Many Sukkie fans were still heartbroken over the fact that Shin Hye had a new lover, but there were more fans than haters. Even Lee Jang Woo and Cho Kyuhyun congratulated Shin Hye for finding a nice guy like Yong Hwa.

*****

The next day, Yong Hwa's eomeonim brought him to the hospital for his treatment and evaluation. His doctor and the therapists were evaluating him, and the doctor finally decided that Yong may only go back for rehab after three months. For now, it was just plain bed rest.

"I am bored at home," he said to the doctor. "If I am not painting, I have nothing else to do. Eomma and Appa won't even let me help them do the chores."

The doctor laughed and asked him if he wanted to do some paperworks for the meantime in his office two days a week. Yong Hwa nodded because he wanted to have something to do.

After the visit to the doctor, he wheeled himself out of the rehab center. While he was approaching a tree for shade, he saw a pale girl sitting on a bench under the same tree. 

"Annyeonghaseyo?" he greeted the girl.

The pale girl greeted him weakly with a slight bow. Yong Hwa noticed the IV setup that the girl had with her.

"Why are you here alone?" he asked. "Where are your bumonim?"

"Eomma is in the room, watching TV, Appa is at work," the girl said.

"Your Eomma is in the room???" Yong Hwa asked in disbelief. "She did not care that you are sickly, yet you are under the sun?"

The girl shook her head.

"I asked permission, but she refused. I insisted on going out, so she left me here," the girl explained sheepishly. "My tantrums kicked in."

"Yong Hwa-imnida," he introduced himself.

"Ji Woo. Han Ji Woo-imnida," she said.

They talked about many stuff such as birthdays and blood types, and finally, Ji Woo noticed that Yong Hwa was in a wheelchair.

"Yong Hwa-ssi, why are you in a wheelchair?" she asked.

Yong Hwa told her what happened. 

"What about you?" he asked her.

"Ah, me.... one of my kidneys is defective, and the second one is about to follow," she said.

Yong Hwa looked at her, speechless.

"Sorry to hear about that," he slowly said.

Ji Woo smiled sadly.

"I had my first blood transfusion last night," she said. "If the crossmatching will yield postive results, I might receive another bag of blood today."

"Noona...is it...painful?" he asked. "I mean...you feel weak and..."

"I feel tired all the time," she said. 

Yong Hwa bit his lips. His accident might had been a serious case of life and death, and he could have died instantly,  but this noona was like a glowing ember which is slowly dying.

"Ji Woo-noona," a guy called out.

Ji Woo and Yong Hwa looked at the guy, who came near them.

"Annyeonhaseyo?" the guy greeted.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" Yong Hwa greeted as well.

The guy smiled apologetically at Yong Hwa. The latter could see that the former had very sharp and cold eyes, but his smile was warm, enough to melt the ice cream on a girl's heart.

"Hong Jong Hyun-imnida," the guy introduced himself.

Yong Hwa resisted the urge to laugh, knowing that he had a friend named Jong Hyun too.

"Jung Yong Hwa-yeyo," Yong Hwa introduced himself.

Both guys got to know each other's blood type and birthday, and Yong Hwa found it odd that both Jong Hyuns were born on the same year, with the Hong guy born on a January, while the Lee guy born on a May.

"You know, I have a friend named Jong Hyun too," Yong Hwa said. "Both of you are born on the same year."

"Ah, jinjja?" Jong Hyun the 2nd said. "I should like to meet him."

"Oh, but he is in school," Yong Hwa said.

Jong Hyun smiled.

"I am in school too, but it is break time, so I am here, visiting my hot noona girlfriend," he said.

Yong Hwa smiled as the two exchanged sweet pecks. Jong Hyun was really slick and all, being able to snatch a noona for a girlfriend. But this Jong Hyun must be very loving, as he stood by his sick girlfriend. Yong Hwa listened as the lovers were talking about last night's blood transfusion.

Then a vehicle honked.

Yong Hwa looked up to see his eomma's vehicle, so he bid his friends goodbye. Jong Hyun offered to wheel him to the vehicle. When the two guys reached there, Yong Hwa introduced his new friend to his mother.

"Oh, Yong Hwa has a friend named Jong Hyun too," Eomma said.

"Ne, Eomeonim, Yong Hwa-hyung told me," Jong Hyun 2nd said.

The guy helped Yong in getting in the car, then he "folded" the wheelchair before mounting it inside the SUV. 

"Take care, Eomeonim. Take care, hyung," Jong Hyun said.

