First off, I have got to say that this chapter did NOT turn out how I had planned it at all.

Kibum could honestly say that he was excited to go back to the hospital. In the past few months his fear of hospitals and doctors had gradually gone away, what with the many times he’d been admitted in the past year, it would be foolish to hold onto that anxiety. So when the time came that Heechul called him to leave, Kibum all but flew out the front door to the car as fast as he could.

The ride to the city went by in a flash and Kibum counted down the seconds until the giant building came into sight. He tapped his fingers against the car door as he waited impatiently for Heechul to find a parking space, and when he did Kibum practically dragged him towards the entrance. It was a pretty busy day and there were several patients and nurses walking around the waiting room, making it a little difficult for Kibum to run for the desk like he wanted. When he and Heechul finally reached the desk, he grabbed the log book and quickly skimmed through the names while Heechul told the secretary that they had an appointment. Unfortunately he didn’t find Tiffany’s name in the In or Out column in the past few days, and it was a different book from last time too.

“Hyung, I don’t see her name,” Kibum said, tugging on Heechul’s shirt. Heechul glanced down at him momentarily and then turned his attention back to the secretary.

“By the way, my son thought he saw his friend here a few days ago. You wouldn’t happen to know if there was Tiffany Hwang here in the past week, would you?” He asked the lady politely. The nurse held up her finger and started clicking away at her computer, and a minute later she returned with a smile.

“She’s in room 207, recovering from surgery. Visitation is open, I’m sure she’d be happy to see you,” She informed them kindly. Kibum turned to Heechul and opened his mouth, but Heechul quickly cut him off.

“You have an appointment first, and then we can go see Tiffany,” He said sternly, but with a smile. Kibum nodded obediently and grinned happily to himself. It felt like nothing could go wrong today, and that was a feeling that he really enjoyed.

It was a fifteen minute wait until Dr. Ahn called them, leading the way through the halls until they reached the room. It was the usual routine, check vitals and blood pressure, etc.

“So, Kibum, how have you been feeling with the medication?” Dr. Ahn asked as he shone a penlight through Kibum’s ear, which did not seem relevant at all when it came to drawing blood.

“I dunno. At first it but now I’m okay. But I can definitely tell there’s a difference because my head feels all better, and yeah,” Kibum replied with a shrug.

“Good, that’s good. This will only sting for a second,” Dr. Ahn said, getting the needle ready. Kibum closed his eyes and grimaced. While the fear of hospitals was gone, his anxiety towards needles had not changed one bit, and he whimpered unhappily when he felt the needle jab into his vein and the swish of his blood being out.

“Oh, this is so gross! I can feel it gushing out,” He whined, clenching his eyes shut as tightly as he could. Heechul chuckled and ruffled Kibum’s hair affectionately; he knew how Kibum was feeling. One time when he’d gotten his blood drawn, the doctor had not put the cap on tight enough and his blood leaked everywhere. But he didn’t share this story with Kibum, knowing all too well that he did not handle blood well at all.

“There we go, all done. That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Dr. Ahn said, as the needle pinched out of Kibum’s arm.

“You’d think he’d be used it by now,” Heechul chuckled softly, and Kibum sent him a glare.

“Are we done? Can we leave now?” He asked Dr. Ahn hopefully. There was no time for chit chat, not when Tiffany was waiting for him.

“Hold on just a moment, young man,” Dr. Ahn replied with a smile. He then turned to Heechul and a conversation started, but Kibum paid them no mind. As it did not involve him, although the topic did, he saw no reason to stay there and listen. Instead, he sauntered out of the room quietly and started to walk away. He knew Heechul said to wait, but he couldn’t.

This was Tiffany and it had been far too long since he’d last seen her back in April, the day of Dayeun’s death anniversary when they’d parted ways at the cemetery. Although the accident took place on that day, Kibum did not hear the news until a few days later when Mr. Hwang called Heechul to inform him what had happened. It had been a complete shock and Kibum couldn’t help but blame himself, thinking that he should have insisted on walking her home that day. But even worse, despite the news that she was okay, he had not gotten the chance to see her while she recovered, she returned him to America about a month after. Ever since then, all contact had been lost and every letter he’d written and sent had not been answered.

He never questioned why she disappeared out of his life, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that. She was back and that was all that mattered.

“Excuse me; is room 207 on the first floor?” He asked  a passing male nurse.

“It’s on the second floor, hence two-oh-seven,” The guy said, rolling his eyes as he continued on his way.

