"Uh huh, and who is the lucky lady that is loved by the great Kwon Jiyong?" I smirked, knowing I'd be ten thousand won richer by the end of the night.

With a straight face he answered.

"You."

I knew he was kidding, but this sudden outburst made my heart flutter and my mouth dry. I had never felt this way around him before. I tried to act cool.

"No really Ji, quit the jokes, this is a serious question." I said shrugging the feeling off. I pulled my hair into a ponytail but some short pieces escaped. I blew them away and started chopping some vegetables. I was anxious for his explanation.

"Aish Dara, I'm being dead serious here." he leaned his arm on the wall, and stood facing me while I made dinner. He inched forward and we were now dangerously close.

"I'm not playing around Ji." I said sternly, awaiting his true answer.

He tucked the fallen hairs behind my ear and kissed my cheek softly.

"You know I love you Dara, and I know you love me too."

I thought about our relationship. We truly cared for each other, and we would do anything for one another. We knew each others deepest secrets, and wouldn't share them for a million won. We had learned so much about one another throughout the years, and speaking for myself, I don't know what I would do without him. Yes, I suppose I did love him.

I stopped my work and looked up into his piercing stare. I touched his cheek.

"You're sweet, but you know we would never work out together as you know, a couple or whatever." I sighed while removing my hand.

"How do you know? I mean we've never tried it." he said, switching positions as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.

I giggled. "Kwon Jiyong! Go sit this at the table, time to eat." I wriggled from his grip and handed him the food.

He pouted but followed my directions and sat the steaming pot in the center of the table. I tried to change the subject.

"Oh and I never broke up with her for you. I just ran out of there with some lame excuse." I grabbed some rice with my chopsticks.

"Ssantokki..." he whined.

"There's no way in hell I'm ever doing that again. And anyway, you promised I wouldn't have to." I stuck out my tongue at him. He smiled and I did the same realizing how silly we were acting. He stuck out his tongue before shoveling a bite of food in his mouth.

After finishing and cleaning up, I went to my room and he sat down on the couch and watched tv. I changed into my pjs and wiped my face free of makeup.

"What's Up! is on!" he yelled to me.

"Kya!" I shuffled out in my bunny slippers and flopped down next to him, wiggling my to make room.

What's Up! is one of our favorite dramas because our good friend from high school, Kang Daesung, stars in it as Ha Do Sung and the internet singing superstar, Hades. We watched with intent as Oh Doo Ri got a surprise visit from her eomma.

The show ended, but we stayed seated. I yawned and grabbed a blanket to cover us up with. If anyone had seen us, they would have sworn we were a couple. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face as we sat together, with the sound of the tv to keep us company.

I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for just a minute. He turned off the tv and we sat in silence for what seemed like hours.

"Dara-ah." he poked me to see if I was still awake.

"Hmm?" I answered sleepily.

"Do you love me?" he inquired innocently.

"Wae?" I asked lifting my head and squinting my eyes to focus on him.

"Well you didn't say anything earlier, I just wanted to hear you admit it finally." he grinned from ear to ear.

"Mmm, well, ne... I like you." I laid my head down again and snuggled closer to him, a sense of peace spreading throughout me.

"That's all? Jeez, don't I feel special."

I laughed still not answering his question and was satisfied with what I told him.

After quite some time he relaxed kissed my forehead. We fell asleep rooted on the couch until the morning.











I woke up, my neck hurting from an awkward sleeping position, and wondered where I was. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and looked around to find Jiyong laying spread out on the couch and I was curled up in a ball next to him.

He was sleeping peacefully by my side, so I quietly got up from under the blanket that was draped over us, and stood to stretch.

I went to my room and when I passed by the mirror, I noticed I still had some smudged makeup left on my face. I stepped inside the bathroom and got in the shower to wash up.

The phone rang, but I wasn't going to be out in time to answer it, so I ignored the noise.

A few minutes later, I heard a soft knock on the door and it opened as soon as I responded. I was out of the shower now and dressed. I turned my head to see Jiyong, an unreadable expression painted on his face. I sensed something wasn't right by his stony expression, so I spoke up.

"Something wr..." I was interrupted by him suddenly.

"Dara-ah I don't know how to say this." he spoke softly.

My eyebrows scrunched up to show I was confused. He placed a hand on my cheek tenderly and continued.

"Your Eomma is in the hospital. She's not doing well, they said she doesn't have long to live."

I ripped off his hand and stared at him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in disbelief, the information sinking in.

"Come on, we better go. Ok? Ssantokki come on, let's go see her, neh? She probably wants to see you and show you she's feeling fine." he shook me back to reality and then wrapped his arm around my waist; pulling me out of the bathroom to get my coat and shoes on before we rushed to get there.

