December 25, 2014,

                I apologized to Sunmi the next day for getting mad because I felt really bad about it. She said it wasn’t a big deal, but her actions said otherwise. Usually it’s her talking to me and laughing but she hasn’t been doing that the past couple of days, so it’s just been a lot of silence and I didn’t like it. It felt like the time when Sunmi first came and we were awkward with each other. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were, but I didn’t know how to make her talk to me again.

                During lunch, I asked her if she liked the food and she silently nodded her head in response. I asked her if she needed me to get her anything else and she just shook her head. I didn’t know what else to say. Sunmi was supposed to be talking to me, smiling at me, and laughing with me. That was the point of having her here, away from everybody else, so that she would have no choice but to do all that with me.  

                I was worried that she was secretly mad at me still, or worse, that she wanted to leave me again. I should have been more careful and not let her out of my sight for a second because then she wouldn’t have seen that stupid news report. It was my fault, but at least I knew that she could never leave me. I was going to make sure that we’d be together forever, no matter what.

                After lunch I took her back to her room and left her there while I thought about what to do to make everything good again. I thought about everything I did since I saved her until now, and I realized that the first time she opened up to me was when I took her outside. That was the first time she talked to me without really hating me, but I didn’t think it’d help again because we still go outside every night.

                I thought back to the conversation we had that night and I remembered her asking about the stars. But letting her take off the blindfold wasn’t an option. I couldn’t let her ever see where we were, especially now, when she might want to leave. I couldn’t risk that. I wanted to die when she tried to leave the first time so I’m not going let anything like that even come close to happening again.

                And then I had a revelation. The event that made Sunmi completely trust me was when I nursed her back to health when she was almost dying. The thought of Sunmi being that sick again made me cringe, but there was nothing else for me to do to restore her faith in me. I had to take care of her.

                Obviously, I didn’t want Sunmi to be really sick, so I had to brainstorm really small sicknesses that I could take care of, and eventually I decided on food poisoning. For all the trouble it was, it had the lowest risk of any real danger, which made it the perfect illness to give Sunmi. The only potential risk was that she might be afraid to eat my food again, but I thought I would just tell her that I wouldn’t make that particular food again and she’d still be ok with everything else I made. I gave myself a pat on the back and set on making dinner.

                 However, as I was cooking, although I knew it would’ve been for the best, I couldn’t bring myself to intentionally poison Sunmi. I was supposed to take care of her. Poisoning her wasn’t taking care of her, even though I’d be taking care of her after I poison her. It just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t intentionally harm Sunmi. I wouldn’t be any better than her parent’s then.

                 Ultimately, I was back to where I began. We ate dinner in silence and then went outside for our nightly walk. My mind was occupied with what to do and what to say to Sunmi. Why couldn’t she just talk to me again? She’s supposed to love me; especially after all I’ve done for her. I was so absorbed by my thoughts that I nearly missed Sunmi asking to go back inside.

                 I mindlessly led her back towards the outer door. I was still thinking about what made her like this again. I unlocked the door automatically, a reflex established by habit by this point. Because I wasn’t really paying attention my surroundings, I let Sunmi take a step forward and she tripped down the stairs. I reached out to catch her before she fell, but I was too late. She tumbled down the stairs and I couldn’t do anything to stop her.

                 “Ow! Leo! Help! I can’t stand up! It hurts! It hurts so much,” she cried out from the bottom of the stairs. “I think I broke something, Leo. Help me!”  

                 I raced down the stairs in a panic and I was by her side in less than a second.

                 “I’m here now, Sunmi. Everything is going to be ok,” I reassured her. I was trying to stay calm, but I was actually really scared. I was supposed to protect her.

                 “I can’t move my leg,” she whimpered. “It really hurts, oppa.”

                 “Where does it hurt?” I asked. I gently pressed on her ankle and she let out a cry of pain. I winced and felt my heart squeeze. I wasn’t sure if she broke her ankle or not, but nevertheless, I continued to reassure her that it would be fine.

                 Her cries subsided and she blindly reached out to me. “Ok, ok, oppa. I trust you,” she said. When she told me that, I realized that this was a blessing in disguise. This was my chance to take care of her again, and this was even better than food poisoning because if she really broke her ankle then that meant she wouldn’t be able to go anywhere for weeks, or hopefully, even months until it healed, which meant that it was really be impossible for her to leave me. And the best part of it was that it was all an accident. This was a sign from the universe that I was meant to take care of Sunmi. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the thought. It couldn’t have been clearer to me: Sunmi and I were meant for each other.

A/N: IM SOOOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN SO LONG :((( I've been super super busy and on top of that I had writer's block and so I just never wrote, but hopefully this slightly makes up for it! I hope you like this chapter and hopefully I'll be able to update more often ^^