Chapter 76 - Start by calling my name first

"Say... why did you lie to me?" Do Sejin asks her quietly.

"I only trust myself." Ahn Hana leans back and stares at the open window. Her daughter is gone. She can only hope that the magnolia killer will not hurt her daughter. She managed to hold on to the sanity because of her daughter. Even now, she's this calm because of her daughter. "She looks a lot like you."

Do Sejin rests his elbows on the bed and holds his head. He can't cry. He doesn't know what to say to this woman. He knows that she can't trust him. She won't even give him a chance to become her person. For his past mistakes, how long does he has to suffer? His sister is dead. His daughter is taken away. The woman he loves has been tortured over and over again. The killer is doing it to torment him.

Ahn Hana mumbles to herself, "I will find him."

***

When Jung Kwang-soo opens his eyes, he finds Eun Min Ah sitting beside him. "You are here."

He didn't expect to survive. He didn't expect to see her sitting beside him either. She seems tired. There are dark circles around her eyes. It seems like she hasn't slept for days.

"You are awake." A smile breaks on her lips. "Boss Jung, I am relieved."

Its been a week. The doctor couldn't tell whether he would wake up or not. He lost a lot of blood when he was attacked. Eun Min Ah has been here, waiting for him to wake up. When she saw him lying still as if he was already dead, she felt like she was also dying.

"What happened to Ahn Hana?"

She gets a sharp pain in her heart. Why does both men only care about Ahn Hana?

Jung Kwang-soo looks at her with deep fear when she doesn't answer. "Is she...?"

"No, she's fine and already discharged." She answers him while holding herself from bursting into tears. "Do Sejin is with her."

"Thank goodness." Jung Kwang-soo lets out a breath of relief.

Eun Min Ah looks down at her pale hands. She doesn't know when she started to care for this man. She had always wanted to have Do Sejin despite the way he treated her. But, Boss Jung was always there to listen to her. He never treated her harshly. She knew that she was just one of the women who warmed his bed, but she still could not stop herself from seeing him.

To be honest, Eun Min Ah is tired of running after Do Sejin. At first, she thought that he would never fall for anyone. When she heard about Ahn Hana and noticed his feelings for her, she realized something crucial. When she met Ahn Hana, she knew that she could never defeat that woman. It didn't hurt her as it should have. She was forcing herself to feel hurt. It hurt her more when she heard that Jung Kwang-soo might die.

Jung Kwang-soo sees her devastated expression. The girl only pretends in front of Do Sejin and others, but she lowers her inhibitions only in front of him. This relationship between them started after Ahn Hana was gone. At that time, he was trying to drink to death, afraid to go back to his home. He couldn't live while knowing that Ahn Hana was tortured in his bedroom and he could do nothing. This girl found him. She would stay beside him when he was too afraid. She would hold his head and stroke his hair to calm him when he woke up because of the nightmares. The world might see her as a horrible woman who would do anything to tie a man to her. He has seen her other side. She even took care of Do Sejin's parents when his sister died. He is not saying that she didn't do any wrong, but she's not exactly a bad person.

Behind the girl who would do anything for Do Sejin, there is a kind girl who would even stay beside people like him.

He recalls Ahn Hana's words. The girl can still be saved. He wants her to be beside him. There's something between them. It's love or not. It's hard to tell. Maybe it's something more or less than love.

"Min Ah..." Jung Kwang-soo reaches for her hand. "I want to see your face first thing in the morning for the rest of my life."

Those sudden words shock her. She didn't think that she would ever hear a man say those words to him, especially him. She blinks once. A tear drops down from her left eye. "Why?"

"When I felt like I was dying, I thought that I wanted to see you once." Jung Kwang-soo's words are honest. "When I woke up and saw you first, I knew that I would like to see you beside me for the rest of my life."

"But, you asked about her first." Eun Min Ah wants to slap him. "You like Ahn Hana. You didn't follow me that day."

"I told you already that she's my friend. There's nothing between us." Jung Kwang-soo sighs. "There can never be anything between her and me. I don't see her as a woman. Also, she's the one who told me that I should confess my feelings to you."

Pale, Eun Min Ah purses her lips. She doesn't know how to take this information.

"You were interested in Do Sejin. That's why I didn't say anything earlier. Because she insisted that I should atleast try, I am revealing it to you today." Jung Kwang-soo closes his eyes. "I know that I am old. If you are still interested in marrying me for real, let's get the marriage certificates after I get discharged. I will accept your son as my son, not just in the name like Do Sejin did. We will raise him together if you agree. You should start by calling my name first if you want to marry me."

Eun Min Ah breaks down into tears then. Jung Kwang-soo pats her hand. It's been years of shame and hurt. Her son is being called a bastard by people. It's her mistakes. She doesn't want her son to pay for it. She didn't think that this playboy would ever look at her something more.

Eun Min Ah stares at him. "Kwang-soo, don't cheat on me."

Jung Kwang-soo chuckles. "Who would cheat on such a pretty and young wife?"

"Shut up." She looks away with a blush on her face. Their past isn't clean. But they can have a clean future that only consists of them.