Jisun woke with a start and her eyes shot open. The room was empty but she still slid her hand over and under the second pillow. She felt the handle of the knife and gripped it tightly before taking it out of its hiding spot. Her gaze landed on the candle that she had blown out when she could no longer keep her eyes open. Then to the door that she had stared at for so long.
Quietly, she slipped off her bed and went to the bedroom door. She tried turning the handle to find that it was still securely locked. Only then did she let her fingers twist the lock before turning the knob and opening the door.
The house was quiet as she poked her head out in to the hallway. Keeping the hand holding the knife ready, she silently crept out of the room. She went to the guest room and peeked inside. The man was exactly where she had left him last night. She took a breath of relief and blew it out. Then she narrowed her eyes a bit as she surveyed the stranger.
She entered the bedroom and slowly made her way towards him. When she was by his side, she kneeled down and inspected his face. His hair around his forehead was wet and sticking to his skin. She reached over and carefully brushed some of the hair away. Then she turned her fingers so the back of them pressed against his head and felt how hot he was.
'Fever.' she thought and frowned. Was it from before or because she was too scared to properly dry him and warm him last night?
With a guilty feeling growing inside her, she stood up and hurried out of the room. She went to the bathroom to grab a thermometer and some medicine. Then she made her way to the kitchen and pulled out a tray. She set the stuff down on it before opening one of the cupboards and grabbed a bowl. Next she went to the pantry and pulled out a can of tomato soup. She poured the soup in to the bowl and placed it in the microwave to warm. When it was done, she added it to the tray along with a spoon and carried it out of the kitchen. Bringing her knife as well of course.
As she walked into the guest room, she stopped abruptly and gasped. Her hands gripped the tray even harder as she stared at the man. He had been looking at the ropes securing him in place but now he was looking at her.
Neither person said anything as a tense silence filled the room. Then she noticed his gaze move downwards to her neck and his eyebrows furrowed a little. Remembering the pain from last night, she quickly looked down and swallowed. It was obvious that he must have left a mark.
"Is that for me?"
His deep voice startled her, breaking her out of her thoughts. She glanced at him and saw how relaxed he was laying there. Not moving an inch except for his chest steadily rising and falling from his breathing.
She nodded her head slightly and took a few steps closer his right side but made sure there was still some distance. Then she set the tray down on the floor. She discreetly took the knife and slid it next to her, on the side where he wouldn't see it.
"Uh... I... I think you have a fever." she said and held up the thermometer.
He obediently opened his mouth but otherwise didn't move. After hesitating for a bit, Jisun finally leaned forward and brought the thermometer to his mouth. She placed it under his tongue before he closed his mouth and she helped hold it up. Several moments of silence before a beeping noise filled the room.
She pulled the thermometer out of his mouth and checked his temperature. "You do have a fever but it's not too high." she informed him. "I should probably give you something just in case though." Then she took a alcohol wipe from the first aid kit and cleaned the thermometer before setting it aside.
Next she grabbed the medicine and poured the correct dosage in to the small measuring cup. When she leaned forward again, the man lifted his head off of the pillow. She brought the cup to his lips and tilted it as he drank. Once it was empty, he let his head fall back on to the pillow and he his lips.
"I... I should... uh..." she mumbled and indicated his bandages.
He glanced down at his chest before looking at her once more and nodded his head. "Alright."
Taking a deep breath, she shifted a little closer and reached to take off one of the bandages. It was one of the worst wounds and she grimaced a little as she inspected it closely. It didn't look any worse than last night thankfully.
She took the antibiotic cream and dabbed a little bit on her finger. Then she touched it to his skin and started to rub it over his cut. He suddenly tensed though and hissed. In response, Jisun jumped and jerked away from him.
"Sorry." he hurriedly offered. "It just stings a bit."
"Oh." she uttered before swallowing and reaching over again. Her hand shook slightly as she finished putting the cream on and then a fresh bandage. It wasn't until that she had inspected and changed all of his wounds that her hand stopped shaking.
"Thank you." he said when she taped the last bandage on.
She blinked at him for a moment before slowly nodding. "You're welcome." She sat back and went to grab the soup but abruptly stopped at his question.
"Do you know who I am?"
She quickly turned her head to stare at him in confusion. "What?"
There was a small pleading look in his eyes. "I mean... I don't... remember.."
"Anything?" she questioned as dropped open a bit.
He glanced away and shook his head. Then he turned to face her again expectantly.
"Well... no." she answered. "I don't know you or what happened to you." She pointed at his neck. "You have dog tags on, though they look a little weird."
