dara’s sleeping form, he closed the hospital room door behind him.

As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, Seungho thought about his options.  If he took a leave of absence, he would only have to postpone his graduation date by half a year or so.  However, if things with Dara didn’t improve, he would have to quit school altogether to maintain his job.

Sighing, he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked inside.  As expected, Lee Joon was waiting for him with an anxious look on his beautiful face.  Even after two months of living with the guy, Seungho still wasn’t used to someone waiting for him to return.

It was hard to admit but even Seungho found the guy to be strangely attractive.  It could have been the way he moved, or the way talked but there was something extremely sensual about him.  It was as if pheromones spilled from his pores.  Seungho couldn’t quite put his finger on why it seemed that way but thinking another man was beautiful was definitely a new experience for him.

“I-Is Noona…?” he asked anxiously.  When Seungho shook his head, Joon nodded silently, trying to hide his disappointment.  Every time he visited the hospital, Joon would ask if Dara had woken up.  And every time, his face would dampen with disappointment.  Seungho could tell the guilt was still fresh in the boy’s heart. 

Joon believed that Dara’s accident was his fault.  If Dara hadn’t saved him from Jang Daeho… if Dara hadn’t gotten involved, she would have been just fine.  He went through a rough period just after Dara’s accident.  Seungho often found him awake at night in the living room, staring out the window with tears streaming down his face.  The guilt was obviously eating away at him but Seungho was unsure of how to comfort him.  After all, how could he comfort someone when he barely knew him?  

Shaking his head, Seungho pushed aside the meaningless thoughts.  He kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen.  “Cheondoong gave us some bread.  We can have it for breakfast tomorrow,” he said, putting it into the fridge.

He turned and looked at Joon.  “Don’t think too much about it,” he said, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms, “Focus on your studies… I’m sure that’s what Dara-noona would say.”  He smiled gently as Joon nodded. 

Seungho watched as Joon returned to his perch at the coffee table.  Several books were laid out on the table and included subjects such as high school mathematics, sciences, history, etc.  Joon had already finished studying through several other books and was progressing at an incredible pace.

The day that Seungho met with Dara and Joon at the coffee shop, she told him about Joon’s terrible past without going into explicit detail.  She also told him that Joon had never attended school and talked about how she’d help him achieve his high school equivalency by taking the General Educational Development exam.  That way, Joon could at least be competitive in the job markets later on.  But before she could realize this wish…

So Seungho took up the challenge.  Getting the government to accept Joon as a citizen was quite difficult.  Fortunately, there was already some official information on Joon’s identity investigation from eight years ago.  Since the case was inconclusive at the time of the investigation, the government didn’t have much information to evaluate Joon’s eligibility.  After much back and forth between Seungho and the government officials, Joon was granted a new identity and was registered as a citizen. 

The rest had been relatively easier to deal with.  Joon signed up for the GED exam that would take place in four months and started studying with vigour.  The reading and learning he had done during the years had helped tremendously with his learning pace.  For the past two months, he had been balancing his time between studying and maintaining a part-time job at a local coffee shop.  He had insisted on finding a job to help alleviate some of their financial burden.  Seungho had been extremely grateful for that.  On top of his own university expenses, part of which was funded by his parents, Seungho had spent quite a bit on the legalities of Joon’s citizenship.  Adding on top the living expenses of another person… it was no joke when he said he was seriously short on cash.

Which brought Seungho’s train of thought back to the issue at hand.  Should he quit school?  Could he afford to continue and help pay Dara’s hospital bills?  And if she had to be relocated, could he make space for her here?  It was already crowded enough in his one-bedroom apartment.  Joon had been sleeping on the pull-out couch in the living room for the past two months while Seungho stayed in his own room.  If Dara moved into his bedroom… where the heck would he sleep?

Feeling a headache coming on, Seungho glanced at the clock.  It was only three in the afternoon.  Too early to go to bed but…

“I’m going to take a nap,” Seungho said, taking out some aspirin. 

Nodding, Joon looked at him with concern. 

“I’m fine,” Seungho said, sensing that.  “I just have a bit of a headache.”  Downing a glass of water with the pill, he made his way into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.  Fully clothed, he flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes.

There was no point in worry about money now.  Instead, he thought as he fell asleep, it was time to give Joon a haircut.

The smell of something burning roused him from his sleep.  Blinking blearily, Seungho glanced at the clock on his night stand.  It was nearly 8:00 PM.  Rolling onto his back, he groaned and rubbed his eyes.  Fortunately, the aspirin had done its job; there was no sign of a headache.  However, he knew he wasn’t going to fall asleep again until early in the morning.  He had only meant to sleep for an hour or so.  Five hours was definitely going to cut into his sleep later.