The two inside the vehicle waved goodbye. Yong Hwa noticed Ji Woo waving him, so he waved back at her. Finally, when Eomma drove, she spoke to Yong Hwa.

"Is that Jong Hyun's girlfriend?" she asked.

"Ne, Eomma," he said.

He shared to her how the two of them got to be friends.

"At least, you are making new friends outside your circle," Eomma said.

"I know," he replied. "At least, Jong Hyun also did not ask me about the interview last night."

"He must have been very busy too."

"Maybe..."

As he looked at the scenery outside the vehicle, he saw people rushing by, as if they were busy chasing time and not finding time to rest.

"I can have something to share to Shin Hye from now on," he thought.

Turning back to Eomma, he told her about the part-time job that the doctor had offered him.

"You really are that bored?" Eomma said. "All right, I agree, but let's ask Appa's permission too."

Yong Hwa nodded.

"But who can drive for you?" she asked.

"You can drive for me on your way to work," he begged. "After all, my work is just twice a week. I will just go home for lunch and stay home for the rest of the day."

Eomma usually goes home at lunch, so she found it to be a very good arrangement.

*******

Yong Hwa recorded another mini-video. He told her about Ji Woo and Jong Hyun, but most of his speech was about Ji Woo. He felt it must have been very hard for her to be weak all the time and dealing with the pain of having defective kidneys.

"At least, my bones will heal, but for her, maybe only a miracle can save her," he said thoughtfully.

He smiled at his camera.

"Don't be jealous, Jagiya," he said. "You know I love you. I am just tell you about Ji Woo-noona because it made me realize that there are some people who suffered more than I do. I may have a lot to deal with some scars on my face, or deal with being unable to walk for months, or being unable to graduate with my batchmates, but I guess, what I don't realize is that, you might be suffering more than I do. You are complete and all, but right now, you have a lot of haters to deal with, and I might not have foreseen that."

He gave her a flying kiss.

"Jagiya, I am sorry if you felt that I don't understand you, or if I don't appreciate all the things you had been doing for me so far," he said. "You should know that I do. And I feel really safe that you protect me all the time. So, now, let me do my part to protect you as well. I want to show the world too that I love you, but I don't want haters to be added to your list, that is why I prefer sending you vids straight to your phone and not through networking sites."

His nose felt a bit itchy, so he sneezed.

"See, Jagiya? Someone must have been talking behind my back," he joked.

Then, his smile turned serious and sincere.

"Saranghae, saranghae," he gently spoke. "Yeongwonhi saranghae (I love you forever)."

Then, he finished off with a cute pucker on his lips, as if giving his phone a smooch.

******

Shin Hye was suffering from slight menstrual cramps, so Manager Choi had her rest for a bit. She got her phone and saw another vid from Yong Hwa. 

"Oh, I need to see the DVD as well," she thought.

She opened the vid and began watching. Manager Choi saw her watching, so she asked permission if she could watch along. Shin Hye agreed, and they watched the vids like friends. They listened up to the last detail when he gave her a smooch, and Manager Ma giggled.

"Wha... Yong Hwa is so romantic," she said. "Having giving you all those vids and all!"

"He really is," Shin Hye replied.

"It's like a modern love letter," Manager Choi said.

"Ne, Manager Eonni," Shin Hye said. "He is like giving a love letter to me. But he also sings, so it's like he is serenading me in his letter."

"How cute!" Manager Choi giggled.

"Ah, where did Manager Oppa go?" Shin Hye asked. "I asked him this morning as he dragged his suitcase, but he was still too angry and would not talk to me."

"Ah, he will be transfering to another agency," Manager Chois said. "They said he will be acting manager for Super Junior."

Shin Hye bit her lips and giggled.

"My poor Baby Kyu, he might have to deal with a very domineering manager," she said, feeling a bit sorry for  her friend.

"Baby Kyu?" Manager Choi asked. "But he is older than you. Should you call him Oppa instead?"

"Ah, I tried calling him Oppa when we were together, but he preferred being baby'd by me," she joked.

"Oh well, I hope Yong Hwa will not get jealous," Manager Choi said.

"Oh no," Shin Hye said confidently. "Yong Hwa is my Jagiya...soon my Yeobo, and Kyuhyun-ah will be our baby."

Manager Choi laughed her heart out.

"Omo, the baby is older than his parents," she said while wiping her tears.

Shin Hye let out a smile. She had never been this happy. After Yong Hwa's coming, another good surprise came for her--a fun and friendly manager.

~~~~

(Han Ji Woo and Hong Jong Hyun both starred in "Jungle Fish 2")

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