He furrowed his eyebrow and craned his head in an attempt to look at his neck.
"One tag says Bang Yong Guk on it." she continued. "So I suppose that's your name. Yongguk."
"Yongguk." he repeated thoughtfully.
She bit her lip and waited a few seconds before adding, "The second tag says Shishimato but I don't know what that means. They have the initials BAP and a bunny icon too."
He pressed his lips tightly together as he stared off in to the distance. After a while, he shook his head. "None of that sounds familiar."
Her shoulders drooped in disbelief at that. First the cuts all over his chest and stomach, then the fever, and now memory loss? "The phone should be working by now." she said. "I should call for some help for you."
"No!" he loudly exclaimed.
Jisun jumped and her hand automatically reached down beside her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she stared at him and her hand found the handle of the knife.
"Don't. Please." he begged. "Don't call anyone."
The panicked look on his face froze her in place for a moment. Then her gaze flickered down briefly to see just how much his chest was moving from his rapid breathing.
"I'm sorry." he offered, his voice shaking. "But please. I'm begging you."
She slowly her lips before tilting her head. "Why?"
He blinked at her for a few seconds and then looked away. "I... I don't... I don't know..." he trailed off and shook his head once. "I just... I'm..."
'Scared.' she thought as she observed him. Then her fingers uncurled, letting the knife rest on the floor once more. She looked away and swallowed as tense silence filled the room. She chewed on her bottom lip, wondering why someone with no memories would be so scared. Or... is that the reason why he doesn't have any memories?
She glanced at him and saw him staring off at nothing, deep in thought as well. Then she looked down at the tray in front of her and the bowl of soup still on it. "I brought this for you." she stated and indicated the bowl. "I hope you like tomato soup."
"Uh... well I think so." he replied with a tiny half-smile.
A tiny smile formed on her face from that as well. She scooted a little closer with the bowl and scooped some of the soup up on the spoon. Just as she reached forward to give it to him though, she stopped and frowned.
"What?" he questioned as held his head up.
She set the spoon back in the bowl. "Here." she said and stood up. She stepped over him and grabbed the second pillow from the bed. When she turned around, she noticed him looking at the knife on the floor that her body was no longer hiding. Her heart skipped a beat as she hesitated for a moment. Then she pressed her lips together and stepped over him again before settling back down on the floor.
As she sat down, he turned his attention back to her and saw the pillow in her hands. He obediently lifted his head again and waited. She leaned forward and attempted to slide the pillow under him. When it didn't quite position right though, she ended up putting a hand behind his neck and lifting him up more.
"Sorry." she mumbled and pushed the pillow in to place.
"It's fine. Thank you." he told her. Once she was done, he shifted a little bit before settling in place. Then he opened his mouth.
Another small smile and she scooped up some soup once more. When she reached to give it to him, he didn't have to lift his head to take it from her. She put the spoon in his mouth and waited till he closed his mouth before pulling back.
"Well... I guess I like tomato soup." he said as he his lips. "And I'm pretty hungry." he added before widely opening his mouth again.
She pressed her lips together to stifle a tiny giggle and fed him more soup. Neither of them said anything after that as the bowl slowly but surely became empty. Then with the last spoonful, he his lips clean and closed his eyes.
"Is that enough?" she inquired and set the bowl back on the tray.
"Yeah." he uttered. Then he opened his eyes to look at her shyly smiled. "I'm suddenly feeling really tired."
She nodded her head. "You should rest."
He closed his eyes once more and murmured, "Thank you."
She bit her lip but didn't say anything as she watched him. Then she moved her knife on to the tray and lifted it as she stood up. She turned and went to leave the room.
"I'm sorry."
She stopped and glanced over at him curiously.
"I..." he stuttered while giving her a remorseful look. "It's obvious that I... That I'm the one... I... I'm sorry."
Swallowing, she looked down and nodded. Then she went to take a step forward but hesitated. With a sigh, she turned to face him. "I'm sorry too." she told him. "I just.."
"It's comfy." he interrupted.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she stared at him with open.
"The floor." he clarified with a little smile. "I'm comfortable and just fine right here."
She blinked at him for a moment before a tiny smile crept on to her face and she slowly nodded. "Get some rest Yongguk."
"I will. Thank you..." He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Jisun." she informed him.
"Jisun." he repeated with a smile. Then he closed his eyes. "Thank you Jisun."
Pressing her lips together, she turned and left the room. She went to the kitchen and set the tray down on the counter. She stood there for a while, her mind torn in two directions.
Without thinking, her feet carried her across the kitchen and to the phone hanging on the wall. She lifted the receiver and held it to her ear. There was a dial tone.