Loud clanging echoed from the kitchen, making him curious.  Sitting up, he ran his hands through his hair quickly before yawning.  More clanking sounds came from the kitchen, followed by a small yelp.  Seungho couldn’t help the chuckle that crept up on him.  No doubt, Joon was cooking again.  Or at least he was trying to.

Since moving in, Joon had voluntarily picked up the housework.  He felt guilty for leeching off of someone who was virtually a stranger to him so he had insisted on taking care of the chores.  The problem was… he didn’t know how to do a single chore.  The first time he had attempted cooking, he caused a small fire after a napkin fell onto the stove.  Fortunately, Seungho was nearby and reacted quickly.  And then he put in too much washing detergent while doing laundry… even after spending half an hour reading the detergent label guidelines.  The clothes came out still soapy and had to be rewashed.

Since then, Joon had studied earnestly on how to take care of a house.  His cooking had steadily improved and the laundry was completed without incident.  Despite his mistakes though, Seungho was grateful for Joon’s sincerity.  His adventures also made for fun topics of conversation between the two and helped Seungho get to know him a little better.  Although Joon was still painfully quiet, he seemed much more comfortable around Seungho nowadays.

Seungho was brought out of his amusing thoughts when the smoke alarm went off.  “Okay,” he said, walking out of the bedroom.  He choked as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen.  He quickly opened the window and turned to assess the damage.

Smoke was coming out of a lidded pot that was set on one of the stove tops.  A bowl of what looked like awkwardly chopped cabbage and carrots laid on the floor, vegetables spilling out of it.  Joon stood at the sink with his hands under the water.  Seungho glanced at the rice cooker.  At least the rice was alright…

“You okay?” he asked, walking over to Joon.  He had visibly burnt his hand.  His fingers were swollen and the skin was starting to puss.

Joon nodded quietly, and murmured, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright,” Seungho said lightly, taking out a first aid kit from the cabinet, “Not the first time right?”  He tried to make a joke out of it.  Joon had a habit blaming himself and apologizing too much.

Nodding, Joon let him clean up the burn.  Seungho could feel Joon’s gaze.  Whenever Seungho showed him tenderness, he would look at him like he was so incredibly thankful.  It often made Seungho uncomfortable but… it wasn’t like he could ask him to stop.

Clearing his throat, Seungho wrapped up the burn and glanced at the messy kitchen.  “What were you trying to make?” he asked.

“A mixed stir-fry… I was supposed to boil the veggies briefly first,” Joon said, upset at his cooking failure, “I put the water on but then forgot about it…”

“Well, the rice looks… good,” Seungho said, closing the first aid box.  He tried to suppress a grin as Joon looked at him with a deadpan look.  It was rare for Joon to show any emotions other than remorse and bashfulness but when he did, it was incredibly amusing to Seungho.

“Yes, the rice is good,” Joon said, shaking his head, “Even I can’t screw that up.”

“We still have enough vegetables to make something.  I’ll take it from here,” Seungho said, sliding on an apron.  He salvaged what didn’t spill from the bowl of vegetables and swept up the rest.  Taking the smoking pot, he doused it with water and looked at the bottom of the pot.  It was mangled from the dry heat.  He made a mental note to pick up a new pot. 

“Joon-ah,” he said, rummaging through the cupboards for something to cook with, “I was thinking about giving you a haircut later.”

With his unscathed hand, Joon pulled on his bangs.  They fell past his eyes and stopped just short of his nose tip.  He watched as Seungho cooked and asked, “You can cut hair?”

Glancing at him, Seungho grinned, and said “I can do it about as well as you can cook.”  He couldn’t help but chuckle when Joon frowned at his jab.  “I’m kidding.  I used to cut my brother’s hair so I’m not that bad.”

Nodding, Joon seemed satisfied with that answer.  “Thanks,” he said softly, looking at his bandaged hands. 

Scooping the stir-fry out onto a plate, Seungho set the table and grabbed two bowls.  “Now…” he muttered, popping open the rice cooker lid, “Let’s see if the rice is edible.”

Author's Note:

I know I said I would take a break but... SIGH.  I can't stay away.  I didn't want to leave you all hanging so here's the first chapter :)  I'll try and update one chapter a week from now on.  I'll try and keep the lengths similar to this chapter.

Also, I'm going to try and lighten things up a bit.  There was quite a bit of drama in Save Me and, while I love drama, I'm also a huge fan of FUN and light-hearted plotlines.  There will still be drama in Love Me but I'll try and interject some humour to spice things up a bit.

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