This chapter is a little shorter, sorry! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Which was like, one, but that's okay.

I did a few calculations in my head (gasp...yeh it was hell) and I think that I'll have around, oh, a little less than twenty chapters. So stick around, no matter how painful it is.

arirang

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Chapter Seven

“Hoy, Doctor Chang!” I called out, kicking the door of the dirty brick building. Sarang stirred a little in my arms.

Doctor Chang used to be the head doctor of his own clinic. However, once he had a terminally ill patient who asked to commit suicide before the death date. Doctor Chang relented and took her off oxygen support, but physician-assisted suicide is illegal. He had to close his clinic and live in the underground, a fugitive from the law. My gang and I usually went to him for our worse injuries, since he wouldn’t give away a fellow criminal.

Doctor Chang opened the door, a tall, weedy-looking man in a raggedy suit. “Not you again,” he sighed. “What did you do to the poor girl?”

“I didn’t rape her,” I snorted. “She got beaten up a bit. Can you take a look?”

The doctor motioned for me to come inside. I carried Sarang into the musty, dim room, a wide expanse with one wall lined with beds. Placing her in an empty bed, I turned and said, “How much will it be?”

Doctor Chang pulled up a chair and began examining her. “I’ll need to do some X-rays, but it seems like she has a broken arm and rib. That’ll be about, oh, five hundred thousand won.”

“Thanks, doc.”

“Hwoarang,” he said as I turned to leave. “This is Kim Sarang. I’m not going to spill, but I don’t want to be sued for anything. I can’t keep her here for long, maybe two weeks.”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

I rode my bike back to my gang’s hideout, already planning another fight. I definitely did not have five hundred thousand won. Sighing into the wind, I felt guilt sink deep inside my gut. Curses ran through my mind. Not only did I feel bad about having to pay, but also, the broken expression on her face as I kicked her lingered in my mind. And then the image of her lying on the ground as limp as a doll…I gripped the handlebars until my knuckles turned pale white.

San met me at the door. He saw the look on my face and grinned expectantly. “Another fight, boss?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Get the others.”

--(A/N: After that last chapter, I am sick to death of fight scenes. Let's move on, shall we?)

She was awake when I came to visit her the next day. She had been gazing out the dusty window, and turned her gaze towards me as I sat in a chair beside her bed.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

Sarang turned back to look out the window. “Fine.” Short and simple, just like that.

“Sarang, I’m really sorry! I lost control of myself and…and…I just got so mad because no one had ever…”

“…Hurt you like that before,” she finished for me. “It’s all right. You already apologized yesterday.”

“Wait.” I couldn’t tell anything by her tone of voice. It was just…flat. Emotionless. Tired. “You’re forgiving me?”

“Yes.”

“But,” I began incredulously. There had to be a catch. “You’re a woman. You don’t forgive unless it’s kicking and screaming or I give you a truckload of gifts. I’m broke right now from paying the doctor fee, just to let you know.”

“I’m not asking for anything.”

I waited.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, moisture glistened at the corners. “I need to leave soon,” she said, her voice calm despite the tears.

“What?”

“I need to leave soon,” she repeated simply. “I think I’ll go back to Thailand. Don’t worry; I have enough money. And thank you for taking me to the doctor.”

She was thanking me? “Good grief, woman, I’d thought you’d beat me up or something once you came to,” I said, confused. “But no, you’re just lying there, saying thanks! Thanks for what? I owed you that much, at least, to help you out once I pummeled you. Anyway, it's like you’ve changed overnight. What’s wrong with you?”

And then Sarang tilted her head to face me fully, eyes locking onto mine, incredible fire dancing in them. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked, still quietly. “Why am I here in this rundown hospital in the first place, if something hadn’t been wrong with you that day?”

I felt myself wither under her glare. “I’m sorry,” I said meekly.

She slumped back onto her pillow without a word.

And I realized why she had been so collected. She was truly angry. All those explosions and temper tantrums were nothing compared to this. I supposed she had good reason—I did almost kill her.

But her silence frightened me.

“Sarang,” I said, mustering up as much courage as I could. “You haven’t really forgiven me, then?”

“I have. As much as you will ever be forgiven.”

“Sarang, if I could go back in time and erase what I had done…”

“…But you can’t.” Her words cut me off like a dagger. “Everyone has regrets that they wish had never happened. But not every man can control himself before he does something that will turn into such a regret.”

“And I’m one of those that can’t, I know.”

She didn’t answer.

“Look, woman, I’ve got a fight scheduled in half an hour, but I’d much rather have your forgiveness than the money or the fame or the acceptance of my gang.” And what stunned me was how fast the words came out, how true they were.

“Don’t lie to me,” said Sarang. “Go fight. I hope your opponent is luckier than I was.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but then saw the smile tugging at her lips. It was small, barely noticeable, but at least it was a smile. I felt something inside me let out a huge, relieved sigh. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” I told her, getting up to leave.

“When you do…” Her eyes were soft again as they watched the city out the window. “…Bring me a box of truffles.”

I said good-bye and left the makeshift hospital, in much higher spirits. Truffles are a heck lot easier than gleaning pardon from eyes like those.