I knelt before her, laid my hands on her feet and looked straight into her eyes.

"I can't stop the pain. I cannot take it away. But let me be here with you until the time comes you become numb to it."

There's so much going on around us; countless problems, suspicious people and marked criminals, unsolved mysteries and tons of emotional turmoil, but everytime I look at Mia, I feel much stronger and determined to fix everything.

My feelings for her? It's even deeper than before. And I'll never let her out of my sight, literally and figuratively.

~~~~^~~~~

"What are we, Yoongi? What are we supposed to be?"

The sleeping pills must have taken effect, because Mia never raised questions like these when she's fully awake. She lay comfortably in bed, fat Migi snoring at her feet, while I brushed her hair with my fingers.

"Whatever you want us to be..."

With her eyes closed, she reached for my hand and placed it on her face, then softly she brushed her lips on my palm and mumbled sleepily, "Thank you..."

"For what?"

"For being alive..."

"Thank you, Mia."

"For wha..."

"For waiting for me. I'm sorry I was late."

"...it's okaay... You're heeere nooow..."

I watched her as she sleeps, feeling a sense of contentment and tranquility with each alluring steady rise and fall of her breathing, knowing that in the days to come my purpose for living progressed from dark and murky to lucid, clear as crystal.

One at a time, answers will be revealed.

I picked up my phone to see who's been blowing up my phone with tons of missed calls.

(77) Missed calls from Jin.

My eyes squinted as they slowly adjusted to the glare of the phone's light. I opened the message from him.

Jin: Where in the world are you? I have some news for you about Emily. It's something important, but we need to discuss this in private. I don't want Detective Kim to get into trouble... WILL YOU FUCKIN' ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE? You're stressing out my beautiful face!!!

I sent a reply saying I'll meet him once Mia's dad arrives home.

This is one hell of a rollercoaster ride...