Chapter 23

Yeojin stretched her arms and squinted her eyes at the light coming through the window. Eyes still squinted, she turned her head toward the window and saw a vague color of blue and light brown at a distance. She quirked and eyebrow when she heard the sound of crashing waves. She closed her eyes again, feeling the serenity. But a second later her eyes abruptly flew open and she sat up on the bed. She looked around the room and realized that she was still in the cottage in Sokcho.

Why am I still here? Weren't we supposed to go home last night? She wondered scratching her neck.

Just as she was about to get off the bed, the door to her room creaked open and in came Kris with a tray in his hands. 

"Oh!" Kris paused in his steps when his eyes landed on the girl. "You're awake. Good."

Yeojin thought she saw a shade of pink dusting his cheeks as he sauntered to the side of the bed and sat on the edge beside her. He placed the tray on her lap that was covered by the blanket and Yeojin's eyes grew wide when she saw the food. On the tray was a bowl of soup, a glass of water, and a plate of pancakes. She wasn't sure why the pancakes was necessary since he knew she wasn't really a big eater unless for snacks.

"What's with the breakfast on bed?" She questioned Kris who was avoiding eye contact with her. And she swore she saw his cheeks turning red. "And why are we still here?"

"Y-you passed out last night, idiot!" He tried to sound cold and nonchalant. "So I extended the rent."

"Oh." Yeojin nodded. She just remembered feeling a bit dizzy and cold on the way to the cottage. She took a spoon to scoop the soup. "You made this?" She asked before blowing the soup and he nodded. "Wow! This is actually good," she praised after slurping a spoon of the soup. "But what's with the pancakes?" She pointed at the plate of pancakes with her spoon.

"Nothing. Just thought you would want some." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Yeojin just nodded and continued eating the soup after rolling up the sleeves of her jumper. But she felt something was off. She tried to shake off the feeling, but couldn't. As she slurped another spoon of soup she glanced at the pancakes. A thought finally dawned on her. Wait a minute. She looked down at the jumper she was wearing, then at the pancakes, then at Kris, then at her jumper again.

The last time she was conscious, she remembered Kris getting mad at her. And now he was all good just because she passed out? Plus, she didn't have to roll the sleeves of her jumper yesterday. Then she paused and felt the blanket touching the skin of her bare thigh. Wait. I'm not wearing pants?

"Kris." She slowly raised her gaze to the guy as she put down her spoon. 

"Yeah?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He felt his heart beating fast as he racked his brain on what to do.

"My newly-bought jumper wasn't this big," she stated.

"Really? I think you remember wrongly." He cleared his throat and looked away, lowering his head.

She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "I was wearing pants too the last time I was conscious."

Kris stayed silent. He was biting the inside of his cheeks. He knew she was saying these because she had put the puzzle pieces together.

"Kris-"

He suddenly dropped from the bed on his knees facing her. "I swear I did it quickly."

Yeojin was startled by his sudden action of kneeling down. But when she had registered his words she let out a gasp and put away the tray on the bedside table. "Exactly what did you do quickly?"

"I...." He ducked his head. "I c-changed your clothes." 

Yeojin let out a louder gasp. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Oh my god! "That explains the pancakes," she mumbled to herself. He's trying to silently apologize. The nerve!

"But it was because your clothes were really wet and you were having fever. I swear I did it really quickly," he quickly added.

Yeojin ran a hand through her hair. "You could have asked the ahjumma back at the market or you could have brought me to the hospital, Kris!" Her face was red with rage.

"I'm sorry, okay? My brain just shut down in panic."

He panicked because I was sick? Yeojin's face softened, but then it turned stern again. "And my underwear?"

Kris bit down his lip. "I bought new ones from a mini market not far from here."

"And?" She crossed her arms.

Kris understood what she was asking and just lowered his head, deciding to just accept her rage. Seeing how he kept silent, Yeojin knew the answer and her jaw dropped. She grabbed her pillow and hit his head with it.

"ert! Jerk!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kris grabbed the pillow. "I said I'm sorry okay. Would you prefer me leaving you soaking wet then?"

"That is not the point, Kris! You crossed the line!" She retorted trying to steal back the pillow so she could hit him again.

"Line?" Kris hugged the pillow as he stood up. "What line did I cross?!" Now he raised his voice too. "It's not like we're in a contract marriage, Yeojin! We're legally married without any kinds of contract, terms or conditions!" Yeojin scoffed as he continued, "Now that I think about it, as your husband, I actually have a right to look at-" He stopped himself when he saw her glaring at him with a deep frown. "Sorry," he finished with that instead.

