Bidding goodbye to Yeosang, she started making her way to the bus stop. Thoughts swirled in her mind and caused a headache to form. There was no way she could return back to her parents, not with how things were between them. Their relationship had been strained for a long time, and there was nothing strong enough to repair it.
Sighing she stepped on the bus and sat in a seat furthest in the back. Placing earbuds in her ears, she planned on getting lost in the music, and give her mind a much-needed break.
Later she stepped onto the pavement and stood in front of her dorm building. Looking up at it, she thought about how her life would be different if her brother was still alive. How everything would be better, and life would be worth something again.
She lowered her head, and took a step forward, to only stumble backwards a second later.
Then she felt her knees hit the pavement, as something seemed to enter her body, and shake her very soul. A headache assaulted her mind and the pain caused her to double over. It felt like dozens of knives were being shoved into her brain, and the pain was unbearable.
When she regained some sense of consciousness, she realised that someone was grabbing her arm and helping her to stand. When she lifted her head, Yeosang's face came into sight, worry lines etching his handsome face. Shock replaced the pain that had been previously felt, and she tried to release his hold on her.
"Yeosang, let go!"
He gave in to her wishes and stepped away from her - the same confusion written on his face that was on hers. Just a moment ago she had been walking in the rain, Yeosang following closely behind her. Yet now they were in a place that was unfamiliar, but still brought about a sense of deja vu.
Momentarily their argument was forgotten as they looked about them and saw the place they hadn't been to in a long time. It was unfamiliar in the sense that they were still disoriented from what had occurred just now, and because they hadn't been to the place in a long time.
It was a place of the past; their first meeting, their first kiss, their first everything's occurred here, and being here now made them feel like crying. Standing where they were now was bittersweet, and their chest simultaneously constricted, as memories that had been buried for a long time came to the surface.
It was especially bad for Chaehee, as this was the one place, more specifically the town, she had never wanted to come back to. Here she lost everything; her brother and her parent's love. Yeosang had been her saving grace, and he made it so that she would never have to come back here again.
He was her happiness, her safe place, her everything.
So when did it all go wrong?
Her knees buckled under her again, as memories continued to bombard her, and weigh her down heavily. Only to be caught a second later, by a pair of arms - ones she knew all too well.
Yeosang.
His arm was wound around her waist and kept her steady. No matter what, he wouldn't let her fall. It didn't matter if they argued, or went through tough times, he would never leave her side.
For the first time since they had arrived at this place, Yeosang's lips parted and he said:
"Chae, can't you see?" He moved in front of her and made it so that she could only focus on him and not their bleak surroundings. "I know being here again is terrible, and daunting, but remember this... your past is your past, but our future is our future. So keep a hold of me, ok? While we are here, I won't let any of the bad things happen to you again. Trust me, just like you did before."
And with that, he drew her into his arms, and let her cry as much as she wanted.
They weren't certain about what had made it so they were back to this place, but they were sure that whatever happened they would have to stick together. Even if there was still bad blood between them, for now, that didn't matter.
For as long as they could, they wanted to keep a hold of each other, and never let go.