Author's P.O.V

Five anxious boys rushed through the corridors of the hospital, halting to a stop when they saw two forlorn figures sitting apart from each other outside the double-doors. The two were so immersed in their own thoughts and worries that they didn't even notice the new arrivals until a voice sliced through the silence.

"Daehyun… Myungsoo…"

Slowly, the two lifted their faces out of their palms and glanced at Daehyun's friends.

"H… hyung…" Daehyun finally croaked. "S… Sooyun… she…"

Yongguk made his way over to Daehyun and began comforting him in a brotherly way, clapping his shoulder gently yet firmly. "She's going to be ok Daehyun. Everything will be alright," he assured, yet inside, he too was just was worried about the outcome.

"N-noona will be fine," Jongup added. "She is strong, she'll get through this."

One by one, the others came and comforted Daehyun, at the same time assuring themselves that their Noona/Dongsaeng will pull through fine. Daehyun nodded his head lightly to show his gratitude for his friends, or brothers, being there for him when he needed them.

Please, Sooyun. Please be okay. Please, Daehyun begged. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if the worst was to happen -- he didn't dare think of it.

After what seemed like waiting for hours on end as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slow, the light which signified that surgery was in progress finally turned off. As soon as the double doors opened, the first to jump out of his seat was Daehyun, who bombarded the doctor with questions.

"Doctor, how is she? Was the surgery a success? Is she alright? Please tell me she's ok! Can we go see her?" He was obviously too distressed to properly talk to the doctor, so Yongguk put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Who is the patient's family?" the doctor asked.

Hesitating, Yongguk answered him. "She doesn't have a family, but we are her friends."

The doctor nodded. "The patient suffered from internal bleeding in the abdominal region from the impact with the car, as well as heavy impact to the head from the fall to the ground. The surgery was a success and we have stopped the internal bleeding as well as tended to her head injury. She might feel a little dizzy and experience head pains when she wakes up, but other than that, the patient is fine and it is safe to say that she will recover soon after a few days of rest in the hospital. She is resting now and should wake up soon. You may go see her after we have settled her into her room."

The boys thanked the doctor and bowed as a wave of relief washed through them. The others felt comforted at the sight of Daehyun finally smiling a bit as he thanked god for letting Sooyun be ok.

Daehyun's P.O.V

The door slid open as I eyed the figure coming out of Sooyun's private hospital room. After hearing his confession to Sooyun, there was no doubt that he was serious about her. Although she rejected him, I still felt uneasy letting him be alone with her.

"I'll be taking my leave now…" Myungsoo spoke. "I'm sure… you want some time alone with her." We nodded our heads in acknowledgement as he reluctantly trudged away, obviously still worried about her.

Hastily, the six of us entered the room again to the same sight -- Sooyun lying peacefully under the light covers with a tube connected to her left wrist and a bandaged head.

All too soon, night had come and visiting hours were over.

"I'm sorry, but it's getting late now and visiting hours are over. But you are welcome to come by and visit the patient tomorrow," a nurse said.

"Is it possible for one of us to stay with her?" Youngjae asked. "Just in case she wakes up during the night and panics because she doesn't like to be alone."

The nurse nodded. "Yes, that's fine. One person may stay."

Immediately, I blurted "I'll stay with her."

The others also agreed and didn't argue with my decision. The nurse left as Yongguk-hyung shuffled the rest out of the room and told them to get some rest so they could come visit first thing in the morning.

It was silent again as the door shut behind them. I stared at Sooyun's sleeping figure and sighed. When I saw her alone with Myungsoo, laughing brightly like the most happiest person on earth, I felt jealousy erupt within my heart. When I saw Myungsoo holding her hands, gazing into her eyes and confessing to her, my heart clenched as I unconsciously begged her to say no. And when I saw her vulnerably standing in the middle of the road, clueless to the danger speeding straight towards her, my heart stopped altogether.

Everything happened in a flash -- from when the words left my mouth shouting for her to get out of the way to when she was lying on the hard concrete ground, quickly losing consciousness. No matter how much I begged my legs to move towards her faster, to get her away from the line of danger, I couldn't reach her on time. My efforts were returned with a horrible nightmare.

"I t-thought I-I los-st y-you…" My voice came out as a near whisper as my voice quivered, the tears finally falling after holding it in for all this time. I clasped Sooyun's right hand between the two of mine and like that, with my elbows on her bed, I sobbed into our clustered hands.

"If you really want to help her, you should do what the two of you have agreed to in the beginning."