Kris was just reminded of his first intention to apologize. He didn't came to her room to prove himself right. He came to acknowledge his fault. And only now did he understood the line he was crossing. It was a line that bordered her panic attack.

"You're unbelievable!" 

She did not just meant he was unbelievable for doing what he did, but also for justifying his action by saying he's her husband after all those years of him being cold to her. 

She stood up from the bed but then hit his arm when she remembered that she was pant-less and the large jumper she bought for Kris covered her until only a little bit below her . "Close your eyes!" Kris immediately complied when he found himself staring down at her. "Don't you dare peek! I'll really kill you if you do!"

Kris would've scoffed or laughed at her words at other days, but the tone of rage shut him up. Somehow she sounded pained too as if he had broken her trust. But was there even trust between them?

"Yeojin, I swear-"

"Don't peek!" She rummaged for her school skirt in her bag.

"I'm not!" He squeezed his eyes tighter as if to make a point. "But please listen!" He heard the sound of zipper being opened. "I swear I didn't see anything.

Yeojin scoffed as she wore her skirt. "But you touched me?"

"I didn't touch you inappropriately- I meant I- ugh!" He groaned at himself. "The point is I swear to god I turned off the light so I didn't have-"

"So you could touch me better?" She tucked in the jumper and zipped up her skirt.

"What?! No! I- Are you done?" He assumed she was since he heard the sound of the zipper. He opened his eyes and faced her whilst throwing the pillow to the bed. "I swear I tried my best not to look, okay?" He felt frustrated for having to explain over and over. He sighed. "There was nothing much to see anyway," he mumbled to the side.

But Yeojin heard him and she scoffed loudly at that. "That's it! I'm so done with you!" She wiped her tears, not even realizing that she had been crying the whole time. She then grabbed her bag and the autumn coat Kris packed up for her.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked surprised as Yeojin opened the door and walked out of the room.

"None of your business!" She answered, not even sparing him a glance.

"What?!" He followed her out of the room and saw her putting on her shoes and abruptly opened the door.

She stormed out of the cottage while putting on her coat and stomped her way down the road. Kris groaned and pulled his hair in frustration before he ran out of the cottage to chase her.

With long strides, Yeojin kept on walking without looking back. She continuously wiped the angry tears that escaped her eyes. She didn't want to cry, but the tears were uncontrollable. She suddenly felt a grip on her arm and a panting Kris stopped in front of her. She immediately whisked his hand away.

Kris saw how her eyes were red and he noticed her trying hard to stifle her hiccup of sobs. He knew she was in the verge of breaking down into panic attack. 

"Hey, calm down okay?" He gently put a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away.

"Don't," she hiccuped a sob, "touch me!" She took a long shaky breath. "And I don't want to see you right now!" She pushed him away and tried to walk faster to the bus stop.

Kris chased after her again. "Okay! Alright! But you need to calm down," he told her as he jogged beside her.

"You touched me without my permission! How am I supposed to stay calm?"

Kris' eyes were immediately widened because just as she said those words, they arrived at the bus stop. A couple who was sitting there looked at him suspiciously.

"You might want to lower your voice," he whispered but she just glared at him.

The bus came and the couple boarded the bus. Yeojin took a step to board it too but was pulled back by Kris.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Miss, are you going or not?" The bus driver asked her.

Yeojin nodded to the bus driver before glaring back at Kris. "Away from you!" She pulled herself away from him and stepped inside the bus.

Kris took her hand, blocking the door from being closed. Yeojin looked back at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"I-"

"Sir, are you coming too?" The bus driver clicked his tongue. 

Kris ignored him and kept his eyes on Yeojin's which were glistening with tears. "I'm really sorry. But-"

"Hey can you just board the bus already?" A passenger complained.

Yeojin tried to pull her hand away, but Kris was not letting go. "Let me go, Kris!"

"Miss, is he assaulting you?" The guy that heard Yeojin's outburst at the bus stop asked.

Yeojin was going to answer, but Kris opened his mouth again.

"I'm not letting you leave unless I'm sure you're okay." 

Yeojin knew that Kris was asking because he knew she was on the verge of her panic attack. She pulled her hand away from his grip. "I'll be okay if I'm away from you," she spatted and Kris slowly backed away from the bus.

