46 Give me a new memory (1/2)

Nam Ji Won's tears have long dried. Her mind starts to clear a bit when she hears Tae Il's voice. She blinks several times when she hears his words.

”I feel dirty.” She hides her face in his embrace. ”I don't want to feel dirty.”

She doesn't want to feel dirty. Tae Il could guess what must have happened to her. He knows that she won't tell him yet. The wound is still fresh in her mind. She went through something horrible because he could not protect her that day. That man...he will find her. He will make him pay for his crimes.

”Tae Il, I don't think that I can walk another step. I want to keep lying to you to save my face. But, I am also too tired to lie anymore. I want you to turn away and go back. Leave me alone. I want to give up...I want to become what they told me. I don't want to be weak anymore. I want anyone to take advantage of me anymore. I don't want to be manipulated anymore. I don't want to lie to myself anymore.”

She is trembling. Tae Il rubs her back to soothe her. It agonizes him to see her shattering like this.

”I won't turn away.”

”You should give me some face.” She presses her ear against his chest. She can hear his heartbeats. He is human. She is also a human. Why is she different from him? Why is she thinking of killing someone? Lee Hyo Rin. Jasper. No Ye-Joon. The person who killed her father. The Monarch. She wants to wipe their existences.

”I can't leave you alone.” His words are firm and decisive. He holds her tighter. ”Would you leave me alone if you were in my place? Idiot, you didn't leave me alone when I punched you that day. You didn't fight back with your fighting skills. You should have left me alone after I blamed you falsely and bothered you so much. When I was crying at my lowest point, you stayed by my side.”

Nam Ji Won is touched when she hears her words. But, she isn't convinced.

”I am not the same person anymore.” She looks at him. She is tired. Physically. Mentally. With everything. ”Tae Il, I am not a normal person anymore. I am not even a human anymore. I am...something strange. There is so much that you don't know. That's why you shouldn't stay by my side.”

”You didn't know me either.” He has already guessed that something is going on with her. The strange academy. A man who can suddenly appear on the rooftop.Choi Min Ho. His warped memories. Mother Nam and Nam Go Eun still believe that Nam Ji Won is studying traditional medicine. Is it mass hypnosis? He doesn't know. Right now, she matters. If she is in this, how can he leave her alone?

”You didn't know that I was a secret superstar. After getting back your memories, you decided to throw me away instead.” He smiles at her. ”So, even if you turn out to be a queen or a secret service agent, I won't let you go.”

”It's worse than that.” She sighs weakly. ”Way worse. It's a nightmare that doesn't end.”

”I am a prince who will wake you up from this nightmare,” he says mischievously.

”What if you can't?” She asks.

”I will stay with you in this nightmare and we will face it together.” He plants a kiss on the top of her nose. ”Until we wake up, we will face it together.”

”You are too good for me.” She looks into his hazel eyes. ”Tae Il, you deserve someone normal.”

”Is that a breakup line?” Tae Il is visibly shocked. ”Are you breaking up with me?”

”Will you leave if I break up with you?” There is a small smile on her lips. ”You have always been doing whatever you want. Before, you chased me around and crashed all of my dates. You went to the T mountains that day for my sake. Now, you followed me to this place.”

”My girlfriend was a couple breaker. She dated girls. I don't know what to feel about it.”

”I soothed my boyfriend when he was crying over his ex-girlfriend. I even got punched by him. I don't know what to feel about it.”