Chapter 45: Can You Hear Me?

Chapter Theme:
Losing You - Wonho

Han Seungwoo

"Harin!" I called her name desperately to save her from the man trying to abduct her. Who's that man anyway?

From my quick scanning, it seemed that he was trying to rob us or so I thought. My soul almost slipped away from me when someone punched my face hardly. It was the first time I received a punch with that kind amount of force. His punches hits differently. If he's Manny Pacquaio, I'll feel privileged but he's not. His heavy punch got me on the ground, I was knocked down. In an instant, we were in the lurch. Harin was dragged away from me. She keeps on calling my name but her voice becomes faint each time. My world starting to spin then afterwards, my eyesight started to get blurry. I can no longer clearly see how she was or where she was. Calling her name was my ultimate goal but it's like my voice was beaten too.

Harin is a vulnerable woman. If anything bad happens to her, I swear to the devil that I'll make my revenge. No one should touch nor hurt my woman. There is no single human here on earth who has the right to hurt her, even me. They'll taste the most bitter revenge of hell.

All I could hear was my groan and moan. His punches and kicks were painful that I couldn't fathom. He was treating me like a punch bag. I can already taste blood on my mouth and I know anytime soon, I'll faint. I think if I'll survive, I'll have a trauma.

How can I save Harin at this state? Dear God, please give me strength.

My eyes started to weaken but I tried to fight it. Sleeping will only hinder myself from saving her. Every second is valuable and shouldn't be wasted.

The perpetrator blew his last punch on my and this time, even if I was silently praying not to be defeated, my body was weak to fight. This time I wanted to close my eyes and declare defeat. I could feel the cold ground on my skin. Tears escaped from my eyes as I felt helpless. I'm the man who can't help his girlfriend and never had the chance to fight hisself. I am greatly ashamed of myself right now. If something really bad happens to her, I'm not gonna forgive myself.

As remorse ran on my veins, I closed my eyes with an ache in my heart. I ran out of strength and even if I wanted to do something, my body won't function together with my brain. When I wake up, I will make sure I'll find her no matter what. Even if finding her is means finding a needle on a haystack.

I was running in an endless darkness chasing for Harin who was taken away from me. Her wails resonated in my ears and was the only way I could keep a track on her.

"Yoon Harin!"

Amazingly my knees did not hurt with my endless ran. Each time my heart felt that I'm near to Harin, my vigor increases. I am wondering why my body did not feel even a slight of pain and tiredness. Perhaps this time, luck was on our side.

Earlier, I could see nothing but darkness. This time as I took my steps, the sound of crunching leaves and twigs occured. Finally, I am going to be close to her. The trees were lofty making the entire place be deprived of the moonlight. It was still dark but tolerable. I heard a rattle on the left side so I changed my direction and followed the rattle.

"Harin?! Can you hear me?!" I yelled in the forest. It was a relief when my voice echoed because it will surely circulate around the area.

I stumbled on a big root and hit my body on a piled up leaves. Wait.. why does my body did not hurt? The pain from that man was unbearable so how did I manage to ran here?

I picked up myself and started to ran again, still thinking about how my body was completely fine; well, I was hurt when I stumbled on the root. This is so strange.. did I heal in a snap?

"AAAAAAHHH!" Harin's scream pulled me back to my senses. My feet ran own their own, as if they have life.

She was still screaming but every time I take a step closer to her, her voice becomes faint. Am I taking the right path or I was just deceived?

"Harin-ah! I will save you no matter what! Please keep screaming so I'll know where you are!" I kept on shouting repeatedly, hoping that she would actually hear me. It's now or never.

Not so far, I saw a small house that was surrounded with vines on it's walls and roof. It was creepy but my feet was dragged there without my notice. My hand held on the rusty doorknob and twisted it to open. The door creaked and dust greeted me as I opened the door. "Ah-choo!" I sneezed two times as the dust went to my nose. I took my foot inside, testing if the floor has a strong foundation. After testing it's durability, I stepped inside, my hands crawled on the wall trying to find a switch but there's none. I was taken aback when a light suddenly appeared. The place was illuminated by a candlelight, enough for me to know what's inside the house.

My heart was pounding hard when I saw a figure on a corner. It's head was leaning on the wall, tilted. As I closed our distance, my tears fell down at I looked at my girlfriend's pity situation. I kneeled down so I could see her clearly. When I felt that she's still breathing, the lump in my throat disappeared. I slowly tapped her cheek to wake her up. She moved her head and I cupped her face so I could guide her.

"Harin.. I'm here now. You will be safe." I pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Wake up now honey, let's go home." I watched her with anticipation when she slowly opened her eyes.

"Aaaaahh!!!" I screamed my lungs out when her eye sockets became eyeless. The blood went out through it like an overflowing water.

