I expected him to shout. To look at me like I had gone crazy. To regret helping me escape my manager.

What I didn’t expect was for him to stay calm and continue driving like I hadn’t just told that I plan to help my kidnapper kidnap me in front of his very eyes.

He didn’t say anything for another minute, but I could almost see the gears in his mind whirring, probably thinking of the most polite way to tell me that he’d take me back to the hospital—and check me into a psych ward. I watched him carefully, searching for any sign that would indicate that he had changed his mind.

“Alright,” he said after a while. “Who is that man?”

“Um…I think I know him—” I cringed at how stupid my answer sounded.

“You think?” He asked incredulously, his voice several octaves higher. He caught himself and took a deep breath, leashing his temper. “You’re not sure?” he asked again.

“I’m not—” He opened his mouth again to talk but I added hastily “—but I want to make sure. That’s why I’m going.”

“Noona, this is extremely dangerous.”

“I know. I also don’t want to put you in danger. But if you could just drop me off in this address, that will be more than enough to—“

“That’s not what I’m worried about!” He was pissed.

“Then, what?”

“I’m worried about you!”

“Right. Well, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I assured him. Assuring myself, however, was a different thing.

“You make it really hard not to worry about you,” he murmured sarcastically.

“Kyungsoo-yah, I’m doing this with or without you. I need to know for sure that he is who I think he is, or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

He didn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened.

“I’d be really grateful if you’ll drop me there. And then you can go home.”

“You really think I’m going to do that?” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what I was saying.

“Why not?”

“I told you I couldn’t sleep after your kidnapper failed to take you, because I’m worried sick. Now, you’re saying that I drop you off to your kidnapper, then go home and sleep, knowing you’re with him?”

When put that way, my request did sound stupid. But I was not changing my mind.

“Yes. That basically sums it up,” I said, my tone final.

He sighed, defeated. “When we get back from this trip, you should get that beautiful head of yours checked again by a doctor. I think you hit it pretty hard earlier, or you wouldn’t be doing any of this now.”

“You said we!” I exclaimed, delight forming in my chest.

“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you with him,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, I’d love to meet him,” he added threateningly.

“Kyungsoo-yah!” I stretched my arm and placed my hand at the back of his neck and squeezed. “Thank you!”

His dark mood appeared to lighten at my gesture.

“So…who is he?” he asked after a moment of silence. “An ex-boyfriend?”

“Hmm—what? No!”

He looked at me questioningly, his brows furrowed.

“He’s the big brother of this girl I know back home. Eunsung-ah, she was diagnosed with a thyroid cancer when she was little.”

“You always see her?”

“No, I only do when I visit my grandparents’ house in Jeonju.”

I took the other half of the note—the one containing the first two lines—from my pocket and showed it to Kyungsoo.

“I didn’t show you earlier the whole note, but this is the other half.”

He read it quickly. “He’s with his sister?”

“It seems so. When I visited last year, I heard them talking that the cancer has spread to her lungs,” I stated sadly.

“Noona…”

“But I know she’ll be okay.” I smiled at him. “Eunsung-ah is a strong girl. She’s the bravest girl I’ve ever met.”

Kyungsoo didn’t say anything but his presence alone was enough to comfort me.

“Eunwoo—I think that’s the name of her brother—was seven when I last saw him so I couldn’t recognize him immediately."

“Does he know that you know her sister?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Then why did he have to kidnap you in the first place? He could have just contacted you.”

I was silent for a moment. I also thought about this, but couldn’t find an explanation. “That is a very good question, but I'm afraid you'll have to ask him that later.”

“You bet I will,” he muttered under his breath.

The anticipation in his face and voice bothered me. He sounded like he wanted to hurt someone. “Er—you are not going to punch him, are you?” I joked.

His grip tightened on the wheel. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what I’ll do when I see him.” Then the corners of his mouth twitched. “Actually, I do know what I want to do. Hit him with my car?” He joked back.

I laughed at his suggestion, but I had a feeling that if it wasn’t illegal, he’d do it in a blink of an eye. “I’ll make sure to visit you every day in prison.”

“Then we’re all set. I won’t need anything else if I know I’ll see you every day.” He accompanied this statement with a knowing glance.

And there he goes again with those casual remarks of his. How am I supposed to carry on a coherent conversation if he keeps on throwing words at me that make my insides turn into jelly?

“Joking aside,” he continued. He didn’t seem to notice that my face turned red. “I might not be able to stop myself for what he did to you.”

“Well, get in line.”

“What?”

“I intend on hitting him first,” I told him cheerfully.

“Then, we have a plan.”

I laughed. “Yes, we do.” I couldn’t believe that bantering with Kyungsoo could feel so natural.

“I have another question.”

“Shoot.”

“Let’s say that what the note said is true—”

“I know it’s true—”

“—do you think his sister can recognize you?”

“What do you mean?”

He casted my bare face a sideways glance before going back to the road. “Well...” he hesitated.

“What?”

He gave me a heart-stopping grin. I held my breath as I watched his mouth. This was the first smile he gave me since the incident.

“Honestly, you look like a high school kid right now.”

I wasn't able to answer immediately.

His smile widened at my dumbstruck expression. “What's wrong?” He thought it was because of what he said, and not because I was struck by his beautiful face.

“Y-you’re the one to talk! You look like an eight-year-old right now!”

He laughed, and the sound of it sent butterflies to my stomach. “I do not. We both know that my bare face doesn’t have the same age-changing effect on me as it does with you.”

What he said was true. He was beautiful—with or without makeup. I thought that his perfect slightly-mussed-up hair that I liked so much was a product of long hours of styling. But now, I wasn’t sure. He probably rolled out of bed already looking this good.

“Fine…” I admitted grudgingly.

“But don’t worry. You’re the only girl I know who could be incredibly gorgeous no matter what.”