The first thing Jia felt wasn't pain—it was silence.
A heavy, comforting silence, so different from the terrifying stillness of the store room where she had been left.
Slowly, her eyelashes fluttered open.
Shadows of grey and brown danced across her vision.
She wasn't at home.
Above her, the ceiling was cracked and stained with age.
The air smelled faintly of old paper, rain-washed dust, and a sharp, clean scent that made her heart skip a beat. Jinu's jacket.
She tried to lift herself on her elbows, but a wave of dizziness hit her. Her head throbbed as if a thousand needles pierced it at once.
"Don't move. You're still very weak," whispered a low, raspy voice, heavy with exhaustion.
Jia turned slowly toward the sound.
Sitting on a rickety wooden stool beside her bed was Jinu—a ghost of the boy she knew.
Bloodshot eyes and dark circles told the story of a sleepless, terrifying night.
His own bandages were slightly soaked with fresh blood—he had clearly overexerted himself to bring her here.
Yet his gaze wasn't on himself. It was on her, as if she were the only thing keeping him tethered to the world.
"Jinu…?" Her voice was a broken rasp.
"Where… where are we?"
"My home," he replied simply, voice trembling.
He reached out, fingers hovering near her face, afraid she might shatter.
Slowly, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Cold as his touch was, warmth surged through Jia's entire body.
"It's small. Hidden. But he can't find you here, Jia. No one can."
Tears filled Jia's eyes, soaking the thin pillow beneath her.
Her father's rage, the darkness of the store room, the feeling of being abandoned—it all felt like a distant nightmare. But the boy next to her was real.
"How did you find me?"
she sobbed, chest heaving.
"I didn't have your number… I thought I was going to die there, Jinu.
I thought I'd never see you again."
Jinu's expression crumbled.
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the edge of the bed, shoulders shaking.
"I went to every street we ever walked.
I asked everyone I saw.
When I found out what he did to you… Jia, I've never been more scared in my life.
Not even when those guys were beating me up.
The thought of you alone in that dark room because of me… it was killing me."
He gripped her hand, long fingers holding hers with desperate strength.
"I was the one who pushed you away.
I told you that you were a nuisance.
But you… you gave up everything to save a monster like me.
I'm sorry, Jia.
I'm so incredibly sorry for being a coward."
Jia looked around the cramped apartment.
Barely more than a single room with stacks of books and a small window overlooking a brick wall.
A lonely place—Jinu's life before she entered it. But in this moment, it felt safer than any palace.
"You're not a monster," she whispered, squeezing his hand with what little strength she had.
"You're my hero."
Jinu let out a shaky breath.
A small, sad smile flickered on his lips for the first time.
He didn't feel like a hero—just a broken boy who had finally found the one piece of the puzzle that mattered.