"I love you." Nathan confessed to the woman who was trapped in his arms.

She then pushed Nathan away from her but the man had made sure that she won't be able to do so.

"What?! Are you insane?" Kim Eunji was in denial.

How can he say those words out of the blue to her? She was unprepared.

Nathan freed her from his hug as he was afraid that her stitches might open. He then looked at her who was in a flustered look.

"I can prove it to you if you'll let me." Nathan grinned as he said that.

"Don't. I don't need any proof." As she thought that this man would kiss her again, she instantly called off the idea.

"Are you sure?" Nathan teased. This was not what he was looking forward to with his confession. But he knew that those three words had perfectly described what he felt for Kim Eunji. He had been ignoring or denying this feeling for heaven knows since when.

He was afraid...Afraid that history would repeat itself on his part.

That's why he was careful and vowed to never be involved in any romantic relationship.

He had established rules and walls to protect himself from being vulnerable again. He thought that they were strong enough to protect his heart from threats. He was pretty successful though in doing so.

However, when he saw Kim Eunji on QPRC that day, his built wall which he thought was strong enough suddenly formed a crack. And he hated Kim Eunji for that. It took him years to built that wall yet one glance of her towards him weakened it.

This explains why he was somehow mean to Kim Eunji during those times. But fate was never on his side. The more he tried to avoid her, the more they crossed-paths.

Kim Eunji quite had a temper towards him. Her strong facade and personality added the fire that had been slowly growing inside him.

The next thing he realized was that he liked teasing her. He liked seeing different expressions displayed in that little face of hers.

Day by day, the hate that he felt was soon replaced with curiousity.

Then he realized he already liked her but he tried to dismiss that thought.

When his granduncle asked him to marry an unknown woman, the first person that came into his mind wearing a white dress and walking towards him was her.

That's why he asked her to be his lover and not his woman. Though technically, she'll be his woman as she's his lover. But Nathan had already drawn a line between the two.

He could select any woman to be his woman but only one woman could own his heart. And he decided that Kim Eunji belonged to the latter category.

He was hoping that by being his lover, he could confirm if what he felt for her was what he thought it was.

But boy, he was wrong! It was definitely greater than that.

This feisty woman had not only weaken his walls but made it crumple and fall without him realizing that.

He was lucky that he realized that earlier and not on the latter stage. It stopped him from committing the biggest mistake in his life that he would forever regret in his lifetime.

Kim Eunji was looking at him straight in the eye as if trying to read what he'd been thinking as he became silent afterwards.

She thought that he was only pranking her.

"Why?" Kim Eunji asked in a weaker tone.

"Hm?"

"Why do you love me? How could you say you love me?"

"I can't explain why. I don't know how it started either. But today, when I learned the news that you snuck out of the hospital and was missing, I felt like I'm going to lose my mind."

He then took Kim Eunji's hand and placed it in his chest area where his heart was.

"This tells me that I must find you at all cost for it might stop beating if you're not around. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you're afraid of the hospital. I should have known."

Kim Eunji shook her head as she spoke. "I..." however, she could not find words to tell him, it was clear that she over reacted given the situation. And she suddenly felt guilty. Why did she blame him when it was not his fault? He was super busy himself and he had a valid reason for leaving temporarily.

"I can't answer your confession yet. Why did you say that? I was not prepared at all."

"Darling, this won't be a confession if you already knew about it, no?" Nathan teased but planted a soft kiss on Kim Eunji's forehead.

Kim Eunji was silent.

"It's okay. I don't need you to answer me right away. What I need now is for you to give me the chance to show how much I love you." Nathan hugged her once again.

"I am already yours, am I not? Technically, you have every time in the world to do what you wanted to do." Kim Eunji refuted.

Since she already agreed to give this relationship a shot, there's no need for her to back down anymore.

"Indeed."

He then looked at the burnt food on the pot at the counter top and he sighed.

"Come, let's go back."

"To the hospital?" Kim Eunji immediately asked him.

"Yes. But we'll continue your recovery at home." However, Kim Eunji shot him a fierce look which made him gulped and he said, "Promise!"

"Nathan, if you're going to not fulfill that promise, I swear... I swear you won't ever see me again in this life! Call me petty but I'm not kidding!" Kim Eunji warned him.

"Alright! I swear to the next generation of my family line that if I will lose you, they won't exist in this world."

Kim Eunji's lips twitched as soon as she heard that.

'How can this man be so shameless?' She thought.

"Stop pouting. Or else I can't hold myself and I'll take you right here right now."

Of course there's no way he would do that, she's still hurt and he was afraid that she must have suffered from infections because she had not taken any medicine since morning.

Kim Eunji threw a deathly glare to him.

"You dare!" Kim Eunji said.

He once again trapped her in his arms as he said, "Of course, I am just teasing you my kitten. You look so cute that's why."

Kim Eunji heaved a sigh as soon as she heard that. But she gulped down the relief that she felt when Nathan's husky voice resounded on her ears.

"But honestly, I want to take you, but I will hold back myself as I want to do it with you with your will and not just mine." He wanted her to want him much as he wanted her.

"Nathan. I..."

"No pressure... I will make sure that you'll accept and love me sooner... Soon enough than what you thought."

"--__--"

Nathan ended his argument with a sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Let's go."

