XX

Dara’s P.O.V.

I rushed along the hallways of the hospital, nearly out of breath. I told Tabi about what my mother said, and begged him to drive me to the hospital. I didn't think about what might have happened or why it happened...I just wanted to see him.

I reached Jiyong's room and staggered in. I saw the doctor by his bed. "Um..." I started hesitantly. I didn't want to disturb the doctor, but I am desperate to know of Jiyong's condition.

The doctor turned. "Hello and you are...?"

"Oh! Sorry...I'm Dara." I bowed respectfully. "Is Jiyong okay?"

"Ah, so you're Dara!" The doctor laughed, extending his hand out to shake mine.

I am puzzled, have I met this doctor somewhere? I slowly extended my hand, "yes...and um...do I know you?" I smiled sheepishly, not wanting to be rude.

"Ah, I'm sorry. You see, when Jiyong was sent to the hospital, the police officer who came with him told us that he had mentioned your name on the way here. We assumed that it was someone he knew well so we got a hold of his mother and told them about this...it seems that we were right."

"H-he mentioned my name?"

"That's what we were told. If he had mentioned your name...you must be someone of great importance to him...his girlfriend?"

My face heated up. "O-oh, no! I'm his...childhood friend. You can say that we're...good friends."

"Ah," the doctor gazed at Jiyong. "Well, he has some very serious injuries. As you can see, he's got a few scars on his face." The doctor then lifted the blanket, my expression became horrified. "The real injuries are here...the police said that he had been up against around four males that had weapons. He was stabbed near the area of the rib cage and at the side of the stomach. His wrist was also deeply cut...we were lucky to have been able to stop the bleeding quickly." The doctor examined Jiyong for a second. "This boy is pretty impressive to have been able to last."

"He trains in martial arts..." I mumbled, barely above a whisper. My eyes never left Jiyong's still form. "He's pretty good at it..."

"I see..." the doctor gathered some papers and turned to me. "Well, I'm sure you want to be alone with him for a while...I sincerely hope that Mr. Kwon will recover soon." He is about to leave the room when I stop him.

"I know he's currently unconscious and has all these injuries...but he is okay otherwise...right?" My voice trembled slightly as I looked up at the doctor with hopeful eyes. Tears almost fell as I saw the doctor bite his lip unsurely.

"He's stable right now...but there are still chances where the condition can worsen. The chances aren't high...but we will keep a close eye on him."

"When will he wake up?"

"He shouldn't be out for too much longer...but if the events take a turn for the worse...we really don't know."

"Would it be okay if I stayed with him...? Like...am I allowed to sleep here?"

"Of course," the doctor smiled empathetically. I thank the doctor as he left. I went back to where Jiyong is, still seemingly lifeless on the bed. I pulled a chair and positioned it by his bed, slowly sitting down. For a long time, I simply stared at him. I had never seen Jiyong like this before. He looked so...defeated...fallen...and spiritless. My mind went blank as I began to reminisce ou childhood. I usually hated any memory I had of Jiyong, but there is always one that I held dear to my heart.

I had gotten very sick once when I was eleven years old. I weren't able to attend school for nearly two weeks. I was very upset back then because I really wanted to see Tabi and each time he visited, it never felt enough. Tabi is pretty much your only friend and visitor. He is also the only one I believed to have cared.

Unbeknownst to me...someone else cared even more.

"What are YOU doing here?" I tried my best to sound menacing, but my sore throat prevented me from using a strong tone.

A young Jiyong rolled his eyes as he simply went past me, entering my house. My mother welcomed him warmly and he politely thanked her. 'Psh, what a faker.' I thought bitterly.

"Honey, Jiyong has come to visit you! Why don't you take him up to your room?"

"I have a headache, I want to sleep." In truth, I was actually starting to recover a bit and didn't need to stay in bed for such long periods of time. I just wanted Jiyong to leave.

