“Hmm,” Hye Mi sighed as she fixed the flowers along her window.  Today was a rare day when she had decided to stay at home, it was raining and her head wasn’t in its best condition. She wanted to get her mind off things by cleaning but it seems as though her plan was failing miserably.

“You know,” Aron smirked as he leaned against the kitchen counter. He too had decided to stay at home today since it was raining too hard. “You’ve been sighing so much the past two days, what’s up?”

“Nothing,” she muttered and started sorting out the messy magazines on the coffee table.

Aron clucked his tongue in disapproval, he could see right through her and it was obvious that there was something bothering her.  “Liar,” he accused and bit onto an apple he found nearby. He walked towards to the living room and sat down on the couch. “Tell me so you’ll get it off your chest.”

Hye Mi turned to him with a sceptical look. She knew that telling him would allow her to feel more at ease but she also knew that he’d probably use her emotions to his advantage for at least another year. “Why do you wanna know huh? Do you have an ulterior motive?” she asked with squinting eyes.

Aron scoffed and pointed to himself. “Me? Ulterior motive? What sort of person do you think I am? Gosh.” She gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. “Fine fine, I promise I won’t laugh at your problems, now tell me,” he patted the empty space next to him.

Hye Mi thought for a minute before putting down the magazines, she sat down next to Aron and bought her legs to her chest. “It’s about Kris-”

“I KNEW IT!” he shouted. She glared at him and he zipped his mouth.

Hye Mi carried on telling Aron about her encounter with Kris that day, how they almost kissed and how they almost fought about her surgery. Surprisingly, Aron managed to stay shut until she was done, it took him a few minutes to analyse all the information and he grinned when he put everything together. “I knew it,” he grinned. “See Hye Mi, what did I tell you? That doctor boy has a crush on you, awww!”

A small smile hitched up on Hye Mi’s lips but it soon vanished and she shook her head. “No he doesn’t, he can’t.”

“What do you mean he can’t?” Aron frowned. “He has every ounce of right to like you, and I can tell that you like him too.”

“Okay what if I do?” Hye Mi scowled. “It’s not like anything is going to happen, he’s a doctor and I’m a…”

Aron softened, now he knew what was bothering Hye Mi. It wasn’t the fact that she didn’t like Kris or anything; it was because she was bothered with the fact that she was his patient.  “Hye Mi-ah,” he gently called.

Hye Mi parted her lips and spoke, “I’m just an ordinary patient who is dying because of an incurable disease.”

“Aigoo,” Aron pinched her soft cheeks gently. “You’re an idiot for lowering yourself just because of that.” She blinked at him and he sighed. “Hye Mi, you like Kris right?” She nodded sadly. “And Kris likes you too right?”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head.

“Girl that man wanted to kiss you, we’ll just take it as a yes,” Aron flicked his wrist in the air. “You both like each other, you’re at legal age, both of you are single, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“There is,” Hye Mi murmured. “I’m dying.”

Aron felt his heart break at her words. All these years, Hye Mi had always been the strong one, she had always been the one to shake everything off as if it didn’t matter and was always smiling like there was no tomorrow. He didn’t like seeing her like this, it was a new side of her that he didn’t want to witness.

Hye Mi was insecure.

That was something he had never even thought about, he had grown so used to her bright image that the thought of her being scared had long vanished.

“Hye Mi, listen to me,” he said and placed both his hands on her shoulders, making her face him. “So what if you’re dying? That doesn’t mean that you can’t live.” She pouted and he continued, “As long as you’re still breathing, you have the right to be happy. So if being happy means that you have to take a chance, then you need to take a chance, there’s no point sitting there and watching your chances slip away. You need to be braver and follow your heart. Time is just an interval that keeps moving forward, you need to realise that there is nothing you can’t do with time, everything is just up to you.  Besides, no one knows when you are going to die. What happens if it’s one year? Two years? Are you really going to waste all that time without even experiencing love?”

Hye Mi gagged at his cliché words but deep inside she knew he was right. Liking Kris was already a big step, she there shouldn’t be a reason why she couldn’t take another step. “You’re right…” she started nodding.

Aron grinned and ruffled her hair. “Damn right I am, so I want you to go to painting class tomorrow and seduce that dragon looking boy.”