-----Sweetie, it’s mommy…I don’t know if there’s a chance for you to read this. Whether you eventually read it or not, I only want you to know that you are everything for me, your happiness is all I pray for.

Few weeks before I write down this letter, I asked to stop the therapy. I don’t have a heart to tell you, I lied that the pills I’m taking is the new prescription that can restrain my illness, truth is they are just some vitamin and anodyne. Or perhaps…You actually know that? I have noticed that forced smile on your pretty face getting obvious each day, I know you leave the ward every night and come back with your eyes teary. I’m sorry, but I’m dying, sweetie. I can’t be there with you anymore though I desperately crave to. The last thing I can do for you is gradually stop being your burden, and watch you being accompanied by someone so I can leave without worries.

I hope Taein would be the one staying by your side, being your protector and family when I’m gone. I saw the way he looked at you for the past two years, he likes you…he wants you. He promised me one night he will treat you well and love you with all his heart, I could feel his sincerity , but I think if I completely believed in him…I wouldn’t leave this letter to you.

When you told me Jeongyeon left to the US and would never come back, I thought I would feel relieved. To be honest, I did feel relieved for couple days, but soon after there’s only guilt surrounding me. As my life slowly reaching to the end, the feeling of shame is haunting me though I did it out of good intention, or that was what I thought so. If you read this, Nayeon…Please forgive me, and forgive Jeongyeon. ---

“What takes you so long, bunny?”

Jeongyeon stopped at the top of the small hill and yelled to the bottom. “Don’t tell me you can’t ride a bike!”

“The chain loosened, you idiot! How am I supposed to ride up this slope with this old antique?”

Nayeon yelled back, frustrating by her bad luck that of all those bicycles, she happened to rent a half-broken one. It was her mother’s idea to take both of them to Busan for a three-day trip before Jeongyeon entered police academy and Nayeon became a busy university sophomore, everything went just fine from the beginning when they checked information online, booked the place to stay and packed stuffs they were gonna need, so why her perfect mood had to be ruined by a stupid……

“Here.” A voice appeared from behind and she turned with startle. It was a young man and if she did not recognize him wrong, it was the B&B’s owner’s son, Mino. “Let me help you with it.”

“O-Oh, thank you.”

Nayeon stepped back a little to give him space. She couldn’t help but wonder if he followed them all the way here since the route they were biking was not so near with the B&B, not to mention she had heard the owner told him to go buy daily necessities before they left.

“It happens a lot.” Mino said: “I’ve told my mom to buy new bikes but…Old ladies are all stubborn, aren’t they?”

She just smiled without answering. He lifted the rear wheel, took a closer look at the components before fishing out a bottle of lubricant from his bag.

“Girlfriend’s coming.”

“…Excuse me?”

Mino hummed while pointed at her left with his chin. Nayeon followed his direction and saw Jeongyeon cycling down the hill with a flustered expression. Her cheeks heated.

“She’s not my…girlfriend.” Her voice trailed off, feeling embarrassed for saying that word.

“She better not be.” He mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Hey, what’s happening?”

With a scratch sound, Jeongyeon squeezed the brake beside them. Mino simply looked at Nayeon for few seconds before turning his attention back to the wheel. Jeongyeon frowned, the way he stared at Nayeon made her quite unpleasant.

“Why is he here?” Jeongyeon whispered and Nayeon could only answer what was evident. “Um, fix the chain?”

Yeah, of course.

“I’m sorry to say so, but…” Mino stood up, knocking the wheel without much pity. “It’s worse than I thought. I need to take it back with me.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Jeongyeon said before Nayeon could react: “We can just use mine. Thank you.”

She then pulled Nayeon on her hand. “C’mon, I already wiped the back saddle clean.”

Nayeon slightly bowed to Mino before positioned herself behind Jeongyeon. Just when Jeongyeon put her hands on the handlebars, Mino walked in front of her.

“There will be two paths when you passed the creek.”

“…I know that.”

“Choose the one on your left. It’s safer.”

Jeongyeon quirked one brow. “Oh…All right.”

It took her some more strength to ride up the slope because she had Nayeon on her back seat this time, but thanks to her skills, they didn’t tip or stagger for once. Jeongyeon looked back while keeping the balance, her eyes met with Mino’s and he turned to walk away.

