Stay!

Within 5 minutes, Daniel has already returned to Samantha's bedroom with a small machine in his hand. Samantha was still in the same position when he left and haven't eaten the soup yet.

"What is that?", she asked.

"You haven't touched your soup, did you want me to feed you?", Daniel asked in all seriousness.

Samantha got startled, she grabbed the bowl and looked up to him as she shook her head, "No, I can do it by myself."

Daniel smirked and he started to fix the machine on a coffee table.

"What is that?", she asked for the second time but Daniel didn't answer her. "Where did you get it?"

Daniel continued to work on the machine and Samantha was feeling ignored. "Tch.", she sounded.

Daniel chuckled before he turned around, "Ms. Kim, you ask too many questions, finish your soup."

Samantha surrendered and started eating the chicken soup and almost instantly, she felt better. No wonder chicken soup is considered to be a superfood.

Samantha didn't have appetite when she came home so she hasn't eaten since brunch but she found the soup that Daniel brought really tasty, it had shredded chicken, carrots, celery and pappardelle pasta which is a wide egg noodle. She ate and finished with gusto and when Daniel saw this, he felt satisfied.

"You're done?"

Samantha looked up and nodded at him.

"It was really good. Did you make it?"

"Do you want some more?"

She shook her head. 'Why wouldn't you answer my questions?', she thought

Daniel cleared the food and brought it out of her room. When he came back, he had a glass of warm water with him. "Take your medicine and lie down."

Samantha didn't fight with him on this and just followed his order. 'What's wrong with you Samantha? Are you enjoying this?'

After taking the medicine, she laid down and covered herself with the blanket and curled up in it.

"Why are you trying to hide? I can still see you.", Daniel teased.

"Have you eaten?", Samantha suddenly raised the question and it made the corners of Daniel's mouth raise a little.

"Are you concerned about me?"

Samantha avoided his gaze, "No. I was just asking."

Daniel turned around and turned on the machine that he was preparing earlier. It was actually a humidifier that he got from the villa he was staying in. So earlier, he ran back home and took it. Samantha realized what it was now, he brought it for her because she has a cold. But where did he get it from? She certainly doesn't have one at home.

"Why are you still here? I'm really fine, you can go home."

"Don't talk too much and just go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

Samantha raised an eyebrow, "Umm, excuse me? This is my house so I have a say whether you're staying here or not."

Daniel just smiled at her, his smile was so radiant that it almost blinded Samantha. "I'm not leaving you here. You have to fight me for it but you're clearly not in good shape so why don't you just hurry up and rest so that you'll have the energy to bicker with me."

Samantha scoffed. "Mr. Cho, please leave. I'm fine on my own."

"I'll do the opposite of what you'll ask me. You're asking me to leave so I'm staying here instead. If you ask me to stay, I'll---"

"Stay!!", Samantha suddenly exclaimed.

"Okay, I'll stay.", Daniel said with a grin.

"What?!", Samantha's eyes widened. "But you just said you'll do the opposite!!"

"Yes, but you didn't let me finish. I was gonna say if you ask me to stay, I will, of course, stay."

Samantha was speechless. She felt like she became dumb after listening to Daniel Cho. She furrowed her eyebrows but she was still confused, she didn't understand Daniel's logic. So he isn't really going to leave in any way?.... Whether she asks him to leave or stay, he's really determined to stay! So what's the point?

Samantha groaned as she turned her back against him and she closed her eyes trying to burry her annoyance.

Daniel smiled in triumph as he leaned forward and covered Samantha with the blanket. He sat back on the chair and just watched her back as she slowly drifted to sleep.

-----

It was Friday noon at Country K and Hannah was on her way up to bring Seo Joon's lunch. For the past few days, ever since Seo Joon returned to the office, Hannah has been bringing him food. Today, she especially woke up early and cooked a nutritious meal for him. She carefully prepared the meal and got herself ready to visit him at work. She wore a white and yellow shift dress and put on a light make up; she was really pretty.

