Thorned Rose // chae hyungwon (#31)

Fifteen

Yiwon

I slowly reach for the phone that he bought for me. "T-thank you... I have never expected you to do such a thing for me, you only made me feel more indebted to you and it only made it harder to repay your kindness towards me."

I looked at the tiny gadget in my hand, it has been a while since I have held a phone and it felt so foreign to me now that I have a phone, it must be because I didn't have a phone on me for a long time. I used to think that I would die if I don't have my phone on me because it is such an essential part of my life and I can't live without it, almost everything that we can do on a computer or a television, the phone acts as a double and it is extremely accessible.

But after the accident and I have lost all of my personal belongings which included my phone, wallet and my clothes, I have been living like a person in the 1990s but without a pager, I didn't even realize that I didn't have a phone on me until Chae Hyungwon mentioned it a few days ago. My personal identification card and my debit card was lost as well on top of it and I needed to get all of it replaced but I am afraid that it would get me in trouble and it would increase the chances of the Empire finding me.

I passed the phone back to him and he looked at me confused. "Did you not like the phone model? I know that it is an old model and the functions in there might not work as well as the newest phones out there in the market but I guarantee that--" I put one hand up to stop him. "It is not that, I wasn't being compliant about the phone model or anything related to the phone. It is just that..." I felt my words drifted off as I thought of him finding out that I didn't actually lose my memories and instead I am just pretending that I am so that I am able to survive.

He looked around the surroundings and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "We continue this conversation at home, it is getting too loud." He told me and I nodded, following his words and we made our way home with my heart pounding hard about the fact that he might get more suspicious about me, I lied to him from the first time that I met him at the hospital.

He placed all the groceries in the fridge and he got himself a glass of water and then placed it in front of me, it is supposed to be for me. "Keep the phone, it is a gift from you and you don't need to return it."

"But I--" He cut me off. "It's okay, it is not like you have a lot of money on you. All of your personal belongings were washed away and you were left with nothing."

I immediately thought of that night when it all started and I was so close to escaping it, but I got stopped and I almost couldn't fulfil my dreams of being freed from the Minatozaki empire and being myself. I got all uncomfortable and I stood up, wanting to go back to my room when Chae Hyungwon stopped me from doing that. "Are you okay? You look like you are going to faint anytime soon."

My legs turned into jelly and I am unable to stand up straight, he immediately supported me by wrapping one hand around my waist and the other on my shoulder. "Let me help you." And he lifted me up in his arms and I collapsed in his arms, unable to do anything else.

He carried me into my room and gently dropped me on the bed before tucking me into bed and he turned off the fan in the room for better air ventilation, he also closed the curtains in the room so that it is dim enough for me to rest comfortably. He comes close to me and he placed a hand on my forehead, and he flinched as he touched my forehead. "You're burning, you didn't even know that you are running a fever."

I guess that was why I was so tired after work... "You continue to rest and you shall not do anything else, I will make dinner myself and I will also come to check up on you every 2 hours."  He paused for a moment. "And for work, I will tell Kihyun that you are not going to report for work for the rest of the week. For now, you just concentrate on recovering. I shouldn't have forced you to find a job in the first place when you are still recovering from the aftermath of a coma."

"Chae Hyungwon..." I felt my voice weaken, it must be the tiredness and the flu that is causing all of that. He responded with a 'hmm'. "Can you stay here with me for a while?"

I was expecting that he would just ignore me and go make dinner like what he was supposed to be doing but he sat down on the edge of my bed, just staring at me. "Thank you, Chae Hyungwon for saving me back then."

"I was just there at that moment and I saved you because you looked gravely pale, you could die any moment from hypothermia." I smiled. "And I was thankful that you survived 6 months after that, and now you are staying with me until you get better."

Those were the words that hurt me a little, I don't want to stay with him for a while, if I would, I would stay with him for as long as I can. "Hyungwon, can I tell you something? Since we are staying together, I figured out that you need to know about this."

"What is it?" He prompted me.

I licked my lips and cleared my throat. "The doctor said that I have lost my memories from that accident, that was a lie. I didn't lose my memories at all and I know who you are."