The Huma Hospital.
The sounds of dical equipnt, the sll of alcohol disinfectant, pale lighting, and the deathly silent corridors created a stark atmosphere.
" Take it easy."
Harsh, pitiful screams reverberated through the sterile ward.
The nurse, who was standing by, couldn’t even bear to watch.
The man lying on the hospital bed held a tiny photo tightly with his grueso burned fingers.
"Sophia... Sophia..."
"Your vocal cords are damaged. Even surgery can’t fully restore them. You need to avoid speaking as much as possible. Endure it," the doctor, unable to bear the sight, whispered softly.
"Okay."
He buried his head in the pillow and quietly endured the pain as the doctor treated his terrible injuries.
"How could he bear it?"
"Why does such a handso man have to suffer so much?"
"His survival is a miracle."
As the doctor left the ward, he sighed.
"He has multiple burn injuries , and the pain from the second -degree burns can reach level I0. This will greatly affect his sensory perception. Even if he survives, his perception of pain will beco numb." The doctor observed Dexter through the window.
He was lying on the bed while barely hanging on by a thread.
"Sophia..."
He slowly loosened his grip and gently wiped the bload-soaked photo.
His eyes were soft.
"Wait for ...
"I’m sorry..."
It was my fault for making her wait too long.
I hoped she wouldn’t bla .
"Mr. Black Senior has instructed us to keep him in the hospital until his condition improves. Once he’s better, bring him back."
"Mr. Black, you can’t leave!"
"Beep..."
The hospital alarm went off. The doctors and guards were distracted by the fire alarm.
Dexter, wearing a baggy hoodie and cap, limped out of the hospital while enduring the pain in his body.
Blood seeped through his injuries due to the premature movent.
No one knew how much pain he was in.
But he didn’t want to make Sophia wait any longer.
"Sophia..."
He didn’t know how he managed to leave the hospital or muster the strength to reach Sophia’s building.
However, it was empty there.
"That poor family. Both of the parents died and left only their daughter alive. I heard she was in coma for a long ti and then went to live with relatives after waking up."
Upon hearing what the neighbors said, Dexter turned and ran away with red eyes.
His wounds were hurting.
He was at risk of infection.
Still, he couldn’t let Sophia face the pain of losing her parents alone.
"Sophia..."
Finally, he saw Sophia at the school gate.
"Ah!" But the way she looked at him was as if looking at a stranger.
"Sophia..." His hoarse voice, unfamiliar even to himself, drove him to near despair.
Sophia didn’t recognize him.
"Who are you? Stop following ! Help!" Sophia thought he was a pervert. She ran away screaming for help.
Dexter stood numbly with his outstretched hand frozen in mid-air.
He hid in an alleyway while panting heavily and hitting his own head.
Why... Why had even his voice changed?
Why did he scare Sophia?
Why didn’t he die?
"Sophia..."
From that day, Dexter would secretly follow Sophia every day.
He would watch her go to school, co ho, and carefully followed Damien. He would watch how her eyes were full of only him.
"Sophia, I don’t bla you."
He would whisper gently during his unending fevers, soothing her even though she couldn’t hear it.
He wouldn’t bla her for forgetting him.
He wouldn’t bla her for falling in love with soone else.
Despite his high fever and almost contorted body due to pain, Dexter staggered toward the school gate that day.
He had to ensure his girl entered the school.
"This necklace is worth sothing , right ?’’ However , a group of ruffians robbed her, They took money from her bag and snatched the necklace from her neck.
Sophia cried and pleaded for them to return the necklace. "My mom gave that."
Furious, Dexter charged at them, but the thugs escaped on their motorcycles.
He watched her crying while collecting her books from the ground.
"Don’t cry, Sophia... Don’t cry." He longed to comfort her.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Finally, he couldn’t resist and hobbled over to help her pick up her books.
However, his gruesoly bloodied hands scared her.
Numbly, he watched his beloved girl run away in terror.
Powerless and panicked, he hid his hands behind his back and wanted to say sothing. Still, he ran off instead.
That day, he found those thugs.
Despite his fever and unhealed wounds, he managed to fight them and retrieve her necklace and money.
But how was he a match for so many people? He would feel pain too. If he hadn’t been desperate enough to grit his teeth and punch as if he wanted to kill the lead punk, how would those people have given him her stuff back?
"Pfft!" Finally , he couldn’t hold on and spit out blood. He held the necklace and fainted on the concrete floor filled with blood.
It was cold.
Gazing at the gray sky, he murmured, "Sophia... It’s so cold."
Outside the school.
Sophia left cautiously, Sophia looked around cautiously after school.
She was afraid the punks would haunt her.
She was trying to avoid them.
But as soon as she got out of school she slled the strong scent of blood.
She looked up in fear and bumped into Dexter’s deep eyes.
Perhaps to avoid scaring her, Dexter had put on gloves before slipping her the necklace and money. Then, he hurriedly walked off.
Sophia wanted to say sothing but didn’t in the end.
Sophia was gone. She was going ho.
She had a ho to return to, with another man.
She had completely forgotten him and fallen for soone else.
Dexter, hiding in the alleyway, struggled to remove his gloves with his teeth while enduring the pain.
How could he wear gloves on his badly burned hands?
Every ti he took off his gloves, it was like peeling his own skin.
Still, he didn’t want to frighten Sophia.
"Sophia, let’s walk ho together."
That day, Sophia had a friend to walk ho with.
"It’s been unusually quiet outside school lately. Those thugs are gone. It’s strange."
Sophia stood outside the alley and looked back.
She seed to be looking for sothing.
"Sophia, those thugs who bullied you are gone. Thank goodness."
Sophia smiled and looked toward the corner.
Dexter was hidden there, in the darkness, guarding Sophia.
"Tf you touch her again, I’ll kill you," Dexter said with a hoarse voice while stepping on a thug under his feet.
The thugs fled but returned with a group to ambush Dexter.
Finally, they cornered Dexter where Sophia frequented.
"There’s a fight over there. Sophia, let’s go. It’s scary."
"Sophia! Soone’s being killed! Hurry!"
Sophia’s legs numbed. She turned back to look at the alleyway.
All she saw was a dark red pool of blood slowly spreading.
"Let’s go, Sophia! Don’t gawk!"
In the alleyway.
Dexter leaned against the wall with his hands limply falling to his sides. The tiny photo of Sophia in his palm was soaked in blood.
"Sophia... it’s good that you’ve forgotten .
"Don’t be sad, Sophia.
"Don’t look back. Don’t rember ."
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