A/N: Thanks to Sohuii for the review, it gave me a few ideas actually! I couldn't figure out how to PM you, so sorry to everyone else for spamming here! Also, let me know if this translations section gets annoying. I realize that not everyone is as much of a K-drama addict as I am, so I'm trying to remember to put all the Korean words here that I have in the chapter, but I may miss some... Also, I'm still messing with format, so sorry for any confusion as to switching points of view or passages of time... That should be fixed from here on out.

Translations: Suffixes -ah and -ya suggest a closeness between characters

Suffix -nim shows respect and is usually added to a title

Suffix -ssi shows a professional relationship

Chapter 4

After an eternity, a few fumbled attempts at opening his door, and several dirty glances, Choi Young Do heaved Baek Seonsaengnim onto his couch and collapsed onto the floor beside her. It wasn't necessarily that she was heavy for a woman her size, but he was so exhausted and after he had gotten her to the elevator, the adrenaline left his body and he questioned his sanity.

What would he do when Esther left? How would his father punish him for ruining whatever devious plans he'd had? What would Baek Seonsaengnim do when she woke up?

Most importantly, what had they given her? She hadn't stirred since he'd lifted her onto his back. Should he take her to the hospital? What would he tell them? Certainly they'd involve the police. He wouldn't live through that. Should he call the family doctor? Surely he wouldn't be the one that had supplied the drugs, right? Maybe he could have her pee in a cup so they could at least know what she'd taken.

Baek Seonsaengnim moaned behind him and he was relieved when she opened her eyes. "Choi Young Do," she mumbled, "Where'm I?"

One problem at a time, he decided. At least she was too drugged to do much damage. "You're in my suite. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Donnow, feel sssick." He hurriedly emptied a decorative bowl of rocks on the coffee table onto the floor and held it to her face in time for her to throw up into it. He held the bowl in one hand and some of her hair back with the other - an action he didn't entirely understand. He certainly never did anything more than laugh at Myung Soo after a rowdy night. But this wasn't alcohol. It was something else and he didn't know what his father had planned for her. Surely she would have walked home on her own once he was through. . . His father couldn't have been trying to kill her, right?

When she was done, she rolled back over and fell back asleep. He dumped the bowl, rinsed it, and set it back beside her. Then he went back to the bathroom, splashed water over his face, and leant over the sink to calm his own queasiness.

His arms were shaking.

He stood up straight, raking his wet hands through his hair. His whole body was shaking. It was too heavy.

He thought back to the woman on his couch. To what she'd said on the roof ages ago; "Find out what your dream is, what you desperately need out of life. Then stop at nothing to achieve it." What if he didn't want anything out of life, but to simply live. Without knowing that no matter what he did, he'd never be good enough - big enough - to protect himself. To protect his mother. To protect Eun Sang. At least he'd managed to save Baek Seonsaengnim - but at what cost? And for how long?

The sounds of her throwing up again spurred him out of his thoughts. He changed his shirt and grabbed a washcloth and glass of water. He cleaned her up the best he could between dry heaves while waiting for room service to bring up some soup and porridge. Once it arrived, he slowly fed her the soup, which she threw back up at first, but soon settled down and after half an hour without incident, he fed her some porridge. Her phone vibrated, but she made no move to answer. It went silent. Another few spoonfuls and he was glad to see the color returning to her cheeks and her eyes cleared.

Then she giggled.

Horribly confused, he dared ask, "What?"

"You. . . called me Yeong In-ah," she finally gasped and her giggles turned into outright laughter, but at least her speech wasn't slurred anymore. Of all the things for her to remember. She stopped suddenly, looking at him seriously - if not for her eyes still being slightly unfocused. "Ya, I'm twenty three, you can only call me Yeong In or noona."

Her phone vibrated again and this time she answered, slurring slightly in her enthusiasm. "Unni! I love you!" she laughed hysterically, "What? I'm with my friend, Young Do-ah." A jolt went through his stomach; it had been years since someone called him that. He certainly hoped she remembered this tomorrow. Regardless, he'd make sure she never forgot. "I don't know where I am-" Young Do snatched the phone from her.

"Hello, I'm a friend of Baek Yeong In's there was a slight mishap, could you tell me her address so I can take her home?"

"What kind of mishap?" the woman on the phone asked suspiciously.

"It would be easier to explain in person, but I can assure you I will see that she gets home safely as soon as I know where to take her."

