Ji Hyo opened her eyes weakly, position lying faced up to her ceiling. “Why am I on my bed...” Ji Hyo wondered. Her body felt weak and her stomach was empty. The last thing she recalled was trying to walk towards the door and right now, she was lying on her own bed, tucked under her own blanket. “You are awake.” She heard that familiar voice talking to her as her right hand was held by a pair of warm one. That voice… it was something she was longing for earlier, at this moment, it was last thing she wished she heard.

She turned her head in the opposite direction to not face him while removing her hand to place on her empty stomach. Her body was giving signal that she needed to eat. With her remaining strength, she slowly stood up by pushing herself with the help of him. “Drink some warm water first.” Jong Kook handed over a glass of water that was seemly prepared ealier. Her mind was not processing so she could only stare blankly at the corner of the bed to avoid eye contact.

“It’s better you drink some water before you eat Ji Hyo yah, you are a little dehydrated.” Jong Kook continued. He sighed when she made no response to him but to stay in the same position. The stubborn Ji Hyo made her appearance once again. This time, the situation had gone worse when she did not even want to talk. He hurted her badly and he knew it. He wanted to explain to her and let her know how he truly felt. However, this is not the right time as her health is his pirority right now. While she was dealing a great deal of pain, he could only helplessly look at her till she fainted. He regretted letting himself fall into temption instead of observing how pale she was earlier. If he had discovered how weak she looked, he would have known her condition earlier. At present, he could only stood by her, heeding to her call.

“Ji Hyo yah, if you don’t want to see me, I can leave.” Jong Kook said helplessly. “But I really want you to drink some water and eat something right now.” He pleaded. “You looked pale and you fainted. So please… ” Jong Kook showed the glass in front of her. Her hand reached out to the glass and Jong Kook felt relieved. He carefully aid to drink up then placed the glass back on the side table. “The food is outside, or do you want to eat here?” Jong Kook asked.

She spoke nothing but she tried to get off her bed slowly. Jong Kook helped her up clearly rejected when she shrugged her shoulder slightly. She weakly moved towards her dining table. She sat down but did nothing else. Jong Kook understood what she wanted from all her little action. “Ji Hyo yah, I shall leave first.” He told her. “Please eat well.” He sighed as he made his way out. When he was closing the door, he took one last glimpse at Ji Hyo who was about to lift up the spoon. “Ji Hyo, Please forgive me.” That was the only thing he could do and wish for.

After Jong Kook left, Ji Hyo looked at the food in front of her. There are soup, porridge and other nutritious food. Jong Kook had definitely over bought but she recognized his effort. It was heartwarming and she felt his concern when she started eating. Warm and fuzzy feeling were emitting as she ate. She could not differenciate it was due to the hunger or the fact that Jong Kook bought the food that made her feel it was the most delicious food she had eaten in a while. She felt slightly better as some nutrients were replenished. Her mind started to process better with the continuous scoops of porridge she was having.

At that point, she remembered the reason she did not want to see Jong Kook. Her heart cringed when recalling his confused face as he hesitated saying what she wanted to hear. Jong Kook was baffling her. One moment he was being all hesitant and the next moment he was being as the same that he always did. She did not comprehend what he was thinking. They did not talk during his trip and he did not inform her about his early arrival. She was a little elated when she saw him waiting out her house for her but she heard him mentioning a name that she was not anticipating. Thereafter, he comforted her but he could not tell her how he felt. “Kim Jong Kook, why can’t you just say that you love me….” She placed her spoon down lay her head on the table.

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Three shots… Five shots… Eight Shots… Ji Hyo had lost count of how much she drank. She left her house and somehow she was lead to a bar. She began drowning herself in sorrow, numbing the pain as if it was the only way to stop how she was feeling. It did not take her much time later that her emptiness was filled dizziness. Her head was spinning and she could only lay her heavy head on the table. She fumbled with her phone while resting her head on the table and accidentally dialed the missed call she received. In her blurred vision, she saw the name that was displayed on her screen ‘Kim Jong Kook’ and she cut it off. “I hate Kim Jong Kook.” She murmured and tossed her phone at the corner.

“Kim Jong Kook.. Why did you do this to me…” She spoke to herself and chuckled at her thinking. She hated the man yet she was thinking about him. “Song Ji Hyo, you are just stupid and foolish.” She reprimanded.

“Hey miss, are you alone?” A guy approached her and smile slyly. “Do you want to join me?” Knowing that she was pretty drunk, the guy took the liberative to wrap his arms around her waist. Ji Hyo was annoyed by his actions but her body was not coordinating with her. His hand soon started to caress her back. “Let me… bring you pleasure…” The guy whispered to her ear.

“Get lost you idiot!” Ji hyo shouted with her strength and tried to struggle away. Her actions were futile as she was too drunk and he was too strong. She barely managed elbow his arm only to get caught by him. “You .” The guy took his hands off and almost slapped her. His hand almost landed on her cheek only to get caught by a familar man whom she could not recognized in her blur vision. Yet, she caught a sense of security from that man. “Let her go.” She found out who he was using his voice and that was the last thing she heard while she fell to his direction.

“Let her go.” Gary held the rude man and caught onto Ji Hyo who fell unconscious on his chest. He stepped into the bar less than a minute ago with his friend and saw the guy being handsy on a drunken woman. He almost ignored it until he realized the drunken woman was Ji Hyo. He rushed up to her side just as the guy was about to hit her. The two guys almost caused a scene at the counter until their peers pulled them apart. Recovering from his anger, he informed his friends that he had to send Ji Hyo home and carried her to his car.