Kibum rolled his eyes back and gave the guy’s back a look before turning in search for the nearest elevator. He rode up impatiently and when the contraption came to a halt, he quickly evacuated and headed down the hall, checking every room number, and when 207 arrived, Kibum stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to calm himself, but the excitement was overwhelming. It’d been too long since he’d seen Tiffany, but that was all about to change right now.

He knocked three times on the door and heard her sweet, soft voice answer that it was open. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, and there she was. Wearing the pink hospital nightgown with her long, black hair tied in a ponytail, Tiffany was sitting up in bed with one of her legs propped up on a pillow. But what Kibum noticed first was the boy sitting next to the bed, blonde haired and handsome…and holding her hand.

“Kibum?” The tone of her voice was hushed, as if she could not believe what she was seeing. Kibum looked away from the blonde and smiled softly at Tiffany.

“Is this a bad time?” He asked, his eyes pleading with her. Tiffany opened and closed quickly, but shook her head numbly.

This wasn’t happening.

As Kibum cautiously stepped forward into the room, Tiffany bowed her head and bit her lip. He wasn’t supposed to be here; Kibum was not supposed to know that she was even in Korea at all. When she looked up again, Kibum was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation to a million questions. Why hadn’t he been allowed to see her after the accident? Why did she leave without telling him? Why hadn’t she answered any of his letters? What was she doing back in Korea, at a hospital no less? And the biggest question of all, who the heck was this guy sitting next to her?

“Um, Kibum, this is my…” She stopped and took a quivering breath, already seeing the inner turmoil that Kibum was going through, even if his expression was completely blank. “This is my boyfriend, Marcus.”

The blonde, Marcus, stood up and faced Kibum. He was much taller than Kibum, with a well-built body and muscled arms to add to the overall handsomeness that his facial structure brought.

“Hello, I’m Marcus. It’s nice to meet you,” Marcus said in English, holding out his hand politely. Kibum had taken enough English lessons in his life to perfectly understand what Marcus had said, but he ignored the taller male anyways and looked at Tiffany with dark eyes. She frowned slightly and glanced at her current boyfriend.

“Marcus, could you go away for a little while?” She asked him hopefully. Marcus turned back to her and smile, agreeing to give them some privacy, and then, much to Kibum’s irritation, bent down to kiss Tiffany on the lips.

As he receded from the room, Kibum glowered at his back until it disappeared and the door closed. He then turned looked at Tiffany expectantly.

“Don’t look at me like that,” She said softly, leaning back against the pillows. Kibum stayed standing and said nothing, and Tiffany knew he was upset. “What happened to your arm?” She asked, pointing to the white cast.

“I fell,” Kibum answered simply, in a monotone voice.

“Look, Kibum, you can’t be like this,” Tiffany replied, fire in her voice.

“Like what? I’m sorry, but here I was thinking that one day you would answer my letters, texts, calls, but you’ve ignored me for five months. I thought, maybe you were still recovering and weren’t well enough, but I guess you were well enough to get a new boyfriend. Stupid me, I actually believed you when you said that we would get back together,” Kibum spat angrily.

“Don’t talk to me like that, Kibum! I told you how I felt but you said that you weren’t ready. We’re only seventeen! I want to have fun and live my life, not wait for you forever! I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you, but you have too many problems and I just can’t deal with it anymore. I’m just a kid,” Tiffany said, her voice quivering at the end as tears gathered in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away as guilt filled her body.

There was a tense silence that filled the room and Kibum shifted uncomfortably.

“I don’t have problems. I got over everything and you know it. Why did you have to get a boyfriend?” He whispered in a hurt voice. His eyes burned but he refused to let himself cry anymore. Tiffany sighed softly and dried her eyes again.

“You make me feel like I’m cheating on you and we aren’t even dating,” She told him unhappily, and Kibum’s lips twitched with a grin.

“Because you know that we should be. You can’t stand me and I think you’re annoying, remember? We’re a match made in heaven,” He said, thinking back to last summer and the night they spent together after his encounter with Officer Choi. Tiffany grinned and brushed her bangs out of her face.

“You’re so obnoxious, Kibum. I have a boyfriend; don’t reminisce on old times and make me remember why I love you,” She said sternly, but in a joking tone.

“Oh, so you do still love me! I knew you couldn’t resist!” He joked, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. The space between their faces quickly disappeared as he stole a chaste kiss. After moving apart, Tiffany punched him in the chest, weakly.

