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[Jaewook's POV] Destiny. I see her laying in front of me, her usually rich skin almost as pale as the sheets covering her. Her eyes contrast the starkness of her face like coal, and they stare out into nothing. Noona, can't you see me? But she doesn't blink. The only sign of movement is the subtle wavering of her lips; two dry pieces of flesh quivering when they are usually so pink and poised. I feel like I'm being pulled away, like she's disappearing right in front of me and I can't reach out to grab her. When I try to speak, nothing seems to come out. Her wobbling lips finally let out a sound. "Where are you?" The sheer fear behind those words makes my heart jump to such an accelerated speed that my eyes open. I then realize that I was dreaming, as my eyes open to a dark unfamiliar room. My face feels cold with sweat, my heart almost hurting behind my chest plate. But just when I think I'm okay, that it's just a dream and I can relax, I remember everything that happened like a rush of water. Frantically I feel all around me with my arms. When I'm left with nothing I jump out of the bed and turn on a light. When my vision finally clears I'm left with even more panic than I experienced in my dream. "Noona?" I call out softly, as if she'll magically appear. Unsurprisingly, she doesn't. I quickly leave the room and check the bathroom, then the kitchen, then I burst through Hansoo's door just to find his bed empty. "What the hell?" I can't think straight as I rummage through everything, no matter how illogical. I throw sheets to the floor, open closet doors, anything just hoping for the life I have left that she'll appear. I need you. Back in the room we slept in, I try to think of where my phone was before I slept. I swear it was on the night table. Overwhelmed with feeling, all I can do is sit on the bed and pull at my hair. I can't help the sounds of distress that leave my lungs like a trapped animal, or the inability to think straight. Where do I go? Where did she go? Home? Where did Hansoo go? Relax, just breathe first. The words sound as if Destiny is in my head, but of course, I'm just delusional. However, it's enough to force myself to close my eyes and slow down my breathing. I put on my shoes and head out with nothing but the clothes on my back and the key to that car my mom bought me so long ago. I refused to even touch it, until now. It's scary just how reliant we are on technology—or at leash how reliant I am. Without my phone I feel utterly hopeless. No connection to people I love, no way to contact anyone, no way to listen to music to calm myself down. I end up going home because I have no idea where to start. It's 5 in the morning so the streets are quiet. I get in front of her door, suddenly realizing that I don't know the passcode ever since they changed it after our argument. "Fuck, fuck fuck fuck." I hit my head against the door and ring the bell. But no one opens it. I guess Zen isn't home yet. Then I feel creeping fear and curiosity settle into my stomach as I look to my right. Without thinking properly, I slowly head to my door. Why? I don't know. She wouldn't be here anyway. But something tells me to go near it. I get close enough that I hear people talking behind it. But who are they? The sound of heavy footsteps coming closer causes me to run down the hall and out the door. Men, it sounded like men. Police? That's the conclusion my mind immediately jumps to. But how? I had thought about calling them but the dread of what they might find caused me to not do it. Before I can really try to put things together, I head to the closest hospital, the one Destiny works at. It's worth a shot. I try to compose myself as I head to the reception. "Is there a patient named Destiny here?" "Destiny?" The receptionist seems flabbergasted at first from the foreign name. I'm quickly growing impatient. "Let me take a look." I feel like my eyes are glued onto this receptionist as she calmly scrolls through something on the computer. "Yes, sh—" "Where is she." "Sir, what's your relationship with the patient?" "I'm her boyfriend." My knuckles are white as I grip onto the counter, projecting my tenseness into the sharp edge. "Boyfriend?" Her eyebrows cross. "You don't look like her boyfriend," she seems to say to herself. "How the hell would you know?" The annoyance I feel now cannot be contained. All sense of politeness I usually have is out the door. "Tell me where she is. Now." "I—please take a seat sir—" "Let me see her," I say between gritted teeth. I feel myself shake like an erupting volcano. "Now!" I shout. My body feels like it's on fire. "Woah, woah, Jaewook—I knew I heard you." Hansoo appears from a hallway to the left. The receptionist is frozen in fear and I hate myself for causing that. I head towards him and grab his shirt. "Where the hell is Destiny." "Calm down, she's this way. Didn't you get my text?" He turns to the receptionist, flashing a charming smile that seems to cause an immediate response in the young woman. "Is it alright if he comes with me? I promise he's usually not like this, he's just worried." "Y—yes, of course," she flusters as he smiles at her once again, thanking her before grabbing my arm and leading me away. "What right do you have to take my girlfriend away, to act as her boyfriend?" "I'm sorry, seriously, but she needed to go to the hospital right away. Sorry to say but you weren't on my mind after seeing how much pain she was in." Stop concerning yourself with my girlfriend. Stop treating her better than I have. Stop being a better man than I'll ever be. But as soon as he opens the door to a room, all thoughts about him vanish. Instead, it's all her. Her her her. "Destiny," I get onto my knees beside the bed she lays in. I can't help but be reminded of my dream, except instead of the corpse-like body of my dream, her skin is of a healthy pigment and her eyes hold expression. "Jaewook," she whispers. "Destiny, the doctor said no talking," Hansoo scolds from behind me. I feel a twinge of anger from hearing him scold her. But she smiles at me and that anger goes away. I reach out to touch her skin, just to make sure she's really there. "I'm sorry," she says. Hansoo sighs in displeasure. "Why are you here? Did something bad happen? Does anything hurt?" She shakes her head. "I don't know what the hell happened," Hansoo's agitated state greatly contrasts the charm he feigned earlier. "But you can't let a strangled person go on like nothing's wrong. She could die Jaewook. She could die all of a sudden without any warning." My own breathing feels pained as I shrink beneath his harsh words. Die? Her hand reaches out to touch my jaw, to pull my focus back to her. She simply shakes her head. "You're lucky. She went through some tests and she's fine, just sore throat and damaged vocal chords. They checked her brain as well just in case. You're damn lucky Jae." That's all I can take as I let my head fall onto the bed. I can't stop the tears that flow from my eyes and I become annoyed with myself for crying. Why am I always the one to cry? I need to be stronger than this for her, but here I am crying like a child on my knees while she's the one who's seriously hurt. "Baby, don't cry," she hushes with her hoarse voice. "Shhh," I shakily say against the sheets. After a moment, Hansoo speaks again, but his voice is soft again. "How about you? Are you injured?" I shake my head and wipe my nose. "Are you sure?" He eyes me. "Yes," I hiss. "I'm just bruised. I should have been the one choked. It should have been me." "Stop it," he puts his hand on my shoulder. "Stop beating yourself up about it, that's not going to solve anything." "Then what will?" I turn up to look at him. "What will fix this mess? You have no idea what happened, you—" "Then tell me. Help me understand and maybe I can help." I shake my head. "You can't help." "I'm letting you two sleep in my house. I have a right to at least know what the hell is going on." I pause, grinding my teeth as I think this through. Maybe avoiding talking about the situation isn't helping. Maybe I should tell someone outside of our affected circle. "Fine." So as Destiny gets some shut-eye, we find a quiet place to talk. As hard as it is to get all of this out, it's amazing how I feel after doing it. Despite nothing about the situation being resolved, I feel somewhat more confident that I can fix things after talking to Hansoo. I bring up the thing weighing on my mind the most now that I know Destiny is safe. "I'm just worried. When I went home I heard people in my house. What if my father is dead?" Hansoo's eyes seem to know more than I do as they don't even waver from my words. "He isn't. He's in this hospital." I'm hit with a sickening feeling of both relief and fear. ...