“What are you two hiding from me?”

“N-nothing.”

“Lina.”

“I said nothing! Stop insisting!”

Her sudden outburst just confirmed to him that she was indeed hiding something from him and a part of him was afraid to think that it had something to do with one of his best friends.

“Hyung?”

“Let’s just go Mir-”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on! I’m allowed to know.”

“Cheolyong just leave it alone! It’s none of your business!”

“Oh and it is to him?!”

“Yah! Just leave her alone!”

“You’re defending her now?!” The shock could be clearly seen across Mir’s face as he stared at Seungho, not understanding the sudden fact that he was defending someone he barely even knew. “What the hell is going on between you two?!”

One glance at Seungho from Lina, she knew she had to spill out the truth. “I’ll leave you two alone… We’ll be at your parents.” Once the oldest was out of the way, Lina was trying to find a way to start explaining while Mir was waiting, his eyes never leaving her.

“About the necklace… I didn’t lose it.”

“It got stolen?”

“Not exactly… I sold it.”

“What? Why?”

“I didn’t want it anymore.”

“But you loved that necklace! It was your mother’s!”

“Well I didn’t want it anymore! Stop bugging me with that! Don’t you have somewhere to be now? Goodbye.”

She quickly walked inside and shut the door in his face, startling him. He loudly knocked on it as he called out to her, saying that he wouldn’t leave until he got a proper explanation. She violently opened back and glared at him, starting to get angry at his behavior.

“Why did you sell the necklace?”

“BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT IT ANYMORE! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“I don’t believe you. Stop lying to me and just tell me what you’re hiding!”

“LEAVE!”

He suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him, scaring her in the process as she looked up at him with shock and fear in her eyes. Realizing what he had just done, he quickly let her go and took a couple of steps backwards, softly apologizing. “Lina… You know you can trust me with anything.”

“You lost that privilege a long time ago Cheolyong. Now please, just go. Your friends are waiting for you.”

“Lina, you sold that necklace… because you needed money, didn’t you?” When realization struck him, he couldn’t help but feel sorry that she had to go this far to keep a roof over her head. “And you still don’t want me to get you out of here?”

“Just go! I’m begging you! Leave!”

“Why didn’t you ask for my help? I could’ve lend you some mo-”

“STOP! This is exactly why I didn’t tell you anything! I don’t need your pity! I’m fine on my own!”

“Really? Are you really fine by yourself?! I don’t see it! You could’ve relied on me Lina! I would’ve helped you if you had just asked me!”

“Don’t come back after five years to be a hero, it doesn’t suit you. And you want me to ask you for money? Do you want me to owe you that much?!” She huffed out in disbelief before speaking back up with annoyance. “My grandfather was right all along. I should’ve been more careful about you. You’re just like your father, so hateful and selfish.”

Not giving him the time to answer back, she shut the door and locked him out, leaving him standing, frozen.

Giving up the fight, he backed up and walked away, leaving her to fall down in tears as she cried out just on the other side of that door.

Hours later, Lina was slowly starting to wake up.

Feeling herself stuck, she fluttered her eyes open and that’s when she came into realization that she was in Mir’s arms while the boy was still asleep. This left her to think that everything that happened was real and that he was really back, which strangely left her heart to flutter.

She silently watched him sleep, too awestruck to think about anything else. A mountain of emotions were swirling up inside of her, leaving her more confused than she has ever been.

“Why did you have to come back? Just when I wanted to forget about you…”

In denial, her gestures were opposing her whispered thoughts as she moved closer to him, breathing in his scent as it gave her a certain warmth she has missed from him. She was hating herself at the moment for wanting him so close to her; she knew that she’ll be regretting it and yet, she didn’t have the strength to push him away.

Gazing at his face, her eyes landed on his lips, leaving her to linger at them while her fingertips were lightly hovering above the skin, her subconscious taking over. She blinked her eyes rapidly, wanting to dry the tears that were threatening to fall; pulling her hand away from him, she closed her eyes, leaning a little bit closer to him as she gently held onto him, afraid to wake up alone.

As for the boy, he had heard her words and could hear his heart shatter into pieces.

He opened his eyes and found himself staring at her blue-grey orbs, cutting his breath short. He softly grazed her cheek as he tugged some strands of her hair behind her ear.

The pieces of his heart that were left standing were loudly beating against his chest from the closeness between the two. His husky voice whispered out a greeting, his palm still softly caressing her cheek.

Just by staring at him, the throbbing pain of her heart was overwhelming her senses, leaving her mind to scramble countless of thoughts that were barely understandable. As of the moment, she had a strange urge, abrupt and yet faintly present, pushing her to want to act irrationally. Glancing from his eyes then down to his lips, he seemed to have noticed the shy stare that she was giving him, leading him to lean closer to her with the tip of their noses touching before brushing it off to steal a kiss.

She didn’t fight it at all, only sinking into the kiss as it turned deeper with the boy strengthening his hold onto her. He gently parted her trembling lips, letting his tongue smoothly glide against hers, her breath held inside from the wave of goose bumps covering her warm skin.

From her cheek, his hand slowly started to travel down until it rested on her waist then he turned around to have her lay on her back while he was partly hovering above her, that same hand gripping tightly onto her body, the other arm resting just above her head. The slow caress turned deeper in its passion but still kept its gentleness with merely a fraction of a second to break for air before locking their lips again.

Barely able to hold onto his self-control, his hand started to trail down to her hips before letting his fingers slide under her blouse, letting their skin come in contact for the first time. She gasped into the kiss, her hands tightly onto his shirt as she felt him rub light circles on her skin, as if he was trying to soothe the distant panic she was starting to feel.