When she got out of the elevator, Seo Joon's secretary wasn't at her desk so she quietly walked towards Seo Joon's office and knocked the door. "Come in.", she heard.

Hannah opened the door and had a bright smile on her face as she walked in. Seo Joon was standing in the middle of the office when she saw him, "Are you hungry already? I made you---", Hannah stopped mid-sentence when she noticed a beautiful woman sitting on the sofa. The woman smiled at her.

Hannah's smile disappeared and then looked at Seo Joon, "Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor."

Seo Joon didn't notice Hannah's expression, but he was glad to see her.

"Han, this is Ms. Scarlette Carroll. She's the daughter of my dad's friend, she just came from abroad."

"Ms. Scarlette, this is my…sister's bestfriend, Hannah Chu."

Scarlette stood up and shook Hannah's hand, "It's nice to meet you Ms. Chu.", she said with a smile.

Hannah returned the smile, "Likewise.", but her mind was stuck at Seo Joon's words… 'Right… I'm Samantha's bestfriend.'

"We were about to have lunch, why don't you join us?", Scarlette asked politely.

Hannah shook her head and politely declined, "Thanks for the invite but I just… dropped by."

Seo Joon just realized that Hannah has come to bring him lunch just like she had been doing for the past few days. He was working through a lot of documents in the morning and then Scarlette came with a business proposal, it slipped his mind.

He looked at Hannah's hand that held a lunch bag and felt really guilty. But he can't refuse Scarlette's lunch invitation, because it was for business and because she's the daughter of his father's friend.

"Han, I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner so you didn't have to bring me lunch today.", Seo Joon said apologetically.

Hannah gave him a smile, "It's okay… I'll just eat this myself. I'll leave first, bye~", Hannah turned around and left the room.

When she left, Seo Joon became uncomfortable. "Ms. Scarlette, please wait a moment."

He hurriedly went after Hannah before she could get in the elevator. When he caught up with her, Seo Joon grabbed her wrist.

"Joon?", she said when she saw him.

"Are you upset?", Seo Joon looked at Hannah as he tried to study her face.

"What? Why would I be?", Hannah smiled.

Seo Joon saw her smile but he felt that it was insincere. Has she misunderstood me and Scarlette?

"Don't misunderstand, Han. Ms. Scarlette is here for business, she proposed to talk about it during lunch."

Hannah felt a slight prick in her heart, "Why would I misunderstand? It's work, right? Besides, we're friends… it's not like we're dating."

The elevator dinged and Hannah spoke, "The elevator's here. I'll go now.", she smiled as she gently pulled her hand away from Seo Joon's grasp.

Seo Joon felt bitter when Hannah left. Why does he feel like she wasn't really telling the truth? How could she smile happily like that while he's feeling all bothered by her reaction?

----------

Daniel fell asleep in the armchair while he watched over Samantha. But groans and whimpers woke him up, he sat up and saw that Samantha had beads of sweat on her forehead and she was murmuring in her sleep. 'Is she still having nightmares?'

Daniel found a clean face towel and wiped her face, he checked her temperature and luckily Samantha doesn't have fever anymore.

"s...ry... I'm sorry...", she whispered in her sleep.

Daniel sighed as he sat by her bedside. "How could you act all tough in front of me when you're obviously not doing well? Is it fun to pretend, Samantha?"

Daniel sat back to the armchair and continued to watch over her while she was asleep. He had longed Samantha for months and now that she's here in front of him, he could only watch and stay by her side.

Samantha's absence wounded Daniel's heart. He was falling for her and just when things were going well, trials came their way. He learned about Samantha's past and have seen her worst state then but he accepted everything and told her that he'll always be with her. Who knew that she'd one day wake up and not recognize him? The worse part was, she left him with the note and lived her life in a different country; leaving him confused, helpless and heartbroken.