"I'm sorry. But please. I'm begging you."
Slowly, she set the receiver back without calling anyone.

She spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the muddy, wet mess on the floor from last night. Then sorting through the strawberries. Some were set aside to be eaten right away while others were to be mashed in to jam.
Throughout the day, she kept peeking in to the spare room but Yongguk continued sleeping. He didn't even wake for lunch and she decided to let him keep sleeping rather than wake him up.
So she spent the afternoon in the kitchen, mashing the strawberries in a large saucepan before stirring in sugar and lemon juice. While it sat on the heat, she put a couple of canning jars in boiling water to sterilize them.
Once everything was done, she carefully grabbed the wires and lifted the jars out of the water. Next she poured the fruit mix in to them. After they were full, she used a tiny rag to twist the hot caps on to the jars. Then she grabbed the wire and put them back in to the boiling water to seal them.
When enough time went by, she pulled them out of the water and set them aside to cool. As she inspected the contents, she smiled at the thought of having bread and strawberry jam throughout the summer. This was enough for her after all, as long as she didn't go crazy.
Suddenly she straightened as a thought came to her. 'Does Yongguk like strawberry jam?'
Afterall, he had no memories. If he couldn't even remember his name, how would he know where he lived? Where there people looking for him? Friends, family? Then she thought about the wounds on his stomach and the panic in his eyes when she mentioned calling for help. 'Or... is there someone else looking for him?'
Instinctively, she lifted her head and gazed out of the window. The treeline was set far enough away to allow a yard to surround the house. Beyond that, there was nothing outside to be seen except for trees and other plants.
She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. The way she had found him, his head towards her house, more than likely he had been coming from the other direction. But that would have been further up the mountain and away from town.
Biting her bottom lip, she turned from the window crossed the kitchen. She walked down the hallway and to the second bedroom. She found Yongguk still sleeping on the floor. With a tiny sigh, she went to leave but stopped abruptly when she heard a small whimper.
She quickly glanced at the man in surprise. Then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She slowly crept across the room to him until she was standing over him. Leaning down, she touched her fingers to his forehead and gasped. He was burning up.
She dropped to her knees and reached for the fever medicine. She hurriedly poured the correct amount before setting the bottle aside. Then with her free hand, she shook him.
"Yongguk." she loudly said. "Yongguk wake up."
His eyes fluttered open but they weren't focusing on anything.
"Drink this." she instructed and held the tiny cup to his lips.
He opened his mouth for her but she placed her other hand under his neck, lifting him a little to be sure that he swallowed all of it. Then she released him and his eyes closed once more.
She stared at him, hesitating and debating. Then she hurriedly reached forward for one of his wrists and started to untie him.
He stirred awake and opened his eyes. "Wha..." he breathlessly whispered.
"Get on the bed." she told him as she freed his wrist. Then she went and untied the other one.
"No." he uttered, slurring the word. "I... I'm..."
"Come on." she urged and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.
Stumbling, he rose off of the floor and crawled on to the bed with her help. She worked the remains of his tattered shirt off of him before he settled on to his back.
She reached for his other article of clothing but stopped. Then she shook her head and reached for his jeans. She undid them and then threw the blanket over him. She moved to the foot of the bed and pushed the blanket up to expose his legs. She grabbed the legs of the pants and pulled, tugging them off of him. Once they were off, she discarded them on the floor.
Now that he was stripped, she swiftly ran out of the room and back to the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl and placed it in the sink. She turned to cold water on to fill the bowl as she grabbed a couple of rags. She threw them into the bowl and shut the water off. Then she carried it to the bedroom.
She set the bowl on the bedside table and grabbed one of the cloths. She wringed the excess water from it before folding it neatly. She placed it on his forehead before grabbing the other rag and wringing it as well but not as much. She sat on the bed and placed the cloth on his neck, wiping it over his skin. Then she moved down to his chest, being extra mindful not to get his bandages wet. Next his arms before she put the rag back in to the cold water.
She stood up to retrieve the thermometer when she was suddenly grabbed. She gasped in surprise as she quickly turned and saw Yongguk holding her arm. Her heart hammered in her chest, panic setting in.
"Don't." he said, barely louder than a whisper. But she could still hear the hitch in his voice, as if he had whined. "Don't leave me." He his lips and looked at her through half-lidded eyes. "Please."
She swallowed and felt her heartbeat slow down. He had that same look from before.
"I'm not." she assured him and watched the fear leave his eyes. She slowly pulled her arm back so she could grasp his hand with hers. Then she moved and sat back on the bed next to him. "I won't leave you."