“What did ShiAhn tell you exactly?” My voice was rough and my nose stuffy from the crying I’d been doing off and on as I’d sat here.

“ShiAhn? Nothing.”

I glanced at him. “Then why are you here?”

That glance was a mistake. I shouldn’t have looked at him. His eyes were too gentle--too worried. I could hardly breathe as it was--what with my nose stuffy from my crying--then adding his look just made it even harder.

“Last night you. . .” he hesitated as if collecting his thoughts before he continued. “I thought you might be. . . upset. . . by last night’s events. I’ve not seen you since, so I came to look for you.”

My gaze turned the the calligraphy on the walls to ShiYoon’s face. He was watching me. His eyes were dark in the dimming light. They held pain and worry and something else--something I couldn’t quite name. Perhaps a battle?

“I heard what Kim SooHyun said to you. He shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

My face burned with embarrassment when I recalled my actions.

“Should I challenge him to duel? I can be your white knight in shining armor who kills him to win your honor back!”

I chuckled and blinked back the tears that had been building.

“MiYoung, I’m being serious! Don’t laugh!” I chuckled again, this time harder as the melodramatic tone in his voice only increased. “That’s a ‘no’ then?”

“Yes, no thank you ShiYoon.” I drew in a rattled breath. “Besides, he wasn’t the one who upset me. Not really.”

His eyes narrowed. “Then who?” No trace of drama remained in his voice. He was being totally sincere in his wanting to know who hurt me.

I immediately wished I could take back my last sentence. I wasn’t prepared to admit to ShiYoon that last night I’d become the very thing I resented most in this world. Nor was I ready to tell him about my shameful conversation with ShiAhn this morning. I wished ShiYoon had never found me here.

Pushing the hair back from my face, I said, “It was nothing. Really. Don’t worry about it.”

“MiYoung, I’ve only ever seen you cry like this once before. Back when--when your father died. Surely, whatever happened or whoever said it wasn’t ‘nothing’ as you claim.”

I shook my head. “I can’t--I can’t tell you, ShiYoon.”

After a long stretch of silence, he said in a quiet voice, “Do you remember that day in the grove? The day my father died?”

My eyes flew to his face. I couldn’t believe he was bringing that up, after all these years of silence. Neither of us had mentioned it since that day--not even to each other--but now, after all this time. . .

“Of course I remember,” I said.

His gaze caught mine, and something very tangible could be felt between us. We both sat perfectly still with only the memory connecting us. . . Until his hand reached out and touched my wrist. It gently moved up my arm until it touched the curve of my shoulder. And only after his hand was anchored there, drawing me close to him and holding me in place, did he begin to speak.

“I could never find the words then to tell you what that meant to me.” His voice was as soft as his hand had been when he caressed my arm only seconds earlier. My heart shivered. “Even after all these years, I’m still at a loss. But I still hope to repay my debt because that day I made a promise to myself that if I ever saw you drowning--if I saw you ever needed saving--that I would do everything I could to help you.”

ShiYoon’s hand moved from my arm to wipe a stray tear that rolled down my cheek. Then he leaned back and away from me. “But you won’t tell me so I can’t help you. Have I lost your trust MiYoung?”

“No, no ShiYoon. You still have my trust.”

He sat there determined, as if he’d sit there all night long on the shrine floor until I unburdened all my thoughts on him. Like I used to. . .

And suddenly, I had to tell him. I had to tell ShiYoon why I was here. Not about the specific details of my deal with HeeSoo. Not about my conversation with ShiAhn. Nor about Park ShinHye’s condescension. But the deep truth of it all.

“I just--I just feel like a caged animal! I keep looking for a way to escape, but I’m barred in every direction. Always. As if I’m meant to always be stuck in the cage that is my life.” I looked over at ShiYoon’s face who seemed to not understand me. “You probably don’t get it. I mean, you’re the heir to a huge conglomerate! Money. Education. Security. Your life is so very different from mine. But have you ever.