***

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Kim Eunji was brought to her room and the doctor performed the examinations immediately.

They checked her wound to see if there's any infection. They checked her wound in the head and had asked her if she experienced head ache when she was making her way home.

She shook her head as she answered him.

Of course, Nathan was sitting beside her all this time and had held her hand to show her the support that she needed.

They also had their dinner there with Mei.

As soon as the results were out, Nathan then arranged for Kim Eunji to recuperate in his house instead.

They were hesitant to let her go home but Kim Eunji told them that she might get worse if she'll stay in the hospital longer. Worse, she might lose her mind.

The doctor then had no other choice but to let her go. But, they had to make sure that they'll (Kim Eunji and company) follow the things that the team had given to them for her recovery.

Nathan asked if one of them could stay in his house so that if something happened to Kim Eunji, they could immediately treat her. Besides, Nathan would feel comfortable knowing that there's someone who can check on her from time to time at home.

"How do you feel?" Nathan asked her when they arrived at his house.

"Kindly remind me why am I here again?" Kim Eunji asked him.

"You'll stay here to recover." Nathan explained softly.

"But I thought I'll be staying in my home and not here." Kim Eunji refuted.

"Why? This is your home now."

"But..."

"No more buts and whys okay? You'll stay here starting today. I'll ask someone to move over your things here. Starting today, this will be your house."

"You mean we're cohabiting? Like living together?"

"Yes. Something like that. I already prepared your room here. As much as I wanted to sleep with you every night, I won't do that unless you wanted it."

That's how he valued her consent. He would make sure that she's comfortable enough to do things with him. She thought that she was one of those conservatives who would prefer to sleep on different rooms before marriage.

"Love, don't be upset okay? How can I show you how much I love you if we're not together in one house? It would be convenient for the both of us if you'll be here." He explained.

"Alright." Kim Eunji finally compromised. At least he was being considerate enough to not force her to sleep with him every night.

Kim Eunji was led to her room by a charming young lady in her late teens named Rin while Nathan proceeded to his office inside the house.

She was speechless when she found out that her room was just directly beside his. She would definitely be mad if she'll found out that both rooms were connected via the secret door found on her walk-in closet.

"Eunji-sama, if you need anything else, feel free to call me using the phone on your bedside table." She said.

"Okay. I'll remember that Rin." Kim Eunji smiled which made Rin be caught off-guard and her face turned red like a ripe tomato.

Rin looked down as she tried to hide her face out of embarrassment. She could not take that sudden charm attack coming from Kim Eunji. On the other hand, Kim Eunji found it cute.

"I'll take my leave then." Rin immediately rushed out of Kim Eunji's room as she felt that the more she stayed longer, the more she would feel her face to heat up.

Having a handsome man living in the household in the name of Nathan Bai or whom they recognized as Master Johnson, would make every servant to lose their breath every time the man was around them. And now, with Kim Eunji's addition, this is too much to handle. They will be blessed and be served with heavenly visuals every day and they could not ask for more.

Also, she thought that this young mistress does not only have the same aura as her master, she was also with good attitude. And there's no hidden pretense in that.

The entire household were looking forward to hear good news from them soon.

And just like that, she had gained the favor of Nathan's servants. Rin's judgment of a person's character was highly recognized by the servants in the household.

No, Rin was not one of the servants. She was the child whom Mei had adopted when she was young during the time when Nathan decided to enlist in the military eight years ago.

Therefore, she's Nathan's adopted sister. Some butt licking servants in the household thought that she might be the next young Mistress of the household. However, Rin never entertained that though as she had no intentions in doing so.

She was already grateful that the Johnsons had taken her in and gave her the home and family that she didn't have.

She preferred to call them Master and Madame though Mei insisted in calling her Mom countless of times but she decided not to.

Rin knew her place in the family. They were her benefactor, her savior but she would rather acknowledge herself as one of their subordinates as she felt that that should be her right role in this family.

She had been staying on the school dorm that's why she was not able to meet Kim Eunji on day one.

Kim Eunji find Rin's character interesting. For her, she was also adorable and charming but soon, her heart ached for her as soon as she learned her story from Mei.

Rin was mistreated by her known parents. She was forced to pickpocket or rob people of their things on the streets. If she won't do it, she will be beaten and would be starved for a day as punishment.

One day, Rin snatched Mei's wallet from her bag. But the child returned it to her and even apologized for taking it away. Instead of getting angry to her, Mei took the kid home and decided to adopt her.

It was then revealed that Rin was not the biological child of the couple. They had no idea who her biological parents were, too. They said they only found her on the garbage near an abandoned building and decided to take her in. However, she was ungrateful enough and turned her back against them.

Kim Eunji despised those type of people. Those who felt that they had every right to the person since they had done something in that person's favor. It was only right that the couple was now rotting in jail.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked as soon as she saw her lost in her thoughts.

"Ahh! What are you doing her?" Kim Eunji was startled.

"I'm just checking on you. Just trying to make sure that you'll be comfortable enough." He explained.

"I am." Kim Eunji shortly replied.

"I see." Nathan then approached her and planted a soft kiss on top of her head as he added, "Come, let's sleep."

"What are you doing?" Kim Eunji shot a glare towards him. She thought that they would be sleeping on a separate room.

"I'll cuddle you to sleep. Would that be okay?"