“Kang So Eul. Kang So Eul! Get a grip!” Chanyeol barked at the girl, who looked bluer and bluer by the passing minutes, on his back as he speed-walked his way through the alleyway and turn into a busy looking street, where a few people gave him weird looks. He approached one of them, asking where the nearest hospital could be. He may have grown up in this area but the sudden panic made him lose his sense of direction.

One helpful aunty pointed at a new building, saying that was a hospital. Chanyeol said a quick thank you before he carried Soul there. As soon as he stepped into the building, nurses and doctors surrounded him and carried the girl from his back to the nearest wheeled stretcher.

“It’s Miss Kang! Everyone! Prepare the emergency room! She needs treatment!”

Chanyeol frowned at how the staff sounded like they knew her, as if she was a regular, and started attending to her almost immediately. He was given a set of hospital pajamas and was told to change out of wet clothes by one of the nurses who was scurrying around Soul, who had started to rasp breaths of air through her parted lips before she was ushered into a room with metal flap doors.

He changed into the warm pajamas, which ran slightly short on him. The hospital was exceptionally clean and warm, contrary to the cold and rainy weather outside. After lurking around in the room for quite some time, he decided to go to the reception desk to ask information about Soul.

“Dr.Kang wishes to see you,” one of the receptionists informed him and led him to a room. Chanyeol studied the name-plate on the door at the front of the room.

‘Dr.Kang Dae Sung
Cardiologist and Cardiothoracic Senior surgeon
Member of Royal Physician Association
Fellow of Royal College of Surgeon Association’

Chanyeol head was shaken a little at the titles. It had always been his dream to be an accomplished doctor no matter how difficult it may seem. He pushed the door and saw Soul, who was still unconscious, on the bed, attached to all the machines with wire. The room was quiet except for the steady beeping sound from a machine. Beside the bed was a man, who looked like he was entering his early fifties. He has a pair of small eyes and a set of thick lips, which always seemed to be curled up into an upward lift at the corners. In the middle of his face was his crooked, eagle-like nose. He cannot be considered as traditionally handsome with his tanned skin and aforementioned features but his expressions made him look very friendly and happy.

“Hello,” he smiled, “please sit down.”

Chanyeol didn’t, “Is So Eul okay?”

“How do you know our So Eul?”

Our So Eul? Chanyeol frowned in confusion. Could that be- “Are you-“

“I’m So Eul’s father, Kang Dae Sung,” his eyes crinkled deeper as he smiled.

“Oh,” Chanyeol exclaimed as he stood firmly and did a 90-degrees bow. “My name is Park Chanyeol, Sir. I am So Eul’s friend from school.”

“Ohhhhhh,” he started chuckling, “you must be Chanyeol that my wife speaks about. Sit down, son. Sit down.” He gestured toward a chair.

After the initial, awkward introductions, the rest of the conversation was a breeze. Dae Sung, or Mr.Kang, is a cheerful soul, much like his wife. He speaks in a happy, cheery voice and always sounds enthusiastic whenever he does so. At first, Chanyeol was surprised at how a gorgeous woman like Mrs.Kang end up with someone who is not handsome like Mr.Kang but he figured out that his personality made him so charming that it made him seem extremely handsome.

Turned out that Soul was suffering from a complicated heart problem. “We still cannot figure out what exactly was wrong with her,” Mr.Kang sighed, “it seems like heart transplant is the only solution but she is too young to undergo such procedure.”

“When can she do that?”

“When she turns eighteen…” he explained, “I just hope we can prolong her life before then.”

“Her life?”

Mr.Kang smiled, “So Eul’s heart cannot beat too fast because it tires out the heart muscles, possibly leading to heart failure. Just like today. If she is not given a shot of adrenaline and first aid help, she could die. Have you seen her sitting out at gym glasses and other extra curricular classes?”

Chanyeol nodded, remembering how she handed in a certificate to the PE teacher, Mr.Shim, at the start of the year before the very start of their first PE class. Since then, she sits down on the sideline reading a book or gazing at everyone who were engaging in their PE activities.

“Yeah, I’m so happy she has you to rely on in this town. She doesn’t have many friends back in her old school either,” Mr.Kang spoke reminiscently, “her only best friend moved away to Los Angeles for good and she wanted to go along too but…” he looked out of the window. It was still raining heavily. “I think it’s better to keep her with us… just in case.”

“You’ll take care of her, won’t you, Chanyeol?” he asked. Chanyeol’s eyes widened at the sudden, serious request. Who is he to say no? He is always known as someone who is too nice for his own good. He nodded. Mr.Kang smiled.

Chanyeol spent his evening at the hospital, upon Mr.Kang’s request. He called his mother to let her know that he would be spending his night at the hospital. His mother freaked out, as usual, at the mention of hospital but she regained her composure when she learned that he was not harmed and that it would be at Mr.Kang’s hospital.

~

“Park Chanyeol-ssi,” Soul sighed during one of their walks to school. It was a few weeks after the fainting incident. “Can you please stop staring at me like I just escaped from Seoul Zoo?” Soul looked paler than before, creating a greater contrast between her jet-black hair and her complexion.

“Sorry. Sorry,” Chanyeol muttered as he diverted his gaze away from the girl walking beside him. “I just- yeah- Nevermind.”

“This is why I don’t want to let Appa meet any of my friends,” Chanyeol heard her muttering to herself, “he turns me into a zoo exhibit and everyone thinks I’m going to drop dead on the floor.”