I jolted up at the unfamiliar voice and widened my eyes at the sight of the angel I didn't know was in the room. She emitted a much more mature vibe than Sooyun and wore exquisite white and gold clothing. She had elegant features, black, wavy hair, a strange symbol on her forehead and looked at me with much seriousness.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Song Jieun, the guardian angel and Sooyun's superior in our world," she introduced. "You must be Jung Daehyun, the boy helping Sooyun with her stay in the mortal world."

I bowed. "Yes I am Daehyun. It's nice to meet Jieun-ssi."

"Pleasure to meet you too." Jieun paused for a bit before sighing. I looked at her intently with a feeling that whatever she's going to say next is not good. "Daehyun-ssi, I suppose Sooyun hasn't informed you of the time limit she has to complete her training?"

I froze. "It's… how much time do we have left?"

"Much less time than you think. You have until she turns 18." Jieun glanced at the ground briefly before looking back up at me. "Next week."

My eyes widened. "Next week?! That soon?" I really wanted to ask her whether she was kidding, but her grim expression carried no sense of humour whatsoever. She just nodded once to confirm.

"You have exactly one week. This day next week."

As much as I wanted to avoid the answer to this question, I had to ask. "What… will happen… if Sooyun doesn't complete her training before then?"

"Sooyun… will fail her training… and… cease to exist." Jieun locked eyes with me for a bit, letting me understand the seriousness of the situation, before shifting her attention back to Sooyun. Her expression softened seeing her current state.

It took me a few minutes for everything to sink in and when it did, something struck my memory. "Hold on Jieun-ssi. Sooyun once told me that angels cannot… die... before their time is over. I suppose that meant from old age."

"Daehyun-ssi," she called, keeping her eyes on Sooyun. It was just my name, but those words alone sounded heavy as they left . "Sooyun is not a full angel like the rest of us… not all is the same for a full angel and one in training."

She looked me in the eye again. "Sooyun really is a wonderful girl, despite her mischievous side and all the little mishaps she causes. But then again, it is that which makes her Lee Sooyun. I suppose that's what we would call her 'charm'." A light smile graced her face. "We all love her, and she loves us too… but. As a family. She only knows how to love others as friends and family."

I shot her a confused look. "What do you mean Jieun-ssi?"

She giggled a little before answering me. "Ah, that little rascal Sooyunnie. She's too dense to realize what it is that she must actually experience for her to complete her training. For anyone else, they would've realized long ago, but we cannot directly tell her what it is. We have been leaving hints little by little all these years, even sending her to the human world to experience the life of a human, but obviously she won't understand until someone confronts her directly."

"Something she must experience?" I was beyond confused. Something Sooyun is too dense to realize but others will easily?

"Daehyun-ssi, you weren't much better. But at least you realized in the end, despite however long it took you," she smiled. "I expect you to figure out what to do in time to help Sooyun here. I wish you all the best. Farewell."

"Wait! Jieun-ssi!" I called out frantically, not wanting her to leave me hanging like this. But, she had already disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared.

I let out a heavy sigh. "There's not much time left… I can't let Sooyun disappear." Remembering Jieun's words, I sighed again. "Sooyun-ah, you're too dense to realize many things. How am I supposed to know what exactly it is?"

Taking my seat next to Sooyun's bed, I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration as I tried to piece everything together. "Something Sooyun must 'experience' that is a natural part of human life. Something someone like Sooyun is too dense to realize by herself. And something that I have experienced and realized… recently?"

My eyes widened at that last thought. Youngjae's words suddenly flashed through my mind.

"Finally! About time dude! So when did it finally get through that thick skull of yours?"

Of course! The answer was so obvious all this time. Only someone as dense as Sooyun and myself wouldn't have realized. "No wonder Jieun-ssi said I wasn't much better…" I groaned.

Once again, I held Sooyun's hand while gazing at her sleeping face. "Sooyunnie-ah," I whispered. "I think I know what to do now. I… I'll try my best. For me to help you. But in the end… it's up to you. And how you feel. I… I …"

I took a deep breath before bringing up enough courage to say the next few words.

"I love you."

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips softly against her cheek.

=================================

Well, hopefully you readers like this chapter. I seriously got stuck halfway into the chapter haha :P Anyway, I think I made it obvious enough what Sooyun's final mission is ^^

And I'm starting a new Daehyun story called 'Split Images'. Check it out if you're interested!

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/513069/split-images-romance-yoseob-you-bap-daehyun

Have a nice day! :D