*Ai’s POV*

After going to the coffee shop, we both headed to the hospital. I found out that he was going there to visit Sandeul and I was going to visit Miyeon so we thought about visiting them together. I sent a text to Ji Eun saying that I’m going to the hospital with Wooyoung instead. She said it was okae and said “Good luck! ～☆ :D”

I shook my head and smiled. Since Ji Eun and I agreed that we would buy flowers for Miyeon, Wooyoung and I went to the flower shop together. Right after we bought flowers, we headed straight to the hospital. 

The bus ride was silent. The whole trip to the hospital was silent. Silence and Awkwardness. Not a good combination. We had finally arrived at the hospital and Wooyoung was about to press the button for the elevator but stopped. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking past him and at the elevator. 

He turned to look at me. “Are you only going to visit Miyeon? Because I’m going to visit Sandeul.”

I looked away to think. “Well I don’t mind visiting Sandeul, even though I really don’t know him.” 

He looked at our bouquet of flowers and turned back to the elevator. “We’ll just visit them together.” 

The elevator ride up was silent. Out of nowhere Wooyoung said, “Let’s go visit Miyeon first." I think he meant it as a suggestion but it sounded like an order. I didn't argue though. 

The doors opened on Sandeul’s floor, but we didn’t get off. Wooyoung pushed the button that read 10, which was the floor Miyeon was on. The doors closed after awhile and continued up. Just a couple of seconds later the elevator stopped and the doors slid opened. Some people were at the other side, waiting to get on, but let us go out first. Wooyoung led me down the hall to where Miyeon was.

Just at that moment, a doctor came out from the room looking at his clipboard. Wooyoung quickened his pace and approached the man. “Is she allowed to have any visitors?” He asks.

The doctor nodded. “However if you’re not family, you can only stay up to ten minutes.” 

“That’s alright,” I said. “I just wanted to see how she’s doing and to drop these.” I held up the bouquet of flowers to the doctor.

He nodded and opened the door to let us in. “Oh, to update you on her current condition, she’s still hasn’t regained consciousness, but her heartbeat is normal. She’s doing fine except for the fact that she won’t wake up.”

I looked over at the bed with Miyeon lying down in it. Even from this point of view, I can still see the many bandages that covered her body. 

“Is... is she in a coma?” I asked with worry in her voice. 

The doctor looked down and shook his head. “We’re not sure. Her brain suffered a concussion, but it doesn’t seem to be too damaged. Even if she does wake up, she might have lost some or all of her memories.”

A small gasp escaped my mouth and I immediately covered my mouth. The doctor noticed and his lips became a thin line. “I’m sorry,” he said with a great sigh. “We’re having doctors check up on her every four hours to see how she’s doing. We’re really trying our best to find out the problem, and if possible, fix it and try to save her life.”

“We know,” said Wooyoung. The doctor nodded at both of us and left.

Wooyoung sent the bouquet of flowers at the counter near the window while I took a seat on the stool that was set right next to the bed. I looked at Miyeon’s frail body. She was always so pretty. Even now, she looked like a princess that was hurt by a witch and is waiting for prince charming to save her. Unfortunately, fairy tales aren’t real. And I don’t think a kiss from a prince is going to save her life.

“I hope she wakes up soon.” Wooyoung said as he stood next to me. I nodded in agreement. “I was so irritated with everyone from school. Gossiping and spreading lies when they don’t even know the real story.” Again I nodded. 

“You know...” Wooyoung paused before continuing, “Sandeul feels horrible about what happened to her. Everything that happened to her because of him.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Wooyoung turned to look at me. “I hope you don’t think like those stupid people from school.”

I stared at the blankets for awhile and shook my head. “No. I too was getting irritated by their words. I was actually going to say something, but that’s when you stood up and yelled at the class.”

Wooyoung chuckled. “Really?” He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the ceiling. “Great minds do think alike.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I really hoped that all of this could be over. The smiles that used to be on peoples’ faces are now gone. They’re not their usual self anymore. And that includes me and Wooyoung. Wooyoung used to be the mood maker in our class and now he’s the one everyone looks down on. All because of some stupid mistake. All because of those stupid funds. If I think about it, those funds were the cause of all of this. 

