Chapter 17

The day had started out so well, but to Sara, it felt as if it would never end. She had been dragged to the after-party once the photo shoot had ended. She was still wearing the designer’s clothes. He had given them to her as a gift.

She kept smiling and laughing along with everyone else, but she was in no mood to have fun. All she wanted was to go home. However, there was no way to get out without offending everyone she had worked with, so she pretended to need the bathroom. On her way there, she quietly snuck out the main door instead, mingling among the others and trying her best not to get noticed.

Sungmin was watching her the entire time. He had been holding a drink in his hand, feigning interest in what the person in front of him was saying, but he would rather have been speaking to her. After the photoshoot had ended, she hadn’t spoken to him much, and he had wanted to apologize to her for Donghae’s behavior.

Sara stumbled while on her way to her dress room. She had drank a few glasses of wine just to be polite when the directors had all asked her to join them, and her cheeks felt flushed. But what bothered her the most where the shoes she was wearing. They were difficult to walk in, and she had to be careful not to fall.

Once she entered the room, she changed into her knee-length woolen knit dress and leggings. She took off the wig she had been wearing, and loosened her hair. It fell forward in wondrous waves, covering part of her face. She looked at herself in the mirror, and nearly choked on seeing her reflection. Her dark make-up was in complete contrast with her honey-colored hair. It wasn’t her at all.

She understood now that she had tried to do something which didn’t suit her one bit. She was still a kid. What was she doing getting involved in all of this? She wasn’t ready for this type of job, especially if she was going to let the actions of one man get to her. Sara remembered Donghae’s cold expression, and felt herself tearing up again as she removed her make-up. When she was done, she got up and put on her regular heels. She grabbed her bag, and was about to walk towards the door, when she suddenly felt her entire world spinning.

 She fell to the floor, and gasped as her knee hit the ground hard, and her left ankle twisted into an awkward position. She looked up and saw that she had tripped over the bottom part of a clothing wrack. The black plastic and iron rods had been difficult to spot on the ground.

She turned around and sat up, clasping her leg in pain. She sat there for a few minutes, breathing hard, and trying to calm herself down. She removed her heels, and then slowly got up. She found that she could walk, but the pain in her ankle made her want to scream.

She found a pair of flat winter boots among the collection of shoes which were kept for the models. They were too big for her, but they were comfortable enough for her injured leg. She walked towards the door again, but once she turned the handle, she found Sungmin waiting on the other side.

He came towards her, a worried expression on his face. He reached a hand out to her face and gently wiped her cheek with his palm.

“Where you crying?” he asked her.

Sara reached up and touched her face. She realized that she must have shed tears when she had gotten hurt, but she hadn’t noticed the wetness on her face until then.

“I’m ok”, she mumbled. “I’m on my way home now”.

“Do you want me to take you home? We can call a taxi if you want”, he said to her.

Sara thought about her leg, and knew that it would be better to have someone with her, just in case she couldn’t manage it later. She agreed, and slowly followed Sungmin outside.

It was snowing. Probably the last snow of the season. They hurriedly got into a cab, and then sat in silence. Sara didn’t feel like talking, she was too upset with herself. She mulled over all the times that she had needed someone else’s help.

Siwon had helped her when she had gotten sick on the plane; Yesung had helped her when she had gotten lost. Sungmin had saved her from getting hurt when she had dropped all of those dishes at the apartment.

She was a walking catastrophe, and she hated being indebted to all of them. They had all seemed glad to help her, but she knew that she had to start fending for herself.

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They reached the lobby of her apartment, and Sara was getting ready to say her goodbyes, but they both paused when they saw that the elevators were out of order.

Sara stifled a sob when she realized that she had to climb upstairs to the 12^thfloor if she wanted to get home.

“Sungmin, you can go home now, I’ll go up by myself”, Sara said to him.

Sungmin looked towards the staircase and then replied “Why don’t you wait at our apartment until the elevator is fixed?”

Sara glanced down at her leg, and knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide her injury from anyone much longer, so she kindly refused his offer, said goodbye, and made her way up the stairs.

She hadn’t climbed up two stairs, when she saw Sungmin rushing ahead of her. He stopped a few steps above her, and then smiled.

“It’ll be lonely walking up all alone, I’ll come with you”.

Sara tried to persuade him otherwise, but he wouldn’t listen to her. Instead, he continued walking up the stairs, while she slowly followed  a few steps behind, trying her best to handle the pain in her leg while answering  Sungmin’s random questions about herself.

He wanted to know where she had grown up, what her family was like, what she wanted to do in the future. She answered everything, talking helped her take her mind off her pain, but soon, it became too much for her.

Sungmin continued talking, but when Sara didn’t respond, he looked back, and was alarmed to see her bent over, and clutching the railing with both hands. He ran down to her, and put an arm under her shoulder. Her face looked deathly white, and her breathing came out in short gasps.

“Sara; what’s wrong?!” Sungmin shouted in panic.

Sara tried to push him away. “Nothing”, she said weakly. “We’re almost there, let me walk…”

She took another step, but felt an electric-like flash of agony run through her leg. She swooned, unable to bear it, and fell into blackness.