Waiting has always been stressing, no matter how much one tries to relax, there’s no worst thing than waiting. The nails were already bitten, the leg never stopped moving and the hair kept being pulling out. The coldness of the hospital wasn’t helping as the stress grew little by little.

“Want some coffee?” Youngbae said as he handed Chaerin a cup of hot, steaming coffee. Chaerin looked at it without any emotion and held the cup, looking at the steam coming out of it. It was odd, thinking that in that morning, she was looking at a bit steam of coffee, thinking how much her life had changed. Now, she was in a hospital chair, waiting for results on an emergency surgery.

“It’s so odd, so weird, drinking coffee.” She murmured and Youngbae frowned, looking at his own cup.

“Why?” He said and she shrugged.

“This morning, I was drinking coffee while meditating on every step I’ve made, every that has brought me here. Now I am drinking coffee again, waiting.” She said and Youngbae nodded, sitting beside her.

“I know it’s hard, but he’ll make it through. He is strong.” He said and she shrugged.

“You know him better than me.” She said and he nodded. She let out a sigh as she sipped her coffee. Her mind got clouded, image of her father came back, and she winced, remembering how much Kikwang had begged her to accompany him to identify his corpse. Truth was, she couldn’t bring herself to do it, she couldn’t bring herself to accept her reality, not anymore.

“I do, and maybe I don’t.” He said. She looked at him and let out another sigh. Fresh tears were forming at the rims of her eyes, now everything was slowly coming out of her chest, and as much she tried to hold it in, it was coming out like lava.

“Youngbae, I don’t think I could survive it, if anything happens to him.” She said. Youngbae looked at her with a frown on his eyebrows.

“What do you mean? He’ll be alright, that man’s tough, I’m certain.” He said but she shook her head while biting her lower lip.

“It’s too much.” She said in a soft voice as a sob came out of her. Youngbae widened his eyes as he saw her crying silently next to him. His hands lifted a slight bit, then got down as Chaerin put a hand over , trying to drown her cries. “I am so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” He said as she shook her head, cleaning her tears, but more kept coming out.

“For this.” She said, but he shook his head and put an arm around her shoulder, slightly hugging her. She rested her head over his chest and continued crying.

“What happened to you, Lee Chaerin, for you to be so broken?” Youngbae murmured, but Chaerin simply cried on his chest. So much she cried, she didn’t noticed the doctor walking towards them. She felt Youngbae tensing up, and she looked up, quickly cleaning her tears as she saw the doctor standing in front of them.

“Youngbae, he’s out now.” The doctor said. Chaerin had noticed how strange it was that the doctor was so familiar to them, but as everything else, she disregarded it as a simple casualty.

“Is he alright?” Youngbae as he stood up. Chaerin stood up after him, looking at the doctor intently.

“He is, fortunately, the bone wasn’t broke, the skin, on the other side, was badly damaged. We had to implant skin from his thigh so we could seal the injury. Maybe it got stuck on the steering wheel, or on something else. He will be able to walk as soon as he gets out, but I strongly recommend him some rest.” The doctor said and took out a paper, then handed it to Youngbae. “I mean it, he needs to rest. Tell him I said Jiyong needs to rest.”

“I will tell him, thanks Minho, can we see him now?” Youngbae said and the doctor nodded.

“You know where he’s at, I’ll be gone now.” The doctor said and walked towards the nurse’s station. Youngbae looked at Chaerin and smiled. She had her eyes narrowed the whole time, trying to understand what was going on, but she couldn’t point any fingers on it.

“Let’s go, he must be awake by now.” Youngbae said and Chaerin nodded, following Youngbae down the hall.

Numb, the feeling invaded his body, his skin, his soul. Numb, completely taken out of this world, slowly being brought back by the almost unbearable pain over his limbs, his skin, his mind, his head, everywhere. He slowly moved his fingers as he felt a tingling sensation all over him. His head had a piercing pain that made it almost unable to think, and he panted the moment his hands moved, the pain was too much to handle.