I hastily stood up, wanting to escape the house. My breathing hitched and I couldn't see well. The inside of the house started to fog until I can no longer see anything. I jumped in astonishment when a hand held my leg. "Seungwoo.. kajima.." Harin's voice sent chills on me. I don't know what to do now. How I wish this is only a nightmare.

I pulled my leg away from her grip and I succeeded. "This is not real. This is not real." I chant those words on my mouth, wishing to wake up from this nightmare.

As my eyes looked at the doorway, Harin appeared in front of me. Even without her eyes I could feel her deathly glares. She extended her arms towards me, like she was about to choke me. "Stay away from me!" I shouted in disgust. "You're not Harin so please stop playing with my mind!" I stepped back every time she stepped forward until I could feel myself falling on a hollow. "Aaaaahhh!!!!"

"Appa! Appa! Ireona!"

Two hands were on my arm, shaking it to wake me up. I breathed deeply as I opened my eyes. The ceiling was white and the smell was surely different from my room. I saw Dongpyo on my side, his face was wet due to the unending tears flowing from his eyes.

He jumped in joy when our eyes met. "Appa! You're awake now!"

I am awake now? What does it mean? Did I fall on the hollow and hurt myself so badly that's why I ended up here in the hospital? Or was it only a nightmare? I hope it was the latter.

My worry for her doubled. What if my dream was really true? What if those people tortured her physically? What if they really pulled her eye balls out?

"Seungwoo!" Noona screamed in delight when she saw me as she entered the room. "How are you feeling? Does your body hurt? I bought us lunch. Do you like to eat now?" Her voice was full of concern. Noona placed her hand on my face, inspecting if I'm okay.

Instead of answering all her queries, I asked her another question. "Where's Harin?" Please say that she's okay and she's here with us.

Noona's eyes can't look at me and she was very cautious not to meet with mine. The way her eyes move shattered my heart. She doesn't know where she is.

"Hey, it's already lunch time. Let's take our lunch first before talking about what happened to you." She placed the foods on the table and opened the lids of the food containers. "Seungwoo, do you want me to feed you?"

"I can manage noona.. don't worry."

She handed me the plate full of foods. My stomach growled in hunger but I don't have any appetite to eat now. I feel guilty to eat without knowing if my girlfriend has taken her meal or not.

"Staring on the food will not make you full. Seungwoo-ya.. you need to eat so you can regain your energy back and you will heal fast." Noona sounded so concerned at my situation. Her eyes weren't lying that she exactly pity me.

Dongpyo sat beside me with a drumstick on his hand. "Do you want chicken appa?" He offered his drumstick to me. I shook my head in response. "It's your share Dongpyo and I have mine." I showed him the chicken wings on my plate.

If not for my family, I wouldn't be able to regain my strength. They're here to remind me about how should I fight for my life. They're always on my back to help me out whenever I'm in chaos. They will not let me fight alone with my fights because they want to be with me through my defeats and triumphs.

Harin, please hang in there. I am not the only one who's looking for you. If you're losing hope, think about your dreams. If you want to give up, think about us who will fight for you. If you want to close your eyes, close it and pray. If you want to be free from their hands, please believe in us. We will find you until we see your shadow.

"Noona.." I called her attention after she washed her hands. She approached me with an alcohol bottle on her hand.

"Open your palms, you need to disinfect." I rub the alcohol on my palms up to my wrists.

"Did I sleep for days or weeks?" She put the alcohol on the bedside table and sat on my bed.

"Hey, you're exaggerating. You sleep for 13 hours I think..?"

So I had really a bad dream. They say that dreams are the opposite of the reality, then Harin is safe. It might be funny but there's nothing to lose if I'll believe. I need to think positive because if I'll think negatively, I will only attract negativity which aren't helpful.

"How did you find me?"

"The hospital called me to inform that you're admitted here. The nurses who took care of you told me that someone with a good heart brought you here. To be honest Seungwoo, I don't know what happened to you. When you asked about Harin earlier, I got nervous. I didn't know you are together that night. What happened Seungwoo?" Her forehead creased in bafflement. She doesn't know anything.

After telling her what happened last night, I deeply regretted it. Her body started to shake in fear because I triggered her past experience. She started to breathe unsteadily and her face became pale.

"Noona.. noona.." she looked at me with so much fear in her eyes. Her eyes were like an open window for me to see her experience in the past. "Noona.. stop thinking about your past. It has nothing to do with what happened to us."

My hands that were on her arms were thrown away and she suddenly went frezy. "That man saw her face! He was never put in jail for what he had done. We don't know if he was tailing her all along. Seungwoo, I'm having a bad feeling about this."

I shook my head, not wanting to entertain her idea. "Her workmate is missing too. Maybe someone related from their work is behind in this abduction. Please stop overthinking noona. I don't want to see you in pain again."

Right after, with the help of the attending nurses, I asked them to report the incident behind my injuries. I released a statement about what happened to us last night and the other possibilities of why it happened. I made sure I did not miss anything that could help us in finding Harin.

Baby, wherever you are, please hear my voice.