On the ride back, you fell asleep until you felt your body jerk forward and get caught by the belt that was strapped around your chest.

The seat belt dug into your collarbone and you felt Yongguk hastily wrap his right arm around you. You winced at the pain.

You slowly opened your tightly shut eyes and looked up at Yongguk. He was breathing heavily with his head down. It seemed like he was having a hard time breathing so you gently took his hand that was around you in your own hand.

With your other hand, you softly rested it on top of his heaving shoulders and asked, “Are you okay Yongguk?”

Taking in a deep breath of air, he let out his low voice, “I-… I should be asking you, love,” his hard eyes piercing into your worried ones, “You aren’t hurt anywhere… Right?”

You waved him off, “Don’t worry..”

Yongguk shook his head, his eyes widening in horror.

“No…no…” He whispered to himself.

You followed his gaze and saw the bleeding gash right below your collarbone.

He kept staring at it in disbelief, “I hurt…I hurt you..”

“Yongguk…. Yongguk! It’s fine.. It doesn’t hurt at all!” You took your hand and touched the wound.

He grabbed your hand and wiped the blood on your fingers on his white shirt. Lifting his shirt up, he raised it to your wound and wiped the blood off as best as he could.

You writhed in pain. But then you froze when you saw his face close to you, his warm breath landing on your exposed skin. His eyes, filled with concern, were solely fixed on your bleeding wound, making you flush.

You shifted your gaze outside and involuntarily shivered whenever Yongguk blew against your collarbone.

Yongguk reached down and grabbed a handkerchief.

“Hold this against the cut… Stay here, I’ll be back.”

Yongguk unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. You held his handkerchief like he instructed you to and watched as he ran to the front of the car. He swiftly bent down and you saw him rise up with a limp kitten in his arms.

Your eyes widened when you saw him walk into the car with the cat. Giving you a weary smile, “I think I accidently hit the cat… I can still feel his heart beating, though…”

You didn’t know what to say, “Oh…… um..”

You were pretty shocked that Yongguk cared to step out to retrieve the cat. If someone were to see him, they would have thought Yongguk was someone heartless. That’s what you thought when you first saw him.

He had a strong, charismatic image… A “bad-boy” image. 

And a small part of your heart warmed when you saw Yongguk care for petite things like this.

You were weak for men like that. Men that are caring, loving, and thoughtful. Yongguk draped his coat over your legs and then placed the cat on top of it.

“The possibilities of this cat being a street cat are high…so I don’t want you to get infected…” He gave you a gummy smile while getting into his seat.

“Oh and you carried it in your arms..” You snorted.

With a low chuckle, he started the engine.

“So.. We stopping by a vet?”

He nodded his head, “I don’t know if all animal hospitals are opened 24 hours… But I know this one place, my frien-… this person I know is the doc there.. So we’ll visit and get the cat checked up.”

You attentively watched the cat, seeing its chest expand then constrict. It almost seemed that the cat was just asleep. You smiled. The cat was adorable.

You let out a soft laugh and Yongguk tilted his head.

“What’s so funny?”

You took out your phone and took a picture of the kitten.

“The cat… he looks like… like he’s praying?”

You let your index finger trail down the kitten’s head down to its paws.

“I can’t believe such a beautiful creature would be a stray…” You said more to yourself. You looked at the cat with affection-filled eyes.

You loved them. Not just cats… You loved animals in general. They were such wonders for you. You didn’t know what about them, but they give you a relaxing feeling. You always wanted a pet to care for ever since you were young, but your mom had allergies.

When you were younger, you would stick your face onto the glass of the pet shop and watch the birds, the snakes, the cats, the dogs in there for hours.

Yongguk pulled the car into the empty lot and leaned back into the seat as he watched you.

It made his heart fly when he saw you so focused on in your own little world with the kitten.  But he knew it wasn’t the time to admire your beauty, so he cleared his throat to get your attention.

When you realized you guys arrived, you turned around to slip out of the seat belt.

“Yongguk.. I’ll go. You don’t have a coat to wear and its cold outside.” You insisted.

Yongguk shook his head, “NO! My coat is actually sprawled over your legs.. Let’s go.”

With his stubborn attitude, he entered the small hospital with you. You really wanted him to take a break. He’s been driving the past two or so hours, and even if it had to be just 30 minutes, you wanted him to at least let him rest his eyes.

“Hey SunHee noona…?” Yongguk said as he held the door open for you.

A beautiful lady, you predicted early 30s, walked out from the door.

“Yongguk?”

Yongguk greeted her with a slight nod.

“What brings you here?” She asked as she eyed the kitten you were holding in your arms.

Then she looked up at you with a questioning look.

“Look, noona.. We were out in the dark, driving and I accidently bumped into this cat.. I didn’t run over it.. I just need you to check if this fella’s gonna be okay.”