Whimpering and panting, he tried to push himself up, but his arms were trembling, and his head was hurting too much for him to handle. Letting out a soft scream, he finally managed to sit up, only to realize he was in a hospital room. His mind went crazy as he tried to remember when and how he had gotten there. His head ached more when he racked his brain, trying to remember, but the only thing he saw was the bone on his leg sticking out and Chaerin’s worried face. His eyes widened in realization, and he looked around the room, trying to find her, but there was no one there.

“Chaerin?” He muttered, then frowned. “Anyone!” He screamed, and as he tried to find the button to call a nurse, the doorknob turned, and the door opened slowly. He squinted his eyes as he looked who was coming in.

Hissing, he glared at Youngbae, who looked at him with a smiling face. “You’re awake.” He said, but Jiyong only growled.

“Why am I here?” He hissed and Youngbae shrugged. “Where’s Chaerin? And that bastard of Seungri? Where is he?”

“I’m here.” Chaerin said as she entered the room, right after Youngbae. Jiyong narrowed his eyes, but his anger left the moment he looked at her worried face. “How are you?”

“I’m doing great, and will be even greater when I see Seungri, I will put a bullet on his brain.” Jiyong said and Youngbae widened his eyes, moving his head to the side, gesturing him towards Chaerin. Jiyong frowned, then closed his eyes as he realized she didn’t knew anything.

“Nice.” She said and walked next to him, looking at him with worried eyes. “Don’t do that, he’s too awesome, and he saved your life.”

“Saved my life? He just screwed me over.” Jiyong hissed and she frowned, looking pissed.

“Then we all screwed you, because I also brought you here.” She said as she crossed her arms. Jiyong looked at her with fierce eyes, then at Youngbae, who was standing at the foot of the bed.

“Don’t push my limits.” He hissed, but Youngbae just smirked.

“He’s still under the influence of the anesthesia, don’t mind him Chaerin.” Youngbae said and Chaerin nodded. Jiyong hissed again and looked to the side, his head feeling lightweight as he tried to find his gun. He remembered he put his guns in his belt, and now, he reached for them and they were nowhere to be found.

“Where is it?” He asked, feeling distant and groggy. He continued searching under the blankets, when he touched his left leg, and a whimper came out of his mouth. “What happened here?!”

“Your skin got torn, they had to implant some skin from your thigh. The bone wasn’t broken.” Chaerin quickly explained. “Why are you acting like this?”

“My gun, where's my gun Bae?!” Jiyong raised his voice, not quite understanding what was going on. His world was turning around, nausea was raising like crazy and his body felt like giving up any time now. For some odd reason, he was feeling stressed, like he was being followed, and his heart started beating faster as he continuously searched for his gun.

“Chaerin, why don’t you follow me outside for a moment?” Youngbae said walking towards Chaerin, when Jiyong glared at him. Even feeling distant and weird, he could clearly see she was there, looking at him with wide eyes as he frantically moved in bed.

“She’s not going anywhere.” Jiyong hissed. Youngbae glared at him as he grabbed Chaerin’s arm. The rage ran through his veins as he saw that slight movement on Youngbae’s part, but even more, when he saw that Chaerin was allowing herself to be dragged out.

“You are clearly being unstable, she needs to get out.” Youngbae said, now slightly embracing Chaerin as he walked her out.

“So that’s what you want right? Keep her to yourself? She’s already mine.” Jiyong hissed, and he saw Chaerin tensing up. He saw how she twitched her arm and turned around, glaring at him.

“I am no one’s.” She hissed, now walking next to him. “And what the is wrong with you? Guns? What the hell?” She said and he smirked. Rage was clouding his reasoning as he looked at her pissed face. She looked gorgeous, and he felt like enraging her more, so much she could feel what he was feeling.

“You’re mine, and this is who I am.” He said, resting his back on the pillows. “Ýou said you wanted to know me, this is it. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll leave it.” She hissed, then grabbed something on the nightstand and threw it on bed close to his crotch. Jiyong looked down and saw his golden gun shining with the lights of the room. “I just lost my father to some idiot with a gun, playing to be gangster. I am clearly not involving myself with one who is obviously mentally unstable, so I’ll simply will leave it.” Jiyong widened his eyes at her as she bit her inner cheeks, looking at him.

“What?”

