He found her in the bathroom. Her head was lying at the side of the tub, slightly parted. Even at the tub she was able to sleep peacefully. She must be so tired from the ordeal.  The faucet was constantly filling the tub making the water overflow.

He walked slowly towards her, not wanting to wake her up. He could see her back from where he was standing. He bent down to turn off the faucet.

He crouched at her side to give him a better view of her face. He gently swept the hair covering her face.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never imagined this will happen to you,” he said quietly.

She lazily opened her eyes. The gentle touch woke her up. She blinked a few times and looked at the man whose head was bowed down. It looked as if he was praying or crying.

“You?” she said softly. Her voice was laced with mild surprised.

Jiyong was caught off guard when she suddenly spoke that his reaction was to stand up. He took a few steps backward as the figure slightly adjusted. If she move another inch, he’ll definitely see something he should not see. Apparently, the woman was totally .

He quickly threw her the towel that was neatly folded on top of the bathroom sink. As soon as the woman caught the towel, he turned his back to allow her to cover herself up. He never expected that to happen, though. He thought she was sleeping deeply.

When she spoke again, he turned his attention back to her.

“You saved me. I am really  really grateful to you. I don’t even know how to thank you,” she said. She was now sitting at the side of the tub, her head hanging down. When she looked up, Jiyong had to crane her neck and looked at somewhere else but her. Then his eyes decided to settle at the lighted scented candle sitting on the bathroom sink.

What the is wrong with me? Oh come on, I have seen lots of women. Why can’t I even bring myself to look at her?

“You don’t disrespect me if you look at me, you know,’ she said with a smile. “The last thing I would worry from a man who saved my life is taking advantage of my weakness.”

He slowly took his sight away from the candle and back to the woman. “Are you okay? Are you in pain? I- I took the liberty of washing your wound last night. I’m not as good as you though, when it comes to things like that,” Jiyong said. His head was slightly bowed down. He could not bring himself to look at her in the eye.

“Jarhaesseo,” (“You did good.”) she smiled at him. A genuine smile. A smile he thought he wouldn’t receive from her.

They were both silent for a while. Then Jiyong decided to speak to break the awkwardness. “I brought medicines for your wound. We have to fix that, it looks like it’s swelling.”

She nodded.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” he gave her a smile before leaving.

It took her a while to get dressed. Even after eating and taking a warm bath, she realized she was still weak. She felt better from last time, but still weak.

When she went out of the bathroom, she saw the glass door widely opened that the breeze from outside made her shiver. The thin white dress she was wearing was blown by the wind. It was cold but it gives off a calm feeling.

Jiyong was settled in one of the wooden couch in the terrace of the house, his back to her. He was removing the medicine from the bag. Jiyong. Kwon Jiyong. She heaved a sigh as she looked at him with sad eyes.

Who would’ve thought that the person I despised and ignored is the same person who saved me from my worst nightmare.

She slowly walked towards him. She was about to call him but the view from the balcony diverted her attention from him.

The landscape was grand, the entire view was magnificent. Everything was surreal. It simply took her breath away. She took few steps forward to get a better view. She had to hold on the banister as she savored the painting-like beauty in front of her.

The house was perched near the cliff, overlooking the wide, blue sea. The sound of the waves gently splashing towards the shore. The white sand was dazzling as the sun brightly shone on it. Below the second floor of the house is the green lawn with palm trees neatly surrounding the house, acting as the fence. Below the trees, one can see the steep chip of land standing directly over the large boulders..

She was utterly mesmerized by the beauty of the place that she did not even notice Jiyong beside her. His arms were folded and were laying on the banister, his figure slightly hunched.

“Do you like it?”, he asked quietly.

“Are you kidding? I love it!  I’ve never been to this kind of place.”, she sounded excited.

Jiyong smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Are you my doctor?”, she chuckled. “I was just kidding. Yeah. Never better.”

She grab the single wooden couch nearest her and sat on it. She decided to examine the medicine brought by Jiyong, something that could help the swelling of her lower leg. It was still painful. She had to attend to the wound first then she had to do something with the shin splint later.

Good thing the wound did not hit a major vessel or else it would not stop bleeding. She picked an antiseptic to clean the wound. As she was about to wipe the solution on it, a hand grabbed hers.

“Let me,” said Jiyong. They looked at each other’s eyes for a while and then she loosen her hold on the cotton. Jiyong removed the cotton from her hand and he started wiping the solution on her wound as gentle as possible. After cleaning it, he put a gauze on the severed area.

His head was slightly bowed as he busied himself on fixing her wound. She was just staring at his head all those time.

“Is that it? It looks like it’s swelling.”, he looked up when he finished putting the bandage. He seemed perplexed.

“The swelling is because of the tears in the muscles of my lower leg. A rest, an icepack every 20 minutes every day, a little massage and an ibuprofen will do,” she gave him a reassuring look.

Then her expression changed to confusion as she continued to look at him. Her stare made Jiyong uncomfortable. He fidgeted a little.

“I cannot remember anything, Jiyong. I’m not sure why. Possibly a post traumatic amnesia. I-I can remember flashes of memories. Here and there. But it’s all a blur. Any event before the injury is a puzzle to me. Probably, my subconscious is trying to block the bad experience. I...I couldn’t...” she stopped as her tears started to fall. Her hands are on her head now, trying to squeeze the memory out of it. No matter how hard she recall, there was nothing.

Suddenly, warmth engulfed her. She realized Jiyong was now hugging her, his chin on her head. She felt safe in his arms. She looked up at him.

“How did you find me? Do you know the man who took me?”, her voice sounded urgent.

“I..-Uh.. I was following you the day you were taken. I saw a man taking your lifeless body to his car. I didn’t know what to do, I just followed the car. I thought I lost you. Then I saw the car again parked beside the public road, then I saw you running out of a car. The man was chasing after you. You were running through the forest. I tried to follow you but it was getting dark.” His voice was unsure. He was looking on the floor the entire time.

He went on. “I found the place where he kept you. Good thing he wasn’t there, so I was able to get you out of the place. This house was the nearest place I could think of. That’s why I brought you here.”

“He? I thought I saw two men. There were two of them.I’m not sure. I can hardly remember!,” frustration started to surface. She hated the fact the she could not recall what exactly happened to her.

“What I know, is that I can never forgive whoever did this to me. I can never forgive that person.”

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A/N:  The next chapter will be very long. Enjoy reading! :)