Ha Yun moved her knight on the chess board and then looked at Jinki teasingly.

She was so close to win the game and she was even surprised with how badly he was playing since he was the smartest and the best player she knew.

She watched his Adam’s apple move and he his eyes drifted away from her to the board.

He seemed nervous, not sure what to do in the game.

“You can use the bishop to eat my knight you know!” She suggested rubbing her arm, feeling the hot sun caressing her skin.

It was a beautiful summer day and perfect to go out on a date. She felt as if she was on a date with him, under the big old tree of the hospital garden.

It was Jinki’s last week at the hospital and lately his mood has gone back to worse again with the fact that he had to face the real life outside the hospital. He was thin now, his chubby cheeks not as rosy as they were before. But Ha Yun was positive about his recovery.

At least he still smiled when he was around her and lately they had several interesting conversations about anything. He never mentioned the word death anymore either.

He hesitated, his fingers over the black bishop but still he moved it eating her knight. Ha Yun released an upset fake interjection, since she was the one who suggested it  and that made him smile.

“You are good at this!” She said teasingly and Jinki pushed her arm lightly.

“Stop that! I’m just tired! That’s why I’m not playing well!”

“Sure!”

“I really liked the ending of the book!”

His comment made her nod her head. Earlier that afternoon they finished reading the book.

“Actually I have something to confess to you!”

That caught her full attention and Ha Yun completely forgot about the chess game, instead she leaned forward over the plastic table she used to place the game board.

“I’ve read that book before.”

She blinked her eyes until she realized what he meant. “You did? Then why….?”

“I like how you read. Your voice was soothing.”

That made her blush slightly and Ha Yun awkwardly leaned back not sure what to say.

“It is truly a lottery how we end up being born into this world. It all feels like a big game….I mean this life. How things happen and suddenly change everything. How people change, how feelings change…”

His gaze on her was making her nervous and that was new. She never felt like that before. There was something different about the way he was looking at her.

“Make your move!” He added making her grab a random pawn moving it forward.

“Checkmate!” He announced moving his knight forward in the direction of her King.

However she felt as if he was doing checkmate on her heart instead.

“You win!” She gave up immediately making him laugh.

He always won when feelings were involved. He was the King and enough to beat all of her game pieces.

“I wish I could eat hallabongs....”

That was a special type of orange that were normally found only in Jeju Island and were rather expensive.

“I never went to Jeju Island before so I never tried them!” She answered wondering why he changed the topic of the conversation so suddenly.

“I went with my parents once. They bought a box of them and they were extremely expensive as they were delicious.”

“Heard newlyweds eat them.” Ha Yun remarked collecting all the pieces from the board.

“I hope that someday I can go back there…” His comment made her raise her eyes from the board. “Maybe you can go with me!”

That was good. He was making plans, elaborating wishes for the future...wishes where she was included.

Jeju Island together!

“Maybe you can try hallabongs with me.”

Eat hallabongs together!

“W-why are you talking about that?” She asked nervously avoiding looking at him, the sun being a pretense for her to hide her eyes under her hand.

“Because of the book. The orange girl! She is right...there are no two oranges that look the same, like there are not two people that look the same. Everyone is unique and it’s somehow a miracle that you get to find a really good rare orange in the middle of all the others...like Hallabongs….”

“That doesn’t make much sense!” she laughed “A really good orange! They are not even oranges...it’s a different fruit!” Ha Yun uncovered her eyes blinking them with the sun but she could see the way he was looking at her and it still made her feel nervous. 

♦ Jinki ♦

“We can empty the dining room and make a nice cozy bedroom for you.” Jinki’s mother said looking at her husband for support.

“Yes. I can move the bed from the guest room down…”

“I want to stay at my place!” Jinki insisted interrupting his father. “I don’t want to go back to your place. I have a small ground floor house and I can live alone. I don’t want to be a burden to you!”

“You are not a burden! You are our son!” His mother insisted.

Jinki groaned upset, his eyes moving to the woman at the edge of his bed. Ha Yun was there of course, like always, beside him, Watching the conversation and not saying anything.

She smiled at him softly as if wanting to give him strength and Jinki felt the need to ask her for her opinion.

“What do you think?” She seemed startled with his question as if she wasn’t expecting that he would notice her presence. Of course he noticed it. “Should I go back to my parents' place to be treated as a baby or learn to live alone with my disability?”

She bit her lower lip and tucked her black hair behind her ear as if she was thinking about the best way to tell him what she thought.

“Well you know what I have to say about this disability thing...you can do rehabilitation and walk again…”

He closed his eyes because of course, she would insist on that madness that he would recover.

“Just answer my question and stop analyzing the words I use in it!”

Ha Yun rubbed her arm and then grasped the edge of the bed “I think you should do what you feel more comfortable doing. What will make you happy!”

“SEE?” He raised his arm in victory, looking at his parents “She agrees with me! I should live alone!”

“You can’t be all alone...I mean what if you feel sick or you fall from the bed or something happens?” His mother asked worriedly.

“I won’t die...and if I do...I die and that’s it!”

Ha Yun hit him on his leg and Jinki looked at her surprised that he actually felt it.

“If you say that again I’m going to hit you in the head next!”

He his lips looking at her amused. He loved to sometimes because she would treat him as if he wasn’t disabled. She still treated him as if he was the old Lee Jinki and he loved it.

“I won’t feel well knowing you are so far away alone…” his mother said near tears and Jinki sighed.

“I can stay with him!”

Ha Yun suggestion made everyone look at her and Jinki could see how her cheeks got pinkish.

“I can stay with him during the night. He has a small guest room and I can spend the night at his apartment until he recovers. If you want….” she turned to him “If he wants!”

Jinki looked at her surprised. It wasn’t the suggestion alone that surprised him. Yes, it was amazing how far she would go to help him, to be beside him, taking her promise to another level. But he was also surprised at how her suggestion made his heart beast faster.

She was basically going to live with him. Share the same roof, the same house. He could see her everyday again. He never realized how much he was afraid of losing her visit every day, after he left the hospital.

Jinki took his time admiring her, his silence making her nervous. He knew. He could read the signs because she was doing the same thing she did when they played chess two days before.

He wasn’t sure what got into him that afternoon but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, of the way the sun was bathing her profile making her shine in a strange miraculous way.

Then he started thinking about the Orange Girl, the character from the book and how mysteriously she looked to the main character. That wasn’t he case. Jinki knew everything about Ha Yun already and yet there were so many things he didn’t know and he never realized it. He didn’t know what her favorite fruit was, what she wanted to be when she was a kid, how she liked to sleep, how her kisses tasted…

He was so lost in thoughts about her that he almost lost the game. He did win it though.

And then he started speaking about Jeju Island and he didn’t lie. He wanted to go there with her.

When he thought about Jeju Island he thought about a magical sunny place and he was sure Ha Yun would look even more beautiful there.

“Jinki?” The voice of his mother made him come back from his daydreams and Jinki focused his eyes back on Ha Yun that was now a blushing mess, probably because he stared at her all that time.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked even though he knew the answer already.

“I always wanted to leave my father’s place and never had the money for it. So maybe we can share the expenses for a while…”

Of course, he wasn’t going to let her pay anything but she didn’t need to know that.

“That’s really good!” Jinki’s mother said hugging Ha Yun “I’ve always seen you as Jinki’s little sister!”

She wasn’t his sister though and he didn’t see her like that at all.