* WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF *
The sound of a barking dog lazily wakes me up from my tired and painful sleep. I slowly sit up and begin to regain conscious. The unfamiliar surroundings made me anxious and scared, I try to move when a big doberman approaches and sits next to me, stopping me from moving anymore. I can feel the cold sweat beading down my back. I half-heartedly smile and slowly reach out my hand to the dog, carefully not to scare the dog. The dog cautiously moves closer and sniffs my hand, there was a moment of silence when the doberman suddenly leaps onto the bed. I let out a happy squeal as the dog begins to cuddle and lick my face, although it hurts because my head was throbbing like crazy, the affection and love from the dog made me feel safe.
The door suddenly swings open and the very person I least expected to see barges in. The guy from the other night, he looks at the commotion on my bed, "DOMINO! Come here!" he says loudly, and the cute giant quietly obeys. My heart races as I didnt know what to say, I look away and back at him and see him still staring at me intently. I quickly bow and my head feels like a brick smashed against it, letting out a painful squeal. I embrace my head and try my best to calm my nerves, avoiding eye contact with the guy. Domino and the guy rushes over, however, Domino is quicker as he put his head under mine and gently lifts it up. The guy looks surprised as he slowly walks towards us, for some reason my head feels better, must've been Domino's comfort I thought to myself as I catch my breath.
The guy cautiously sits on the edge of the bed next to me and looks me in the eyes.My body instinctively moves away and I can feel my face turning bright red as I try to look away. He lets out a painful sigh and apologises, "I'm Dom, I'm so sorry... I was there … last night" he pauses, " why is he pausing mid-sentence and sounds like he's hurt?" I thought to myself and realize that my cheeks are now wet. Without even knowing it, I'm looking into his eyes, I quickly raise my hand to wipe my tears but a pair of hands grabbed my wrist. Dom's rough but gentle hand slowly puts my hand down and carefully wipes my tears with his.
His hands were shaking as he wipes my cheek, I look up and see his honey brown eyes captivating my grey eyes. "I'm sorry" he says again softly, the sincerity in his voice made my heart hurts even more. I look at him curiously, "why?" I barely speak, he looks at me caringly, "I promise you that you will be safe". He smiles at me sweetly, "You are safe, Mina" . My eyes shot wide open, " how… did you.. Know …. My name?" I say slowly, he nervously smiles at me. "I saw your bag.. Sorry. I didn't mean to look through but I had to know your information to admit you into the hospital but-" my hearts to race as scenarios of last night replays and I begin to tightly grip the bed sheets. Dom notices and stops talking, he carefully grabs my hands and rest them on top of Domino's head. Domino gently climbs back onto the bed with me and snuggles next to me. Domino's presence made me feel safe and secure and I slowly stop shaking. "Dom.. I.. Thank you" I say, trying to think of the right words to say to him, I bow in gratitude. He pats my head, gently, "You're not at the hospital actually, you're at my house per special request of someone" he says as stands up. " someone?" I say to him in a scared tone, he quickly tries to reassure me. "Oh no! Sorry! No, please don't take this as something scary! It's just that I can't say who it is but just know that you're safe and -" the door opens and hits Dom. He rubs his head and looks at me embarrassed, I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle.
"If you can laugh then you can get the hell out of here" a cold voice emerges from behind the door, Yoo Jae Hyun. Dom quicks slaps Jae's arm, "YA! How can you say something like that, you crazy bastard?! " he whispers loudly in Jae's ear, who didn't even care to make eye contact with me. I can feel all the color from my face drain when I came to a sad realization, "he's right, why am I still here at a stranger's house? What happened to the guy who attacked me? How about Mr.Chu? There's so many questions and yet here I am falling in love with Dom". I quietly kiss Domino on the head, while Dom and Jae argue with one another.I clear my voice after making a resolve to leave this place as soon as possible, "You're right. But before I leave, I demand to know what's going on and what happened to Mr.Chu then-" the door slams open again and hits Jae Hyun instead. My eyes swells up as Mr.Chu rushes over to me, "Mina! Are you okay? I'm so sorry" he frantically says as he scans my body. "I'm okay! How about you? That guy in your shop, he was there and I didn't see you and.. And.." I couldn't finish my sentence as I realize I was gasping for air as the events replayed through my head again. For the first time, in the corner of my eye, I see Jae getting upset. Jae storms out the room, " Jae! You good?" Dom shouts after him as he looks out the door. Mr.Chu squeezes my hands, "Mina... I .." Mr.Chu pauses and looks perplexed, he takes a deep breath, Dom stands next to him and speaks softly, "how about we talk more after breakfast? Mina, you need to eat and regain strength. I know you have a lot of questions, we'll answer them but after you eat okay?" he smiles at me and Mr.Chu. Mr.Chu nods, "Is that okay Mina?" Mr.Chu asks me in his usual kind voice, I have no choice but to agree, besides I know I am safe that Mr.Chu and for some odd reason knowing that Jae Hyun is here I also feel relieved.