I sighed and looked at the clock that rested on the wall. Our time to visit was almost up. I stood up and moved a strand of hair from Miyeon’s face. “I’ll try to come visit again, and next time I’ll bring Ji Eun. She was so worried about you.” I paused before saying something else. “We’re all worried about you. Just know that you’re in all our prayers. Please stay strong and come back.” 

I took one last look and turned to leave. Wooyoung closed the door behind him and turned to me. “Let’s go visit Sandeul now?”

*Wooyoung’s POV*

I knocked on the door before opening it. I saw Sanduel sitting on his bed, back leaning against the bed frame, arm stretched out holding a remote and flipping through channels.

I stepped inside with Ai following behind. “What are you watching?” I ask.

Sandeul shrugged. “I’m just flipping through channels, watching random shows. So apparently there’s a love triangle going on between Haesung, Yujin, and JB. Oh and I just watched the last episode of 1N2D. that it ended because I loved that show. Had to admit that I teared up a bit. Oh and B1A4 won last week's Music Bank. It was their very first win ever.”

I heard a squeal escape Ai’s mouth and I turned to look at her. “I’m sorry.” She quickly apologized. “I’m a fan of B1A4 that’s why.” 

She looked down in embarrassment and I couldn’t help but smile.

I held out the bouquet of flowers. “I’ve brought you flowers bunny boy! Don’t eat it,” I joked as he took the flowers.

He smelled it and looked up at me. “I thought I told you I’m a duck now?”

I titled my head to the side. “Since when?”

“Since my love for ducks grew!” He said with a big, bright smile. 

I took a seat next to Sandeul on his bed while Ai sat down on a chair. “Your love for ducks grew overnight?” 

“Well I watched a duck documentary last night with my father and he told me how I used to love ducks when I was a baby. Early this morning he dropped over an old stuffed toy I used to play with, and it was a duck.” He reached to grab something behind him and held it out to me. It was a small duck plushie. You could tell it was old alright. The toy had lost it’s fluffiness over the years, and a few strands of thread became undone. “Apparently my father took it away from me because I was too old to be playing with toys but my mom kept it.” 

I listened to Sandeul’s story, but I soon realized that I haven’t introduced Sanduel and Ai yet. Right after Sandeul was done telling his story I stood up. “Sandeul, this is Ai. She’s a friend of mine. You might recognize her as the Vice President of the Student Council.” I turned to Ai. “Ai, this is Sandeul.”

“My real name is Junghwan, but only grown ups call me that. Just call me Sandeul,” he smiled. 

Ai smiled back and bowed. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Sandeul turned to look at me. “What took you so long to come visit me? Were you able to sneak away?”

I was spacing out for a second and then came back into reality. “Huh?”

“Did you escape your trainings?” Sandeul asked.

I shook my head. “More like they never even bothered to get me. No one has called so I’m guessing they really don’t care.” 

Sandeul nodded. He squinted his eyes and looked at me closely. “What happened to you? Did you get into a fight?” 

I lifted my hand to touch my face and looked into a mirror that was sitting on the bedside table. The blood had dried up on my lips, and my cheek was still a little swollen from Juwon’s punch. I didn’t even bother to clean myself up. I looked down to see a dirty shoe print on my pants when Kang kicked me. I sighed and nodded, answering Sandeul’s question. He didn’t ask any more questions concerning how I looked and asked something else. “I don’t want to sound mean, but what is Ai doing you?”

I looked at her. “Oh, she was planning on visiting Miyeon and since I came to visit you, we decided to visit you both.” 

At the sound of Miyeon’s name, Sandeul tensed. He was looking off into the distance. “How... How is Miyeon doing?” His voice sounded distant as well. Like it was coming from someone else far away.

I sighed and tried to plan out what I was going to say in my mind. “Miyeon...” I stopped, trying to collect my words. “She still hasn’t woken up. She’s fine, she just won’t wake up. They don’t know if she’s in a coma or not.”

“They never know anything,” Sandeul quickly said and lay down. He pulled the covers over his face.

I sighed. “They’re trying their best Sandeul. They’re going to do as much as possible to save her.”

“That’s what they always say.” His voice was monotone. 

I shook my head. “She’s going to be okae Sandeul.”

He didn’t say anything after that. I sighed and stood up. “Let’s go,” I said to Ai. She hesitated before following me out the door. 

I took one last look at Sandeul who was still hiding under his covers. “I’ll try to come again to check up on you. Take care of yourself, arasseo?” I didn’t hear a reply so I just closed the door. Ai and I walked out of the hospital to see that night has fallen. 

