K I M N A M J O O N

I stared at Y/N as the maids washed her face and once they were done, I sent them out to fetch some comfortable clothes Y/N could change into.

I did not allow the maids to look at Y/N's body underneath the blanket because I wanted to be the first one to see what she'd gone through.

I didn't want to be lied to and I didn't want the actual truth of her condition to be kept from me, so I took the neatly folded clothes handed to me and the closed the door to my bedroom shut.

Outside, I could hear the excited whispers and breathy giggles of the maids but I was too occupied to find out the reason.

With steady, quick steps I approached the still unconscious Y/N and hooked my fingers into the blanket, pulling it away from her body. What I saw made my eyes burn with unreasonable anger and blatant hurt.

Underneath the blanket, her milky white skin was decorated with dark bruises, blood drying and crumbling off her tattered dress. The dress must have been beautiful once. I smiled. Y/N always had a thing for beautiful things, probably why she would have chosen the dress initially but all that was left of the once beautiful dress was a grey worn out silhouette, the cloth barely covering her petite figure.

The hem of the dress looked as if it had either been ripped or slashed with a knife and sure enough, two sharp slashes shone on both of her knees as a proof to my assumption.

I swallowed, pure anger surging through my veins as I saw the battered condition her body was in. Her wrists and ankles held red marks of confinement and her ribs poked out of the thin material of the dress.

Who dared to hurt my love?

There was only one question in my head as I gently moved Y/N's unconscious body, unzipping the dress which immediately fell to her waist as if it couldn't withhold any longer. Diverting my gaze, gritting my teeth and steeling my resolve to not look at her vulnerable naked body, I slid the dress down her hips and picked her up.

If it was her exhaustion keeping her unconscious, a hot bath was sure to help her heal a little and maybe even wake her up.
Lowering her into the tub, I called for the maids once again.

"Be so gentle that she doesn't feel a thing." I commanded as they bowed obediently and began to gently massage her body to get all the dust and grime off.

"Forgive me, boss b-but are you going to keep s-standing here?" A maid asked, her voice trembling. "The lady here-," She looked towards Y/N. "-we need to clean her private-"

I gulped. Well, this was awkward.

"Of course, I'll be standing here." I kept my voice from giving away my feelings. "I can turn around when you need me to but I will not be going anywhere until I've gotten her safely tucked in the bed."

Yuna, the oldest of all the maids glanced my way, a small smile playing on her lips, her eyes crinkling. Yuna was Wildfox's elder sister and the head housekeeper of my villa. I could not trust Y/N with anyone other than her but that also meant, having known me for as long as I could remember, she could easily decipher what I was thinking.

"Why don't we leave the job of dressing up this beauty to you, Namjoon-ah?" She whispered as the other maids continued washing Y/N's body.

I tried hard not to lose my composure as Yuna and her subordinates stood up and left after doing their job, with Yuna passing a knowing smile in my direction as she handed me a big fluffy towel on her way out.

"I'm sure you'll manage the rest." She smiled warmly yet a trace of mischief lingered in her smile and I heaved a sigh of relief once she was gone.

Keeping a stony face, I gently hauled Y/N out of the tub and ignoring the water seeping into my suit, I wrapped her in the towel as fast as I could and carried her to the bed.

Adjusting the temperature of the room, I quickly covered her with the quilts and flung my suit jacket into a faraway corner of the room. Rolling my shirt sleeves up, I took a deep breath, determined not to get distracted.

It was torture not to stare at Y/N's now clean body as I bandaged her up, finally slipping the flimsy yet soft clothes onto her body. I didn't bother with her underwear because lord, that would have made me want to do things to her, she most certainly couldn't handle in this position.

In that moment, I didn't care about anything. I didn't care about what kind of talks the staff and the guards were having outside. I didn't care about the fact that the water from her hair was probably soaking all of my pillow covers. I didn't care that my sheets would smell like her the next morning.

I was just thankful that she was here...unconscious but safe as she lay tucked in on one side of my bed.

And as long as I was alive I was never going to let any danger approach her again.

