Chapter 8

I was utterly confused. Why did everything change all of a sudden? The Kim Hyun Joong I knew from before has turned into a killer now? What else wasn't he telling me?

"Does that mean..." I couldn't bear the thought of it, much less say it out loud. "You killed... all those people too?" I shut my eyes tight, stupidly thinking that it would stop the flow of tears.

A moment of silence passed before the dreaded word was spoken. "Yes."

Suddenly a stabbing pain pierced through my chest. "Ahh!" I cried. I clutched my heart, willing it to stop hurting. "Jung Min!" His name came out of nowhere, but I felt like I knew it better than my own. I fell onto the floor and sobbed uncontrollably, still holding onto the picture.

Memories of Jung Min flooded into my mind. I remembered the day he proposed to me.

"Chu Ha Neul, will you marry me?"

I stared at him like an idiot, not sure I was awake. We had been strolling through the park after a fun day together and suddenly he wants me to be his wife? "You want me that much?" I had to make sure he wasn't joking with me again.

"I was waiting for this day the moment I met you," he whispered, kissing my forehead. "I've always wanted to be with you."

"No!" I screamed. He couldn't be dead. This man that I was getting ready to share my life with, how could he be gone?

"Where have you been?!" Jung Min shouted at me, his face the scariest shade of red I'd ever seen. "I looked for you EVERYWHERE!"

"I... I was looking at that dress..." I mumbled.

He glared at me, obviously displeased with my excuse for wandering off. "You--" he started, but stopped. Taking a deep breath. he suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought I'd lost you... Don't ever leave me again."

But I did leave him. Because here I am, living with... with the person who took away our happiness. What kind of ironic joke is this? I ended up living with the enemy for so long and didn't even know it?

I felt a touch on my shoulder, and warmth surrounded me. I looked up to find myself in Hyun Joong's arms. How dare he try to comfort me after ruining my life? "LET ME GO!" I screamed, kicking and pushing at him. "I HATE YOU, KIM HYUN JOONG!"

I ran to my room and slammed the door as hard as I could. Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm down. But the moment I looked at the picture in my hand, the heartache came crashing back along with a new rush of tears.

I cried myself to sleep that night and the old memories continued to haunt me in my dreams. Jung Min...

---

Hyun Joong heaved a sigh. He's done it now, made Ha Neul hate him forever. But he had caused her so much pain, so it only made sense. He cursed himself for being so impulsive and telling her the truth. He had just been so mad that everything just slipped out. It seems that it was always hard to control his feelings around her.

He sat in front of her room, listening to her soft sobs until she fell asleep. It hurt him to know that he had caused her this much pain. Slowly, he opened her door and went in. He pulled the blankets up to her shoulders and sat down beside her.

"Mmm... Jung Min..." she murmured. "Come back..." A tear slipped from her closed eyelids and fell onto the photo of her fiancee still grasped in her hands.

Hyun Joong suddenly felt a sinking feeling. "Why do I have to care about you so much?" he said aloud. He'd never felt so wrong before in all his years of being an assassin, so why did he have to start now? This girl shouldn't even matter to him, but now she's become the center of his world. What would he do without her?