"Domino, stay with Mina" Dom instructs the dog and smiles at me, "I'll be outside whenever you're ready" he says as he walks out. Mr.Chu follows and closes the door behind him. I look at Domino, " let's go eat" I say as I struggle to get out of bed. I look at myself in the mirror, bruised and beaten up. I LOOK LIKE TRASH. I touch my face and realize that I am in nice, VERY nice name brand pajamas. Hidden under these expensive clothes I feel like trash, I can still feel the man's touch on my body. My body shivers and Domino immediately cuddles next to my body, his fur and comfort snaps me back to reality. I am safe, he did not touch me, I keep repeating it to myself. I open the door and see Dom standing against the wall, on his phone. " Oh, I thought you left already" I say quietly, he looks up and smiles brightly, " then who would guide you to the dining room silly" he chuckles and gestures me to the dining room. I played along and courtesy, we both walk to the dining room, his pace was matching mine. "Oh Dom, can I ask you something?"he suddenly turns around, "anything" he stops and looks at me. A sudden rush of nervousness came over me and I stutter, "uhh..can.. You.. I .. I mean.. Do you know where my phone is?" I barely manage to spit out the words. He looks to the side and back at me, "oh, yeah..Uhm.. I have it but" he stops and scrolls through his phone and shows me a picture of my totally smashed phone, "I'm sorry, I already have my guys on it. Your phone should be here no later than tonight" he says proudly. I smile because of his silly face, "thank you, you didn't have to" I say trying to hide my sadness. He senses it and continues to walk, "let's eat! I hope you like what my chef cooks, Mr.Chu did choose the menu today so if you don't like it, rag Mr.Chu out okay?" he laughs and so do I. He opens another pair of big doors, I follow in behind him and see a very elegant long table with food all over it. After a minute of staring at the food, I realize who was sitting there, "auntie Kim.." I murmured to myself. I instinctively look to the side and see Bomi jumping onto me, before I can say anything she is on top me. Typically I can hold her for a long period of time but at my current state, I started to topple and feel myself falling backwards. A warm strong hand supported my back and the irresistible smell fills my nose. " On normal days, I know she can hold you but not today Bomi" Dom says as he still holding onto me. Bomi climbs off and dramatically hugs me while crying, "YA YOU GZB! YOU GOT ME SO WORRIED !" she says as she digs her face into my neck. I hugged her back, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" I keep repeating myself to her as I try to comfort her.
After 20 minutes of dramatically apologizing to each other, Dom finally got us to sit down, "Why are you sitting next to her?" Bomi says coldly to Dom who just laughs and starts putting food on my plate. "Ahh, Dom you don't-" I stop talking as I see Bomi also putting food on my plate. I look at the both of them aggressively piling food on my plate. "uhh. ..guys.. I can't eat all of-" They both stop and look at me, "You'll finish it" they say unison. Defeated, I look up and see Jae Hyun. He looks away as we make eye contact, and whispers to one of the butlers. Bomi and Dom happily pile their plate as I pick up my fork but the butler walks by and takes my plate full of food and places an empty one in front of me. "Please enjoy your food" he says and walk away. I look at Jae Hyun and mouth "thank you", he looks away but nods. Dom and Bomi were too immersed in their food to notice what happened but thanks to Jae Hyun I was able to enjoy a quiet and portionally right breakfast.