“Ah it’s already--” As if to interrupt Ai, a heavy rainfall poured, drenching us both. 

“Raining,” I muttered. I took Ai’s hand in mine and pulled her to a nearby bus stop. 

“I’m supposed to be home by now. My mom wouldn’t like it if I’m out too late.” Ai opened her bag, searching for something. “Aish... I forgot my umbrella at home.” She looked up at the raining sky and pouted. 

My hands went to the zipper of my bag but I didn’t open it. I have an umbrella but it’s meant for only one person. Too small for the both of them, especially in such heavy rainfall. I mean, I would give my umbrella to her, but she would just refuse it. 

“Can’t you call your mom and say that you’ll be late?” I ask.

She sighed. “My phone ran out of battery.”

I facepalmed. I pulled out my umbrella and held it out to her. “Here, take my umbrella. I don’t have to be home so soon.”

Ai stared at it for awhile, contemplating whether she should take it or not. Eventually she shook her head. “Then what are you going to do? I don’t think the rain is going to stop anytime soon.”

I looked at the sky and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter for me.”

Ai shook her head. “No. It’s your umbrella.”

I scratched my head. “I really don’t care if I get wet or not.”

“You’ll get sick.”

“And you’ll get in trouble by your mom.”

“Yeah but--”

I didn’t even bother to let her finish her sentence. I threw my umbrella onto the streets where a small stream was forming along the sidewalk. It was getting soaked to the core and rained on. I grabbed Ai’s hand and pulled her out into the rain with me.

“Ya! What are you doing?” She yelled. 

“Dropping you home!” I yelled back. My vision was getting blurry from the rain that was getting in my eyes. I wiped my face and blinked a few times. “Where do you live?” 

***

After arguing in the rain for a few minutes, Ai finally told me where her house is and we walked in the rain. The rain lightened up a bit, but we were still soaked. Our hair, face, skin, uniform, and even our bags were wet. Ai was hugging her bag with her left arm and her right hand was being held by my left hand. My bag was slung over my shoulder and I was pretty sure all my books had gotten wet. 

“Here we are,” said Ai as she stopped walking. I look up and see a two story house. It’s walls were painted white with a blue roof. Nothing too extravagant or too simple. A metal gate stood tall in front of us. 

I turned to look at her and rethought my actions. She was drenched in rain water and even her bag had gotten wet. Now that I think about it, she would get sick. I messed up my wet hair and felt some drops slid down my cheek. I should have thought this through.

“Even though you’re not that late,” I said slowly, “I think you would still get in trouble.”

Ai looked confused at first, but realized soon after. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done.” She squeezed some water out of her hair. 

“Mianhae,” I said. “I should have thought this through.”

At that moment, I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled out it out from my pocket. It wasn’t completely wet, but I could still see a few droplets. I wiped the screen which really didn’t help and pressed the answer button. I brought the phone up to my ear. “Yeoboseyo?” 

*Ai’s POV*

I watched as Wooyoung talked on the phone, but I noticed something dangling on the side of his lanyard.  It was a keychain. The same keychain I found on the bench the last time we talked. The same keychain I gave to him the night of the cherry blossom viewing. He kept it with him all this time...

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. “That was my dad. I have to go home soon.” 

It’s been bothering me ever since that day. I decided to bring up the courage to ask him. It’s just a question, and it’s nothing personal. Nothing special. “Isn’t that the keychain I found on the bench at the park?” I pretended like I don’t remember giving it to him.

His hands immediately went to his pocket where his phone was. “Oh... yeah.”

I shifted. “You must really like it.” I didn’t look him straight in the eye, but in the distance behind him.

I saw a small smile appeared on his lips. “Yeah. It was the first thing the girl I like gave to me.”

I almost stopped breathing. I had to remind myself to breathe. I slowly looked up at him, trying to keep a straight face. “Huh?”

He looked up at the sky. “It’s going to start raining again. You should go inside.” He messed up my hair and smiled at me. “Annyeong.” He didn’t even bother to hear my goodbye and just left.

I continued to stand there and felt the rain as it sprinkled on my face. What... did he just say?

*Soyoung’s POV* *Earlier that day*

“What are you doing Hyuna?” I asked, as I tried to keep up my pace with hers. 

