My first thought immediately flashed back to my dreadful dream. Images of Donghae dying, our last conversation, how choked off on his last sentence. No, that couldn’t happen. It was so soon.

“O-over? What do you mean over? You don’t mean h-he’s…?” I trailed off.

“He’s what?” Kyuhyun asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Dead?” I whispered, fearing the answer already.

“Dead?” Kyuhyun asked. “Where’d you get that crazy idea?”

I sighed in relief.  So he was alive; or at least, for now. “Sorry,” I said. “I just had these crazy nightmares. Ever since, I was having trouble differentiating my dreams from reality.”

Kyuhyun smiled. “I only meant that the operations are over. Look at your watch; I think it’s about six o’clock.”

Close enough, it was six-fifteen, which means I have slept for about four hours.

Kyuhyun yawned. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast. Donghae has been moved to a hospital room. I called his mom. She said he’s fine, in a relative sense, but still unconscious.” He seemed in a better mood now. I couldn’t blame him. I could’ve jumped for joy the moment I heard Hae was alive.

“Hold up, haven’t you slept at all?” I asked in an accusing tone.

“What can I say? Someone has to watch over you. I can’t risk the possibilities of what might happen if I fell asleep.” He said evenly. “Now let’s go, or else we’ll end up with no food at all.”

“Whoa, whoa.  Wait a minute.” I started. “Kyu, you should’ve slept. Or at least woke me up to guard over you while you slept. Ever heard of taking turns?”

He laughed weakly and yawned again. I felt guilty. Now I was depriving him of sleep. What’s wrong with me? “It’s okay, Yoona. Really. You need your sleep more than I do. Besides, it’s nothing like a little coffee couldn’t fix.” He smiled, “now let’s go.”

I smiled. Kyuhyun was very thoughtful towards me. I didn’t know if I could ever reciprocate the compassion he had shown to me. We entered the hospital cafeteria and ordered our share of breakfast. Kyuhyun ordered bibimbap (an assortment of fried rice and vegetables) while I ordered a plateful of chapchae (noodles with beef and vegetables) paired off with a glass of fruit juice, while Kyuhyun paired his breakfast with a hot cup of coffee. We ate breakfast silently, until I opened up a question that cut off such silence.

“Kyu, do you think Donghae’s gonna be alright?” I asked.

Kyu looked up, “Of course he is.” his better mood didn’t seem to waver. “He’s alive, isn’t he? He’ll need time to recover fully, that’s for sure.”

I digested his words, but didn’t fully comprehend it. I hesitated. “I just can’t erase that image in my dream.” I started. “The blood, the bruises, and the pain he was in, and in the end he just died. I don’t know how I’ll react if that happened in real life.”

“Look, the point is, he’s alive. That’s all that matters now. Don’t worry yourself over such trivial matters.” He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

I gazed down to the food I was eating. “I wonder how this will affect our friendship.”

“Who?”

“Donghae. Who else?”

“Oh, I thought you were talking about me.” He said, embarrassed.

I smiled and playfully pinched his cheek. “You don’t have to worry about our relationship Kyu. You’re one of a kind. I couldn’t find someone better than you even if I tried. Our friendship is as hard as diamond.” I winked at him. “Nothing on earth can ruin it.”

He smiled. “Hey, if we want to see Donghae, we’d better finish these, fast.”

I didn’t argue. We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence, paid our bill, and then hurried to the elevators to make our way to Hae’s room.

“Which floor is his room again?” I asked.

“19^th Floor, Room S-259. We could take the stairs, but I doubt you can keep up.” He teased.

“Are you saying I’m too weak to do it?” I asked.

“If the shoe fits, Yoona.” He winked, laughing.

“Alright, I accept your challenge.” I said, smiling.

“Wait, what?”

“I accept your challenge.” I said. “First one up to the 19^th floor wins.”

“Are you sure?” he said, in a mocking voice. “I can beat you any day Yoona.”

“Don’t count on it.” I said, challenged. “Ready, set, go!”

Kyuhyun charged immediately to the spiral stairs. I raced after him, a bit behind since he had a head start.

“I’m now in the fourth floor Yoona!” I heard Kyu call from above.

I was already exhausted when I reached the third floor.

“Sixth floor!” he called.

I hissed. No way was Kyu beating me at this game. No matter how childish it may be.

Suddenly, an idea came into my mind. Wait a minute; we never agreed NOT to use an elevator. I smiled evilly. Dashing to the 3^rd floor elevator, I pressed the up button hurriedly. What luck! One elevator is presently at the second floor! When it came, I hopped inside, hoping Kyuhyun didn’t have the same evil idea.

Fortunately, no other person took the elevator since I rode. In a matter of seconds, I was in the nineteenth floor already. Getting out of the elevator, I was just in time to hear Kyu say from below, “Fifteenth floor! Face it Yoona! I’m faster than you!”

I laughed silently then squatted near the elevator, waiting for him. He has no idea. I smirked.

“Eighteenth floor! Just one more floor and I’ll win!” he called.

“Nineteen! Ha! I beat you… Yoona?” he said, a look of disbelief etched upon his face. “B-but h-how?”

I motioned my lips to the elevator, smiling evilly at him.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” he exclaimed.

“What’s not fair? We never agreed NOT to use an elevator, remember?” I said, emphasizing the last word.

Kyu grumbled and said something under his breath. He was still gasping for air. I laughed at him and said, “Jeez, Kyu, you’re sweating. You need to change.”

“Who wouldn’t be sweating after travelling nineteen floors?” he asked, panting heavily.

“I dunno, me?” I said, rubbing my underhanded victory in his face.

“Oh, alright. You win this time. But I won’t be beaten next time!”

I laughed. He looked at me and smiled. “You’re not so innocent after all, Yoona. You’re sneaky!”

“Indeed I am.”

“Now if you could just turn around, I would now change my shirt.” He said, grinning.

“Stop being so pathetic. Here, I’ll help you change. I’ll get your shirt from your backpack.”

I took his red backpack from his sweaty shoulders and fished out a blue printed shirt while he took his shirt off from his torso. “Here,” I said, handing him the blue shirt. “Wait, don’t wear it yet!” I said.

“Why not?” he asked? “Do you find me,” he winked, “attractive?”

I rolled my eyes. “Really, Kyuhyun? I need to wipe your back first. You’re still sweating. Otherwise, changing your shirt would be pointless. You might even get pneumonia.”

He laughed. “Alright, you’re the boss.”

I was in the middle of wiping his back when a nurse passed us by. “Is everything okay?” she asked, eyeing us curiously.

“Oh, uh, yeah! I’m just helping him change, that’s all.” I said, taken aback.

“Awww, how sweet.” she commented, flashing us a smile. “Well, good luck to you two!” she said, winking at us, then entered the elevator.

“Well that was…”

“Awkward.” Kyuhyun finished.

We looked at each other, and then laughed in unison.