My Guardian Love

Chapter XXXIV

The next day, I was spammed with messages from Chan. "I'm worried sick about you." "Let me be there with you." "Where'd you go?" It was hard not to respond, but this was the best thing for us.
I thought about moving on from him. He meant the world to me and we had fought all the odds to be together, but it wasn't worth it if it was killing him slowly.
I needed time to figure this out and he deserved to live a long, happy life. We could love each other in the next life, but this wasn't the right time for us.

On my way to work, I stopped by to see Ha-ri. I could only imagine how sick she must be.
When I arrived, Sams car was parked out front. I was hesitant to go in at first. I didn't want to hurt his feelings more than what I did last night, but I went in anyways to take care of Ha-ri.
I knocked before coming in. "It's me!" I yelled.
"Nina!" I heard Ha-ri groan. She was in the bathroom on the floor. Sam was holding her hair back.
"I'll make you some soup." I smiled, laying my bag down on the couch. I remembered the soup Chan made me and how nice it was to have someone love me that much.
My whole life it had just been me and my family. It was weird having friends that I wasn't related to.
All of this was new, but it felt so nice.

I walked into the bathroom, Ha-ri still had her head buried in the toilet. "The soups done." I helped her up from the floor. I sat her down at the table. "Make sure you eat slow." Sam was on the couch reading a book. "You can come eat as well. I made enough." I smiled
He got up and walked over, gently placing his book on the table. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I feel just fine. I had to drive home last night so I didn't drink." I looked over at Ha-ri who had her face burrowed in the bowl.
"Where'd you learn to make this?" She slurped. "It's so good!"
"Chan taught me. He made it for me the day I got drunk." I giggled. "Eat slower."

After lunch, I cleaned everything up while Sam laid Ha-ri on the couch. "Stay right here. Here's a bucket in case you get sick." She nodded her head, turning on the TV.
Sam came back to the kitchen, grabbing the dishes and putting them in the sink. "You don't have to help. I got it." I smiled.
"I want to." He smiled back at me. We sat at the sink washing and rinsing the dishes. He put them away as I handed them to him. "About last night."
I looked over at him. "Hmm?"
"I wasn't asking you out. You're just a good friend of mine and I'm sorry if I made you feel that way." I turned the sink off.
"I'm sorry that I misunderstood. I didn't have many friends growing up so it's hard to interpret things sometimes." I walked over to the fridge, grabbing a water. "Ha-ri!"
"Yeah?" She looked over.
"Drink this, but drink it slow." I handed her the cold water.

By the time I left, it was already time for me to get to work. "Wait!" I heard Sam yell from the front door. I looked up. "You left this." He handed me a bracelet.
"Thank you so much!" It was the one Chan gave me. "I must have took it off to clean."
"I didn't want you to lose you." I nodded as he waved. I got in the car.
On my way, I decided to call Felix. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me. I thought I would check in on you."
"We need to talk." He sounded angry.
"Mhm?" I was scared.
"Want to tell me why you're working while on vacation." I stopped the car before I pulled out. "I saw your welcome party pictures."
"I can explain everything, it's just hard right now."
"You're not coming home again, are you?" He was upset.
"I am just not right now. It'll be a while." I sighed.
"Chan knows and now he's coming to find you."
"What?" I screamed. He hung up the phone.

The entire work day was hard. There was no way Chan could find me so easily, but if he did what would I say? I can't tell him why I ran away and why I never came back. He needed to let me go. It was for his own safety. I can love him from afar, but I can't be with him.
I was lost in thought as a coworker came up to me. "Are you okay?" He sat down next to me, handing me a cup of water.
"I'm fine." I smiled.
"I can cover your shift if you want to go home. You don't look good." He offered.
"That's okay. I feel fine." I looked back at my computer.

When work ended, I grabbed my things. "Could you turn the lights off when you leave?" My boss spoke up.
"Mhm." I nodded my head. As I walked out the door, my phone rang. The number was unknown, but I assumed it might have been a business call. "Hello?" I answered.
"I'm at a payphone right now. Where are you?" A man spoke.
"Who is this?"
"It's Chan." My heart dropped. "I'm sure you have your reasons for running away, but I'm bringing you home."
"Chan, please." He stopped me.
"If you won't tell me, I'll search. Even if it takes years, I won't stop until I find you." He hung up the phone, giving me no chance to talk.

As I walked outside, it was pouring the rain. I had no umbrella and my car was at the other end of the parking lot. "You picked a bad time to rain." I whispered to the sky.
I ran across the parking lot with my bag above my head. I was soaked as I sprinted faster.
The ground was slippery, I lost balance as my shoe slid out from under me.
I fell back, closing my eyes and bracing myself. I felt an arm wrap around me, preventing me from hitting the ground. An umbrella was held over me as I carefully opened my eyes. "Chan?" We locked eyes as he was panting. He leaned in, kissing me. I was startled. I sat there, but never pulled away.
"I knew I'd find you." He smiled.