“It’s over Kwon Jiyong, this define whatever was between us.” She said and stormed out of the room. Jiyong looked at the now closed door, his eyes blinking quickly as he tried to understand what had just happened.

“Might as well tell her who you really are and what you really do, don’t you think?” Youngbae said, looking at him blankly. “And for the record, I don’t like her.” Jiyong looked at him with wide eyes. His mouth got dry and a strange lump was forming at the back of his throat. His heart froze for a moment as he thought it was another clog of blood. Jiyong opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out as he saw Chaerin’s face fresh in his mind.

“What have I done?”

The wind was breaking through her skin, the cold was getting into her bones as she ran through the street. Her tears were slowly drying as the wind continuously hit her face. She stopped near a park, trying to breathe as Jiyong’s reaction sank within her. “He’s a thug.” She said as she slumped down, holding her knees together. Tears no longer came down her eyes, but the pain was still present within her chest as she pieced all the missing pieces of the puzzle together.

The blood on his clothes and hair, the strange behavior with him around, the money, the apartments and the company. Everything matched, everything fit perfectly, and as much as she thought, the more it hurt. For so many reasons, it hurt her. She wasn’t even sure who Kwon Jiyong was, and much less, what kind of person he was or what kind of deeds he did. She didn’t knew him at all, yet in the strangest and most odd thing, she was falling in love with him. Her heart ache when he spoke to her like that, her limbs felt like falling off when she walked off, but her mind didn’t allowed her to go back, to face him.

Her phone rang constantly as she stayed sitting on the floor, looking at the people walking around. The cold was already freezing her, but anything was better than to face the cold stares of Kwon Jiyong, the man she didn’t really knew, yet she had given him more than she could bargain. The phone rang again, and she took it in her hands, looking at the screen I.D. It was Youngbae calling her. With a loud sigh, she answered it, slowly putting it near her ear.

“Hello?” She said, suddenly regretting answering the call.

“Chaerin, where are you?” He asked, his voice slightly tensed. She tensed too, sitting straight.

“Why do you want to know?”

“It’s important, where are you?”

“If it’s Jiyong searching for me, tell him I don’t want to see him anymore.”

“It’s not him, it’s me. I left him sulking in his room, I am the one who’s worried. Are you alright?” He said and she hesitated a moment, looking at the leaves near her feet.

“I am alright, thanks for worrying.”

“I think I owe you an explanation. Jiyong owes you an explanation.” He said. She let out another sight and nodded.

“I think you do, but not today. I don’t feel that good.”

“Do you need me to pick you up?” He asked and she shook her head.

“No, I am fine, thanks Youngbae. I’m going now, thanks for calling.”

“Ok, call me if you need anything. And don’t worry about Jiyong, I will handle him.”

“I bet, talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye.” He finally said and ended the call. Chaerin kept looking at her phone, frowning. She felt completely alone, but more importantly, she still needed to find more pieces missing on her puzzle. And she was going to find them out.

Without really thinking, she dialed another number on her phone. In a haste, she put the phone near her ear, hearing the rings.

“Chaerin? What’s wrong?” Kikwang answered immediately. Chaerin let out a sigh and slumped down, playing with a leave.

“Can you come pick me up?” She asked shyly, suddenly feeling scared of his reaction, but to her surprise, he just let out a sigh.

“Where are you?” He asked in a defeated tone. She bit her lip and looked around.

“At the park, you know that one with the Pizza store in front?” She asked and heard him making a sound of understanding. “I’m at that one. Can you come quickly?”

“Are you in any trouble?”

“No, I am fine, I just need you to pick me up.” She said quickly, trying to avoid saying anything more than necessary.

“I am on my way.” He said and ended the call. Chaerin let out a sigh and set the phone down, still playing with the leaves on her fingers. Everything was falling over her, the weight of the world was on top of her as she tried to piece everything together, only to fail miserably with every attempt. It was a false hope, a false dream, or maybe, just maybe, it was the only answer to all her question, the incognito hiding behind the walls, behind spider webs, now within her reach, maybe that was the reason behind every pain, every heartbreak. Maybe he was the answer to everything going on around her.

Gily's Notes: UUUHHHh!!!

Uuuuuhhhh

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