Chanyeol smiled sheepishly because it was true. He had been trying to keep his eyes on Soul the past few weeks to a point that Baekhyun had started to think he had a crush on her. Chanyeol swore up and down that he never thought of Soul that way.

In addition to her rather excitement-lacking life, Soul also has to take a frightening amount of medicine everyday too. Most people only saw her eating her meals slowly during lunch hours and never her medicine taking moments. One day, Chanyeol decided to remain until almost everyone left the lunch hall. Then, he saw Soul taking out a bag of medicine from her little pouch, after scanning around the lunch hall sheepishly, she started, swallowing one pill after next, which could total up to a one palm full of pills easily.

Chanyeol felt so sympathetic towards her from then on. At first, he thought she was a very difficult person to get along but he realized that she was sorely trying to cover up the fact that she was not different from other people.

~

Their last semester of the penultimate year came and went quickly. As short and quick it felt, it was meaningful for Chanyeol for he had gained a friend – Kang So Eul. She still saw him as a rival but he no longer saw her as one. She was just another friend to him.

“Soul-ah, did you do well in the exam?” he asked as she went past him outside of the exam hall. She paused to look at him for a while and gave him a small smile before nodding.

“Chanyeol-ah,” Jongdae, or Chen (the stage name he adopted for his singing purposes. Chanyeol found it stupid but whatever), another member of his mischief-making group, another beagle friend, whined, “why are you still talking to that ghostly girl??? She looks so scary????”

Chanyeol lightly hit his friend as a joke, “She’s not scary at all, Jongdae-ah, You just have to talk to her.”

“Stop telling Chanyeol that,” Baekhyun jumped into the picture, “he’ll keep telling you that she’s as docile as a little sheep.”

“She is!” Chanyeol argued defensively.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” the two beagles agreed sarcastically, “you’re just in love with her.”

The tallest one rolled his eyes, “I’m not!!!”

“Keep telling yourself that,” the two boys cackled and walked away after telling Chanyeol that.

~

Summer holidays had always been boring for Chanyeol. The last summer before the university entrance exams were no different. In the past, Chanyeol spent his summer holidays with his beagle friends – Jongdae and Baekhyun. They would go to different markets during the day to busk the songs they like - much to his mother’s dismay.

The current summer holidays were no different except they had a new addition to their member, an unwilling one – Kang So Eul. She whined and begged Chanyeol not to drag her out in the sun because she hated the sun and the crowd. However, determined Chanyeol won in the end, with her mother favouring Chanyeol’s side; “You never go out in summer, So Eul-ah. You have to enjoy youth a little! Go out!!”

Soul was currently sitting under a white lace parasol, which she brought along from her room, watching the trio perform an R&B track on a busy street. She stuck out like a sore thumb with her slightly eccentric white lace parasol and a fan, which attracted attention from the passerby, but she didn’t seem like she cared for the slightest bit.

“She is still just so weird,” Baekhyun murmured during their break. He waved at her with a smile. She smiled feebly and bowed her head politely at Baekhyun.

Jongdae laughed with his trademark high-pitched laughter, “After spending some time with her, I now think she is pretty okay. Weird? Yes. Scary? Yes, especially when she’s not smiling,” he added, “Meek? Also, yes. Chanyeol is right.”

Chanyeol laughed as he looked at Soul, who looked like she was having a difficult time under the sun as if she had never spent a day in her life under the sun for the entire day. He waved at her. She smiled and did a little wave at him.

“That’s not fair,” Baekhyun sung, “you get a wave. I don’t.”

“That means,” Chanyeol pulled up the guitar that was on the ground onto his lap, “I am a closer friend.”

The beagle trio erupted into laughter at Chanyeol’s comment.

~

“Soul, what’s your favourite food?” Chanyeol asked as he lay on his back on the extended wooden balcony on the ground floor at Soul’s house, which was built like a traditional Korean house.

She looked at him with a frown as she peeled her eyes away from another literature she had been burying her nose in. She blinked a few times. “Anything really salty and spicy.”

He shuddered, “That sounds so horrifying.”

“It does,” she replied woefully, “that’s why I cannot eat it even though I want to.”

“Why?”

“It’s really, really bad for my health. My diet is monitored carefully. Only very lightly seasoned food is allowed for me. Low salt, low sugar, no spicy food, low fat, high fibre” she answered as she continued reading her book.

Chanyeol’s head turned to the side to take another slice of watermelon from the tray between them, a summer treat from Soul’s mother. “No wonder you are so skinny,” he took a bite from the juicy flesh, “Miss Skeleton.”

“As if you’re any better, Elf Ears,” she replied in a sassy tone.

He immediately sat up as he heard her reply, “You just called me ‘Elf Ears’!”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Do you not like it? Are you offended? Was I very rude?” she asked continuously, snapping her book shut, her stance ready to apologise to her heart’s desire.

Chanyeol started laughing joyously as he rolled on the floor, “Does this mean I’m your best friend now?” he laughed, “Kang So Eul calling me by nickname is a lifetime achievement!”

Soul rolled her eyes as she opened her previously shut book, “You’re such a village idiot.” She mumbled with a soft smile on her face while Chanyeol rolled on the floor beside her in uncontrollable laughter.

Just like that Chanyeol upgraded himself as Soul’s best friend.