When the doorbell rang the next day, Chorong was almost afraid to open the door. Thoughts of Mrs Nam’s angry, disgusted face keep flashing in her mind – and she was afraid that somehow her hiding place had been figured out and she would just get Jihyun and Doo Joon into more trouble.

But when she braved herself to look into the peephole and saw Doo Joon’s eyes staring back at her, Chorong heaved out a sigh of relief and opened the door with a small creak.

“Good morning!” he greeted her cheerfully and held up two plastic bags in both of his hands. “I brought food!”

Chorong couldn’t help but to smile in return.

“You shouldn’t have.” She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him in. “I found some instant noodles stacked in the cupboard. I was just about to – “

“No,” Doo Joon cut her off and shook his head. “No instant-anything for you. You need real food. Let’s go grocery shopping after this.”

Chorong’s smile faltered. “As in...go out?”

Doo Joon set the bags down on the table and gave her an assuring smile.

“You can’t stay cooped up in here forever. Don’t worry,” he pretended to flex his muscles. “You’ll be with me.”

She didn’t know how he did it, but she laughed. She actually laughed – something she didn’t think she was capable of anymore.

~

Chorong let herself being dragged around the supermarket by Doo Joon, who was clearly trying hard to make her forget her troubles by cracking up silly jokes about anything in sight.

“I’m so lame, aren’t I?” he cringed, when she attempted a weak laugh for him. “This is one of the many reasons why Jihyun doesn’t like being seen in public with me.”

Her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. “No, no. You’re not. And it’s not your fault. It’s just...” her voice trailed off as she averted her eyes away, so that he couldn’t see that they had gotten teary.

But Doo Joon knew anyway. He didn’t need to see, to know that she was crying silently inside.

“Hmm, Chorong-ssi? Would you mind waiting for me here? I need to go to the gents badly.”

“Sure, sure. Go on ahead,” she smiled as he gave her an okay-sign before rushing off towards where the toilets were situated.

Left alone, Chorong started pushing the cart slowly down the aisle, picking some stuffs up along the way, only to put them back down. Without realising, she was already walking down a different row, not where Doo Joon had asked her to wait for him.

She was about to make her way back towards the earlier promised place, but then, she suddenly felt a pair of arms snaking from behind her and placed his hands on top of hers on the cart’s handle.

Chorong froze up, but before she could even react, she felt someone burying his face into her hair and murmured a soft “I’ve missed you.”

Woohyun.

She bit on her bottom lip hard to stop all of her crazy emotions from bursting out. All the pain, the hurt, the joy of having him here with her again – she wasn’t quite sure on how to react.

So, she just remained frozen, as he guided them down the aisle, hands never leaving hers with his chin rested on her left shoulder. She wanted to say something, anything, to him but went dry and her mind went blank.

“I’m so sorry, Chorong,” he said quietly. She could feel his hot breath tingling down her neck, and she had to resist every urge to push him away – because as wrong as it was, she didn’t want to be apart anymore.

“I promise you...I’ll find a way out of this. You trust me, don’t you?”

I do, she wanted to say, but she didn’t believe in it.

“Please say something, Chorong. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you that I almost went crazy.”

You’re already driving me insane.

“Let me go.”

She was taken aback. Where is the voice coming from?

Only when she felt Woohyun tensing up behind her, did she realise it was her own voice which had spoke. That it was her, who’s asking him to let her go.

“People will see us,” she quickly said, worried that he might get the wrong impression. “I just don’t want to take the risk.”

“Chorong – “

“Let go, Woohyun or I’ll scream.”

Always the classic move.

He complied with her wish and took a step back. She couldn’t even bring herself to turn around and look at him. She couldn’t...because she’ll break down in the middle of the supermarket and she doesn’t want him or anyone else to witness her weakest moments.

“I have to go,” was all she said, before speeding off and leaving Woohyun there standing alone, bewildered and confused to what had just happened. He knew that he should run after her and make her listen.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t know if he was being coward or respectful – but perhaps it was a little of both.