“I just… I just don’t want you to be hurt because of me…” She took another deep breath as she looked down before speaking out, lifting her head back up to look at him. “Joon, I don’t care what you say, I’m not going back with you. You either come with me and we runaway together, or you go back to Ji-Hoon and worry about dying any time of the day. You may be up for it, but not me.”

She walked away from him as she climbed up the stairs and locked herself in one of the bedrooms, leaving the boy on the verge of an outburst because of her stubbornness.

The idea of dropping everything was becoming too tempting to refuse, letting himself imagine what could happen if he actually went through with her plan. On the other hand, he had so much holding him back, leaving everything behind would make things much worse than they are today and he didn’t want to feel the guilt that came with it; he had to carry guilt for so many years, his shoulders could become weaker if any more remorse was added to his conscious.

He turned around towards the staircase where he stood like this for a moment before walking up the stairs, quietly making his way to stand in front of her closed bedroom door. He was about to knock on it when he heard soft cries from the other side.

His hand turned into a tight fist as he shut his eyes, barely being able to stand up without having his heart breaking from what she was going through.

Should he go in and comfort her or should he leave her alone?

He didn’t know what to do.

A part of him knew that if he ever walked inside, that things were going to escalate into something he would be denying later and for this, he walked away, leaving her by herself even though it was tearing him apart.

He was about to walk away when the door slowly opened revealing a pale looking Seonya leaning the side of her body against the door frame. Noticing her state, he couldn’t help but cup her cheeks to look her in the eyes, which surprised her, and noticed how hot her skin was.

“You have a fever… We need to take you back now.”

She pushed him away and scoffed. “I told you already, I’m not going back. You can go by yourself.”

“You’re getting sick! Don’t be stubborn!”

“I’m not being stubborn! You’re just tricking me! Stop it!” She backed away once again when she saw him taking another step towards her. “Just leave me alone! Go away!”

He grabbed onto her arm, making her cry out, and looked closely at the bandage of the bullet wound, noticing how red and swollen it was starting to be. “I have to take you to the hospital; that bruise is getting worse-”

“No, you’re l-lying!” She tried to push herself away, but the weakness she has been feeling was slowly overtaking her ability to stay awake, making her feel dizzy. “D-Don’t take m-me back, pl-ease…”

The next thing he knew, she had fainted in his arms, alarming him as he swiftly lifted her up in his arms and rushed back down the stairs, lying her on the couch before picking up the phone and dialing his boss’s number.

Letting him know about what just happened, all he got as a response was to drive her to their hospital and that he will join him as soon as possible. Hanging up, he quickly picked up Seonya and went towards the door that was leading to the garage where two cars were parked. Taking the keys that were hanging by the door, he gently placed the girl in the back seat before jumping in the drivers seat and opened the garage door, quickly driving away after closing it back, rushing to the streets.

Three hours later and Joon was waiting in the hallway of the hospital, in front of Seonya’s room. He was pacing the floor, the stress creeping up his veins while he constantly kept his hands running through his hair.

He was on the verge of losing her and it drove him to add to himself more guilt into his heart. That same guilt turned into anger as he fisted his hand and hit the wall that he was facing, only to hurt himself in the process, leaning his back against that same wall and falling down on the floor.

At that moment, the doctor walked out of her room looking for Joon. The boy got up, hopeful for some positive reviews about her state.

“How is she?”

“She’s fine. The bullet is out and the wound has been treated. The fever died down a little bit, but she needs rest and no stress. She’s been through a lot.”

“Thank you.”

“Sure and give my regards to Ji-Hoon, would you?”

“Mhmm.”

Once the doctor walked away, Joon walked inside the room to see a sleeping girl across her bed. He slowly walked to her and once he was standing close, he let his hand hover above hers, gently her skin with the tip of his fingers.

From there, he trailed his eyes back to her face and placed his other hand on the top of her head before leaning in closely to place a kiss on her forehead. He stood still for a moment, his grip on her hand getting stronger while closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. He then pulled away and walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him.

The moment the click of the door was heard, Seonya opened her eyes, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall.

She sat up with her back against the pillow, ignoring the pain that was shooting from her body, and turned her head to look out of the window, noticing that the sun was on its way to set down, ending yet another day.

She slowly slipped herself out of the bed as she took off the endless strings that were attached to her and put on a hospital sleeping robe before walking out of the room. Turning her head from left to right, she started walking towards one direction until she was stopped by the doctor that was treating her earlier.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“I-I want to see G.O. I know he is here, somewhere… Please?”

The doctor let out a sigh and told her to follow him, leading her down the hall. Once they stood in front of a closed door, he let her be as he walked away while she slowly opened the door and quietly stepped inside, closing it behind.

All that could be heard at the moment was the beeping sound of the machine while her eyes landed on his sleeping figure, squeezing her heart from the remorse of making him end up in that coma.

She walked her way towards him and stood still while staring at him from head to toe. As she looked back up at his face, she noticed him move making her hold her breath. “G-G.O?”

Waking up from his sleep, he smiled at her and pushed himself up to sit. “Hey you, how are you?”

“How am I? How about you? Joon told me that you were in a coma!”

“I was but I woke up not too long ago.”

