Hyukjae bid goodbye to the parents of Jieun. He became light-hearted, the guilt, the regrets, and the pain were now gone but the feelings of longing are still there. Many realizations have come to his mind. The realization of being able to forgive himself for the accident that he never intended to happen. The realization that everyone commits mistakes and deserves to be given a second chance in life, including him. The realization that everything has a purpose. The realization that everything happens for a reason. All of that, he realized it when he met Dara, the woman in her dreams.

He was walking with his brother towards the exit path of the cemetery when some guy, probably in his early 30’s, who standing in front of a headstone, had caught his attention. The guy seems familiar, he just doesn’t know when and where did he see him. He darted his gaze to the headstone in front of the guy. He froze and his eyes became wide when he saw the name in the headstone  –

Park Sandara  “Dara”

Born: May 17, 1984

Died: February 14, 2018

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give away.” – William Shakespeare

Beside the headstone, there was a portrait picture in there. His body went cold and rigid when he saw who is in the picture. The picture and the name of the person who was laid there was exactly the name and the face of the woman in his dream.

Hyukjae called his brother. And Jungsoo turned around to face him.

“Hyung! Go home first, I will stay here for a while.”

“Why?” Jungsoo asked with a questioning look.

“I have to do something first here before I go home.” He said. “I will just take the bus later.”

“What it is?” Jungsoo asked

“Just something important.”

“Alright, go home before dinner, and don’t ever think of going to the bar again!” Jungsoo said as he gave his brother a piercing glare.

“Yes Hyung, be careful driving.”

Jungsoo nodded. He turned around and walks towards the exit path.

When his brother had disappeared in the view, Hyukjae turned around and carefully approached the guy. He was nervous and his heart was pounding hard.

“Excuse me,” Hyukjae said weakly.

The guy snapped on his right to look for the person who called him. Hyukjae was stunned for a second when the guy had faced him. He realized why this guy is familiar to him because he looked the same as Dara.  The guy smiled at him and Hyukjae’s inside became clenched, he saw once again the smile that filled butterflies in his stomach.

“Yes?”

Hyukjae cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. May I know, who is the person who is resting in here?”

The guy took a glance at the tombstone and smiled sadly. And he looked at Hyukjae.

“That’s my sister. Sandara Park. Do you know her?”

Hyukjae was silenced for a second. He was pondering whether to tell that he saw his sister in his dream. But as he’s sure that the man won’t believe him, he decided to make an excuse.

“No,” Hyukjae said. “She just looked familiar. I think I saw her somewhere but I don’t remember when and where.”

The guy hummed in acknowledgment.

“I’m Lee Hyukjae by the way,” Hyukjae said as he offered his hands for a handshake.

“I’m Park Sanghyun.” The guy said. “Your name is familiar, Mister.”

The two men let go of the hands of each other. Hyukjae eyebrows were furrowed as well as Sanghyun's.

“My name is familiar?” Hyukjae said

“Yes, by any chance are you involved in an accident two years ago?” Sanghyun asked.

Hyukjae’s eyebrows became more furrowed. He was confused about why Sanghyun know that he was involved in an accident two years ago. Maybe he knew it on the news.

“Yes, I am why?” Hyukjae asked.

Sanghyun faced changed into excitement. He beamed at Hyukjae and looked at him straight in the eyes. Hyukjae noticed some tears are forming in Sanghyun’s eyes.

“That’s why your name is familiar. You’re the organ recipient of my sister.”

Hyukjae was stunned. Organ recipient of his sister? He knew that he had undergone an eye transplant because his eyes were damaged when he had an accident. He was lucky during that time because there was a donor in the same hospital he was admitted to. So the operation was conducted as soon as his other wounds healed. But as the protocol of the hospital was to keep the organ donor information confidential, he doesn’t know who was it.

“Organ recipient of your sister? What do you mean?” Hyukjae asked he felt his knees are trembling due to the nervousness and shocking truth.

“My sister is an organ donor,” Sanghyun said. “She signed a waiver that she wanted to donate the healthy organs of her body before she died. She wanted to donate her eyes to someone who is in need, and now you have her eyes.”

Hyukjae was silenced for the second time. He doesn’t know how to respond to Sanghyun. Everything was a shock to him. He dropped to his knees as his legs became jelly. Sanghyun had helped him to stand up and lead him to the bench on the side. They took a seat.

“I am sorry. I shocked you.” Sanghyun said.

Hyukjae took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He wanted to know more so he asked Sanghyun once again with all his might.

“May I know more about your sister?” He looked at Sanghyun with a determined look.

Sanghyun hummed. “My sister was a cancer patient. She was diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukemia at the age of 10.  She spent his entire childhood until her adult life in the hospital. The cancer cells in her body were so stubborn. One day, it will be gone and one day it will come back again. That’s why during her entire life she was staying at the hospital.”

Hyukjae looked down as he remembered what Dara in his dreams had told him. She had a complicated life. It must be the reason why she had a bucket list because she never had the chance to experience it.

“She was a fighter. She was very brave. And she never knew the word give up because that word never existed in her dictionary. Every cancer fight she experienced, she defeated it all. All of her doctors can’t believe how strong she was. It wasn’t easy to live when you knew you were sick. She underwent countless chemotherapy and imagine how painful it was to take all that treatment, but she never complained. She never cried. She is the bubbly, cheerful, and happiest person I ever knew.”