The sanity inside his mind was starting to disintegrate, his body hovering fully above hers, his hands caressing the side of her body from under her shirt without going too far. Following him, she trailed her hands down his chest until she grasped onto his shirt as she held him from the side of his frame.

From her lips, he started to kiss down her cheek, lovingly showing his affection, and made his way down to her neck leaving her to quietly gasp the air inside her lungs. She fluttered her eyes closed, her skin warming up at his touch while her heart was beating strongly against her chest, ready to explode from the overpowering sensation.

She tried to call out his name but only her heavy breath could escape her shaking lips. She felt him pull away to reconnect with her lips; she placed her hands against his chest and gently pushed him away, making him eventually stop. He rested his forehead against hers, their breaths colliding as it was the only thing that could be heard. She closed her eyes, trying to regain control over her state and emotions while he was still left in a daze, his lips to let her taste linger a little bit longer.

“Do you love my lips that much” She tried to stifle a smile as she bit onto her bottom lip, leaving him to lightly chuckle at her words. “Is it that obvious?”

Not wanting to part away from her, he simply lowered himself on top of her, both of his arms resting by the sides of her head, his fingers softly running through her hair.

She couldn’t help but look surprised at his sudden bold action, and tried her best to hide that emotion from him, not wanting to ruin the moment. The one question that burned on her tongue was the one that brought her back to reality, her heart squeezed at the sudden remembrance of the earlier hours of the day.

“Cheolyong… Why… How did you know where to find me?”

He pulled himself away and sat down, leaving her to pull herself up, sitting in front of him. “You may think I’m crazy but… I dreamt of your grandmother the night before she… died… When I woke up, I called my parents and asked them about you and that’s when they heard the ambulance that was heading to your house…”

She looked down on her lap, playing with the hem of her blouse while Mir was sadly gazing at her, knowing that she was holding in another break down. He took a hold of both her hands, caging them between his, her head lifting up with her eyes wet.

“Why did she have to go? She promised me that she would s-stay.” She looked back down, squeezing his hands tighter. “Why do people constantly break their promises to me… Am I not good enough, is that it?”

“Lina… Don’t think like that-”

“Then how should I think then?! I mean even you broke your promise and left me!”

“I’m back, aren’t I? I came back-”

“It’s because you left me in the first place. You wouldn’t have needed to come back if you haven’t left first!”

She tried to get herself out of her bed and stumbled along the way. She got caught in Mir’s arms as he helped her, preventing her from falling straight on the floor. Once she was on her two feet, she grabbed onto her cane that was resting by the bed and walked out of her bedroom, leaving him to stand behind and watch her go, a sigh escaping him.

He soon followed her, trying to apologize to her for ruining things between them. As he walked his way to her, the papers that were scattered on the kitchen table caught his attention. Looking intently at them, he soon realized that more than half of them were unpaid bills with the rest being legal documents regarding her property with a paper calling her to court.

He lifted his head up to her, speechless and in shock.

She was standing on the other side of the room, her hand gripping onto the wooden cane while staring at him, motionless in her spot with her eyes showing nothing but slight fear and conflict.

Holding onto some of the stack of papers, he walked to her holding the sheets in the air. “A trial? What’s going on Lina?”

“Nothing that concerns you, okay? Now give me back the papers-”

“Not until you explain to me what the hell is going on. Why are you being called out?”

“It’s that stupid father of yours finally acting out. Now give me those papers.”

She roughly grabbed them away from his hold, his shock face more apparent than just seconds ago. “M-my dad? But why?”

“Well now that my family is dead, he’s coming out of his hiding. Remember that petition you saw? Well that was just the beginning.”

“I could’ve talked to him! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it’s not about you!”

“Still… He’s my father, I could’ve talked him out of this… Why don’t you let me try.”

“It’s too late, the trial is just in a couple of days.”

“How about the lawyer?”

“I-I don’t have one…” She looked back down on the floor, distancing herself further away from him. “Then I’ll get you one. The best one from the city-”

“No.”

“L-Lina-”

“I don’t want your help Cheolyong, nor anything else from you for that matter.”

“You need it! Stop being stubborn about it!” Shooting her head up as she glared at him, she scoffed out in annoyance knowing where this conversation was heading. “I don’t need anything from you. I haven’t for a long time.”

“Well things are changing. Whether you like it or not, you need help. I’ll get you a lawyer so you can win this case-”

“ out Cheolyong. I don’t need you.”

He took big steps towards her until he was caging her, her back against the kitchen counter as his hands were placed on each side of her body, palms against the surface.

“I’m not leaving until I get you what you need.”

“Funny, you didn’t have a problem walking away before. What makes you think that today is any different?”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

She stared at him, her eyes widely open in shock and roughly pushed him away before slapping his cheek. “What am I talking about?! Are you freaking kidding me?!”

Turning his head back to look at her, anger was starting to boil inside of him, barely able to contain himself anymore. “You think it was easy for me?!”

“YES!”

“WELL IT WASN’T!”

“AND HOW THE HELL SHOULD I HAVE KNOWN, HUH?! YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING TO ME! YOU ABANDONED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! YOU L-LEFT ME!” The sudden outburst was catching up onto her emotions, making her choke on her words, the sobs coming out of her lips, shaking from the cries. “You left me… I was on my own ever since you walked out of here…”

“Then let me fix it. Let me make things better.”

“H-How?”

“Come with me.” She shook her head, refusing his insistent proposal. Though, she didn’t have anything holding her back anymore, she still didn’t see herself leaving her home. “I-I can’t leave everything behind.”

“What everything? You have nothing left! Your house is going to get destroyed and your family is gone. All you have left is me and I can take care of you! I can do it, you just have to come with me.”

“So you can abandon me again? Stop holding promises you can’t keep. I’m tired of it. Just… Please, stop with the promises.”