“Still… How are you feeling?”

“A slight headache, but besides that I’m fine-”

“I’m so sorry for what happened; it’s all my fault.”

He could see the tears in the corner of her eyes and gently took a hold of her hand, pulling her towards him. “It’s not your fault; this kind of stuff happens a lot… To tell you the truth, it’s not the first time that I end at the hospital-”

“Maybe but I’ve never sent someone to a hospital, almost dead; you could’ve been killed because of me G.O- Am I even worth all of this? We barely know each other! I mean… Why did you even save me? If Hyun Su had taken me or even killed me, everything would be over and you wouldn’t be here-”

“Don’t think like that, please.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’.”

Letting out a breath of defeat, she sat on the edge of the bed, facing G.O while he showed her a reassuring smile, trying to calm her down. “Seonya, don’t think that you’re not worth saving, okay? I would never abandon family.”

“Family?”

“Yes, family. I’m still Ji-Hoon’s nephew, remember? And you’re his niece, so technically, we are related.”

“Ji-Hoon isn’t my real uncle, not by blood anyways.”

“Still, he is your family, whether you like it or not, which makes me a part of your family too.” He tried to brighten the mood with his logical explanation and it made her lightly chuckle.

“Well, I am running out on family members to count on…” She was looking down on her lap while thinking about her parents.

“I’ll be there whenever you need me.” Looking back up at him, she stretched the corner of her lips into a smile and nodded before having a kiss placed on the back of her hand.

“Is it okay if I stay with you for a while? I don’t want to stay alone in my room…”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” He smiled at her once again as he pushed himself a little bit further of the bed to let her sit next to him while he grabbed onto the TV’s remote to turn it on.

While they were comfortably enjoying each other’s company, on the other side of the closed door, Joon had been watching them, a strange tingle roaming around inside of him while staring at Seonya smiling by his friend’s side.

Clenching his jaw, he pondered over the idea of whether intruding their little moment or simply walk away and forget about what he just saw, but a part of him wanted to take the girl away from his friend’s grip and keep her by his side.

Looking up from the door knob to her, he realized that it was the first time she had ever genuinely smiled. Nothing had gone right ever since they met each other but he knew that there was something there, unfortunately he was stubborn enough to deny it and to push it away, telling himself that it was wrong; that he shouldn’t be feeling this way.

Now that he was looking at her, those feelings were slowly coming back, pushing him to open the door and take her away, to act on what his heart truly wanted but still, his head got the better of him, pulling himself away from that door and walking away.

‘She’s better off with him than with me anyways… It’s better like this… It is… It… is…’

That’s when he turned around and went back, gently opening the door to G.O’s room, feeling his heart ready to burst out of his chest.

Both heads turned towards the entrance with G.O greeting the younger one while Seonya was looking at Joon, holding her breath. She quickly looked away and fixed her gaze back on the TV screen, trying to ignore his presence, though every nerve of her body were pushing her towards him.

The tense atmosphere between them was there and even G.O could feel it making him glance from one person to the other. He was about to speak when Seonya cut him off by getting up from the bed. “I think I’m just going to let you rest… I’ll see you tomorrow…”

Without giving him a chance to answer, she walked out leaving the guys by themselves.

The moment she was gone, G.O took this chance to slap Joon behind his head making his friend hiss from the sudden pain. “What was that for?”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You love her but you’re to stubborn to admit it!”

“I don’t love her-”

“Please; it’s written all over your face and she is clearly in love with you too, she’s just afraid to tell you because she knows you would never return her feelings even though you feel the same way.”

“I’m not in love with her G.O.”

“Really? Prove it then. Prove to me that she doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“How am I suppose to do that?”

“I don’t know~ You’re the one that isn’t in love with her, you tell me.”

A sigh escaped from Joon’s lips as he looked down on the floor. His friend was right but he wish he wasn’t because it was too painful to think about loving another woman, especially with the way things ended the last time he poured his heart out to his last Love; and he still wasn’t over it.

“Changsun-ah, it’s been too long already. You’re allowed to fall in love again; you’re allowed to move on and live a life of your own. Stop hanging on to the ghosts of your past and just go after the girl from right now, because I’m telling you, she won’t be waiting forever; she’s going to give up and once she does, you’ll regret ever denying what your heart wanted, because of your thick head.”

He snapped his fingers against his friend’s forehead, making him hiss. Rubbing his head, he lets out another breath before looking back up at G.O, giving him a look of regret.

“I’m sorry but… I don’t think I can. It’s better if she stays out of my way…”

“Out of your way? Joon, stop pushing her away. You’re not the only one that is hurting here; she is too and you being the idiot that you are, aren’t helping… If she really means nothing to you then stop thinking about her like she matters; stop thinking about Seonya the same way you used to think about Stefanie. She would’ve wanted you to move on, not staying stuck up like this and bent up on revenge. If you ever have the chance to kill Hyun Su, it’s not going to bring her back. I know it hurts, but staying behind- living in the past shouldn’t be what you’re doing, especially in the circumstances you’re living in right now.”

“I don’t care what you say, or what you think. I don’t have time for this, for something like this. I need to focus on killing the man that took everything away from me before he ruins me even more.”

“That’s the problem Joon… He already did.”