The next day Hana found herself sitting with Luhan at the water lily pond again, both in exactly the same positions as yesterday and the day before that. Why she had walked here, she wasn’t sure of. Her feet had just brought her to this secret place again and Luhan had been sitting here, as though he'd been waiting for her. And somehow, she had been relieved to see his figure sitting there, when she looked through the gap between the trees. 

This boy … he had somehow managed to make her feel a lot better the day before, and she had to admit that she liked his company. It was a first that she liked being with a person ever since she'd been admitted to this hospital. But he – he was different from the others. She hadn't seen pity in his eyes so far, only an honest understanding gaze.

The girl looked up from the ground and turned her face a bit to look at Luhan. He was sitting in the same position as the days before, about one meter from her. She simply watched him while his eyes were closed and his lips, as always, curled into a soft smile.

“Um,” Hana began with an almost inaudible tone, making Luhan tilt his head, but his eyes remained closed. “I-I wanted to say … thanks,” she bit her lower lip, “for yesterday.” His eyelids twitched a bit, but still, they weren't opening. “Do you feel better?” He asked with a calm voice, not reacting to her thanks, which actually made it less uncomfortable for the girl, fortunately.

“Yes,” she moved a bit to shorten the one meter distance between them, “I do.” Just then, his eyes fluttered open and turned his head a bit, giving her a smile she'd never forget. “That's good,” he said calmly. All of his smiles were soft and always so calming, but this one had something to it, that Hana would have loved to sketch onto a paper, if it had been possible with her hand.

It was beautiful.

She continued to stare at him for a while before he moved even nearer. “It's time to close the distance once and for all, eh?” He chuckled, and within a second they were sitting shoulder against shoulder again. All of a sudden his tone was louder and more cheerful.

Hana still froze a bit when his shoulder touched hers, but she didn’t dislike it so she remained quiet. After a moment, she hummed a soft “Mhmm” in respone. It really was time. She didn’t even know why she had sat down one meter from him today when yesterday they'd been so close already. But at the same time, she wasn’t someone to look for physical contact. In fact, she was avoiding it most of the time. However, it had felt … good the day before, and today, as well, she had to admit that she liked the little physical contact between them that signaled her he was here. Present. Existing. That signaled her, she wasn't alone. 

“It's good you're better,” Luhan said after a long moment of silence.

Hana gnawed on her lower lip. “It's thanks to you, that I feel better,” she mumbled quietly and her gaze darted to the grass under her feet. Scrunching up her nose, she added, “Somehow.” At this weird way of thanking, a chuckle slipped from Luhan's lips. “I didn’t really do much, you know,” he said after a few seconds. “Just sat there and listened.” He tilted his head, looking up at her, a smile gracing his lips.

Hana unconsciously stared at him for a little too long, but she couldn’t tear away her eyes. The way his eyes were gazing at her with a friendliness was almost intriguing to the girl. She couldn’t make out any bad in his eyes. They were never looking at her in a judging way, never looking down on her, never looking scared. 

What did she do for him to be so kind to her?

“Still, it helped me a thousand times more than all of Mr. Choi's sessions together,” she retorted in a soft tone. It was true. When she had been back in her room that day, she had felt so much better thanks to him. If he hadn't dragged her out the hospital, she would have broken down and given those spectators what they wanted: a dramatic show. She would have been humiliated by all those judging eyes and hushed badmouthing. She would've been forced to stay there and look that terrible psychiatrist in the eyes while the latter would laugh at how miserable she was …

Words couldn’t describe how grateful she was to Luhan for dragging her away from the scene she made.

Hana turned her face away, but kept her ears pricked up for what he was going to say – she knew he'd say something.

“So, a happy ending might me possible, huh?” He then whispered. And for a second, Hana caught herself wishing she could believe those soft words. However, she didn’t say anything, not affirming nor denying, just sitting there and thinking about his words.

And the time passed just like this.

Many days passed this way. Shoulder against shoulder, a soft breeze playing with their hair, and occasionally Luhan asking Hana questions which seemed so random to her that she asked herself why he wanted to know about such things. But,