Nicole chewed on her thumbnails nervously as she sat on the chair by his hospital bed, waiting for him to open up his eyes once again.

Dong Woon had managed to save her but he wasn’t so lucky when it came to himself. Instead of her, he had taken her place of getting hit by the pot. His head which had been hit pretty badly was now all bandaged up as he lay on the bed motionlessly.

It’s been 24 hours now, since the incident and he still hasn’t woken up once; making Nicole feeling guiltier than ever.

If anything were to happen to him, if Dong Woon was to...because of her –

Just then, she saw his index finger jerking slightly by the side; indicating that he has regained consciousness.

“Dong Woon,” she called out excitedly but kept her voice down in order not to disturb the other patients. “Dong Woon-ah, can you hear me?”

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open and his dry lips began to move somewhat painfully.

“W-where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital,” she answered softly as she placed her right hand on top of his. “How are you feeling?”

He turned his head gingerly to the left side and saw Nicole smiling down at him.

“Nicole...” he called out hoarsely. “Hospital? What happened?”

“You’ve been hit,” she answered quietly as she looked at him remorsefully. “Dong Woon-ah, I’m so sorry. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t...”

“Shh,” he cut her off, giving her a faint smile. “Let’s not talk about it anymore okay?”

“So you remember? You remember what happened?” Nicole’s eyes widened in surprise.

He nodded slightly.

“I do. But really, I don’t want to talk about it. How long have I been knocked out?”

“For about a day now,” she replied as she stood up to pour him a glass of water. “They tried to contact your family but...”

“But they are out of reach,” he continued in a disappointed voice. “It’s okay. I guessed as much.”

Carefully, Nicole pressed the button to lift his bed up a bit so that it would be easier for him to drink. She studied his face carefully as she handed him the glass.

“Here, drink this. Your lips are dry.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly taking the glass from her, causing their hands to brush slightly.

“Sorry,” he muttered, glancing away from her.

“It’s okay. Dong Woon, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

“Is your family really that busy? I mean, you’re injured! Can’t they spare a few minutes to visit you?”

Dong Woon hesitated a moment before answering.

“They are...business people. They can’t afford to slack off, even a bit.”

“But still...”

“I don’t want to talk about them,” he cut her off crossly as he gulped down the rest of his water.

“Alright. Then let’s talk about why you save me.”

Dong Woon scoffed in response.

“That’s a weird topic to talk about.”

“Why?” Nicole argued. “I really want to know why.”

“Grateful people like you should just say thank you and that’s it. They don’t ask for the reasons why,” Dong Woon rolled his eyes amusingly at her.

“I’m not like them,” Nicole crossed her arms as she sat back in her seat. “So I want to know.”

“You really want to know why?”

She nodded her head eagerly, and leaned forward; full of anticipation.

Dong Woon opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sudden ringing sound coming from Nicole’s cell phone.

She fished it out impatiently and her playful eyes widened when she saw the caller ID.

“I’m sorry Dong Woon. I have to take this call for awhile. I’ll come back later. Sit back and relax okay?” she told him as she gave him a bright smile.

Dong Woon just nodded tiredly at her as she hurried out of the room, talking in hushed whispers into the phone.

She didn’t have to tell him who it was that made her so happy all of a sudden. She didn’t have to talk softly just because she didn’t want him to know.

Because he already knows.

No doubt it was her boyfriend, whom he had seen her with the other day.

But that didn’t matter.

No, the question which he had been asking himself since that day – is he ready to give up on her yet? Will he just relent to the whole situation?

Son Dong Woon has never been afraid of challenges; he wasn’t afraid of taking risks.

No, he won’t give her up without a fight.