Shin Hye let out a groan when her knee finally buckled. Min Ho, who was a few steps ahead of her looked back, over his shoulder and saw her bent down. He raced to her side and instantly noticed Shin Hye rubbing her ankle, which meant something was wrong. They’d been walking for close to thirty minutes now, but they were nowhere near the highway. “Are you okay?” He asked, his hand now supporting one of her arms as he scanned her leg. “Did you sprain your ankle?”

She nodded and allowed herself to lean on him. There was no use resisting when her whole leg felt like it was burning. Earlier, when she ran behind the huge rocks, she realized that she had twisted her ankle when Min Ho pulled her out of the roaring car’s way. Initially, she had thought she’d be able to handle the pain, but with each step, her ankle’s condition just worsened.

“You really are stubborn,” Min Ho clutched her left wrist and draped her arm over his shoulders. He pulled her next to him and s one of his arms around her waist, as if fastening her body next to his. Shin Hye visibly stiffened at the contact, but Min Ho paid no mind. “You should have said so back there!”

The man’s nearness distracted her momentarily from the pain; it wasn’t lost on her that Lee Min Ho really had no concept of personal space, nor has he realized that she didn’t like it when people were too close for comfort. This was even worse because he was touching her now. But as much as she would like to tell him off, she did need help – so her aversion to skinship would have to take a backseat.

She winced at the sharp sting when her sole hit the ground just as she was shifting her weight. Min Ho clucked his tongue. “Be careful, will you?” He pulled her closer, almost lifting her feet off the ground.

“Ya! You don’t get to boss me around just because you got me out of the way,” Shin Hye complained, giving him a scowl. “I saved your life too. As far as I know, we’re even.”

“Psshhh. Not even close. You tried to kill me so you evened that out on your own,” he argued. “You owe me one.”

Shin Hye stopped moving and looked up him, visibly offended. “Uhm. Have you forgotten that you almost got us killed just now? Why would you think I owe you? Technically, you put me in harm’s way before you saved me. Using your logic, we’re still even.”

Min Ho hissed. “Arasso, arasso! You win. Just lean on me so we can move faster.”

She rolled her eyes but did as she was told. It took them a few steps before realizing that it was even harder walking side by side like that. Min Ho was too tall for Shin Hye, which only strained her shoulder. Min Ho, on the other hand, consciously bent down to match her height, making walking difficult even for him who had no injury. But they kept going, only the sounds of their heavy breathing filling the silence.

They covered a few meters before Min Ho stopped and stood up straight. He looked down at Shin Hye and gave her a once over, slightly making her feel self-conscious.

“What?” Shin Hye demanded, feeling small under his scrutinizing stare. She really hated that about him.

“This won’t do,” he said, shaking his head. She creased her eyebrows in curiosity, wondering if he was pertaining to how difficult it was for him to walk with her like this. Of course he didn’t have to help, and the last thing she wanted was to become anybody’s burden. But he could at least pretend like he was fine with it for now. It wasn’t like she wanted him to help her anyway, the situation just called for it. She scoffed inwardly. Tss. Some man you are.

Without warning, Min Ho bent down and positioned his free arm underneath Shin Hye’s knees. She let out a clumsy squeal, but before she could protest, Min Ho had hauled her up into his arms. She bounced slightly, causing her to almost slip. Her hands, as if taking a life of their own, instinctively circled around Min Ho’s neck to stop herself from falling. Her eyes widened, finding herself staring at a calm Min Ho in the face.

“Y—ya… what are yo— put me down!” Shin Hye writhed. She loosened her hold on his neck and flapped her legs in resistance.

With a grunt, Min Ho only tightened his grip on her arm and leg. “Stop exerting so much force or you’ll get us both tired right away. Just let me carry you, eo? I can hear vehicles now. We’re almost there,” he muttered, beginning to walk with her still in his arms.

Shin Hye opened to disagree, but nothing came out. The truth was, her ankle was killing her – and while it may be hard to admit, Min Ho was the only one who could help out. From a purely objective point of view, it was more practical this way. But after this, she’d have to bury herself underground from the embarrassment. She didn’t like relying on others too much.

She bit the insides of her cheeks and accepted her fate. She kept her head tilted so she wouldn’t have to keep seeing Min Ho, even if she risked getting a stiff neck once they arrive.

“Play a game with me,” Min Ho suddenly said out of the blue. The plan to avoid looking at his face failed within seconds when Shin Hye snapped her head to face him. Min Ho was already smiling down at her.

“Eh?”

“Play a game with me,” Min Ho repeated. “You have to distract me so I don’t pay too much attention to how heavy you are right now.”

