Chaeyoung rolled over in her sleep, soft sigh escaping her lips. Her arm stretched to the side, reaching for the warm figure beside her. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking at the empty spot as she sluggishly sat up, the blanket falling from her bare body. The darkness of the room let her know that even dawn was a little far, but Jungkook wasn't with her.

Instead, he was standing right by the window, leaning against it. His focus seemed to be fixed on the outside world, engulfed with darkness yet blessed with moonlights.

"Jungkook?" she softly called for him.

Jungkook's head whipped around instantly, and a soft smile pulled on his face when their eyes met. "Did I wake you?"

Chaeyoung only hummed with a small smile, taking Jungkook's hand that he'd stretched toward her right after she stood to her feet and wrapped herself with his blanket. She leaned into him as his arm pulled her close to his warm body.

Jungkook pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You should sleep some more."

Chaeyoung gently wound her arms around his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. "Why aren't you sleeping beside me?"

"I wanted you to sleep comfortably," Jungkook said, his palm rubbing the small of her back. "Grandpa told me that you haven't had a good second of rest just to heal me."

Chaeyoung closed her eyes, cherishing the feeling of being in his arms again. All her fatigue and worries that previously made home within her gone the moment Jungkook embraced her earlier before she descended to sleep. She slept better than any other days, knowing that he was now in a better condition than he was days before.

"I slept well with you by my side," Chaeyoung softly said. Lifting her head from his shoulder and looking him in the eyes, she softly said, "Don't leave me on my own."

Jungkook's gaze into her eyes was soft but deep. He took a long breath, softly uttering the words that held a deeper meaning, "I'll never leave you again," as he slowly leaned down to catch her lips in a slow kiss.

Chaeyoung's eyes fluttered to a close as she held Jungkook's face before her arms folded around his neck when he placed an arm under her knees. Chaeyoung's fingers knotted in his hair as he lifted her up into his chest easily, walking slowly toward the bed. Her smile grew on her face when Jungkook took the vacant space beside her again after gently laying her down. Just like how her body remembered where he was before she fell asleep after the lovely blissful night they had, the night where she was able to fill her mind with only great things.

Her back was pressed against his chest, his lips were pressed for long moments on the back of her head. Chaeyoung took Jungkook's hand on her waist, intertwined their fingers before she brought them to her lips. She softly smiled while closing her eyes, letting Jungkook pull her even closer to his bare chest.

She felt him kissing the back of her shoulder before he exhaled heavily.

"Is something the matter?" she softly asked, her eyes settling on the still dark sky outside.

Jungkook stayed silent and only embraced her tighter. Her brows slowly furrowed, a weird feeling began to surface inside of her. Chaeyoung dropped her gaze to their hands, and she squeezed his gently. "What is it?"

In the stillness of the night where none of the crickets sang, Chaeyoung could hear almost anything. Including Jungkook's shaky breath that he tried to control. Her brows knitted further. Slowly, she turned around to face him on the bed.

Jungkook's eyes were shut tightly, his brows furrowing and Chaeyoung's worry rose within her as fear was vivid in his eyes when he opened them slowly. She placed her palm on his warm cheek. "Jungkook?"

His eyes downcast as he took a deep breath. "Forgive me."

"What are you apologizing for?"

Jungkook bit on his lip hard as he took her hand on his face. "I failed to protect you. They... the bastards-" He shook his head lightly, the memory seemed to be haunting his mind. "They hurt you."

"Stop," Chaeyoung breathed. She shook her head. "It was not your fault."

Jungkook inhaled sharply and pushed himself up, sitting with his arms propped on his knees. He grasped on a handful of his red hair, slowly shaking his head. Chaeyoung watched him for a moment before she sat up and gently caressed his back.

"Jungkook, I am all healed now," she assured him. "You needn't worry."

"I can't stop worrying over you, Chaeyoung. Especially when they involved you," he said, head lowered. "It was why I wanted us to stop seeing each other. I wanted to protect you. But I still couldn't."

"It's all over now." Chaeyoung shifted closer toward him, putting her arm around his lower back, her head resting on his shoulder.

He silently protested, shaking his head again as he breathed heavily. His anger toward the tormentors seemed to be alive again. With a soft sigh, Chaeyoung rubbed her palm against his arm and pressed her lips softly on his shoulder.

"Jungkook... Stop blaming yourself."

Jungkook finally lifted his head up. "How could I not, Chaeyoung? You are not at all related to the problem between he and I. The bastards dared to use you and tortured you. All because of a revenge."

Chaeyoung shut her eyes, trying her best to fill her mind with only the song for healing but failed as the unpleasant memories of the men intruded her mind, filling every crack like dirt.

