She opened her eyes but all her see was whiteness. It was a huge open space with no boundary, nothing around, just whiteness. Then she saw him. He was walking toward her in his handsome white suit. It was definitely him, gorgeous and charming just as 15 years ago.

He smiled at her, a sweet gentle smile that she used to love.

“Dong Wook ah? Is it you?” – She asked, rubbing her eyes in disbelief

He nodded

 “Yes, it’s me. How have you been Ji Hyo?” – Lee Dong Wook said, smiled gently at her.

“I’m great. I’m so happy seeing you here.” – She ran to him and hugged him tightly.

 He responded to her hug. Gently and warmly.

“Where am I? What is this place? Am I in heaven? Is it why I’m seeing you?” – Ji Hyo asked, lifting her eyes up at Dong Kook

“No. you are not in heaven. You are in limbo.” – Dong Wook slowly explained

“What is limbo?”

“It is the midpoint between life and afterlife, earth and heaven”

“So am I dead?”

“No you are not. You are still breathing. Your body is still alive on earth but your soul is up here.”

“So what is going happen to me now?”

“It’s your choice. You can either choose to stay here or comeback to earth. It’s all depends on your will to live Ji Hyo. What do you want to do?” – He tilted his head, looking at her, gently.

“I want to stay up here. I want to be with you Dong Wook. I miss you so much. Plus, the earth is too painful. I don’t want to come back …” – She said, eyes lowered to conceal her sadness.

“But your family and friends are worrying about you. You should come back to them.”

“I don’t want to. Not now, at least, can I just stay here for a little while, until I’m ready?” – She looked at Dong Wook, eyes begging

“Sure, it’s your choice. Come back to earth whenever you are ready.” – Dong Wook smiled, softly, as he always did, 15 years ago.

“Dong Wook ah, why are you in limbo too? Shouldn’t you move on with your next life already?”

“Because I have been worried about you. I have been watching over you for 15 years. I have been waiting for the day you could move on with your life but you never did. Every year, when you were crying next to my tomb, I actually stood right next to you. But I couldn’t comfort you, couldn’t wipe your tears. I only could stand right next to you. I felt helpless.” – He said, his voice was low.

“I’m sorry.” – She mumbled, lowered her eyes.

“Ji Hyo ah, you know that it wasn’t your fault that I died right?” – He straightened her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“Of course it was my fault. If I wasn’t selfish and got mad at you for silly reason, then you didn’t have to go buy that flowers and didn’t have to be in that tragic accident.” – She said, her eyes were wet.

He shook his head, gently wiped the tears off her cheeks.

“It wasn’t your fault. I was my fate. My time on earth ran out and I had to return to heaven. I’m sorry that I couldn’t say goodbye to you and I had to go on the day of our wedding. I wished I could control that but it was out of my reach. Don’t blame yourself any more ok?” – Dong Wook raised his eyebrow gently looking at Ji Hyo.

“Really?” – She slowly asked, looking up at Dong Wook.

“Of course, everything in this life was a part of the plan. It will happen sooner or later and we human don’t have the power to control it. But thing happened for reason Ji Hyo ah.”

“What reason could it be that you had to die?” – She frowned

“So you can meet a better man, a man of your destiny, Kim Jong Kook” – He said, smiled gently at her.

“You know about Jong Kook too?” – She asked, surprised

“Of course, I watch every step of your life Ji Hyo ah. Kim Jong Kook is a good man.”

“But I felt guilty toward you when I’m with him.” – She said, apologetic

“Why did you? You shouldn’t be. I was no longer on earth. You should move on with your life. You had to move on with your life in order for me to move on with mine too.” – He softly explained.

“But I hurt that man too much Dong Wook ah. I just destroyed his wedding too. I don’t know how to face him anymore.” – She sobbed. Her mind was sad thinking about Jong Kook.

“But you love that man right?” – Dong Wook asked.

“Can I be honest?” – She hesitated.

 He nodded.

“He was the only man that I love more than everything besides you. I thought I could never fall in love any more but he changed me. He was warm and sweet. He loved me unconditionally even though I kept hurting him. And because he was so good to me, it made it very hard on me to face him again. Even when I wake up, even if he is willing to forgive me, I don’t think I can forgive myself. I don’t think I can just selfishly accept his love any more. Our past was too painful.” – She said, her voice couldn’t be sadder. She was struggled, struggling with her own moral. A part of her couldn’t live without Kim Jong Kook but a part of her couldn’t let herself pass all the pain that she gave him.

He was a great man, too great for her …

“If you love him, then you should be with him. Give yourself a chance to be happy Ji Hyo ah.” – Dong Wook sincerely counselled.

“But our past, it was too painful …” – She said, eyes fixing somewhere faraway.

“Time will heal everything Ji Hyo ah.”

“I hope” – She sighed.

Meanwhile on earth,

It had been 3 months since Ji Hyo was in coma. Doctors said she passed her critical condition but the trauma on her head was severe and putted her in deep coma. They advised her family to keep interacting with her, talked to her, read her book. Those things were proven to help walking up coma patients.

The news kept updating about her condition. It was the first time in Korean entertainment history that a celebrity was assassinated by a crazy fan. Some sympathized for her, some did not. There were still some stubborn fans thinking that Ji Hyo deserved it as she left Jong Kook for a younger man. Hateful comments were still all over the internet.

Dong Jun and Jong Kook couldn’t stand to look at those insulting comments any more, they decided to make a press conference for her. It was the first time ever they spoke publicly about their triangle relationship.

All the reporters got quiet when they heard the story from both Dong Jun and Jong Kook. They both devastated talking about their relationship. Dong Jun accepted all the faults on him and begging public to be understanding toward Ji Hyo decision. Jong Kook also asked fan to give support to Ji Hyo and family. He also declared that his love for Ji Hyo would never change no matter what and he would stay with her and her family through this difficult time.

Their press conference was live on TV and became a hot topic. Public was in awe with their love story. Fans were touched and even though Ji Hyo still laid unconsciously on the bed, her fan number went back up, more than ever before.

Her fan pages were full of prayers and supporters from all over the world. Every day hundreds of fans sat in front of her hospital and pray for her recovery. They hold her pictures, her names, sat quietly and hoped for good news. They send fresh flowers and gift to her room daily. They gave her family warm supports every time they walked by.

Besides her parents and sister, Jong Kook was the one that stayed at the hospital most frequent. He visited her pretty much every day after work. He slept over at the hospital every other day, taking turn with her parents and sisters. They told him that he didn’t have to do that but he said he wanted to be the first one she saw when she woke up. He asked her family to call him anytime even when he at work in case Ji Hyo woke up. He refused any tour that take more than 2 days because he afraid that he couldn’t be there when she opened her eyes. It was easy to find him in Ji Hyo’s hospital than in his studio. They were all touched with his love.

 Every day, he came to her, her would sit on the same chair and held her hand as he telling her what happened in his everyday life. He told her about his projects, his songs, and his performance. Even though she never responded, he never stopped trying. He always Running Man shows for her as it was a big part of her life. Then he would tell her what happened during the filming. How every Running Man members were.

When there were nothings new for him to tell her, he talked about their past. He reminded her of the places that they went to, the things that they did together. Times liked that, he smiled brightly as he recalled their beautiful memory together. Then he randomly cried as it was too painful for him to think about it. She was right next to him but she couldn’t response to him. It drove him crazy as he thought he couldn’t be any helpful to her.

Every night in his dream, he saw her, in white dress, smiling at him prettily. It felt so real, but when he woke up, she still laid on the bed, helplessly.

“Please wake up Ji Hyo, please!!!”