*** Jang Mi’s POV ***

I can’t believe he’s leaving. He didn’t tell me anything. How could he do this to me ?

I couldn’t face him – couldn’t look at him. I had to get some air, get away from him for a while. I didn’t want to hate him, I couldn’t – I loved him.

I ran down the muddy track, my hair catching in the branches and overgrown vegetation that was strewn across the small path only used by me and Jonghyun. I finally reached our wooden shelter that used to be some kind of stall before it was torn down in a storm one night – no one thought to remove it. It was right beside the utility pole so it wasn’t hard to find and was still big enough for both me and Jonghyun to sit under and take shelter from rain or sun. But today, I didn’t want to sit with Jonghyun; I wanted to sit by myself and think about him instead – it’s much easier that way.

The carvings that we had made in the wood were still easy to read and see – messages and letters from years ago were still decipherable despite the messy handwriting. I reached up my hand and let my fingers ghost over the drawings, memories flooding into my head from our past.

Flashback

I was crying under the shelter; my best friend was moving away.

Jonghyun came rushing through the trees into the clearing and squeezed into the space beside me. “Mi … Why are you crying ?” He brushed my tears off my cheeks with his thumb softly.

“Mi Hyun is moving away with her parents” I sniffed.

“It’s okay … it’s not her fault … I’m sure she doesn’t really want to leave you Mi” He said calmly, slightly unsure of how to comfort me.

“But she hurt me by leaving. Everyone hurts me.” Tears kept pouring down my face. Jonghyun knew I was referring to my father – he had never been affectionate, always strict and often used physical punishment. My father was an alcoholic and a workaholic – no time for me unless he was drunk and very angry and my mother couldn’t do much to stop him when he was fuming.

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you. I’ll stay by your side forever. Do you remember when I saved you from those bullies a few months ago – I said I would protect you ?” I nodded my head meekly. “Well I vow here and now that I will always protect you. Always. See ?”

I watched with wide eyes as he drew a knight on the wood and a pretty princess by his side. He read aloud as he wrote beneath the drawing: “I, Kim Jonghyun, vow to protect Mi, to be her knight in shining armour and stand by her no matter what” then he put the rock down, turned to me, and continued “even if it’s just me – it will be us against the world.”

End of Flashback

It began to rain outside and I pulled by school blazer tightly around my body as I rested my head on my schoolbag. I didn’t want to return home just yet. Before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep, listening to the sound of the raindrops, feeling safe in the presence of my childhood memories of Jonghyun.

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*** Jonghyun’s POV ***

“I carefully whispered … “Mi … ?”

After no reply I stuck my head around the opening to the wooden shelter and found her curled up beneath in a fetal position. She was slightly damp because of the leaking ‘roof’ and was violently shaking – but asleep nonetheless.

I didn’t want to wake her but wrapped my coat around her and picked her up in my arms and carried her back through the forest quickly – she could get seriously ill after staying out in the cold and wet for such a long time.  I could feel how hot her forehead was through the fabric of my shirt and sped up to get her home as fast as possible. As I reached her house, her mother ran out to greet me.

“Jonghyun ! You found her. Thank God I was so worried that she had got lost or kidna-”

“It’s fine, she’ll be fine … but she has a raging fever – we need to get her inside” I interrupted.

“Of course … yes … just bring her up …” her mother stuttered in a panic.

I brought her up to her bedroom and placed her on the bed, taking off her soaked blazer, shirt and skirt, leaving her in a t-shirt and shorts she always wears under her uniform. I then soaked a damp towel and placed it on her forehead in an attempt to calm the fever. Her breathing that was once rushed began to slow and I went to see her mother.

“Mrs. Baek …” I quietly called as I rounded the corner into their living room. Thankfully … she was sat on the sofa and Mi’s father was nowhere to be seen.

She jumped up from the sofa “Is Jang Mi alright ?”

“She should be alright but we’ll have to wait for her to wake up”

“Okay then …” she began to fiddle with her fingers anxiously “Oh!” She caught my attention before I went back to Mi, “Jonghyun you’d better spend the night here, it’s already late and I don’t want you to go wandering around after dark.” She smiled then walked upstairs to her room.

I glanced at my watch – 00:17 – it was already that late ! I grabbed some water from the fridge and went back to Mi who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, putting the water on her bedside table. I brought a chair up next to the bed, picked some bits of twig and leaf from her hair and brushed her hair away from her forehead before gently kissing it.

She suddenly grabbed my hand, immersed in a dream, so I sat down and rested my head on the bed. Not letting go of her hand once.

“Good night Mi …” 

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I updated again as (almost) promised ^^ So we find out about Jang Mi's bad relationship with her parents 

What about Jonghyun's vow ??

Please comment and tell me what you thought of the chapter ~~

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