“Freak.” She hissed, speeding up the pedals and felt the cool breeze blew by their side. “Sit tight, bunny.”

The view of the countryside was nice, Nayeon took a deep breath while carefully grabbing onto Jeongyeon’s shirt, the scent of grass, trees and dew made her smile heartily. This place should become her second favorite and she made a mental note to visit here again in the near future. Her favorite had always been the knoll in that campsite, there was a small part of her wanted to go and watch the metropolis night view during this trip, but Busan was also great. As long as the certain person was there with her. The smile on her face became even brighter, she threw her arms around Jeongyeon’s waist and held it, didn’t aware the girl in front blushed at first and was grinning like an idiot.

Gradually, the small stream which accompanied them on the way was left behind, the bushes around became lush. Nayeon felt they were slowing down so she poked her head out.

“Something wrong?”

“Look.”

Jeongyeon dropped one foot on the ground when stopped the bicycle. “He told us to pick the left road, doesn’t the right one look flatter?”

After a minute or two of hesitation, Jeongyeon turned their direction and took the right path that had less puddles and gravels and most importantly, few pedestrians were also taking a walk there. The left one was a dead silence that Nayeon said NO the moment they approached the entrance.

The scenery on the way was more refreshing than earlier. Nayeon supposed they were riding on a road up to a valley, shrubbery were on each side of them, surrounding them with the air full of phytoncide. Why would I pick a route which looks like a scene in horror movie over this handy one? Jeongyeon wrinkled her nose, annoyed by the advice she heard and satisfied with her current choice.

“Jeongyeonnie…What is that?”

It didn’t take long for her to figure what Nayeon indicated since nothing on the road was conspicuous than that big brown animal. Squinting her eyes in order to look clearer, a boy about their age was walking beside it with a leash in his hand.

“It’s Tibetan mastiff.”

“A kind of dog?”

“Yeah.”

A ferocious kind to be precise, but Jeongyeon didn’t let it out. She simply sped up a little, trying to pass the huge dog quicker without provoking it, but things went contrary to her wishes. The mastiff started gritting its teeth, the boy’s expression became serious and pulled the leash backward, Jeongyeon gulped and hurriedly stepped the pedals.

“Nayeon, grab me tight, I’m gonna…!”

The sudden pounce of the mastiff made them curse and scream, Jeongyeon tried her best to maintain the balance but the front wheel already twisted and stuck into the ditch on the edge of the path, the next thing they knew was they both launched forward because of the strong impact.

“Oh my god, are you guys ok?” Finally managed to restrain his dog, the boy rushed over to check on them. “I’m so, so sorry, it’s my first time taking him out here for a walk, I didn’t know he will be so aggressive…”

It was lucky for Nayeon because she landed on Jeongyeon’s back when they fell, only her left knee was hurt, but Jeongyeon had several scratches and bruises on her hands, arms and legs. Though their injuries were not severe, the incident was still one of the biggest frights in their life.

It was almost midnight when Mino came back to the B&B. He parked the truck at the front of the gate before discharging.

“You didn’t choose the left, did you?”

He said without looking back at the girl. Jeongyeon slowly approached him, the gauzes on her knees retarded her paces.

“You can’t possibly know.”

“Why can’t I?” Mino placed two wooden bins on the ground, still not looking at her. “You are covered with band-aids, I can even smell the povidone-iodine solution on you from…”

“You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

Jeongyeon walked closer. “We didn’t get hurt because of the uneven pavement or a giant rotten trunk lying in the middle of the road.” She glared at his side profile though he didn’t seem to notice or care. “Unless you settled it, which I assume is almost impossible…How come you know there happened to be a guy walking his monster-like dog on that way for the first time in his lifetime?”

Mino didn’t answer.

“Don’t ignore me. The nearest market was on the opposite direction of the area we bicycling, I know you followed us and I saw the way you looked at Na…”

“What if I tell you,” He finally turned and locked his eyes with hers. “I see dangers coming? What if I tell you, you are the one I’m interested in?”

As if the atmosphere was not stark and odd enough, Mrs. Im walked o