Chapter 7

It had been a weak hope, but a hope nonetheless. He let himself cry as he walked home. Enrique had many fans in Korea and he could tell that people were taking pictures of him but he didn't care.

He had made a promise to Dok Mi a long time ago that he'd always stay with her, yet he'd just left her all alone with no way home. I should call Jin Rak to get her, Enrique thought, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Jin Rak had proven himself to be a good man and Dok Mi trusted him almost as much as she trusted Enrique, but Jin Rak would surely take advantage of this situation to get her back.

He was Enrique's friend, but he knew that Jin Rak was still in love with Dok Mi and never quite forgave Enrique for falling in love with her too.

Calling Jin Rak would be the right thing to do, but Enrique was selfish. He wanted to be the only one to be with Dok Mi until she remembered just how much she meant to him. You're my world, Ahjumma.

Enrique could be beaten half to death, but he could not imagine ever forgetting the day they'd first kissed. Maybe he was right and she had never loved him as much as he'd loved her. He immediately felt guilty for thinking that. Her life had been so much harder than his and she had had to overcome so much to allow herself to love. This wasn't fair of him to think less of her because she'd gotten hurt.

He'd completely hallucinated her the day he'd been hit by a car, and he hadn't even been injured that badly. He suddenly remembered the blood that his cut knuckles had left on her front door. He should go upstairs and clean it up. He knew she wouldn't want to be greeted by that.

He turned to the stairs at first, and then remembered the scene that would greet him on the third floor. Someone should clean that up to, but the thought of touching Dok Mi's blood make Enrique's stomach churn.

But maybe he should. He needed to do things to keep his mind off of her. He could think of ways to remind her later, but right now it was just too painful for him to think about how she had forgotten. It had taken everything he had to keep his smile. He needed to be as he was most of the time. Enrique Geum's lifestyle made it difficult for him to be sad for two long and his work attitude often leaked into his social interactions. He could only remember being truly and completely sad in front of Dok Mi. Somewhere along their friendship, he had given her the power to destroy him. And destroy him she did. Over. And over. And over. But he always came back for more, because as much as she could hurt him, she could also heal him. And she did that just as much.

He had happy memories from before he met Dok Mi, but the time they had shared together outshined every happy moment before her combined. And now it might all be gone. He couldn't imagine himself being truly happy again without her. Enrique had often thought about them breaking up. Go Dok Mi was sensitive and tended to keep things to herself. Even when she was hurt, she wouldn't say anything. Enrique had to constantly rely on observation and instinct to know what she was feeling. Enrique had hurt her many times, he knew. When he left the first time for Spain… he loved her and still he left her. Everything almost ended between them that night. If Seo Young hadn't told him what she overheard… he didn't like to think about it, about how close they had come being in love. About how much he had wanted her to ask him to stay in that moment and how much he hated her for not.

The part of that time in their relationship was the night they kissed for the first time. Well, not the first time. There was time he fell on her at the ocean, but that had been an accident. Their first real kiss might have been the best moment of his life. It was often tied with every other time he had spent with Ahjumma.

As he was scrubbing her door, he tried to think about all the good times. Every smile and laugh and kiss. He played them again and again in his mind. Just in case that was all he'd have to live the rest of him life on. He pushed the thought out of his head immediately and thought about the last time he'd come home unexpectedly.

It was almost a year and a half ago now; he had just finished the game. There had been a swanky post production party, but Enrique got on the first plane he could back to Korea. On some whim, he had dyed his from his natural bright ginger to black. Stupidly, he had worried most of the flight about how much Dok Mi would hate it. They talked every morning and every night, yet he had never taken a moment out of their conversations to mention that his hair was a different color. She'd be angry for sure, he decided. He had worked himself up into frenzy by the time the plane landed.

Ahjumma will yell at me for hiding things from her, he thought, she'll wonder what else I've lied about. I have to dye it back before I see her!

So he spent the better part of three hours searching for the precise color of dye that his hair used to be. He found some shades that came fairly close, but they looked different enough that Go Dok Mi would be able to tell. Looking back on it, Enrique wondered just why that was the one thing he was worried about. She was more likely to be angry at him for being gone over a year when he said it would just be a few months. But inept designers and clumsy interns turned the four month project into triple that time.

Of course, it wasn't Enrique's fault, but he still figured she'd blame him. In his mind, he had lied and left her after swearing he'd never hurt her again. He was projected his worry about that onto his hair, he realized.

He finally decided that it was time to stop looking and go to her.

He thought of many ways to surprise her. Show up at her door with a dozen roses; wait for her at work, text her to meet him at a vague address. But he had finally decided to see her the way they had first met; across the street from each other.

Even as she was running to him, he worried what she'd think about him. She stopped dead in her tracks the moment they were in arms reach of each other. Enrique was just forming an apology in his mind when Dok Mi sprang forward and wrapped her arms around him, colliding her lips with his.

As he hugged and kissed her back, he realized that she truly waited for him that whole year and that she had missed him just as much as he missed her. He hugged her even more tightly and deepened their kiss until it felt like something more meaningful than ever before.

He smiled at the thought as he washed the last of the blood from her door. How long had he been standing there with his sponge stationary lost in his thoughts? Recently, Enrique had only been remembering the Dok Mi he had helped create. The confident, beautiful woman who loved to experience life. At times, he forgot about the one he had first met.

He would have to be careful with her. She might shatter if he didn't treat her with care. This was the woman Enrique had first fell in love with, but it had been so long since he'd seen her. What I said, he thought, oh god, I probably already ruined everything. Why did he start of by saying they were in love? She obviously didn't remember and the Doctor had warned him not to force anything on her. He had already driven her away with his carelessness.

"What're you doing?" a voice behind him said. He whipped around and saw Go Dok Mi standing near the end of the hallway.

"I…" Enrique was at a loss for words for once.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Enrique couldn't think of a reason that wouldn't reveal too much. She had to figure most of their story out on her own or it wouldn't be genuine.

You live here, Go Dok Mi?" Enrique asked as cheerfully as he could muster, "I was visiting my friend Oh Jin Rak; I must have knocked the wrong door! Stupid me!" he was disgusted by how phony he sounded. Surely Dok Mi wouldn't believe him.

"He's apartment 401" was all she said. She slipped in between him and the door and turned her key. It was dizzying to be able to have her this close and not touch her. He wanted to give her just the lightest kiss on the top of her head, but he couldn't. not without scaring her away

"Okay, Ahjumma," he said, "I mean Dok Mi. I'll see you later!"

"Please, Enrique," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper, "Just go home"

She shut the door in his face without another word.