“Kevin?” Eli entered the hotel room to find the brunette facing the window. “There you are.”

“I hope the date with Jessica went well,” the man replied with a slight tone of sadness to his voice.

Eli scratched his head. “Err, yes. She mentioned that she had a younger sister.”

“I know.” Kevin didn’t turn. “Her name is Krystal.”

“Then why did you ask me to find out?”

“I just wanted to be really sure.”

“Why do you seem so melancholy about this?”

Kevin sighed and faced his friend. “There were once two sisters…perhaps you would like to sit down. It’s not a simple or a short story.”

Eli obeyed and sat on the edge of the bed near him.

“There were once two sisters. They were not twins, but they were just as close. Even though they had different faces and heights, they viewed the other sister as a reflection of herself. They both had frank and honesty personalities, and both of them burned with the fire of passion.”

“Yet they could never take control of their destiny from the hands of fate. Before any of them were born, a prophecy had said the daughters of the Jung couple would be the bearers of the essence of the universe. They had the power to captivate the world with their skills. But…”

“But what?” Eli pressed.

Kevin cleared his throat. “But because of their great power, they could not exist in the same world.”

“What?!” Eli gripped the sheet. “They killed Jessica’s sister?”

Kevin shook his head. “No, but perhaps killing might have been merciful.”

“Merciful?”

“She is stuck in the dream world, Eli. She only exists in people’s dreams.” Kevin sighed and turned to the window again. “The dream world is a lot like this world, where everything consists of memories. However, the dream world doesn’t contain logic. It is bound by other rules and properties, which are both better and worse than the ones we have here. Her only constant companions are people who are stuck in coma or become unconscious. We regular dreamers only enter her world while we dream.”

“I think I understand, but how is that worse…” Eli said slowly.

“I don’t think you get it. At least, you don’t understand everything.” Kevin turned slightly and ran his fingers through his hair. “Krystal grew up in this world. She was torn away from her family and the place she lived all of her life in because of this prophecy. About three months after her 18^th birthday, around Lunar New Year, she started to show signs of an illness that no one encountered before. Everyone tried all sorts of medicines, spells, and prayers for her recovery. But she kept getting weaker every day. It became harder to wake her from her sleep, and the lengths of her slumber grew. Eventually, she fell into a comatose state. The doctors were perplexed, on how a person fell into a coma yet seem to be perfectly functional. She doesn’t need life support, and her mind is fine, but she won’t wake up. Only after Jessica started seeing Krystal in her dreams did everyone start to understand what had happened.”

“How do you know all of this?”

Kevin turned so that Eli could see all of his face. Tears brimmed around his eyes. “I love her, Eli,” he said hoarsely. “I met her when she was seventeen. We were so happy back then…” He tried to laugh. “She used to tell me that she couldn’t believe that I chose her, that she must be dreaming. Now I can only see her in my dreams.”

Eli was silent, taking it all in. Was that why Kevin never looked at another girl with the longing of a single man? Sometimes he had wondered if his best friend had different attractions, but Kevin had described his ideal girl so clearly that it erased any of Eli’s doubts. Now he knew the owner of those characteristics.

Kevin gestured to the window. “We had our first kiss on the beach out there, the one we were at yesterday. She loved the ocean, the feel of the wind on her black hair, the smell of the salty air…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. I try to bring everything to her with my memories, but sometimes they fade. That’s why I had to revisit this place, even though it’s painful.”

Then no one said anything. The lack of sound started to feel suffocating to Eli, but he didn’t dare break the silence. Kevin had seemed to have fallen into a trance, his eyes looking around absent-mindedly.

“You know, the prophecy offered a solution to Krystal’s cure,” Kevin finally said.

Eli looked up from his hands into his friend’s pensive face.

“It said the sisters could switch fates out of love,” he continued. “In fact, their fate was determined by love. Krystal chose to be the lesser sister and take any sacrifice for Jessica, no matter the consequences. I think Jessica once offered Krystal to switch places after everyone figured out what happened, but she refused. She was willing to be courageous and take on the challenges of living in the dream world then let her older sister take her place.”

With that statement, Eli could feel the twinge of resentment that Kevin had for Jessica. “Look, Kevin, if I had known-“

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you for anything. I…I just don’t like remembering all of the painful stuff.” Kevin took a deep breath and managed to smile. “I just wanted to let you know.”

Eli watched his friend leave the room, his steps sluggish. Who would ever have guessed that this kind man had so much sorrow behind the cheerful façade? His heart seemed to be cracked, but from hopeless dreams and faithful love instead of a typical unfair girlfriend whose views on their relationship had changed. But either way, it was clear Kevin had taken hard to the loss, although it was different than the ones sung on the radio. Eli felt hollow inside. How could he call himself the best friend of this man who had suffered so long and he hadn't known?

Kevin tried to keep walking as he left the hotel room. He looked over the railing that overlooked the lobby and resisted the urge to throw himself over it. Couldn’t death unite him with his angel?

But nothing was certain. Even their love was gossamer between their two worlds.

With that, the tears that he had hoarded and guarded for years broke free.

[A/N] Okay, I originally planned for this to be the last chapter...but I think some loose ends still need to be tied up.

What do you guys think? I mean, I love really sad stories too...however, I think some of you may have some misconceptions about Kevin that I don't want y'all to have.

Anyway, let me know through comments, please?

Thanks! ^_^