"Well then, Jiyong can keep you company as you lie in bed!" My mom chirped as she went into the kitchen.

I was about to protest when Jiyong grasped my hand and headed for my room. I was too weak to resist him, so I was dragged along. Once the both of us reached my room, I shook off his hand with all my might. "Why are you here?" I folded my arms as I glared.

"Duh, isn't it obvious? To check if you're alive." He answered sarcastically.

"Well," I smiled bitterly. "As you can see, I'm very much alive. Now leave."

"Nah, I think I'll stay for a while."

"No, I think you should leave."

"Nah."

"Go away!" I lost my temper and attempted to push him. However, my knees suddenly gave in and I started to fall instead. I would've collapsed, but yea...you guessed it, Jiyong caught me.

"You're so clumsy." Jiyong muttered as he helped me to my bed. I was too weak for smart remarks, so I gave him a dirty look instead. "I'm soorrrryyyy," Jiyong sighed, followed by a chuckle. In my mind, I were shocked. This was the first time Jiyong had ever apologized to me.

"Thanks." I said as he spread the blanket over me.

He sat on the chair at my desk, "no problem."

It was silent for a while. I didn't know what to say...I and Jiyong had never been together without conflict before. He seemed to have gone soft, knowing that I didn't have the energy to argue with him.

"You need anything?" He suddenly asked, catching me off-guard. "Like...anything you want at the moment? Sweets...? Stuffed animals? Flowers?" He paused and started muttering to himself, "Let’s see...what else do you girls like...?"

I laughed as I sat up against my pillow. He looked at me, puzzled. I thought that he was joking, so I went, "I want a GIGANTIC teddy bear!"

"Really?"

I nodded, still grinning to myself. I was surprised when I heard the sound of the door slam.

-2 hours later...-

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in..." I thought that it was my mom. Jiyong hadn't returned for a long time, so I gave up waiting. My eyes widened at the sight of a huge teddy bear at the entrance.

"Sorry..." Jiyong's voice was heard. "This was the biggest one I could find...it's not gigantic...but I guess it's big enough."

"I..." I was speechless. 'He was serious?!' I was so shocked, that I forgot to move.

Jiyong sighed as he dropped the teddy bear on my bed. My face instantly brightened at the new furry companion and wrapped my arms around it.

Jiyong grinned. "I take it that you like it?"

"I love it! Wow...I didn't know that you were being serious!"

He frowned. "What made you think I was kidding?"

"I don't know...it's just that...I can't picture you buying me stuff...especially this."

He smirked. "Treasure it, it'll never happen again."

I nodded happily as I hugged the teddy bear even tighter.

I leaned against the chair contently as I finished the memory. Although Jiyong didn't know, I had kept the teddy bear. I didn't play with it anymore, but it still made me happy. My smile faded as my eyes met with Jiyong's lifeless form. I reached out for his hand and held it gently. "Jiyong...please wake up..." I began to get scared when I saw no reaction. "Why won't you wake up?" I didn't know why I am starting to panic now; perhaps it just came to me that Jiyong will never wake up. I started shaking his hand and crying. When I see that he is still the same...eyes closed and cold...I buried my face against his shoulder, where the mattress soaked up my tears. Although there were many times in life when I hated Jiyong, I didn't want him to die. I know that he isn’t a bad person because he had shown me over and over again that he is capable of being caring.

"...Dara, is that you?"

I pushed myself back up immediately as I felt Jiyong shift in the bed. I gasped in excitement as I heard the melody of his voice sounded. "OH MY GOD!" I shrieked, jumping up; then sitting back down and grabbed his hand. "YOU'RE AWAKE!"

"Yes...but I won't be if you cut off my circulation." He winced at my iron grip on his hand. I released his hand at once.

"SORRY! I'm just...so GLAD that you're awake!"

"Dara...are you okay?"