There was a pause, "Well, if you take her home like that, her father will kill you, no questions asked. I'm on my way home, so you can take her to my house. Do you have anything to write with?" Young Do scrambled around, finally finding pen and paper on the desk in his bedroom. After scribbling down the address and passcode, he pocketed her phone. He walked back to the living room to retrieve Baek Seonsaengnim from his couch, but it was empty. Soon after his discovery, giggling came from the direction of his bedroom. Confused as to how he could have missed her, but relieved she was feeling well enough to walk, he backtracked.

He looked around his empty bedroom for a moment before something crashed into his closet door. From the other side of his closet door. Any relief he had begun to feel vanished as he thought about the situation. Some strange, drugged woman was in his closet. He only knew a few things about her: she was a substitute teacher for his history class for three days, from a small town, deceptively strong for her size, treated him like a child, and she was involved with his father on some level. As far as what kind of person she was, he had next to no idea.

His hand shaking with trepidation, he turned the doorknob and opened the closet door.

A pile of clothes tumbled out, nearly knocking him over.

"Baek Seonsaengnim, what have you done?" He gasped, sticking his head in the door.

She laughed from the pile of clothes behind him, "No, no," she wagged her finger unsteadily, "You can call me Yeong In."

"Seonsaengnim," he said impatiently. Her sister would expect them soon and now he had to reorganize all his things! When he left it to the housekeepers, he couldn't find anything.

"Seonsaengnim sounds-so formal. You saved me ssso we're friends now," she said, slurring again, but not as strongly as before. When she tried unsuccessfully to stand, he wondered how she'd even gotten past him.

"Come on, we need to get you home. . ."

"Yeong In."

"Of course I'm talking to you, who else is here."

"Say it. Ye-ong-In."

"Yeong In," he said and she nodded happily. Would she be happy about it when whatever they gave her wore off?

"By the way, why do you have so many shirts?" she asked before rolling over his clothes on the floor. He was coming to regret bringing her here or coming across her in the Lobby at all.

Well, maybe regret was a strong word. As he watched her crawl back into his closet, he couldn't help but wonder what she would have ended up like had he not been there. Had he not followed her from Lobby. Had he stayed in the kitchen a few minutes longer and not seen her at all. His stomach turned. No. Regret wasn't the right word. He was relieved that she was terrorizing his wardrobe, but terrified about the consequences. Yeong In may not remember the events of this evening, but his father certainly would. It probably wouldn't take him long to deal with Esther and to get a key to the room Young Do was staying in. Now that he knew he couldn't trust Yeong In to be lucid enough to play along, he needed to get her out. Fast.

Once he was able to coax her down to the Lobby, he saw the lounge lights were still on. He still had time before his father was able to look for them, but to be safe, he hailed a taxi.

They reached a well-lit apartment complex around dusk and Yeong In seemed to be right-minded enough to get them through the door. She stumbled through a small entryway, kicking off her shoes without bothering to put on the floral slippers left out. There were only two sets of feminine, small house slippers, so Young Do kept his socks on and awkwardly followed Yeong In into a small living room with a simple loveseat, coffee table, and T.V. setup one one end and a dine in kitchen area on the other. Off to one side were three doors and a half door he supposed led to a closet.

Young In went to the kitchen, poured water over the counter - some of it did make it into her cup, to her credit - and wandered into what he hoped was a spare room. He'd just sat down on the couch in an exhausted heap when another loud crash sounded from the room she'd just disappeared into. He jumped up and raced in to find her on the floor, wrapped in a blanket this time. He sighed wearily, but fought back a smile. Her antics would have been more entertaining if he wasn't so physically and emotionally exhausted. Perhaps if this nightmare ever ended, he'd take her drinking. Then at least he could be amused guilt-free. "Young Do-ya, why are you in my room?" she asked groggily as he helped her back onto her bed, wrapping her - tightly - in her blankets.

"I'll be gone in a moment, sleep it off ok?"

"Ok," she said, yawning. He reached down to put her phone on the nightstand, but paused. Thinking better of leaving such a dangerous device in her hands while she was in this state, he had decided to put it on the living room table when, without provocation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. "Goodnight," she said and was almost instantly asleep.

He stood frozen for several seconds, trying not to think of anything. Not his father, the water, the vomiting, the taste of porridge on his lips. It wasn't his first kiss, but it was the first time in a situation like this. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, grateful he could only taste the porridge. As he left her room, shutting the door, he wondered if he was the one in real danger here.

After pushing the couch in front of her door as a barricade, he laid his tired body down. He would never let her live this night down, drugs or no drugs. Somehow, he'd make her pay for all the worry and uncharacteristic meddling he'd done in the last few hours. He closed his eyes for a moment, wondering how he'd explain all this to her sister. All he could do was wait and take this one problem at a time.