“Key!” Eun-Ae squealed with excitement as she hurriedly wriggled out from beneath the bed covers and ran over to spring into the waiting man’s arm. With a joyous laugh, he tightly wrapped her in an embrace and lifted her clear off the ground, spinning around a few times before gently placing her back on the carpeted floor. As he removed his arms from around her, she looked him up and down, eager to see how he had changed in the many years that she had not seen him. “Wow! You’ve gotten so tall!” she gasped, standing on her tip-toes to place her hand on the top of his head. He was nearly two heads taller than her, but Eun-Ae wasn’t quite sure whether this was because he had simply gone through a miraculous growth spurt, or the fact that here growth had been stunted since she was in high school, a product of the many pharmaceuticals she consumed daily.

“Eun-Ae, I think you’ve just gotten shorter,” he teased, poking her in the forehead affectionately. With a frown, she rubbed the slight red mark that had appeared on her skin, and Key took a step back to give her a once-over. He then smiled in a satisfied way. “Well, I’m pleased to inform you that you have not gotten ugly since high school,” he mused mischievously. Eun-Ae exclaimed with incredulity and punched him in the arm, then recoiled, rubbing her knuckles tenderly. Key had also gotten a lot more muscular; taking notice of her reaction, he flexed his arms with a grin. He then wrapped her in another hug.

“Key, it’s so good to see you,” she murmured as she closed her eyes, simply enjoying being wrapped in his strong embrace. She and Key had practically grown up together, as their mothers were good friends and business partners. He and their mutual friends had formed an idol group when they were in high school, and before graduating left to make their debut. Around the same time, Eun-Ae was given her first diagnosis, and the two had not seen each other since that time. They had kept in close contact through countless phone calls, text messages, and video calls, but it was still an amazing feeling to finally see him in person after almost four years.

“I had to come back and see my number one girl,” Key smiled as he gently rubbed her back. After a moment, Eun-Ae finally released him and sat down on the edge of the bed, patting the spot next to her expectantly.

“Where are the others?” she asked in curiosity as he took his place beside her.

“Oh, them? They’re waiting in the car,” he explained with a playful smirk. “They all really wanted to see you, but I called first dibs and told them they had to wait fifteen minutes until they could see you. Poor things are probably chomping at the bits.” He laughed happily, finding the prank quite amusing, and Eun-Ae worriedly glanced out her bedroom window toward the driveway below. When she glanced back at Key, having been unable to spot the car, she was surprised to find that he was holding a small notepad and a pencil in his hands.

“What’s this? Are you giving me your autograph now that you’re all famous?” Eun-Ae teased, but her face fell when she noticed the unusually serious expression on his face. “What is it?” she asked quietly as she hesitantly took the notepad and pen. She flipped the small notebook open to find that all the pages were empty, and she grew even more bewildered by his strange behavior.

“You’re going to make a bucket list,” he revealed when she looked back up at him. “Then, the group and I, no matter what it consists of, are going to make sure that you accomplish everything on it. It doesn’t matter where you want to go, or what you want to do- the five of us are going to see it done.” Eun-Ae couldn’t keep from falling open in shock.

“Key! No way!” she exclaimed, jumping off of the bed. She threw the notepad down on the soft coverlet, as if it had burned her terribly. “I would never ask you to do that for me,” she added with a guilty frown.

“Uh, last time I checked, I wasn’t asking,” Key retorted, frowning back at her.

“Key, you can’t possibly expect me to just allow you to drop everything and devote so much time to me!” she protested. “You have a life to live, you have dreams to chase! You don’t need to waste time on me when you have your future to consider.” Key stared back at her sadly, then sighed heavily and reached out to gently take her hands in his own. He pulled her slightly closer, and Eun-Ae refused to meet his gaze until he put a finger under her chin and forced her to look into his eyes.

“Eun-Ae. Listen to me,” he responded firmly. “You are one of the dearest people in the world to me. I’ve spent plenty of time chasing my dreams, while you put your own on hold. You supported me during the scariest, most stressful, and now I’m going to return the favor by supporting you during yours.” Eun-Ae opened to object once more, but the idol held up his hand for silence. She reluctantly obeyed, and he squeezed her hands gently. “Nothing is a waste when it comes to you. I want you to be able to live your life, chase your dreams. Understand?”

“Key…” she murmured, overwhelmed by his conviction. “Are you sure? I only have… Twenty days,” she continued, her voice barely more than a whisper. He reached up to gently the side of her head, a pained smile on his face.

“Of course I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure about anything,” he reassured, gently placing the notepad once more in Eun-Ae’s small hands. “I simply cannot allow you to spend your last twenty days moping around in a bed when you could be out meeting hot guys and getting wasted,” he mused. Eun-Ae glanced over her shoulder at the bedroom door, terrified that her mother was listening in. Key began laughing, throwing up his arms to shield himself as Eun-Ae beat him over the head with the notepad and scolded him profusely. It was at this time that the fifteen-minute mark had passed, and Eun-Ae blinked in confusion as thumping footsteps resounded through the house. She turned toward the door just in time to see a very excited Taemin barge in and charge her, nearly tackling her with an ecstatic hug.

“Eun-Ae! I’ve missed you so much!” he wailed, burying his face in her shoulder. Eun-Ae laughed and patted his head comfortingly, glancing up with a smile as the other three boys ran into the room. Seeing Taemin, they paused and tried to make themselves look dignified, coughing uncomfortably. She could see the excitement sparkling in their eyes.

“Hey, Eun-Ae, what’s hangin’?” Onew grinned, walking over to forcibly pry Taemin from the girl so that he could give her a quick hug. Meanwhile, Taemin was sulking in the corner, and cried out when Jonghyun flicked him in the back of the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” he whined loudly, tenderly rubbing his head.

“You don’t charge a sick girl, Taemin. What if you would have hurt her?” he scolded, crossing his arms with a snort. He then winked at Eun-Ae, and with a giggle she bounced across the room to hug him. “It’s good to see you,” he mused as he hugged her back.

“Hey, don’t hog her!” Minho whined over Jonghyun’s shoulder, bouncing up and down on his heels as he impatiently awaited his turn. Eun-Ae released Jonghyun and finally embraced him, much to his joy. She then walked back to her spot on the bed, flipping the notepad open to the first page. The blank lines stared at her as she struggled to think of items for her bucket list.

“You really got her to do it,” Onew remarked as the girl began feverishly writing on the empty pages. “I was expecting more resistance.”

“Please, I nearly had to twist her arm to get her to do it,” Key complained.

“I’m so excited! We’re going to go so many cool places!” Taemin beamed, hopping onto the bed to try and peek at her list. Eun-Ae drew it close to her body to shield it, must to the boy’s disappointment; with a huff, he crossed his arms and pouted.

“Done!” she cried finally, holding the notebook aloft as a symbol of her triumph. The neat white pages were now filled with Eun-Ae’s signature scrawl. She lowered the notepad after a brief moment, her expression growing unsure once more. “Are you all sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” Key affirmed, reaching over to gently ruffle her hair. “We’re one hundred percent willing to do this, all five of us.” Eun-Ae nodded slowly, taking a deep breath to squash down the remaining opposition inside her. “Now, then, Eun-Ae. Where would you like to go first?”

Eun-Ae glanced down at her list. Twenty items for twenty days. The first one will be…