The door slowly closed and Kris sighed watching the bus leave. Trudging to the seat at the farthest back, Yeojin ducked her head as she passed the other passengers, . Once she settled herself on the seat, she closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. The images that had not been appearing for the past one month flashed in her mind. Yeojin squeezed her eyes and balled her hands into fists so tight that her knuckles turned white. 

Not now! Please not now! Deep breath, Yeojin. Deep breath. She took a deep breath as a tear fell from her eye. She slowly opened her eyes, hiccuping, when her phone rang in her bag. Why can't he just leave me alone? She angrily thought as she rummaged her bag for her phone. Her eyes softened and a look of surprise crossed them when she saw the caller's ID.

Ice Block 2

She bit down her lip as she slid her thumb across the screen to answer the call.

["I found this new snack."] Sehun immediately said without waiting for her 'hello'.

She was too surprised to reply to it. Instead, she unintentionally let out a sniff of her sob.

["Wait, are you crying?"] Sehun asked, sounding worried. ["Where are you?"]

Yeojin mentally scolded at herself for sounding so weak as she sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Nah! I'm okay. Just got a slight cold." She smiled. "What did you say about that new snack?" She asked instead.

["Oh that! Well,"] Sehun started telling her about the new snack he found.

Yeojin wouldn't engaged herself in Sehun's random phone call if it were any other day. But somehow today, this was what she needed. Someone to distract her from those images of the horrendous memory that were flashing in her mind. And she did not expect Sehun to be the one to be able to do so. Yet, she felt as if a spell had been broken once she listed to him talk.

Exam week started the next day. After the phone call with Sehun, Yeojin pondered on where to go and decided to just go to their house. If she went to the Wu's mansion or slept over at Sunhee's, she was bound to be asked on what was wrong, and she certainly did not want to have to retell what happened between her and Kris.

Kris arrived hours later and could not enter the bedroom because Yeojin locked it. Since the bathroom was inside the bedroom, he decided to stay over at the office for the night. Yeojin woke up alone the next day and found a note from Kris saying he would be back after work and he needed to talk to her.

Now, Yeojin found herself in front of the student council's office. Most of the students, including Lin and Sunhee, had gone home earlier because it was exam week and everyone needed to study for the next subjects that would be tested tomorrow. She was going to ask Lin to drop her off at her house, but decided against it because Kris might come any time and she wasn't ready to talk to him. She was still angry. She wasn't sure why actually. Was she angry because Kris changed her clothes?Was she angry because she was embarrassed? Was she even angry at him? Or was she angry at herself for passing out? All she knew was that she was angry. And for that she didn't want to see Kris just yet.

Since her friends were not around, the only person she knew who was still around was Sehun because she heard the student council held a short meeting.

She knocked on the door and when she heard Sehun telling her to come in, she bit her lip before peeking in.

"Are you... busy?" She cautiously asked when she saw him standing by his desk, tidying up some papers.

He looked surprised when he saw her, but then he gestured for her to come in. "This is new." He smirked. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be home by now? Were you waiting for me?" He stacked the papers and approached her.

"I...," she racked her brain trying to find an excuse that wouldn't make his head swell thinking she waited for him. "I wanted that new snack you told me yesterday," she quickly uttered.

"Yeah right!" Sehun rolled his eyes, not believing her words.

"A-and I didn't really want to go home right away," she mumbled.

Sehun quirked an eyebrow at that and crossed his arms. "Uhuh. So?" 

Yeojin suddenly found it hard to look into his eyes, so her eyes wandered elsewhere. "So I was thinking... if you wanna help me study while we're eating out." She rubbed the nape of her neck and bit down her lip.

Sehun suddenly laughed. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"What? No!" Yeojin looked at him with rounded eyes and frowned.

"So where do you wanna eat?" He ignored her denial and put an arm around her shoulders to lead her out of the room. Yeojin jumped at his touch and took a step away from him. Sehun noticed a slight change in her eyes and he frowned a bit. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing." She looked away with a shrug. "Let's go now! I'm kinda hungry!" She forced a grin and quickly walked out of the room.

Sehun knitted his brow. Something's definitely wrong. He thought before he jogged after her.

So what do you guys think of her reaction?

Anyway, I'm dropping by to say thank you to everyone for being awesome readers. Seriously! I didn't even realize that this story has reached 300+ subscribers !

Thank you especially to those who have voted and commented. Okay, why does this sound like a goodbye? Haha. This is not the end, everyone.