“Stupid! Don’t just kiss me; I said I had a boyfriend!” She exclaimed, but couldn’t keep the smile on her face. Kibum sent her a smug look and shrugged his shoulders.

“Break up with him. We belong together. Besides, you told me like a million years ago that you thought American boys with blue eyes creeped you out, so why are you dating that creep?” He replied simply. Tiffany rolled her eyes and flopped back on the pillows once again, annoyance clear in her eyes.

“Don’t ask. But I can’t break up with him, Kibum. If I do that, then when I go back home I’m going to have nobody. I hate living in America, I want to move back to Korea,” She complained.

“Well, you’re here now. Just stay and send the American away. You’re dad loves me, I’m sure he won’t mind,” Kibum decided, sending her his a million watt smile. Tiffany laughed and shook her head in disbelief.

“You’re really something, Kibum. My dad’s not going to let me live across the world with my boyfriend and – “

“Oh! You just admit that I was your boyfriend!” Kibum exclaimed loudly, his eyes lighting up excitedly. Tiffany blushed and bit her lip, smacking him on the chest again.

“I hate you. Go away. Leave, now. Bye,” She grumbled, glaring at him.

“Aw, you’re so cute when you blush, Fany,” Kibum cooed teasingly, and she buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook while she laughed.

“You do realize how terrible this makes me, right?” She replied a few seconds later. Kibum shrugged and nudged her to scoot over so he could sit next to her, wrapping his good arm around her waist.

“How’s it terrible? Besides, we already had plans to get married and have five kids. Could you really walk away from our unborn babies, Tiffany? Our Sari, Nolan, Soojung, Minhyuk, and Jaelyn?” He said, trying to keep a straight face. They both looked at each other for a second before bursting out into joyful laughter.

When the laughs died down, Tiffany took Kibum’s hand and held it, staring at it with a serene look on her face. She leaned into Kibum’s body and lay her head on his shoulder. It felt like old times and it just felt right to be there with him. She never wanted this moment to end, because this was where she belonged. In Korea, with Kibum.

“So why are you in the hospital anyway?” Kibum asked a few minutes later.

“Oh, nothing major. I just needed the metal rode out of my leg. I could have easily gotten it done back home, but you know how my dad is. If it was put in here then it has to be taken out here,” She informed him, rolling her eyes at her father’s silly antics.

“Well, I’m not complaining. If you didn’t come then we wouldn’t be back together,” Kibum replied, giving her hand a squeeze. Tiffany tilted her head up and smirked at him.

“Whoever said we’re back together? I don’t recall you asking me out or me agreeing,” She said. With that, Kibum moved away and puffed out his chest in a manly manner.

“Tiffany Hwang, I’ve been in love with you from the moment I set my eyes on you. You’ve been by my side through the worst of times, and I really –“

“Hey! I said ask me out, not propose!” She cut him off quickly.

“- love you! So, will you marry me?” He finished, with a grin. He was half serious too. Although it was a joking tone, he honestly wanted her to say yes. They were meant to be. She was the one. Even if they were only seventeen.

“Yes, but ask me again after you’ve bought me a fancy ring,” Tiffany replied casually, but her heart was racing and inside, fireworks were going off. Kibum smiled and leaned over to kiss her again.

“How long will you be here? I’ll come again to see you,” He said, changing topics.

“Until next week; the doctor wants me to stay for a few days and attend physical therapy. But I’m going to convince my dad to move back. I mean, I love staying with my mom’s family, but this is my home,” She told him.

“Home is where the heart is,” Kibum replied softly, her hand with his thumb. Tiffany looked at him lovingly, knowing that he was right.

“And my heart belongs to you,” She told him tenderly. Kibum opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything there was a knock on the door and he moved off the bed as Marcus returned to the room.

“Tiffany, you’re dad is out in the hall talking to some girly looking guy with a purse. Korea has so many more gay people than in America!” He said with wide eyes, and Tiffany narrowed her eyes at him. She knew that he was talking about Heechul, what other man would carry a purse? She held Heechul close in her heart, everyone in Kibum’s family was special to her, and no one got away with badmouthing them.

“Hey, Kibum? Can I sign your cast before you leave?” She asked, ignoring her ‘boyfriend’ completely as she pulled open a drawer and grabbed a black marker. Kibum held out his arm obediently and looked smugly at Marcus, who was sending him impatient looks.

“Done,” Tiffany announced proudly. Kibum could keep the smile off his face when he saw in big, bold English what she’d written.

My heart belongs to you – Tiffany

It turned out so much better.