Pursuit of Happiness (Sequel to Pursuit of Fate)

Chapter Twenty Six

She stared out of the car window, not saying a word as Hee Gun drove out of the hospital to her house. "The doctor said that the wound is healing well. You don't have to look so worried." He steal a glance at her and turned back to face the road.

"I'm not thinking about that," she said in a soft whisper.

"Then?" He questioned further.

"Nothing.." She mumbled and closed her eyes. Hee Gun pulled the car over at the side of the road and drew up the hand brake. Seong Im heard his seat belt unbuckled and opened her eyes. The car was stationery and she could hear the commotion happening at the store where they stopped in front of.

"Did you happen to see something at the hospital?" He asked while looking at her but she wasn't aware since her eyes were fixed on the car window.

Seong Im kept quiet and he figured that she probably saw him talking to Dong Hoon from the silence she was giving him. "I don't know how much you've heard but i said before that I won't leave you no matter how dangerous it gets."

"What if they say they will kill you?" She turned to him and asked quietly. Her eyes full of emotions and uncertainty.

Hee Gun took out the paper that he had crushed and showed it to her. "This was what he gave me. I'm not trying to hide any thing from you; I don't want to. Even if they want to kill me, I'll still be by your side. That's what I promised. I know it may sound selfish but I hope that you will stop doubting me. We will face this together."

She took the paper from him and read it. It was hard for her to digest the words written on it. Up till now, she still couldn't believe that someone was still out there trying to harm her. Her eyes darted across his face, guilt filling the inside of her. "I'm sorry.. It's just I'm afraid that one day, you might just choose to abandon and.." She had no idea why she was panicking but it was making it hard for her to continue to speak. She looked down at her legs and shook her head silently.

He twisted his body and leaned forward. His wound hurts when he did that but he tried to bear with the pain. He lifted up her chin so that he could see her face. He held one of her hand tightly, not minding that her palm was sweaty.

"I'll be here with you. We can't predict when death will be upon us but remember that if it happens, I'll be up there as your guardian angel." He said softly in a calm voice.

He placed his hand at the back of her neck and pushed her head forward, close enough for him to plant a kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes as his soft lips touches her forehead and when he pulled away, she felt calmer than before.

"Thank you," she opened her eyes and whispered.

Hee Gun responded with a smile across his face. He buckled his seat belt and released the hand brake when he felt her hand grabbing his arm.

"Can I stay with you today? I feel safer that way."

"As long as you don't mind a messy house," he replied.

***

As the sun began to set, Seong Im started to prepare dinner. Hee Gun wanted to help but she barred him from entering the kitchen. She retrieved the vegetable and carton of eggs from the fridge and laid them on the kitchen counter. After an hour spent in the kitchen, she walked to the dining table with two bowls of bibimbap.

"I thought you will cook ramyeon again," Hee Gun remarked when he saw her putting a spoonful of gochujang into each bowl.

Ramyeon used to be her 'staple' food until Hee Gun came along and stopped her from eating too many of that junk. "Why? Do you miss the taste of the ramyeon that I made?"

"All ramyeon taste the same." He replied, sounding cheeky for once.

He mixed the rice and the ingredients with the gochujang, and had a taste of it. He nodded his head signaling that he was satisfied with the taste, and continued stuffing more into his mouth.

It's been long since she last cooked some normal food and she was glad to see that he was enjoying the food that she prepared.

When night falls, Hee Gun brought her into his bedroom. He tidied up the bed and vacuum the surface of the bedsheet to get rid of any dust on it.

"You can sleep here tonight. I'll sleep in the living room." He told her.

"But you're injured. You should sleep on the bed instead." She stared at him blankly and said.

"Then should we sleep together?" He teased.

She picked up the pillow on the bed and threw it at him. He caught the pillow and placed one hand on his wound, and pretended to be in pain.

"You can't fool me," she shook her head and took out the bag of gauze from the plastic bag on the table.

He chuckled at his failed plan to make her feel guilty and sat down on the edge of the bed. It was time to change the dressing of the wound. She carefully peeled off the bandage covering his wound and applied some cream on his wound. A scab was starting to form.

"Oppa, have you ever thought about reporting to the police?" She questioned.

He flinched suddenly and Seong Im thought she had applied too much pressure to his wound but he was actually surprised by her question.

"Why did you ask?"

"I thought it might be better to let the police handle it. They might also investigate the things that happened months ago." She replied.

Hee Gun shook his head and replied with a firm 'no.' Seong Im taped the clean gauze over his wound and raised her eyes to see the back of his head.

"Why? The police-"

"The police won't be able to do anything." He snapped. He put on his shirt and stood up, turning around to grab one of the pillow from the bed. "Don't mentioned about this anymore. I'll sleep outside." He walked out of the room and pulled the door close.

Seong Im was shocked by his sudden change in emotion. It was just a simple question and she don't understand why he had to react that way. She kept the extra gauze back into the plastic bag and placed it on the table. There was an uneasy feeling within her but she chose to ignore it and turn in for the night.

Tomorrow will be a better day.