"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for."

—Tom Bodett

It was dark, almost pitch black of it weren't for the natural light of the sky. He could see the moon and the stars even though they were hidden behind large clouds. Jiyong didn't know where he was or why he was there. The place wasn't remotely familiar to him at all and it only made his apprehension worse because of it. 

Not far from him was a large tree that was barely covered with leaves. The more he looked at it, the more leaves seemed to fall so he turned his gaze away and found something shining beside it. He stepped forward but then stopped when he heard a splash. He looked around and saw nothing so he looked down. He noticed that he was standing in a puddle yet the surrounding land looked dry and free of any water. He took another conscious step and found the puddle following his feet. 

It was odd to say the least.

Shaking his head, he put his attention back to the light and he walked over to it with wary steps. There he saw two lone candles standing side by side from each other. At first glance, he thought it was just one big candle but upon further inspection, he realized that there was a small distance between them. Looking up at the tree, he noticed that it's color somehow looked darker than from when he looked at it from afar. 

"Jiyong."

His head quickly turned to the voice but then a strong wave of gust suddenly appeared, sending him to the mysterious puddle that followed him. His brows scrunched in confusion when he realized that he didn't get wet. 

What is this..?

His hand spread across the supposedly wet ground but his hand remained dry. The wind blew onto him again and he closed his eyes to brace himself against it. 

"Jiyong." 

He opened his eyes and found himself suddenly holding one of the candles in his hand. He flinched in surprise but then his eyes trailed towards the other candle that stayed rooted in front of the tree. The flame in his candle burned brighter than one on the ground and he stepped closer, hovering his flame over the latter to help its flame. 

But the wind... it continued to blow harshly, specifically towards the candle on the ground. Slipping a curse out of his lips, he tried to save it from extinguishing by covering it with his hand but the strong gust continued its torment on the poor thing. 

"Let it fade." An unfamiliar voice whispered. "It'll die anyway." 

He picked his ear irritably and glared at nothing in particular before going back to tending to the dying flame. And to his surprise, his own candle's flame just grew and grew while the flame on the other one was getting weaker and weaker. 

"C'mon, what the is wrong with you!" he hissed forcing his flame on the other candle's to light it up. "Why aren't you working?"

"It can only light one candle." the same unfamiliar voice said. "Put out the weaker one."

The lone candle barely had a flame but it was still shining its ember. Meanwhile, the one that Jiyong was holding was burning brighter and stronger. 

"Put it out—"

Without another word, he threw the candle on the puddle he was standing on and the flame immediately died. He looked up and saw that the candle across the tree now adorned the large flame that his candle once had. The tree that was dark suddenly turned brighter and more pronounced. He found it beautiful even though he wasn't one for distinguishing beauty. And then suddenly, everything else turned brighter and he wasn't surrounded by the looming unknown anymore. 

"Why did you do that?" the voice said. 

Jiyong shrugged, straightening up for a stretch. "It was pissing me off." 

"It was pissing you off?" they said in disbelief. 

"What's the point of having a candle with a flame when you can't even light up?" he grumbled, sitting down and leaning on the tree. "I didn't need it anyway." he said. 

"But your candle was so beautiful... and it's flame was so strong." 

He raised his brow. "What's this bull you're talking about now?" When he heard no response, he continued, gazing up the morning sky, "It's better this way... I mean, look at what that little er did. It made everything visible. Mine didn't do half as much as it did."

"I see." 

He nodded to himself before feeling a soft breeze brush past him. Before he knew it, he felt something rest against his shoulder. He could only see the crown of her head and most of her body but he knew it was a woman. She wore a simple dress and her hair was down, blowing softly against the current. 

There was something about her that made him feel at ease and he found himself resting his head over hers. A faint giggle slipped past the woman's lips as her hand entangled around his. Together in silence, they watched the sky, both fascinated and hypnotized by it.

"Thank you." 

He felt her lean away to face him and he felt his heart beat faster. Tears instantly sprung his eyes and he caught her in a tight embrace, burying himself in her now-familiar scent. Her slender hand went to the back of his nape before they traveled up to his hair where she started to caress it. They didn't share words but his soft cries spoke louder for him. 

She brushed her thumbs on his cheek to wipe his sadness away but she herself started crying although there was a soft smile on her face while his didn't. He leaned against her forehead. 

"I'm going to miss you." she whispered. 

He opened his eyes and she was suddenly gone.

And so was he.  

-a week after her operation-

A big gash on the side of her left leg, a few broken ribs and a dislocated arm, cerebral hemorrhage, and a bruised lung.

It was a wonder and a relief how she escaped death with so many fatal injuries. The Kwons have instantly put her in a better ward that pretty much looked like an executive suite. If it weren't for the medical stuff attached to her, people would've thought that they were in some classy hotel. 

Her mother, as well as the rest of the Kwons, didn't leave the first day even though they were told that they were past visiting hours. Mama Kwon somehow got past the tight regulations... which could very well be another way of saying bribery. Like Mrs. Park, Jiyong had never left her side—if he did, it would only be for when he goes to the bathroom, gets food, or brings a change of clothes from home. 

