"Bom," a voice from her dream called out to her.

In Bom's dreams, she was with Dragon. They were holding hands. She could hold him. He was solid and very much human. 

"Bommie," the voice repeated.

She liked this dream. And she didn't want to wake up. But there was this voice calling her. 

"Yaah, Park Bom!" the voice got closer.

Suddenly, Dragon's warmth from his had turned icy cold. He was fading away, slowly, gradually. Until she shot her eyes open and came face to face with Dragon himself.

"I thought you wouldn't wake up," Dragon cheerily replied.

Bom grumbled as she rub her eyes. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon a day after their Seoul trip. Outside, the sun streamed inside her room which casted shadows on her half-hidden paintings that leaned against the walls. She slowly got up and stretched her arms.

"Why did you wake me up?" Bom said with a yawn. "It's not like it's a school day today."

"Your mom has been calling for you since a while ago."

"Jinja?" upon hearing this, Bom stood straight up and fixed herself in the mirror. She put on her fluffy slippers and went down. She found her mother in the kitchen fussing over a pot of tea. Bom looked around and still no signs of her father.

"Good morning," she greeted her mother.

"Morning? Do you know what time is it?" Her mother sharply said and banged the teapot at the table. I guess someone's having a bad day, Bom bitterly thought as she checked the clock behind her. 11:30. I overslept again.

"I-I'm sorry, umma," Bom apologized with her head hung low. "I was just tired from my trip yesterday."

With her apology, her mother's face softened and gave out a small smile. "Kure, it must have been a long trip for you. It's just unusual for you to wake up this late. How was your visit to Yonsei, dear?"

Bom's face lit up as she went on about the train ride, the vast campus, and how the admission director was very accomodating. She chattered with excitement in her voice. But, of course, hhe left out the fact that it was the Arts Department she visited and not the Medicine. It isn't really a lie, right? she asked herself. Even her mother was surprised with her daughter's unrestrained excitement with the way she described the university.

"Aigo, you must really like it so much?" her mother asked her. "I can't wait to tell your father."

Bom saw a bright smile from her mother's face. She knew that she was the only reason why her mother and father were still talking to each other. She had overheard it last time through one of their heated arguments. Umma, appa, hold on. I'm sure we'll overcome this, she kept telling to herself.

"Ja," Bom's mother smoothed her dress with her bejewelled hands. "I have somewhere to go to. You'll be okay by yourself here, dear?"

"Ne, I'll also step out for a while."

~~

Cheonan Samgeori Park was crowded during the weekends with children, tourists, lovers and friends. Somewhere near the pavillion, a band was performing. Their music mingled with the little children's shrieks and laughter. It wasn't a quiet Sunday noon, but at the pavillion, Park Bom sat quietly as if she was waiting for someone.

"Are you meeting someone here?" Dragon asked. He was seated beside her while the cat curled behind her feet.

"Just...someone." Bom answered. Her neck was strained from watching the crowd looking out for a familiar face.

"Bom unni!" a shrill voice shouted from behind her. She turned around and saw a vaguely familiar looking girl, with bobbed hair and a cheeky grin, running towards her direction. "It really is you, unni."

"Eh?" Bom blinked as she tilted her head. She tried to recall who this girl is. Perhaps a childhood friend? Or someone from the neighborhood? A schoolmate? Try as she might, she couldn't recognize who she was.

"Ah, I'm sorry unni," the girl bowed. "Silly me for thinking you'll know me. I'm a hoobae from Cheonan Yeogo. I was really surprised to see you here, unni."

"Oh, you're from school," Bom exclaimed and gave a small smile. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you."

"Gwenchana," she said. "It's my first time seeing you outside the school, unni. But this place looks really fitting for a princess like you."

"A-aniyo, I'm not a princess," Bom laughed it off and shook her head.

"Ohh, seeing you this way, unni, you seem more approachable and friendly."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, how should I say this?" the girl thought for a while, her hand on her chin. "In school you seem to have a very cool aura. But now that I've seen you here, you're really friendly unni. Ja, unni, I have to go now. I'll talk to you at school, okay?"

With a wave of her arm, the girl ran off to her friends near the band. Bom laughed at the girl's frankness with her. I guess I do exude that kind of aura at school, she thought for a while. Dragon beside her was silent the whole time, observing Bom and still wondering who she was meeting with. I used to live my life in a rigid straight path, always obeying orders and wishes, she thought. Bom glanced to her left and met eyes with Dragon's deep blue eyes. I changed a lot ever since I've met him. He's the one who made me see my ownself and to realize what I want to do with my life, she continued. She gave a loving smile at him. Dragon felt himself blushing at this point, although he knew himself that he couldn't blush.

"Y-yaa, what's that smile for?" he stammered.

"Ahh, can't I smile at you?" Bom asked and stuck her tongue out at him. "If people would see me right now, they'll think I'm crazy for talking to myself."

They both laughed at their own silliness. The cat lied down on its back and purred. Outside the pavillion, the children were still running around. And the band kept playing. But the two were stuck in their own world. Not before long, another person entered the pavillion. Dressed in black from head to toe, he made his way at Bom and the cat's direction. His black dress shoes echoed hollowly against the stone steps.

"Bom," he called out to her.

Bom looked at his direction and gave a small bow. "Sehun, you're here." she said.

