Solo Leveling: Sung-Jin-Woo x Cha-Hae-In

X. Shudder

It all started when they were just newlyweds.

His wife suddenly collapsed while they were walking back to their hotel room. They were talking about the lot that they would buy for their home when suddenly her head lolled to the side and she slumped down on the floor. She recovered a minute later and brushed it off, saying she might be just tired. He stayed quiet.

The next one was when she just got home from her job as a coach in a track class, and as soon as she stepped back into their home, Her eyes glazed over, and she collapsed. She was unconscious for the rest of the night, and when she woke up the next day, she just smiled and said she might be just tired. He started to worry.

The third one shocked him to the bones. As she was driving home by herself and he was still at work investigating an incident on the outskirts of the city, he called her number. They talked for a good minute before she started laughing at his complaints about the Shadow Soldiers itching to fight. However, a second later, he heard the screech of tyres and the noise of something colliding. Oh God, he heard. He kept calling her name as the time passed, his heart beating frantically at every call of her name, to no avail. He shuddered.

So he found himself later at the hospital, panting as he stared at his wife lying down on the bed with bandages around her arm. He stood still by the door to her room as he slowly absorbed the relief that his wife had just gotten some scratches from what was happening. Haein finally looked at him, and she blinked.

"Dear! Why are you just standing there? Come here.."

Jinwoo walked sluggishly before slumping down in the chair beside her bed. As he rubbed his sweaty palms together from being tense, he looked up at her and sighed heavily.

"I thought... you were." He did not continue his words as he groaned. She may be okay for now, but still, he can't just easily brush it off. She almost died. In an accident, even. You never know what could happen, and that easily scared him.

Haein just smiled sheepishly at him before she mumbled. "I blacked out for a second. The funny thing is, there was a drunk driver too. Hit the car at my back, and it hit mine next. A relay of collisions?" She explained.

He sighed again. How many times did he sigh already? When it comes to her, his sovereign title just disappears, and he is just Sung Jinwoo again. And does she ever realise how much she means to him? That even the simplest of things can make him go insane?

"...Be careful. Please." He reached out to hold her hands.

"Dear... I will be alright so no need to wo-" Her words were cut off when she suddenly slumped down on the bed as he touched her hand. The heart rate monitor beside her bed beeped loudly.

He blinked in surprise. He was pushed off to the side as a doctor and four nurses came in, running for the emergency.

He looked at his hands in realization. Intuition is screaming for confirmation.

He did not know how long had passed since he sat on a chair just outside her door. His mind was flooded with thoughts and suspicions. With the dots connecting together, the puzzle pieces are finally complete.

'My power...'

The envoy of the Rulers warned him about consequences happening as he stayed in this world with his enormous power. But he chose to stay for many reasons. He said he is prepared; if ever there is a threat, he will fight them with his power through the necessary means just to keep them safe. But it did not occur to him that the closest one to him may be the one affected. His heart hardened at the thought.

'Shit..'

The door opened, and he saw the doctor coming out of the room to face him. "Mr. Sung... We've stabilised your wife for now... From her records, we see that she's in extreme fatigue. It might be the reason why she blacked out earlier... For now, we want to keep her under our care. We need to run more tests." He nodded silently as he listened, and the doctor excused himself.