"Did they..." Jungkook paused, hesitating and Chaeyoung looked up at him. He slowly turned to her, eyes locked, and brows furrowed. The fear was still evident in his eyes.

"Did they..." he cautiously asked, "Did they cause you other pain?"

Chaeyoung sucked the air sharply through gritted teeth, understanding what he meant. Her eyes slightly enlarged, and her throat tightened. She shook her head vigorously.

"I swear on my life, Chaeyoung," Jungkook said, his fist clenching and to her surprise, a tear trickled down his face. "I will kill them if-"

Chaeyoung continued to shake her head.

"They didn't hurt me that way." She felt a bile rising in her throat as she recalled what happened. It was such a terrifying and disgusting feeling to be around those tormentors. "They had only threatened to, but they never did."

She couldn't blame Jungkook for having that thought after how Hanbin had threatened him when he refused to fight if it wasn't at their training ground. Yet even though it never happened, the disgust she felt only grew larger. Hanbin's lips on her skin, his terrifying words, his filthy hands; she wished for these memories to be erased.

Chaeyoung was on her way to the pond after meeting Junhoe, trying to find the peace she needed so she could think of how to confront her parents about Junhoe's true identity as a Dual and their knowledge about it. It was at that moment when the men had appeared, coming out of the woods and surrounded her.

She had recognized their faces, the fools who had been trying to anger and intimidate Jungkook all the time and she immediately had sensed that something was off especially when the men had mentioned Jungkook, pairing his name with some insults.

She knew she had no chance to escape when all men were surrounding her, forming a circle that only grew smaller and smaller as they stepped toward her. They had talked to her nicely, to ask her to come with them if she wanted him safe. She had doubts that they were even holding Jungkook hostage that she quietly summoned the water from the pond with her hand. With a sharp and short move of her wrist, the water had splashed against them harshly, causing anger to wrap around them.

The man whom she had thought of as the leader, Jiwon had grabbed her wrist and gripped it so hard she thought her bone would shatter. Chaeyoung had tried to do the same attack using her other hand, but it was immediately stopped by Hanbin, the real leader of them all, Jungkook's main enemy.

Hanbin had held her hand gently in the beginning before he twisted her hand with his nails digging into her flesh. When she fought to free herself, her face was slapped harshly that her skin burned, and her eyes watered. Her kick to one of the men's shin was reciprocated with a kick to her gut, leaving her soul to beg for air, giving them the leisure to tie her while stepping on her head as they told her the most revolting things that she had ever heard spoken directly to her.

"Pretty little thing. You make me wish that I have the slightest of interest in Healers."

"I would want to try you if that bastard Jeon Jungkook hadn't."

"Consider yourself unlucky that you don't stand a chance to be with me, pretty Healer. I reserve myself for women of the Defense Sector."

"You're that useless Healer, are you not? I wonder what's so good about you that Jeon can't keep his hands off you."

"Perhaps, I would wreck you all day and all night, you would beg to be spared."

Chaeyoung shook her head at the memory, her skin crawled, her breath shaky as they escaped through her slightly parted lips. She instantly leaned into Jungkook when his arm came around her. Chaeyoung pushed her head into his neck, her hand shook as she held his tightly.

"I will not let them touch you again," Jungkook said, his voice gravelly. "I will never let them touch a single hair of you." He cupped her face gently but didn't force her to look at him. "I vow to protect you, Chaeyoung, with everything that I have."

She hadn't realized that she had been closing her eyes tightly. As she opened her eyes, she looked up sadly at him. "You can't always protect me, Jungkook."

He held her soft gaze with his, firmer. "I vow to protect you at all costs," he said with the same tone. "I can't bear seeing you hurt."

"I understand," she nodded gently and caressed the side of his face, "but you must protect yourself before you do anyone else." Tears began to roll down her face. Chaeyoung leaned her face into his and pressed their foreheads together. "I almost lost you," her voice broke. "I can't lose you."

She pulled him into a kiss, hugging him tightly as the image of him being viciously attacked prodded her mind. The memory that she thought had been wiped away along with the other painful reminiscences came back. Perhaps, these memories would be like those that appeared in his nightmares. Perhaps, they would continue to haunt that even healing would have no chance to fix it.

Pain inflicted on bodies were indeed easier to fix and heal than the pain that a mind should bear.

Chaeyoung hoped that even if their minds could never rid these dark spots, there would be enough room to fill with something of the opposite, something pleasuring that would be big enough for them to only think of that alone and not of anything else.

"I can't lose you either," Jungkook whispered and pulled his head back. He gazed into her eyes deeply. "I love you, Chaeyoung. I love you with the entirety of my being. I love you."

Her tears fell rapidly upon listening to him declaring his love for her. "And I you," she softly said. "I love you just as much if not more. With all that I am, I love you, Jungkook."