Chorong woke up only to find herself in a meadow, with trees as tall and as far as her eyes could see. It wasn’t the place she remembered from her childhood, but instead it was a place completely foreign and unfamiliar to her. Somehow, it didn’t occur to her at all to scream, to yell or even call out for someone. She just kept on walking, kept on her leisurely stroll and enjoying the scenery like it was the most normal thing to do.

At last, the trees parted and she reached the end of the forest, only to discover a wide stream, almost like a river in front of her. And across the stream, there was something which she couldn’t put her fingers to, but it was captivating, enough to lure her into attempting to cross it. But before she could move, she heard a voice calling her.

“No!” it warned.

Chorong looked around ,trying to search for the source but to no avail. The voice was familiar, that she was sure of, somehow she couldn’t recognize it. She closed her eyes for a moment to regain her concentration, and when she opened them, she saw him standing across the stream. Minhyuk, with his lopsided smile and crescent eyes, holding his arms out for her.

Returning his smile, she took a step forward, but then something grasped her wrist, as if to stop her from going over to Minhyuk. “Don’t,” that person told her. She glanced back to have a look at that person. However, before she could, everything around her faded away faster than a blink of eyes, including that person, including Minhyuk.

: :

“Chorong?”

She opened her eyes and found herself back in the hospital room. The scent of anesthetics immediately filled her nostrils, followed by the beeping sounds from the monitor which occupied the quietness of the room which caused her headaches. She stared at his chest first almost out of habit despite it being her first day, to check that he was still breathing, before she shifted her glanced aside to the person who had awakened her. A smile graced her lips upon seeing him by her side. “Hoya,” she exhaled, somewhat relieved. “Is your shift over?”

“Yeah.” There were creases on his forehead as he gawked at her. “Are you okay? You’re sweating a lot.”

She didn’t realize that she was almost dripping in sweats until he pointed it out. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and shook her head as she removed the hair that was sticking to her neck away. “Bad dream. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Hoya didn’t seem to buy it fully, but he just bobbed his head in response. “Okay. If you say so,” he replied. He glanced around the room as he leaned his back against the wall. “Did Bomi go home?”

“She did. You didn’t see her off?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t see her after I left you two earlier.”

Recalling something from the back of her mind, Chorong straightened her back and faced him. “Speaking of Bomi, is there something going on between the two of you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s just… something feels off. Even she said it.”

“There’s nothing wrong, Chorong. Don’t wor―”

“How can I not worry if it’s you we’re talking about?” Her brows are furrowed together, clearly proving how concerned she was. “And we also have that unfinished conversation.”

Hoya kept his silence for a moment as he set his gaze at his brother. His mind was a jumbled up mess, and he wasn’t sure how he should untangle the knot. At last he turned back to Chorong. “Are you hungry? Let’s go grab something to eat.”

“Hoya…”

“I’ll tell you.”

: :

On Hoya’s insistence (and his almost failed attempts of reassuring Chorong that it was okay to leave Minhyuk for a while and that he has informed the nurses to pay extra attention to him), they went to the restaurant right across the street.

He took his time eating (which she suspected he was doing it on purpose), but still she waited patiently and quietly as she drank her coffee. Once he was finally done, she wasted no time ― she placed the cup back in the saucer, put her elbow on the table and rested chin in her hand. “So?”

“God, Chorong, patience,” he chuckled as he took a sip of his water.

“If I haven’t been patient I would have knocked you out from the very beginning, you know.”

He laughed even more, but it subsided soon after. His face turned serious as he wiped his mouth, then he slid his right hand into the pocket of his jacket, fished something out and held it in his hand before placing it on the table facing her.

Chorong’s jaw dropped as she let out a gasp at the sight of the small velvet box. She didn’t need to open it to know its content. “Hoya, this―”

“Open it. Just go ahead.”

She did as told, and this time she had her hand covering when the box revealed a silver ring with a small yet equally stunning diamond stud. She opened to say something but she couldn’t seem to find any appropriate words.

“Just in case you misunderstood, it’s not for you,” he noted, slightly grinning.

She gave her a look before putting down the box. “To be completely honest I’m a little disappointed.”

“Like I said earlier, it’s too late to regret now, you know.”

“Hoya, please.” She rolled her eyes.

“What? I’m the one with the broken heart. I have the right to remind you about whenever I feel like it.”

“You can be just as frustrating as your brother, you know that?”