She looked at you—head to toe—then back at Yongguk.

“And what are you doing with a young lady out so late?”

Yongguk sighed, “Noona… You don’t unde-“

“You’re not playing around again… Are you?” She cut him off.

That made you jump back a bit. ‘Playing..’??? What the heck did that mean?

“Look.. She’s MY wife. I’m not like who I was in the past.. And I never will be again. I love her with all my heart.. with all my life and I’ll do everything and anything to keep her by my side. Now could you get the cat into one of the check-up rooms?”

His words pierced right through your heart.

‘I’ll do everything.. and anything… to keep her by my side.’

Why did that sound so wrong?

You couldn’t bear look at him so you occupied yourself with the kitten.

She looked at him, “How come I wasn’t informed of your marriage?”

Yongguk shook his head, “What are you? You’re just a noona.. Alright? I don’t think I need to tell you every single detail about my life.”

You looked up and felt the sharp tension start to rise in between them. Leaving you standing beside Yongguk, helpless. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t understand why the lady in front of you was being so nosy. And you didn’t get why Yongguk seemed so frustrated to even talk to her.

“U-Um…. The… the kitten, Yong-“

You whispered so softly, Yongguk almost had to strain himself to hear you.

Yongguk grabbed the cat from you and handed it to the doctor and pulled your hand closer to him.

“We’ll come back tomorrow morning to hear about the cat’s condition. Thanks. See you tomorrow.”

With that Yongguk pulled you out of the hospital as you were bowing your head to say your goodbyes to her.

When you took a last glance at her, she had a disgusted look. You started to wonder what her relationship with Yongguk was. You didn’t exactly comprehend what you were feeling just then—it didn’t really seem like jealousy… But for sure you didn’t like the way the two talked back in there.

Before you knew it, you were in the car with a fuming Yongguk pulling out of the parking lot. You stayed quiet. You didn’t really want to ask right now.

There was a heavy silence that enveloped the whole car, and you decided to lean back and close your eyes. You wondered what got Yongguk so hyped up.

He was the one that wanted to go the animal hospital…

You looked out the window and saw nothing but dark. You let your fingers touch the cool surface of the glass as you leaned your head against it.

“____, back there at the hospital, I don’t want you to misund-“

“It’s fine Yongguk… Talk to me after you cool down a bit. Just like you told me to tell you about Himchan when I’m ready, I want you to do so also.” You cut him off.

You heard him sigh, “Give me a few minutes, then I’ll tell you what happened.”

You hummed in response.

The night was cool, with the full moon up high. You guys were driving back on the road that Yongguk brought you earlier. The buildings started disappearing once again, and nothing but nature was all you saw.

It gave you ghostly feeling. You could swear that Yongguk’s been the only one to ever occupy this road. It seemed so empty… and lonely. If you were out here alone, you would have been scared to death.

But oddly, you liked the road. Whether it be because of the chills it gives you or because you were on the road with someone that you knew would protect you… You were… content. You felt complete.

You watched the towering trees pass one after the other as you slowly drifted off to sleep.

After a few minutes, Yongguk pulled over to the main street and entered Seoul. The buildings, the lights, the cars and the people popped up into the picture again… And Yongguk sighed.

Once you guys reached the house, Yongguk looked over at you and tucked the hair that was covering your eyes behind your ear.

The moonlight was hitting against your untroubled face—hitting it at the right angles to outline your beauty.

He couldn’t resist and pecked your soft cheek. He pulled back with a pained, mournful smile.

your hair, his voice barely audible, “I’m sorry… If you find out about my past… You’d run away… Disgusted. I don’t want to lose you.. but I know I can’t hide what I’ve done. I regret all that I did the past two years.. I should’ve met you earlier… I want to tell you.. Just tell you every sin that I’ve committed.. But I fear you’d run away from… a monster like me.”

A/N: Hey! Finally updated! Sorry I was a tad bit late! Anyways hope you enjoyed!!

Thanks to all my supporters and readers out there! Feel free to comment/ question/criticize!!!

@mabelsilvera: .... Same here D: Poor Yonggukk... :D but he's handsome ;P

@humblebeginnings: Nahhh~ I don't think it'll end anytime soon yet XD Cause honestly, I haven't even got into all the fluffy stuff between them LOL... To be completely honest with you and everyone else... I've just started to set the characters up and I'm still progressing on how to introduce every single character to you guys :D Hope you'll read to the end though and find it at least a tad interesting?? If you want to know how many chapters....?? I really can't say exactly but I have a feeling it will go on well over the twenties... maybe even the 30s.. XD  Hope your enjoying the so-far-uneventful story :P

Thanks to everyone!!! <3

Love you allll!

Your author <3