I was blinking back tears on the way to the hospital; my eyes burned and my heart was pounding a mile a minute. My Eomma hadn't been doing well in the past few years, she had been going through a lot of health problems and stress from her work so she finally retired this month. Sure she might have been sick recently, but she hadn't been to the hospital for anything serious.

Jiyong sped the whole way there and I sat in the passenger seat, silently praying she would be ok. My face was ghost white and my knuckles were clenched to the leather seat. Jiyong put his right hand over my left and squeezed it, letting me know it was ok to relax. I huffed a sigh while I slid down in my seat awaiting our arrival.

As soon as the car pulled into the huge parking lot, I unbuckled my seatbelt and shoved the passenger door open, not waiting for Jiyong. He jogged to catch up to me, but I was already inside asking where my mother was and if she was ok while signing in as a visitor.

A nurse led me into a long hallway and opened the first door on the right.

"She's in here honey. She's sleeping right now so try to be quiet ok? I'm going to be giving her her medicine soon also, and you can go back in the waiting room when you're done." the nurse left to go do something and I rushed over to my eomma's side.

I took in her features. She didn't look like herself; her short and curly black hair from before had been replaced with a sea of shiny grey locks. Her skin was pale white, and wrinkles were visible around and eyes. She lay still, lifeless, and weak.

"Eomma are you ok?" I asked, pausing for a response. There was none so I continued.

"Eomma, I know I shouldn't be bothering you, but I rushed over as soon as Ji told me you were here." I watched as her chest heaved up an down. My hand rested on hers gently so she wouldn't wake.

"I... I love you so much Eomma." I squeezed her hand lightly.

"Please, get better. I'm not leaving, I'll be here until you feel well. I love you..." My hand released it's grip around hers and I stood to leave her room so the nurse could give her medicine. Before I could get any further, a small voice called out to me.

"Sandara." she opened her eyes and twisted her head to meet my gaze.

"Eomma!" I ran over and held her hand again.

"Aigoo aigoo, careful Sandy." she chuckled although she was in pain.

"Mianhe. I was scared that I wouldn't get to talk to you. How are you feeling?" I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in.

"I have been better. But the doctors and nurses are really nice and they have been taking care of me so don't you worry." she smiled and her eyes closed again.

"I love you dear." she whispered before drifting off to sleep once again.

After watching her sleep, I stood to leave, taking one last glance at her. I shuffled out of the room so the nurse could do her work and sat down next to Jiyong who was looking at a magazine.

"How's she doing?" he sat the magazine on the table in front of us and listened as I spoke.

"Ji, she looked... tired. She said she was feeling ok but I know she's in pain." I tried to come across strong to him, but that failed once my bottom lip began to tremble. It felt as though weight has been pressing down on my shoulders, and soon I will crumble from the pressure. My voice quivered.

"I'm scared. And I hate this feeling of how I don't know if she's going to get through this or not. It hurts." I noticed a tear had fallen from my watering eyes, and more now  spilled out uncontrollably. Jiyong pulled a tissue from a box on the table and wiped my swollen red eyes with it. My head fell onto his shoulder as I cried.

I in a deep breath and tried to calm myself; we would be here for a while and crying constantly would make time seem even longer.


























I finished my meal and rested my head on the restaurant table, exhausted. Jiyong sat down his chopsticks and did the same so we were eye to eye.

He stuck out his lips so that they almost touched my nose and I yanked back.

"Stop. I'm not in the mood." I spat standing up to leave for the hospital again. It was now nighttime and we were going to make one last visit before heading home to rest.

We paid for dinner and exited to the parking lot. He slipped his arm through mine but I shoved him away. We got in the car and drove in silence.
































My eyes fluttered open and Jiyong was sitting next to me, staring with intent. We went back to the apartment after a late night at the hospital, and had crashed on the couch together.

"Annyeong." he said. I looked closer at his face and realized his eyes were tearing up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my heart rapidly beating. My mind jumped to the worst conclusion instantly, and I felt dizzy.

"Dara-ah, the hospital called and said your eomma took a turn for the worse. She passed away early this morning." he said this quietly.

My vision blurred and the world around me turned black as I escaped from reality.

-sigh- I'm very sorry for not updating sooner, I have been busy and I know that's not a good excuse, but I hope you guys will understand! I have been already working on chapters after this so I hope you won't be mad with me for not posting them sooner... a lot of chapters are done I just haven't had the time to update. Huhuhu -_- well thanks anyway for subscribing, commenting, and please add me! 

Kamsahamnida!~xoxemily