"Oh, what's he doing here?" Dragon asked and looked warily at Sehun. The cat got up on all fours.

Sehun noticed the cat behind Bom's legs and, facing the cat, asked him "Have you been well?" But all he got was a hiss in reply.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?" Bom asked and motioned him to sit down beside to Dragon's dismay.

"Yeah, you two hear me out," Sehun said with a smile. He sat down and acknowledged Dragon's presence even though he couldn't see him. "Today is the first death anniversary of the girl who saved me."

With that statement, Dragon stopped hs bickering. With eyes wide open, he faced Sehun and hung to his every word. Bom was also speechless as the silence enveloped the whole pavillion. It was as if the children's laughter and the music from outside had stopped.

"Will you tell us your story?" she asked.

Sehun cleared his throat before he narrated the events that happened a year ago. He was like Dragon, uninterested in living and continuing towards the future. The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital. As a bird. He was a lost soul too. From a hospital window, he watched a girl and her day-to-day hospital life. It was a mundane and boring routine, but the girl lived her each day to the fullest, as if each was her last day. They befriended each other. It was a weird friendship, that of a girl and a bird. No different to Bom and Dragon. As they got closer, Sehun found out that the girl had a terminal heart disease and the doctors had estimated she had no less than six months left to live.

"So that's why she's been living her days to the fullest," Bom uttered, her eyes full of sympathy for Sehun and the girl.

He continued his story about how the girl had inspired him to live again. After all, if a girl who only had 6 months left to live can still wake up with a big smile on her face everyday, how much more could he, he who still have a future ahead of him. 

"Then you should live," she said looking at the spirit above the hospital bed. "You still can, right? We can find your body."

"But how? I don't even know what happened to me..." Sehun's voice trailed off.

"I'm sure your body is somewhere in this hospital," she assured him. "There's a reason why you're here, Sehun. We'll figure this out."

She was a smart girl, logical and deductive. It wasn't before long that they found Sehun's body in a hospital room. He was in a coma and his liver had collapsed. In order to survive, he needed a liver transplant and a donor, which was very scarce at that time.

"I'll be your donor!" she firmly stated. "You're going to live Sehun, don't lose hope."

Her optimism was contagious. But Sehun didn't agree with her. He didn't want her to die. She was his only hope. She was the one who inspired him to live again. And the idea of her dying and leaving the world was unfathomable to him. Leave. Live. Why do the two words sound the same, yet mean the opposite of each other? Despite finding his own body, he was quickly fading away. He knew very well that he couldn't even reach six months as an astral spirit. He said his good-byes and his thank yous to her. 

"Kajima," she said with a smile. The setting sun gave her a golden glow to her pale and sallow face. She choked on her tears that she tried hard to hide. "Don't leave me here in this hospital room. It gets lonely, too. Kajima."

"I'm fading away. But at least the last memory I have is of you." he answered.

"Please wait," she begged with a resounding desperation in her voice. "Wait until tomorrow. After tomorrow, you can leave. I won't stop you. But please wait until tomorrow."

The next day, Sehun was greeted with an empty hospital bed. The mattress still had the curve of her body outlined against it. The sheets were crumpled. It was as if she was still there. But on that morning, the girl had died with the complications from her heart disease. Meanwhile, on the same hospital, doctors operated on Sehun's body as he finally got his liver transplant.

"When I woke up, they said that I should be thankful that a liver donor came up at the right time. If it were weeks more, it would have been too late. Do you know about donor confidentiality?" Sehun asked after he had finished his story. He tried hard not to choke on his own tears. Bom herself was teary-eyed while Dragon quietly stayed behind her. "They say patients wouldn't know who had donated an organ to them. But I know. At least part of her still lives in me."

"Sehun..." Bom's voice quivered. "I didn't know about that..."

"Her weak heart couldn't let her live for too long," he said and stood up. "But now, I'm living my life for her."

"Thank you for telling this to me."

"I have to go now, Bom." Sehun said. "I still have to go and visit her. And I hope my story would help you decide what to do next. I don't think I'll be of much help for you any longer. This might be the last time we'll meet, but I'll drop by the cafe from time to time."

Sehun gave her a final smile before he went to the opposite direction. Bom slowly watched his shadown disappear from her vision. The crowd in the park had thinned out. The band had stopped playing for a while now. The only sound left in the park were the chriping of the two carefree birds who chased each other.

Bom turned to face Dragon who still hasn't said a word since Sehun arrive. He was shaking. Shaking from what, he didn't know. Perhaps of anger, or of fear. Or nervousness? He wasn't sure but there was something in Sehun's story that scared him.

"That won't happen to us!" He suddenly exclaimed. "I'd rather fade away than let you die. Bommie, you still have a lot of dreams to chase, while I have none left."

"Don't say that, Dragon." she replied back. The noon rays passed through Dragon's spirit. From the harsh sunlight, it looked like he was really fading away. Disappearing. Slowly. Gradually. His white hair was a blur, then his eyes, nose and mouth. Fading away.

~~

Dramatic chapter. :( Okay, I feel sad. And wow, I didn't really plan on writing Sehun's backstory. It just came to me when I wrote it. And it sounded like a story in itself. Now I want to make a separate story that focuses on Sehun's backstory haha. Someday, maybe someday. Thanks for reading!