Shin Hye’s jaw slacked. Just when she thought this situation couldn’t get any more embarrassing. “Put me down then!” She demanded. So she’ll walk with a sprained ankle – that’s still better than having to endure another second being carried by a man who thought she was too heavy.

Min Ho let out a chuckle. “Relax, I’m kidding. You’re not heavy, but a man can only do so much. I’m going to lose strength in my arms sooner or later. You need to distract me so this goes by faster,” he explained. “Besides, I’m still traumatized by what we just went through. I’m putting on a brave face right now but inside, I’m still shaking. So come on, play a game with me.”

Shin Hye saw the trace of sincerity in Min Ho’s expression when he mentioned being traumatized. She huffed and bit her lower lip. “Fine.”

Min Ho noticeably brightened. “This game is called ‘Would You Rather’. Have you played this before?”

She shook her head. To be honest, she can’t remember the last time she played a game other than card games. And that was when she had to pretend to be a poker genius to kill a gambling lord a few years back.

“It’s simple, really. We just give each other two options and we just have to choose between the two.”

“Sounds lame. Is this game supposed to be fun?” Shin Hye gave him an unimpressed look.

Min Ho hissed. “As you can tell, we have limited game choices so just cooperate, will you?” He shifted his arms under Shin Hye, and she bounced slightly again. She sensed him getting tired already so she just nodded in agreement.

“Okay. I’ll start,” he smiled and looked at the sky as if he was deep in thought. Shin Hye wondered what sort of questions he would ask. Nothing too personal, I hope.

“Would you rather drink a shake made of worms or a glass of human blood?”

Shin Hye groaned in disgust and gawked at Min Ho like he was crazy. “Oh my God, what kind of game is this?”

Min Ho laughed. “A fun one. We used to do this when we were bored, although it always took… uhh, a weird turn,” he shrugged sheepishly. “Come on, you have to choose.”

Shin Hye winced as she thought about it, beginning to think this game was completely useless. But then she already promised she’d play. “The shake, I guess…” she replied lifelessly.

He nodded his head and smiled a little. “Alright, your turn.”

“Would you rather slice a man’s finger with a rusty bread knife or cut off his ear using dull scissors?”

Min Ho stopped walking and turned to her in shock. “What the hell!”

Shin Hye frowned, masking a wry grin “What? You were the one who wanted to play this game.”

He cleared his throat and started walking again. “Assassins are terrible. Do you torture people, too?”

Shin Hye punched his arm lightly. “It was a hypothetical question, stupid. Answer now!”

“Cut the finger,” he scrunched his nose, completely sickened by the choices, to which Shin Hye repressed a laugh. “Let’s change the rules a bit,” Min Ho continued, shifting his arms again. “No more nasty things, okay? No gore or blood, no disgusting food or drinks.”

“Kure,” Shin Hye agreed, relieved. Even she was disgusted by her own question. “Your turn.”

Min Ho pursed his lips and looked straight ahead. Shin Hye kept her eyes on him as she waited and got a good look at his side-profile. From this angle, it looked really nice. If she focused on the background, Min Ho’s face turned into a silhouette laid against the distant city lights. She realized his nose was even taller than she originally thought.

“Would you rather marry Shi Yoon or go on one with date me?”

It took a while for the question to register. “Eh?”

Min Ho smirked and looked down at her. “You heard me.”

“Marry Shi Yoon,” she replied curtly, dodging his sticky gaze. He clearly wanted to make her uncomfortable with that question.

“Really now? So if I ask you to go on one date with me, you’d rather marry your best friend? You know what marriage means right? You live together and make rowdy babies. That hardly seems practical if you ask me.”

Shin Hye shot him a sarcastic look. “Is trying to convince your opponent to change her mind part of the game?”

“Nope, but honesty is,” he replied.

“That was an honest answer.”

Min Ho chuckled. “You hate me that much?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not everything is about you, chaebol. What makes you think I wasn’t planning on marrying Shi Yoon to begin with?” Shin Hye challenged him back.

Min Ho creased his brows. “I may not know a lot about guns or computers, but I know women. He’s a great guy but you don’t like him that way.”

“You seem so sure,” she cocked her eyebrows. Min Ho just gave her a smug shrug. Shin Hye cleared and looked  down the road. “Then maybe I really just hate you.”

“Wow. Ouch, that hurt more than I thought it would.”

Shin Hye didn’t see his face but she almost smiled at his fake-hurt voice. “Would you rather live as a prince for fifteen years or live as a pauper for fifty?”

She waited for his reply, but Min Ho remained silent. Curiosity getting the best of her, Shin Hye finally looked up at him and noticed that he had a serious expression on his face.