I had already lost her once and seeing her in this condition was lesson enough for me...if keeping Y/N by my side in this horrible world of mine meant that I could keep her safe, I was going to keep her right by my side forever...as my love, as my obsession and as my queen.

~~~

Ten years, and I hadn't woken up to a soft embrace. No woman had ever slept in my bed or any bed with me. That place was reserved for Y/N but I couldn't help but grin lazily as I felt a pair of delicate arms slung across my bare chest.

I opened my eyes to find Y/N huddled up against me, her lips dangerously close to my own as her gorgeous tresses gently tickled my jaw and neck.

I breathed in her feminine scent as I pulled her wrist to my nose, sniffing her beautiful womanly fragrance, that smelled of skin and lime and sheets.

Her eyelids fluttered as my fingers trailed down her arm and a sleepy smile tugged onto her full lips.

"Mmm, Joon. It's bad to tickle your friend." She muttered and I looked at her surprised.
Was she seriously sleep talking, dreaming about the two of us as kids? I couldn't help but laugh at her innocence. Her slightly rebuking tone was as frivolous as it had been ten years ago when I used to tickle her by dragging grass across her skin.

I pursed my lips to avoid chuckling as I decided to play along.

"Why? Is wittle Y/N-ie going to complain to her mommy?"

And just like the past, her brows furrowed and her eyes fluttered open, glaring at me angrily, annoyance visible in her deep brown eyes.

"Why do you always talk to me like that, Joon? You're only a year older-" Y/N paused realising that she was neither in the meadow in front of her house where she'd laid shouting at me for babying her and nor was I a man she knew.

And as if she'd been electrocuted, she pulled herself away from me and went flying to the edge of the bed, glaring at me, suspicion and fear filling her wide eyes.

"Who are you? Why am I here?!" She yelled, holding the blankets as a shield to protect her body and a realisation shook me to my core.

Had she been abused?

I got out of the bed, still only in my pants as she eyed me nervously, gulping. Her eyes actively followed my every slight movement and she backed into the wall next to the bed.

"A-are you going to hurt me?" She yelled, her voice ringing. Tears were forming in her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you guys that I don't know where he went!"

Huge sobs wrecked her tiny body as she sunk to the floor, hugging herself tightly, burying her head into her arms. She sat their cowering and trembling and her next words shocked me.
"Hit me all you want. Do whatever you want. Even if you people kill me, I won't tell you anything about him."

My heart shattered into a million pieces as her broken sobs pierced through my soul and I was rushing to her side.

"Don't touch me, you cruel bastard-" She struggled, screamed and kicked wildly as I tried to grip her shoulders to reassure her.
"Don't. Don't. Don't." She sobbed and yelled as I tried to stop her from moving around too much. I had to get her to calm down in order to tell her who I was and that she was safe.

"For god's sake-" I swore softly as one of her hands came flying across my face, her nail leaving a fine, sharp cut on my left cheek.
"Goddammit, Y/N! Just stop!" I yelled. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Y / N

My eyes widened and my body froze when I heard the man call me Y/N. Only Joon and my mom called me that and my mom was long dead. How could this man know my real name when I hadn't used it for so long?

I glanced at the half-naked man in front of me and instinctively coiled away at his proximity. He didn't look as brutal as rest of the men that had kidnapped me and beaten me up but there was still an aura of danger about him and I didn't want to provoke him.

"How do you know my real name?" I whispered, scared of the answer he'd give but the man didn't loosen his grip on my wrists and looked dead straight into my eyes. His expression looked pained and a bright scarlet hued cut ran across his left cheek.

"Do you really not recognise me, Y/N-ah?"

I looked at him shocked.

No, it couldn't be.

I kept on staring as the man stared back at me, his gaze gentle yet burning with such a fiery intensity that I was reminded of the warm eyes that had burned with the same fire ten years ago.

Instinctively, before I could let my brain get the best of me, I reached out and grabbed the man's dark hair. Pushing his head to the side, I searched for a birthmark and gasped when a very familiar red patch of scalp stared back at me.

"I see your grip on my hair is still as tight as ten years ago." The man mused, his lips in a thin line as he winced at the pain and I released his hair with a jerk.

Falling back against the wall, I stared at him wide-eyed as he looked back at me, his hands ready to pull up the hem of his pants.

I recognised him!

I recognised those dimples!

"Should I show you that little scar your kitten gave me when I was ten?" He spoke, his eyes twinkling and I could my feel my head spinning.

I had finally reached where I wanted to. I had finally escaped.

"Or do you recognise me now?" He was still speaking.

I blinked and cracked a small, relieved smile despite myself before finally breathing out. "Yes, I do. Joon."