“My marine bio teacher wants us to have people sign a petition to protect sharks,” she said while walking at the speed of light. “It’s for my grade and I’m failing.”

I have to run just to keep up with her. “How many signatures do you have now?”

Hyuna looked at her paper. “I need seven more signatures, and then I’m done with this stupid thing!” She threw her arms in the air and asked if people could sign it. Unfortunately because the marine biology teacher assigned this petition to all her classes, more than half the school already signed it.

“Soyoung-ssi!” I heard my name being called and turned around. I saw a friend of mine calling me over and I went to her. 

“Yes?”

My friend held out a clipboard with a paper on it. “Could you sign this?”

I looked at it and back to her. “Is this for the shark fin thing?” I asked. She nodded. “Ahh, I already signed one. Mianhae.”

My friend pouted. “It’s okae.” 

“Mianhae,” I said once more and said goodbye before I left. I was away from Hyuna for a short time, but I already lost her. “Where could that girl be?” I was looking everywhere for her when I bumped into someone. “Ahh! I’m sorry!” I bowed to the person I bumped into and looked up at him. He looked a little irritated but forced a smile. 

“It’s okae,” he said. He walked away and I saw a few people watching him. They leaned toward each other and began whispering. 

“What’s his problem?”

“Isn’t that Wooyoung? The one who was supposed to be the President of the Student Council?”

“He’s in my class. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s been that way since this morning and he even yelled to the class.”

One of the gasped. “Really? Wae?”

I know it’s bad to eavesdrop but there was so much people in the hallways, it’s hard not to over hear someone’s conversation. I quickly walked away, trying to look for Hyuna when I saw her a few feet away. I escaped from the sea of students and walked up to her. I saw a guy right in front her. He quickly turned around and walked away.

I finally caught up to Hyuna. “Was that Jinyoung? 

Hyuna nodded. “Yeah. He has to go somewhere but he wouldn’t tell me where.”

“Ohh,” I pouted a little. “I didn’t see him all morning.”

“Hey Soyoung, can you hold my pen?” Hyuna asked as she held out her pen to me.

“Okae,” I took the pen from her, but she continued to stare at me. Honestly, it felt a little weird. “Are you okae? Why are you just standing there and smiling?”

Her smile became bigger and she said, “Jinyoung touched that pen.” 

My eyes widened and I threw the pen which hit the lockers and fell to the floor. Hyuna looked at the pen in shock and back to me. “I wouldn’t even freak out if I touched a pen that the person I liked touched. But with you, I make you hold a pen Jinyoung held and then I find my pen in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!” 

“Mwo!” I said a little too loudly. Everyone looked our way and I apologized. I pulled Hyuna to the stairs and talked to her there. “What do you mean ‘like’?” 

Hyuna crossed her arms. “Why do you mean what do I mean? It’s obvious you like him.”

I could feel my face burn up. “Y- ya. I do not like him, and he doesn’t like me.”

Hyuna rolled her eyes. “Why are you so delusional?” She stepped closer to me and looked me straight in the eyes. “He.likes.you.and.you.like.him.” She said very slowly and clearly. “Stop denying it.” 

I looked away. “I... I’m not denying it... I...” I didn’t know what to say. Do I really like Jinyoung? Does Jinyoung really like me? I thought about the time when I was sick and Hyuna and Jinyoung came to visit me. They gave me flowers and Hyuna told how each flower meant something. Her flower meant friendship and Jinyoung’s flower meant... Hyuna said it meant “My heart beats for you” I sighed. This was all so confusing. 

Hyuna pulled me into a hug and patted my head. “It’s okae. Don’t give yourself a headache thinking about it.” She pulled away and gave me an encouraging smile. “Just know that I’m here to help you.”

I smiled. “Thanks Hyuna.” 

She put her arm around my shoulder. “No problem~ So, come help me fill up this petition so that I can pass marine bio!” And with that, we walked down the stairs to ask the Juniors and Freshmens.

*Jinyoung’s POV*

I leaned on the railing and sighed. I flipped over the paper in my hands. “You better be right Hyuna. About her liking me.”

---

I just realized I make my characters overhear conversations o___O OMO~ I can't believe I finished this chapter in just... Three days! o___O And I didn't even plan anything out. I feel accomplished T^T I hope this chapter is good enough. 

Please tell me what you think~! Please ;A; Comments are much appreciated.