Jong Kook turned around and saw a frozen woman standing behind staring at him. He was not sure how long she was there, but it must be long enough to have the surprised look. He had not been able to talk to her since he was in New York. He did try to contact her, but they always missed the timing to talk. The decision of him coming back early was so last minute he was not able to tell her either. Right now, he felt like a cheating husband that was caught red handed by the wife.

 She turned her back on him and walked away. He knew she was upset, her eyes looked like she was sobbing long enough. He caught up to her and hugged her from behind. She struggled a little only to give up after he tightened the grip. “I’m sorry.” He continuously whispered to her ears. He could only apologize to her because saying “ Sorry-I-came-back-without-telling-you-only-and-getting-caught-visiting-her-right-after-I-came-back” did not seemed like the best thing to say at that moment.  

He let her go after she gently pushed away his arms. He quietly followed her footsteps as she strolled towards her car. She was not screaming, crying or uttering anything and this was scaring him. Upon reaching her car, she finally spoke. “Oppa, I want to be left alone for now.” He stood there while seeing her drove off the cemetery. It was not the right now to talk, she sounded calm, a little too calm to be true. Something must have happened and it might be more than what he was thinking.

After a long drive, Ji Hyo ended somewhere along an empty park. It was late and she was stranded at the spot after countless hours of driving. She stopped her car and could not start it back again. ‘Even the car gave up.’ She scoffed.

 Many questions ran through her mind while she was sitting alone in the driver’s seat. “Why is he there? Why is he back without telling her? Why is he back and he was with her?” She felt stupid feeling bitter over a grave but she could not control her thoughts. When she saw him, she could not move towards him. His eyes were closed and he was mumbling something that she could not comprehend.

That unexplainable expression of Jong Kook was something she had not seen of him, and she was not was able to interfere that moment. She wanted to walk away before he could see him but it was too late. She caught his astonishment but she was not in the mood to question him. She continued her footsteps only to get caught by him shortly. “I’m sorry.” That was the first thing she had heard him say after coming back. “Why did he have to apologize? Did he do something that he needed to repeat his apology?” She wanted to ask him but eventually she kept her silence. She had enough emotions running through her heart and did not want additional doubts. She told him she needed to be left alone and he let her be.

A sudden downpour made her more stranded than ever. The timing of the rain was so apt she felt that even heaven was mocking at her. She sneered, finding how fickle minded she was. One moment she was wishing that Jong Kook was by her side and the next all she wanted was to be alone. Her phone was vibrating constantly but she tossed it at the back of the car. Talking to anyone would not help her, it would only made her emotions more jumbled up.

She closed her eyes as her tears slowly rolled down to her cheek. She wiped it off but the tears won’t stop. Her silent tears started to become sobs and she laughed at herself for reacting this way. The continuous empty laughter somehow turned to loud cry as many thoughts ran through her mind. The loss of her family, the guilt of distancing from Gary and the image of Jong Kook. She was not even sure what she was tearing up for. She left lost, lonely, alone in the middle of nowhere and the coldness of the rain only made her heart feel colder. The crying eventually stopped and her mind went blank. She ended up spending the night alone in her car till the sun rise again.

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Jong Kook sat outside her apartment fighting the lethargic feeling. Regrets were filled in his mind. He never should have just let her drove off the previous day. He spent the whole night circling around, contact anyone he could think of but no one got an idea of where she was. Kwang Soo wanted to join the search but he had asked him to wait at home because he knew Ji Hyo needed Kwang Soo to manage the café. He had desperately contact her the whole night but she was not responding. By the crack of dawn, he had no choice to wait out at her apartment as his phone battery was totally drained out.

He could have gone into her apartment but he did not want to. He anxiously waited for her, hoping that she was not in any form of trouble. His hands were placed at the nape of his neck while his head hung low. “Ji Hyo yah… Please don’t do this. Please come back.” He mumbled to himself. “Don’t leave me like how Seong Im did…”

Footsteps were heard as he was mumbling. He lifted up his head to see a lifeless Ji Hyo at the door of her apartment. She looked at him with a blank stare and he wondered if she heard the last name that he mumbled. She looked worned out, it was evident she had not slept a wink. Her clothes were still the same as the previous day. He wanted to ask her where she went but he decided not to. He quickly stood up, wanting to hug her, but she acted as though he did not exist and just went inside.