He laughed at the amusement he felt from irritating his friend. “Okay, back to the point.” He pushed his empty bowl to the side. “I got it weeks ago. I… I was planning on proposing Bomi, really. I even made a reservation at this fancy restaurant that I think she’d like. But before I could even tell her about the reservation the crash happened.”

“Hoya, that’s wonderful to hear. But then why are you avoiding her?”

“It’s not that I’m avoiding her. I don’t know… I just feel bad, I think? And you know that I’m not good at keeping secrets, don’t you? I feel like I’m hiding something from her ― which technically I am, but for a good reason ― and that makes me feel awkward when I’m with her.” He paused for a moment and inhaled deeply before continuing on. “And I feel bad that if I just go on with the plan, it’s like I’m leaving hyung out.”

Listening to him, Chorong could only smile. She felt bad inside too, for the turnabout of events because it is none of his fault. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. “That’s very sweet of you, really. But you do know that you’re not to be blamed, right? No one is, actually. I understand very well your reasoning, and I’ve known you for so long to know how uncomfortable you must have been. But Hoya, you need to explain to her so she won’t misunderstand. Bomi trusts you, but she needs you to trust her too.”

Hoya was quiet while he considered her words, one finger tapping on the table as a habit.

At last she rose from her seat and grabbed her coat and bag. “Come on, it’s getting late.”

He glanced at the clock on the wall and mimicked her. “Alright. Let’s go back to hospital.”

“You’re not going back to the hospital, mister. Go home. She must be waiting.”

“Let me just drop you off then,” he beamed.

: :

“Thanks for listening, Chorong. And your words. I really appreciate it.”

She made a face before cracking a smile. “You could’ve come to me earlier.”

“Wonder why I didn’t think of that.” Hoya shrugged and returned her smile. “See you tomorrow.”

Chorong watched him driving away and waited until he disappeared from her vision before turning to make her way back to Minhyuk’s room. She was heading towards the elevator when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around only to find an unlikely face grinning at her.

“You followed me all the way here. Maybe I should file a report against you after all.”

“Sorry, what?” she quirked her eyebrows.

Woohyun continued to grin his signature grin with his arms folded across his chest. “I’m saying that you should stop stalking me.”

“Do you really have no better things to think about than concocting up all these nonsense imaginations?”

“Do you really have no humour?”

Rolling her eyes, she was ready to just walk away but her curiosity got the better of her. “Why are you here?” she questioned.

“Why are you here?”

She didn’t have the energy to fight so she just sighed. “I’m visiting someone.”

“I guess you can say I’m paying someone a visit too.” He nodded. “Hey, you know that saying right? First time is normal. Second time is coincidence. Third means fate. How many have we run into each other now?”

She huffed and pushed her hair back in annoyance. “If it wasn’t for what you did I would have said running into you lately have been a bad luck for me.”

Woohyun burst out laughing as if she just told him the most amusing joke ever. “You know I really like that about you, Chorong.”

“If that’s your attempt to win me it’s not working.”

“I guess I need to work harder,” he said. “I hope I’ll run into you again soon.” He winked with that grin of his plastered on his face before he walked off.

Exhaling another sigh, she was about to turn when she noticed a young woman in her white nurse outfit approaching her. “Dr Hoya’s friend, right?”

Chorong only nodded indifferently. The nurse’s name tag reads Choi Bitna. She tried to recall if she had heard about the nurse from Hoya before but she couldn’t. “I’m sorry but―”

“I’ve been assigned to keep a watch on Lee Minhyuk-ssi, by his brother himself. So we’ll be meeting each other a lot,” she explained, smiling.

“Ah, I see. Thank you. I’m Chorong, by the way.”

“I’m Bitna.” She gave her a slight bow. “Actually, I’m just wondering, do you know that man just now?”

Bitna pointed at the door where Woohyun just left. “You mean Woohyun?” Chorong frowned, which the former nodded in response. “I do. Sort of. Why?”

“Nothing. It’s just that he’s a regular here so I was curious.”

“Regular?”

“He comes for his sessions once in a while. It used to be frequent back then but now it’s once per month, if I’m not mistaken.” Chorong cocked her head to a side and opened to say something, but the nurse interrupted her before she could. “Oh, I should go. I’ll see you around, Chorong-ssi.”

Baffled, she stood there for a while longer, trying to sort and figure out the new information all at once but she only became even more confused. There were too many things she didn’t understand but later she decided that she didn’t need any more headaches at the moment.

A/N: For those who didn't really get it, Hoya and Chorong sort of have a history. He used to have a crush on her back when they were in their teens but she turned him down. As for the others I will unravel the mysteries as the story goes :)