My Dear Butler

15. It Has To Be You

The bright morning sunlight blinded you as your eyes fluttered open. Squinting, your eyes slowly got accustomed to the light.

Was my room always this bright?

You placed your arms over your head and you noticed the strange sleeves of your white nightgown. Confused, you glanced around the room and realized that this room didn't belong to you.

Where am I? Why am I here? What happened?

Am I dead?

Then memories of the previous night flooded back, and you shot up in your bed. As soon as you did, you gave a shout in pain, and you finally realized the wounds that were bandaged all over your body, inflicted by those damned attackers in the fight yesterday. You were actually thankful for the swordsmanship lessons that your parents made you go through, for you definitely would've died without them.

Your parents...

Yesung...

Suddenly, the door burst open and you jumped.

"Miss Y/N! Are you alright? I heard a yell and I came as soon as I heard—"

Your heart slowed back to its regular pace as you realized it was only Yesung's mother. Exhaling, you nodded and managed a weak smile. "Yeah, I am."

She put a hand to her chest and made her way over to your bedside. "That's good. Are you hungry? Does anything hurt? If you need anything, please tell me," she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear. She pulled you into a warm embrace and you smiled at the skinship.

"You don't know how worried I was yesterday night— Jongwoon knocking on our door at midnight, carrying the unconscious you in his arms with desperate eyes, pleading for help... your clothes full of blood and wounds all over your bodies... Him nearly fainting at our doorstep... It was such a morbid sight..." she trailed off as you felt her chest begin to heave, and you glanced up to find her teary eyes.

"Thank god..." you whispered. "He's alive..."

"Yes, yes he is."

You swallowed as a rush of relief washed over you. "May I go and see him?"

She nods and slowly leads you out of your bed. You stumbled a little from the wounds on your legs, and you shifted most of your body weight onto her. "Take it easy, hun."

"I know, it's just that—"

"I understand. You care about him as much as I do, and I'm glad there's someone like that for him," his mother replied with a grin. "He's probably still asleep."

Yesung's mother quietly opened the door to his room, revealing your unconscious butler in his bed. You limped towards him and settled down beside him. His chest heaved with each breath, which indicated that he was indeed alive. He was also changed out of his most likely blood-stained suit into a white blouse, and he looked so deathly pale.

You tried your best not to stare, but the temptation got to you and you found yourself examining his sleeping form. His slightly parted lips and his long eyelashes that cast shadows on his cheek, and the newly earned scar below his jawline. You parted his long, messy bangs and he shifted at your touch, causing you to flinch.

"Jongwoon cares deeply about you. I've never seen someone so dedicated, so selfless and willing to risk their life just to protect someone else," his mother began. "As soon as you dashed out of the door without any explanation that day, he sprinted after you despite your words to stay— and came back extremely concerned and dejected. He was furious with himself, he blamed himself for losing you and potentially putting you in danger."

You gulped at her words, your eyes never leaving your butler.

"I tried to reassure him that everything would be alright and that you'd return to him completely unharmed, but nonetheless he still rushed out to look for you."

Tears began to well up in your eyes as she continued, spilling everything to you. You buried your head in your arms, sobbing uncontrollably as his mother embraced you from behind and tried to comfort you.

"Sometimes I wonder if he's naturally that caring and dedicated— I mean, he always was, but this is a new level— or if it's something else completely."

"All of his life, he's put his 100% in everything, but he's been let down every time. Being told that he was never enough, that he should just give up, that he was worthless— but he still gave his all until the very end. Nobody accepted him and his efforts, nobody had bothered to care—"

Deep inside, you could feel your heart cracking. It hurt so badly, the agony drove you crazy. You now understood everything, why he kept everything from you, why he hid his feelings behind his bangs. For fear of being looked down upon, for fear of getting hurt again.

"...until you came along."

"You were different. You smiled at him, accepted his flaws and kept him beside you no matter what. You defended him and cared for him. You gave him everything he ever wanted, and more. When he visited me for the first time since he served under you, he was smiling so brightly. At first, I was worried and reluctant, because I thought he was being naïve and too quick to trust you. But was I wrong."

"The moment you smiled at me, bowed and greeted me, I knew you were different. You were true and the way he glanced at you every now and then— it was just so evident. Perhaps you've noticed it too."

Just then, Yesung began to toss and turn in his sleep, groaning and panting as his face scrunched up in pain. You glanced up in worry as beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, causing his hair to be stuck to his face.

"No... D-don't," he muttered. You scrambled beside him and gripped his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. You held him close to you, tears streaming down your face.

"Shh, it's okay. Everything will be alright," you whispered as his body loosened and his breathing slowed. Ever so slowly, his eyes fluttered open in your embrace, and a sole tear escaped from his eye. You stroked his head softly, the same way he would do to you to comfort you, and you felt him relax into your arms. "I'm here."

Yesung glanced up weakly at you, and you lightly brushed his hair away from his face. He dips his head in embarrassment, and you pull him back to you.

"Please take good care of him," his mother said and you nodded, hearing the door shut behind you.

"Of course. I will do everything in my power to do so."