Chapter 4

I was drifting in and out of sleep when I felt another presence in the room. The footsteps were slow and heavy as if the person was too tired to control his shifting weight. Then I felt my blanket being pulled up to cover me. I woke up at the touch and instinctively grabbed his hand.

But the wet, warm feeling against my skin startled me. "Hyun Joong!" I gasped. "You're..." Fear ran through my body. How did he get hurt? There was blood everywhere, his hands, his back, his arm. So this was why he was so tired.

He tried to pull away, but I wouldn't let him. "You're losing blood!" I was stressing out, but he didn't seem affected by the injuries. Prying myself from him, I got up and ran to the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, I dug through all the bottles and boxes, trying to find the antiseptic and bandages. Pain medicine was also needed.

Hyun Joong strolled over casually and gently closed the cabinet door. He raised his clean hand to my face and wiped away the tears I didn't notice was there. "I'm fine," he very simply said, as if it could take away all my worries. Then he went into his room and locked the door.

I waited in front of his room, a bottle of pain medicine in my hands. When he finally came out, he had cleaned up his wounds and seemed perfectly fine. Why isn't he one bit affected?

"What happened?" I asked timidly.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and answered, "It's none of your business."

I lowered my head in disappointment. He didn't trust me, and he didn't want me to know anything about him.

Exasperated, he took the the medicine bottle from my hand, poured out two pills, and threw it in his mouth, swallowing it dry. "Happy?" he said sarcastically, and shoved the bottle back into my hands.

I bit the bottom of my lip. "So... you're really okay?"

He rolled his eyes and his shoulder brushed against mine as he pushed past me into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and opened up his laptop.

After watching him for a moment, I went into the kitchen to make him something to eat.

Ten minutes later I set a plate down on the dining table and went to the living room. "Hyun Joong?"

He wasn't there. I checked in his room, but he wasn't there either. Just when I was getting scared, I heard a low moan coming from my room. I looked in to find Hyun Joong laying on his side on the floor, unconscious.

I ran up to him and turned his body to face upwards. "Hey, are you okay?" His eyebrows were pulled together and he seemed delirious. He groaned again. Suddenly I noticed something in his hands. It was a gold chain... with a ring on it. It was stained with blood that had seeped through his bandaged hand. I pulled it loose from his tight grip and examined it. A word was carved on the inside: 'Promise'.

Without much thought, I hooked it around my neck for safekeeping. I would give it back to him when he awoke. Then I proceeded to move him to the bed, but it was hard work. He was much heavier than he looked. With much effort, I was finally able to get him nice and snug under a blanket.

Heaving an exhausted sigh, I pulled a wooden chair over and plopped down. "I told you you should've let me fix up your cuts..." I mumbled aloud, knowing he couldn't hear me. "Now you lost too much blood..." I grabbed the first-aid kit from the bedside table and fixed his hand. But as I did, I became distracted. His sleeping face looked so serene, a sight I've never seen before.

It looked like all his worries had been erased and he can finally rest. I wish he could always be like this. I couldn't possibly imagine what secret he was always protecting under those cold eyes.

Without knowing it, I began moving forward, closer to his face. His perfectly smooth skin and facial features were like a work of art I'd just begun to appreciate. It felt like everyday I discovered something new about him that made me like him more and more.

Before I could stop myself, my lips were already less than an inch away from his. Then suddenly, his eyes began fluttering open. My heart began to race as I was frozen in that position. I needed to pull back before he found out what I almost did, but I couldn't make myself move. No! I shouted mentally. Don't wake up yet!

My internal yelling did nothing to prevent Hyun Joong from waking up. Surprised, he stared back at me as my face came into focus. Drat.

Suddenly that amused smile appeared on his lips again. "Go ahead," he whispered humorously, "Kiss me."

I immediately pulled back, aware that he was making fun of me.

As if to prove my point, he laughed. He actually laughed!

Although I knew I should've been amazed by this, instead, I became angry. I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter as the blood rushed up. I was thinking about running out from the room when he grabbed my hand. My heart stopped completely.

"Thank you." That simple phrase erased all the anger that had been boiling up and replaced it with a smile. I couldn't help but smile at him.