He had urged Dara's mother to return home because the older woman looked utterly exhausted but she would just shake her head and stare at her daughter with a sad and distant look. 

Omma's not ready, baby. She'd mutter to her sleeping daughter. I need you back. I... I-I'm not ready...

And then she'd cry and Jiyong would burst out in tears as well. Dara just looked so at peace that it almost showed them how much she fit in that bed. 

But to them, she wasn't.

She was destined to be alive and not lifelessly stuck in a hospital. She deserved to breathe, to smile, to go about her day like always. 

Sandara Park deserved the world, they thought.

Yet here she was on a bed, attached with wires that kept making them realize about one's mortality. 

She was much too young... she didn't deserve this.

Everyday, he would sit by her bedside, watching her, assuring himself that she was going to make it. Dara's mother would often be found asleep on  the spare couch in the room. The woman didn't even want to close her eyes but worry and exhaustion consumed her entirety.

Jiyong hadn't slept on the first couple of days since they let them see Dara. He was too preoccupied at looking at her, checking if she'd shown any signs of consciousness. The doctor had mentioned that there was a probability of her being able to slightly move parts of her body—usually the fingers or the eyelids. He also said that this progress varies and may either show a few weeks after operation although if things turn out for the worse, progress might delay for more months or maybe even a year.

Jiyong didn't want to wait for a year but if that was what it'll take, then he will.

Every time he looked at her, his heart breaks more and more. She was still the same yet everything felt so different. There were scars and bruises on that scattered across her soft, white skin. Even her face was painted with a few cuts.

A bandage wrapped around her head and he remembered how he saw her that day. Blood seemed to seep on the side of her head and trail across the gravel road. Crimson splattered her pale cheeks and he just couldn't fathom it. That girl was the same one that took care of him throughout all these years. That limp and pitiful body was the same person that told him that she loved him and vowed to marry him.

That woman was now lying on a hospital bed with him helplessly staring at her.

"Don't let her die." He cried softly amidst her dark and sullen room.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Dara should've came home safely with that familiar cheeky grin and he would give her a kiss o  the lips and tell her that he missed her. He was going to be honest with himself and he was going to confess his heart to her. She would cry and he would hold her in his arms and softly call her an idiot. Dara would hit him and there would be tears in her eyes—one of joy and contentment, as if she was saying 'welcome home'. And he was home, she had always been his home. Before she could propose again, he would ask her to be his girlfriend. She would say yes and after a few months of dating, he'd be the one who'll drop on one knee and ask for her hand.

But that didn't happen. 

Fate played a cruel trick on them and now they were here in a place of hopelessness and anguish. 

"Come back to me, Dara." He held her hand weakly and bowed his head to it, his whole body arching down to the bed in defeat. "I'm sorry... I-I'm so sorry."

He was apologizing for many things. For the fact that he couldn't save her, for the fact that he wasted so much time, and for the fact that he didn't admit to his feelings sooner. Jiyong apologized for being too afraid of their future.

This fear... this pathetic fear had led him to almost lose the woman that he loved. Her accident just made him open his eyes and see through the dark clouds that have been blocking his vision all this time. Now there was no time for fear.

"Dara, please."

There was only time for Sandara Park and his unbridled love for her. 

He kissed her fingers and looked at her through tear-stricken eyes. "We haven't lived our lives yet." He whispered with a sad smile. 

And now, there was no more wasting time.

-when he was in Japan - third month-

It was torture living in a place without her but it hurt more remembering how she dismissed him like he was no one. 

He's been living in the foreign country in a dazed routine: sleep, work, eat, and walk around the nights. It was midnight right now as he walked and he often strolled with a bitter conscience. These walks reminded him too much of her and he just couldn't find it in himself to break the habit. 

When they were younger, in their teens or so, Dara would often get him out of the house before his curfew of 9pm. There, Dara and him would walk and talk, usually about school, life, or some nonsensical thing. Occasionally, she'd bring him to spots with nice views, saying that she had discovered it during her trips home from studying. 

And now he was alone, surrounded by silence and darkness. He didn't mind the dark... but that was when she was with him. Now that he's alone, he felt different about it. Jiyong felt like it just emphasized his loneliness.

The dark wasn't so fun and inviting when you have no one to light it up and share it with. 

His eyes roamed towards star-filled sky, wondering if she was staring at it as well. The woman was a curious stargazer. She'd always fancied them even tough she had no clue what star and what constellation she was looking at. There was one time when they had an argument about the big dipper and guess who was right? Jiyong... but he let her have her ignorant victory in the end. A smile formed at the recollection of the memory but that soon faded when his mind drifted back to the reason to why he was in the country in the first place. 

Jiyong had come to Japan without a word about it to his parents. As soon as Dara acted as if nothing happened, he made a snap decision to leave. He couldn't bear to be in the such close proximity with her, let alone be in the same country. That was what he thought at that time but now that he was really away, he just couldn't help but wish to go back. That had always been h