Hyukjae smiled sadly because Dara was indeed a bubbly, cheerful, and the happiest person he knew at least in his dreams

“She was doing well in fighting cancer until two years ago.” Sanghyun wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes. “Her body suddenly became weak. The cancer cells became aggressive causing her body to be unresponsive to the treatment and the doctors can’t do anything about it. We are all scared about it, including Noona. I can tell she was scared behind those smiles and laughter she’s been displaying but she accepted her fate without any hesitation.”

Hyukjae looked up into the sky and letting out a deep breath. He felt like the tears in his eyes were forming. He leaned putting his elbows on both of his legs and dropped down his head.

“In the last months of her life, she made a bucket list of the things she wanted to experience at least, but it never happened because day by day, her body was becoming weak until she was bedridden. Two days before she died, she told us that she wanted to be an organ donor, so that when she will have to leave, there’s something remarkable that will be left,  and that was her eyes.”

Sanghyun paused for a moment and he took out an envelope from his coat pocket. It was an orange envelope with a palm tree sticker on it. He gave it to Hyukjae who lifted his head. He is now crying nonstop. His tears keep falling from his eyes.

Sanghyun smiled at seeing the tears from Hyukjae’s eyes because somehow, it gave him comfort. It was comforting to see that her sister’s eyes are capable of forming tears. He hated it when his sister was not even shedding a single tear when in fact he knew she needed it the most when she’s still around. And he hated himself for being hopeless, who doesn’t know what to do to ease her sister’s pain.

Hyukjae took the letter and gave Sanghyun a confused look. 

“That was a letter from my sister to you,” Sanghyun said. “She wrote it the night before she died. She said to me that I should give it to the person who will be her organ recipient. That’s how I know about you even if the protocol of the hospital was the information of the recipient and the donor should remain confidential. I begged the doctors and the hospital to give me some information about you because that was my sister’s dying wish and I don’t have the heart to not fulfill it. The doctors and the hospital granted me a piece of information about you, you had an accident the same day my sister died. They gave me your name, but they didn’t give me your home address or even contact number because that’s the only information they can release. So it took me two years to fulfill my sister’s wish. I always carry the letter around wherever I go because of the chances that I might bump into you and today, it happened. The moment you introduced yourself to me, I knew it was you, because of your eyes. You have my sister’s eyes.”

Hyukjae stared at the envelope for the longest time. He didn’t know how to respond to Sanghyun as his tears are uncontrollably falling. His heart was in so much pain. It pained him to know that another angel was gone. It pained him to know that the person who had helped him to have a second chance to saw the world in light was gone.

“I… am sorry for your loss,” Hyukjae said as his voice cracked. He looked at Sanghyun who is also crying.

“It’s okay. I already accepted that Noona will leave us someday. Besides, I already moved on,” Sanghyun said. “I am glad that I can fulfill her wish even if it took me a long time.” Sanghyun stood up from the bench. “I will be going now Mr. Lee, Please take care of yourself and take care of my sister’s eyes.”

Before Sanghyun can step away, Hyukjae grabbed his wrist. “Thank you. Thank you for your sister.”

Sanghyun smiled at him and nodded. He walked away leaving Hyukjae dazed.

Hyukjae wiped his tears and he strode over the headstone of Dara. He took a seat on the grassy ground and looked at the letter. He opened it. There were two pieces of paper inside. He spread the first paper and when he saw it, his heart was crushed even more. It was the same bucket list of Dara in his dreams. The only difference is the numbers 5 and 8 were crossed out. He spread the second paper and read.

Hi,

First of all, let me introduced myself. My name is Sandara Park but you can also call me Dara. I am a cancer patient for so many years now. I tried to fight it and be better. But I think God is telling me that I don’t have to suffer anymore. I know that my days are numbered and there’s nothing I can do but to wait for it to happen.

I spent my life questioning my purpose. I asked God why it has to be me? Why I am the one who is suffering from this disease? He never answered me for the longest time, but tonight, I got an answer with the help of William Shakespeare.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give away.”

Reading that I realize that my purpose in life is to give hope to other people. To give light to the people who are seeing the unwanted darkness of the world. To give people a second chance to see the beauty of the world. To see the world through my eyes. And God had gifted me this disease to serve that purpose because I know that he had bigger plans for me.

If you are reading this, you have my eyes now. I hope you are happy. And I am also happy for I have given you the joy of seeing the world for the second time. There are many colors to see from this world. It’s just sad that I might not see them anymore but I am happy at the same time.

I have a favor to ask. I didn’t have a chance to complete my bucket list and I hope you’ll take the honor of completing it. Numbers 5 and 8 were done by me. I believe that I had made you happy while serving my purpose and with that, I had lived my life without regrets.

I am sorry because I can only talk to you through this letter. but I am thankful for you. I am thankful for helping me in fulfilling my purpose. I will visit you in your dream someday, just to personally thank you, or perhaps in my next life, I will meet you.

And a friendly reminder, sometimes life will not go on the way we want to, but it doesn’t mean we have to neglect ourselves. So, please live your life well.

And take care of my eyes for me.

Love,

Dara

Author's Corner
I am sorry! Don't hate me for this chapter T_T 

Have a great day ~~

Side Note: I changed Dara's birthday in here because this is AU ;)
And I also feel bad for using Dara's real birthday when this is a tragic story...