"I'm sure he headed this way"

"How did you let him slip away?!!"

"Sorry hyung…"

"We'll get him again another time. You'd better think of how to answer to Boss on this"

Through a gap between the bushes, Young Saeng heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the men who were
chasing him a while ago leave in a car. After making sure that all was clear, he reached for his mobile phone
in the pocket, only to find that it had run out of battery.

"Not my day…"

He managed to get on his feet after much difficulty, only to stumble again as a pang of dizziness hit him. 
Lying on the grass, he weakly attempted to apply pressure to the gaping wound on his abdomen while
struggling to stay awake.

"Cookie! Yah!! Where do you think you're going to?"

Despite his fading consciousness, he managed to pick on the sound of light footsteps nearing him and
soon felt something nuzzling on his face.

"Oh my… are you ok?! Mister, are you still awake? Can you hear me?
He's bleeding too much, I need to call for the ambulance"

"Don't…"

Young Saeng reached for the hand of the person who had found him and shook his head.
It would be too much of a hassle if anyone else found out.

"But… Can you still walk? Hey! Wake up!"

---

"Urgh…"

Young Saeng groaned at the sharp pain on his abdomen as he tried to sit up on bed after waking up
to an unfamiliar surrounding.

"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" 

He looked at the woman who had just popped her head up from below the bed and just stared while
pondering in his mind how to react to the situation.

"You passed out last night due to excessive loss of blood.
I've stitched up your wound and given you a jab.
It should heal fine with some medication"

"…"

Suddenly reminded of his near encounter with death, he lifted his torn shirt to examine the wound which
was now covered with a bandage. His forehead and right wrist was also being bandaged.

Young Saeng's POV
I passed out right after she found me, she brought me home and did all these?
How did she even manage?

"Erm… you didn't want to go to the hospital so I had to bring you home. I got some help from a passerby.
Oh, sorry I didn't introduce myself. Choi Hae Yeon. I'm a doctor, so you don't have to worry"

"Heo Young Saeng. Thank you"

"I'll heat up the breakfast. Please stay in bed and refrain from moving too much for the time being."

After the woman named Hae Yeon left the room, the door was being pushed open again and Young Saeng
soon found a dog excitedly wagging its tail at him. He smiled and stretched his hands out to pat it on the head.

"You're the one who found me, right? Thank you"

Hae Yeon soon returned with a tray of food and gasped upon seeing the dog in bed with him.

"Omo! Sorry, did he hurt you? Cookie you're not supposed to pounce on a patient… you're going out after this"

"It's ok. He saved me after all"

"What? What was I doing staying up the whole night then..."

He laughed as she mumbled to herself and pouted at his remark as she passed a bowl of porridge to him.

"I meant he was the one who led help to me"

"Fine… Can you manage?"

"I think so. Thank you"

"You don't have to keep thanking me… I'll come back again when you've finished"

Hae Yeon left before Young Saeng could stop her and he began tucking into the food, feeling somewhat blessed
to have met her. He made his way out of the room with the tray and was headed towards the kitchen when his vision
began to fade. The sound of the tray crashing on the floor sent Hae Yeon rushing to his side and she carefully helped
him back into the room again.

"Young Saeng-ssi Are you ok? You didn't have to do this… please just rest in bed"

"I'm fine"

"No you're not. Nobody will be fine with those injuries of yours. How did you get into such a bad fight?"

"..."

"Here, you need to take some of these"

Hae Yeon reached for some bottles on the side table and handed a few pills to him, together with a glass of water,
and casually sat on the floor beside him. Young Saeng couldn't help but observe her features as she was
the fur of her dog and averted his eyes when their gaze suddenly met. He drew the glass towards his mouth and
took a sip of water before consuming the pills.

"Aren't you going to ask me more questions?"

"Huh? Oh… it's ok if you don't want to answer. You must have your reasons anyway"

"You just picked a stranger off the streets and brought him back.
What if I was a criminal? What if I was part of a mafia?"