“Ya, chaebol.”

“Hmm?” Min Ho turned to her, looking distracted. “Mian. I was just thinking,” he bit his lower lip. “This is the life I’ve always known. Trying something different is bat scary, you know? But if I have to choose, I think I’d rather be a pauper.”

Shin Hye narrowed her eyes. “Is that an honest answer?”

He nodded. “I think so.” They were silent for a while, before Min Ho turned to her again. “Would you rather be an assassin or a doctor?”

Shin Hye was caught off-guard by the question but she put on a firm expression. “I’m already an assassin.”

“I know that, but if you were given a chance for a do over. Would you still choose this life?”

She pondered on it as she stared up at Min Ho’s sincere expression. Deep down, she could answer this question in a heartbeat. If there were no other things to consider, then there was absolutely no reason to choose to be a killer. But life wasn’t as easy as this game. Decisions are always borne from a myriad of influences. She may have dreamed of becoming a doctor once, but the world threw her an entirely different life. There was no use denying reality.

“I don’t like what you’re doing, chaebol,” Shin Hye muttered. “This game isn’t meant for you to psychoanalyze me.”

“Chamkan! Ya, you just asked me a similar question! Didn’t you subtly ask me if I would give up my life now for something much simpler?”

“Change your question or this game is over,” she said with conviction.

“Fine,” Min Ho huffed. “Would you rather take a bullet for me or have Shi Yoon take a bullet for you?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re asking me a lot of questions about you and Shi Yoon.”

“Just answer or I’ll insist on my original question.”

She let out a sigh, feeling like Min Ho just trapped her in a corner. The man sure was sly. “I’ll take a bullet for you.”

A wide smile spread across his face. “Ottoke? I think I’m touched.”

“Shut up, you know it’s because I’d never ask Shi Yoon to risk his life for me.”

“And yet you’d risk your life for me?” Min Ho grinned. “You won’t go on a date with me but you’ll die for me? Come on now.”

Shin Hye scoffed and looked at him incredulously. “Charanda. Good job, chaebol. I see this game is for mature people like yourself.”

Min Ho laughed at her changing the topic to avoid his teasing. “Hey, you’re the one who ruled out deep, psychoanalytic questions.” He looked straight ahead and saw the highway from a distance. “Assa! We’re almost there,” he jerked his chin forward. Shin Hye turned her head and sighed in relief. Great. Now he can stop carrying me.

Shi Yoon tried calling Shin Hye for the seventh time but it just went straight to voice mail, like all the others. Originally, his intention was to tell her something he found which he felt couldn’t wait – a potentially instrumental clue behind why Son Ah Young was embroiled in this whole thing. Sitting in that corner in the cafe, it took him almost two hours of sifting through every single email Son Ah Young received and sent. At one point, he almost screamed at the barista who interrupted him when he was in the ‘hacker zone’. The poor guy just wanted to ask him if anyone was sitting on the chair next to his.

But now that Shin Hye wasn’t answering, he was starting to panic. She always received his calls because she complained that Shi Yoon tended to overreact when he couldn’t reach her. It was simply easier to just tell him wherever she was and whatever she was doing. So the fact that he hasn’t heard from her yet was distressing. Shi Yoon had called them earlier, and she mentioned that they were heading straight back to the Cabin.

“Shin Hye, where are you?” He muttered under his breath, tugging the earpiece and letting it fall on his lap. He pressed on the gas pedal and hurried, hoping that Shin Hye and Min Ho were already home. He was only a few minutes away from the Cabin. He had just made a turn at Hongcheon when his phone rang. He looked down at the screen and saw that it was an unknown landline number.

Meoya? He hesitated, but took the earpiece and put in on again before swiping the screen. “Yobuseyo?”

“Shi Yoon, it’s me,” Shin Hye’s voice filled his ear.

Shi Yoon leaned forward and knitted his eyebrows. “YA, PARK SHIN HYE! I’ve been trying to call you all this time! What’s going on?” He briefly looked at the screen and saw the unknown number again.  “Where are you calling from?”

“Uhh, I fell and my phone got busted,” Shin Hye started to explain. “Don’t overreact okay? I’ll explain everything later, but I need you to pick us up. We’re at Swibge Motel at Dobong-gu.”

“WHAT?” Shi Yoon stopped the car and grabbed the phone. “What are you talking about? What happened?!”

“We ran into a little accident but we’re fine. Just come here and I’ll tell you everything,” she replied.

Shi Yoon looked at his watch, frowning. “It’ll take an hour before I get there.” He was only five minutes away from the Cabin, but now he was to make a trip back t