I didn't honestly know if I am sane, but I am ecstatic that he is talking to me right now. "OH, I'm great! It's just a relief-" I am cut off as Jiyong's hand brushed against my cheek.

"Dara...why are you crying?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not crying! I-" I silence as my felt tears being wiped away by Jiyong's fingers. I brought my hands up to my eyes. They were wet with tears. "What?" I didn't realize that I was crying. Why am I crying? He is awake now...what else is there to worry about?

"Here..." Jiyong sat up calmly; he pulled me to lean against him. I leaned against his shoulder, my tears staining his shirt. The whole time, I could feel the comfort of his hand at my back, occasionally tapping softly reassuringly. It is then that I realized why I am crying. I am crying because I AM absolutely petrified at the thought of losing him.

"Thanks..." I mumbled a few minutes after, when I stopped crying.

"No problem." Jiyong smirk, I felt relieved to see him like this...he is back to his old self. I went to find the doctor to inform him that Jiyong had woken up. He came in to do some examining and then left, saying that he'll return tomorrow.

"Jiyong...can you tell me what happened?" I asked after seeing that everyone has left.

"...what do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean. How did you become like this?"

"I got into a fight, nothing more."

"You're lying." I said simply.

He shrugged. "I never said you have to believe me. It's up to you."

"Tell me the truth."

"I did."

I began to get annoyed. "No you didn't. Why won't you tell me?"

"Because," he sighed, his patience ending also, "I already did."

I couldn't believe it. He had just only recovered and an argument is about to start. I hated the fact that the two of us could rarely even get along long enough to even have a decent conversation. "No you didn't! Why are you being so 'mysterious' all of a sudden?"

"I'm not! You just don't believe me-"

"No duh, you at lying!"

"I got beat up, end of story. What ELSE do you need to know? The gruesome details? My, I didn't know that you hated me that much."

My jaw dropped. "How can you be so insensitive?! I'm not sick, why would I want to know the 'details?'"

"Then what do you want to know?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh I don't know," I sneered. "Perhaps WHY you got into a fight and WHO would do this-"

"I don't know WHY I did it and they were idiots that you don't need to know about!" He answered impatiently, his voice also rising.

"You're IMPOSSIBLE!" I stood up abruptly, the chair behind me knocked over. "I can't BELIEVE how immature you're being!"

"And I can't believe that I risk my own life for someone like YOU!" Jiyong's expression instantly changed as he shifted his eyes away from mine, cursing at himself.

"...your life...for me?" I whispered. "W-what do you mean?"

Jiyong avoided my gaze. "Forget it..." he finally murmured, dismissing the topic. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But I deserve to know." I went around the bed and sat in front of him so that he HAD to look at me. "What do you mean you risked your life for me? What does this fight have to do with me?" I remembered that the doctor said he had mentioned my name. I am very curious as to why he did.

"I..." Jiyong started, but halted. I held his hand, hoping to make it easier for him. He withdrew his hand, and looked away. "It was Sohee’s group..."

"...Sohee’s group?"

"Yes..."

I am dumbfounded as Jiyong told me the whole story. He told me how he was the one who started the fight with them and how they used weapons. He told me how he tried his best, but couldn't win. He told me how he was discovered by a kind stranger and then rushed to the hospital. "...Jiyong, you're great at martial arts...but...if they did anything to make you angry...couldn't you just like...find some other people to beat them up?" I felt wrong saying it, but it was true. Nobody dared to offend Jiyong because he had 'connections', or at least the money to make their life a living nightmare.

"Because it would be meaningless if I didn't do it myself..."

I am impressed. "Well, then this must be very important for you...but why, Jiyong? What made you do it?" I thought that he is pretty stupid for putting himself in danger like that, but I wanted to know why he did it. Jiyong usually only care for himself, therefore this is a rare moment.

Jiyong is hesitant as he stole a glance at me, then quickly looked down at the ground. "She made you cry..." he whispered.

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OMONA!