He stared at the totally wasted and unconscious woman after seating her beside the driver seat. He fished out his phone and wanted to dial Jong Kook’s number only to realize his battery was drained. He blamed this advanced technology for being useless that it could not even last him for half a day and attempted to find hers to no avail. He sighed knowing that he could only try his luck at Jong Kook’s house.

He knew Jong Kook must be worried. He was surprised to hear him calling and desperately finding out if he knew Ji Hyo’s whereabouts. He thought he was still at New York at that moment but Jong Kook told him he arrived back to Korea early. Jong Kook did not tell him why he was looking for her in the middle of the night but his gut feeling told him it was something bad. He wanted to call Ji Hyo last night but decided not to after he remembered how Ji Hyo tried to distance from him. “Funny how you tried to avoid me yet I’m the one who saved you tonight, Song Ji Hyo.” He talked to the unconscious woman. “You are really unbelievable.” Gary shook his head.

 He piggybacked her up to Jong Kook’s house but there was no one answering his door. He sighed, thinking that the only solution was to send her home. Hesitatedly, he drove her back to Ilsan. He decided to try Jong Kook’s house first because despite knowing her for some time, he only knew the location of her apartment but not her unit. Ji Hyo always insisted that she made the way up herself when he drove her home. It was almost impossible to wake her up to find out from her. A hint of grief hit him when he realized he did not know her well enough.

He stopped below her apartment and stepped out the car. He opened her side of the door and wondered any solution to deal with this wasted woman. “Oppa…” She subconsciously whimpered. Tears were slowly welling up even though she remained asleep. “Why so distressed Ji Hyo yah. What happened to you?” He wiped the tears from her eyes and questioned.

Gary sat at the bonnet of the car while Ji Hyo was still asleep, reflecting what he was doing right now. He did not know how, but he got the message that Ji Hyo found out his feelings for her after seeing her silly action of avoiding him. He never asked her for anything. As unlikely as it sounded, he did not hope for anything further with Ji Hyo but only wished they remained as they were. Some called his unrequited love as noble, but he knew it was plain stupid to continue acting the same way.

He stoned until he heard the sound of someone opening his car door. He turned back and saw Ji Hyo running out of the car and started vomiting at the side. Gary rushed to her side and patted her back, hoping to ease the queasiness she was feeling. The puking stopped and Ji Hyo wiped the corner of the mouth. She looked back to see who was beside her. “Gary Oppa, why are you here?” She asked when she saw Gary behind her. Massive headache attacked her and words just pouring out. “Why are you here Gary Oppa when I tried to avoid you?” She told him.

Gary knew even though she was awake, she was still drunk and spitting out any words she was processing. “I’m so sorry Gary Oppa, you are so kind to me, but I can’t reciprocate your feelings. And now you still want to see me when I had been nothing but bad to you.” She continuously repeated the sentence while he kept his silence and comforted her. “I’m so sorry Gary Oppa. I don’t want to mislead you. I treated you as my good friend but I I cannot continue being close to you because the one I love is Jong Kook Oppa…” She paused. “But he does not love me…” She laughed as she tried to walk away and tripped. 

Gary quickly held her up while she was laughing at herself. Tears was dropping as she turned back to stare at him. “Why Kim Jong Kook?” She questioned him with anger. “I hate you. Why can’t you say you love me?” She hitted his chest and cried. “You didn’t even tell me you are back… Where were you when I needed you the most?” She stopped hitting and wept in his chest.

Gary was surprised by her drunken words. “You did not know Jong Kook Hyung is back?” He asked and got a death stare by Ji Hyo who heard him.

“Seong Im is more important right?” She started thrashing out again. “That’s why…. That’s why you hesitated… I threw myself to you… But you did nothing…” She punched his chest. “I was lonely and helpless yesterday, you were just standing in front of her grave… I ran off and you did nothing…Then you started acting all concern to me. Why do you have to confuse me? I hate you. I love you so much that I hate you…” She squatted down and buried her head in her knees. Her cries got louder after pouring out all those words.

Gary stood in front of her, helpless. He wanted to comfort her but he did not knew how except letting her be. Every word was piercing his heart even though it was not directed at him. Ji Hyo sounded wounded and he could not mend her heart. Instinctly, he only thought of comforting her.

“Ji Hyo yah.” He brought her up and enveloped her in his arms. He her head and tried to calm her down. “It’s alright Ji Hyo yah. Let it out.” His gentle words comforted her.

“I hate you Kim Jong Kook. But yet i still love you so much.” She buried herself in his embrace and continued her weeps. Those words stung his heart when Gary knew the one she was thinking was not him. Yet, he wanted to be there for her now, even though she was treating him as someone else.

Her weeping turned softer and eventually stopped. Gary looked down at her and realized she fell back asleep. He patted her back softly and gently placed her back to the seat. “Ji Hyo yah, if only I could replace Jong Kook Hyung to be with you…” he moved closer and caressed her swollen eyes.

As he was about to step back, a force grabbed him by the collar. “What are you doing with her?!” And there he was, the man that she was crying for, shouted at him. 

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In case it was misleading, Ji Hyo was drunk and thought Gary was JK at the last part when she lashed out.