Ji Hyo trudged into her apartment with all strength. She got her car tow away after she managed to call someone in the morning. She was tired, her stomach was empty but she had no appetite to eat. She barely managed to get up to her apartment and saw Jong Kook who sat outside of her apartment. She was weak, but somehow she seemly had her name being mentioned.  She pretended to not hear anything and went into her room.

She stood in the shower and many thoughts ran through her mind. She got reminded years ago at her parents’ funeral, she was blamed for her parents death. She got reminded on how she lost her family within a day. A sudden thought that she remembered she just broke off a friendship that she deemed important, right on the same date she lost her parents. She saw the irony and let out an empty laughter while her tears dropped. She had a sudden thought of Jong Kook, she remembered he was waiting outside for her. She could not deny to herself, she needed her boyfriend more than ever. A change in her expression that was clearly expressed through her eyes, she did not want to lose out to another person, especially when she was not around anymore.

He waited for her as he heard the shower sound coming from the bathroom. He heaved a sigh of relief knowing that she was intact in a piece but was still bothered by the fact that she was too quiet, too calm about the whole thing. His heart cringed thinking about how she was silent. He felt that he was the cause of her pain even though she was not expressing it. He wished he would be the one that was feeling the pain that she felt right now. He rather her be scolding, crying or anything but be silent, at least she was not keeping everything to herself.

She got dressed and walked towards Jong Kook. Jong Kook quickly stood up from the couch to hug her while patting her back trying to comfort her which she made no reaction to it. “Ji Hyo yah, please say something.” He begged her. “You can scold me, hit me or say anything you want. Just please, don’t keep everything to yourselves.” He was waiting for her to say something, but instead Ji Hyo weakly pushed him and he landed back sitting on her couch.

She slowly sat on his lap and stared at him. Their eyes met while Jong Kook held her waist to support her. She started attacking his lips. She bit his lips and forcefully opened his mouth. The kiss full of lust and desire, but he could feel that it lacked passion. Her lips made its way down to his jawline and to his neck while she caressed his chest. Jong Kook’s body was responsive to her touch. Every part of the body where Ji Hyo touched felt like it was burning. He felt that he could almost hear his heartbeat as his breathing start to become irregular. She moved closer to him, pressing her body on his and he was burning with desire.

Jong Kook was totally enticed by her seductive action. He missed her during their separation. Her action right now greatly increased the amount of desire he was having that he wanted to grab her roughly and pinned her down. He was losing his senses to the arousal that he felt. He tighten his grip on her waist. Their lips met once again and his lust took control. He grabbed her hair, pressing her closer to him and let their tongues sip deeper. He finally broke away in reluctance to fight for air. Their eyes met when Ji Hyo first starting speaking.

“Kim Jong Kook, I love you.” Ji Hyo told him. However, this sent chill down his spine. Her tone was cold and she was almost expressionless when she said that.

“Ji Hyo…”

“Kim Jong Kook, tell me that you love me.” Ji Hyo demanded with that same tone, but her eyes were filled with determination.

“What?!” Jong Kook was a little startled at her sudden request.

“Tell me that you love me.” Ji Hyo repeated.

“You should know how I feel about you, Ji Hyo yah.”

 “Say it, the three words, that eight letters.” Ji Hyo demanded again, with more determination in her eyes.

“I…” Jong Kook hesitated. Something in his mind was stopping him. Ji Hyo sounded a little too cold, too determined. Her actions were a little illogical. He was lost in that intensive moment but right now, he regained his senses and started thinking. Ji Hyo was not acting like herself and was not being rational. The ‘I love you’ did not sound like a confession, but it sounded like an affirmation, a confrontation to demand him to say that same thing too.It was not right to say at that time . He could not return the three words with Ji Hyo acting like this. He loosen the grip on her. “Ji Hyo.. I…”

“You could not do it…” Ji Hyo uttered. “You just could not do it.” She sounded disappointed and dishearted. She removed herself away from him and walked towards her door. Just as she expected, Jong Kook could not tell her that he loves her. She tried to deny the thoughts she had on how Jong Kook placed Seong Im more important than her. His hesitation had only confirmed her thoughts, which broke her heart. Her steps got slower and her mind started to blur, she felt the world was spinning abruptly. The vision distorted as she felt that pain coming not only her heart, but her gastric. That’s right, she had not consumed anything since yestererday, she remembered.  The surrounding went dark and the last thing she heard was someone calling her name. She collapsed.

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Sorry if this chapter is disappointing and repetitive.