Wiping clammy palms onto the side of her things, she stepped forward with a shield of fake confidence. Before her was an extravagant picture of luxury. A middle aged man was sat resting on a plush, leather chair, with countless ornaments surrounding him to vow as witnesses for his mountain of wealth. Taking a deep breath she directed her gaze towards him.

“Father-”

“Don’t call me that,” he interrupted with a hiss, “I am no father of yours.”

Resisting the urge to reveal her inner emotions she continued, “I sincerely apologise for what happened today.”

Her statement was returned with a loud chortle, “Stop wasting my time. Sehun is more than capable of protecting you, so why constantly allow yourself to be kidnapped? Don’t ever make my Minhee look weak, you understand? You’re not Park Mi So anymore – you act for the name of Baek Minhee. This will be the last time I tolerate your nonsense.”

“Yes, I understand... sir.”

Moments later she found herself staring blankly at her bedroom wall. Evenly timed ticks of the clock hummed through the blanket of silence, as always, without a single care in the world. The ghost of her past would always lay dormant in her subconscious and as soon as she found herself alone, it would pay her a visit and take her down memory lane.

This wasn’t what she’d wanted. A place to call home and a family to welcome her was all she’d ever yearned for. However fate, apparently, had no sense of sympathy at all. With a gentle tug she took the leather glove off her left hand and revealed an old scar. It was ugly. The dark marks of burnt skin and flesh still remained to this day, boldly parading echoes of the day her world had crumbled down. She hated looking at it. Even just a brief glance of it would send cold shivers down her spine but somehow she just couldn’t resist it. Perhaps it was because she felt a need to punish herself, for being so blind and selfish - what an incredibly stupid brat she’d been.

An abrupt knock on the door disrupted her train of thoughts. A tall, chiselled figure was leaning against the cream wall, with elegant origami cranes from the ceiling reaching towards him.

“I know how much you hate looking at it,” he stepped forward, “so just stop it.”

She drew out her other hand and touched the surface of her damaged skin, so lightly that it barely managed to make contact. Her eyes remained on it while her attention shifted, “You know, you have a really nasty habit of sneaking up on people.”

A pair of eyes rolled in response, “It’s called the element of surprise. How do you think I manage to take down all those kidnappers of yours?”

She finally tilted her head up to see the sarcastic grin planted on his face, “I’ll give you a piece of advice: girls hate guys who are up their own asses.”

Ignoring her remark, the latter went ahead and sat down next to her, an inner turbulence of emotions clearly visible inside of his warm, brown orbs. The atmosphere shifted alongside his facial expression. He felt torn. It was something she needed to hear but he desperately didn’t want to be the one to crush her hope. 

“What is it?” the girl let out a deep sigh.

His whisper followed a nervous swallow, “I think you should stop.”

“What?” she echoed.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you let yourself get captured – at the end of the day he knows of my capability and frankly, he just doesn’t give a damn,” the words spilled out of his mouth like a waterfall, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste.

Her voice remained steady and calm, “Well, this is unlike your usual self. Care to explain what exactly you mean?”

“Mi So,” he started, “I’m so sorry to break this to you but he’ll never care, don’t you see? He doesn’t care if you get kidnapped. He doesn’t care if you’ve been out in the rain all night. He doesn’t care because you’re nothing but a puppet to him. You’ll never be his real daughter, only an imitation of Minhee until she recovers. So please, I beg of you, just stop this. You’ll only get yourself hurt.”

Immediately a growl jumped out, “Shut your mouth before I rip it off.”

“Mi So...”

“Shut up. Don’t you dare act like you understand what I’m going through. You know nothing, okay? Absolutely nothing,” she gritted her teeth as the muscles in her jaw tensed up.

Those words stung him hard. During the two years he’d spent with her as her bodyguard he had naturally come to care for her, as human beings do. Although they were both comfortable in each other’s presence she’d never revealed intimate thoughts or feelings. And he wanted to know. He wanted to know her better but she’d only reply by tightly shutting the door to her heart.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” he pleaded.

“Get out!” she exploded in anger, her ears the shade of a crimson fire, “Just get out of my room!”

Sehun flinched at her unexpected outburst. He hesitantly dragged his feet towards the direction of her finger, and cast one last glance at her before leaving. Shaky breaths could be heard as she was left alone to digest what had just happened. Her thoughts started tangling up into a messy web and the sinking feeling in her stomach amplified, drawing out her innermost fears.

She knew he was right. He always was. It was her stubbornness that refused to admit defeat and surrender. It would mean that she was nothing, no one, and that frightened her - the thought that if she was to suddenly disappear from this world, nobody would even notice.  

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A/N:

Thank you to all of my readers for subscribing - I really appreciate you taking the time to read my story, since I do put a lot of effort into it. Of course comments would be a bonus but I know you're all shy, so I'm still happy :)