The world had changed. It was subtle, as always, but each year had brought with it new developments... New hopes and dreams.
Kai spent his years exploring to the ends of the world, always hoping to find something that compared even briefly to her. He felt as empty and as hollow as the day he had left her.

·         Flashback

Kayoung’s POV

He looked down at his feet waiting for me to speak, but that was impossible. There were no words that I could say to him that could explain what I was feeling inside. I was happy and relieved that he had felt the same as me; but I also felt a twinge of pain wash over me as the words of him leaving sunk in. Tiny crystal tears started to form themselves in the corners of my eyes. As soon as they started, I couldn’t stop crying.

Why had he waited so long to tell me and why would he tell me right before he left; leaving me heartbroken. I shoved him hard and just ran away from him. I couldn’t stand to look at him right now, I just needed to be alone. Forgetting the dance, I ran all the way to the deserted park and just sat on the cold bench. The tears constantly streaming down my face. I turned around as I heard the bushes rustle and saw Kai come walking towards me. I stood up about to shout at him when he just met his lips to mine, making me forget about the world around us.

“Googbye, Kayoung”

·         End of Flashback and End of Kayoung’s POV

Still, there was comfort to be found in the few things that never changed. Even as the years passed, people found reasons to laugh, to smile, and to cry. And that was what brought him home to Seoul. He had lived in many places but home is where the heart is, and he had left his years ago.

The town itself hadn't changed much. Most of the original buildings were still there. It pained him to know that the graveyard would be home to another headstone, and this one would bear the name of the one woman he had ever loved.

He parked his car near the hospital and the memories suddenly overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and let them wash over him, burning him alive as they did.

Kayoung smiling, the sun glinting off of her hair as she playfully ran from him. She, laughing at him from the passenger seat of his car. Kayoung stumbling and then looking up at him, her brown eyes warm with gratitude, as he caught her. Those same eyes, flooded with tears, clutching at him for comfort. Kayoung 's lips, her desperate kisses, the little noises she made when he kissed her back just as passionately.

Kai opened his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. His hands were still on the steering wheel and he clenched them tightly. He owed this to her. He had to see her one last time, to say goodbye. To thank her for giving him so much, enough memories and love to last him through eternity. It would rip his heart out, but he knew it would give her some small measure of comfort. And for Kayoung, to make her happy, he would do anything.

Kai walked through it slowly and for a moment let himself believe that he was here to visit Dr. Hyoju and Dr. JungSeob. It was easy to fool himself into thinking that he still lived in Seoul, Kayoung young and vibrant at his side.

He knew that in the reception room there was a photo and a plaque in honor of the late Dr. Hyoju and Dr. JungSeob, in appreciation for the lives they had saved in their time at Seoul. Since their time in Seoul, Dr. JungSeob and Dr. Hyoju,had relocated dozens of times, but still left their mark on each community they touched.

“Love is like pi natural, irrational, and very important.”  Hyoju - before she died.

He didn't need to ask for directions to her room. The sound of her heartbeat and her sweet sense had haunted his memories… its gentle cadence now was like a beacon to her. Kai took the stairs to the 4 floor. He walked slowly and tried to prepare himself.

He had had decades to prepare himself for this moment. Still, he could not process the surreal idea that he was going to see Kayoung for the last time. Over the years he had stopped in Seoul to check on her. Each visit was just as painful as the last. Time did not heal this wound…

Kai made sure she never saw him. He watched from a distance as she graduated from college with her master’s degree. He saw her on her wedding day and hoped, selfishly, that the shadow in her eyes was the memory of their love. He saw Kayoung bring home her first child from the hospital.  Meanwhile his jealousy grow up…

As the years passed Kayoung grew up. She became even more beautiful as she matured into a woman. Threads of gray wove into Kayoung 's hair and her skin wore years of laughter and happiness in the form of wrinkles and lines around her lips.

He saw her comfort her own children at her husband's funeral. His Kayoung was still there, still inside of that strong woman, but now there was more of her. She touched so many people. He watched her gather her family close at Christmas, her face so full of love and happiness. It was at that moment that he finally believed he had done the right thing by giving her up.

Kai pushed open the door that led from the stairwell into the hospital corridor. He followed the sound of her heart and sense, willing him closer with each beat. He paused at the waiting room and looked at the huddle of crying women, her daughters. Sitting in the corner were two younger girls and one of them was a teenager. She looked startlingly like the Kayoung he had first fallen in love with. She was Kayoung's first granddaughter.

Kai watched them for a moment longer, grateful that she had so many people who loved her. He continued on his way and stopped outside of her door. His hand grazed the smooth surface of the door. He closed his eyes and fought against the pain welling up inside of him.

"I'm sorry, Kayoung-ssi isn't accepting any more visitors," a voice said sympathetically.

Kai turned to face the nurse and she gasped.

"You must be him!" she whispered. At Kai's look of confusion the nurse walked around the station and touched his arm. "She's finished saying her goodbyes. She said she wants to be alone now, with her memories, unless the most beautiful man I've ever seen stops by…"

Kai couldn't help but laugh. How well Kayoung knew him. She expected him.

"Kim Jong In-ssi?" the nurse confirmed. He nodded and she smiled, a bit sadly. "You mean so much to her. I'm glad you're here… Since she is here, she has been telling stories… good and bad stories…"

He nodded again, his voice lost, and let her go ahead of him to the door of Kayoung 's hospital room. She knocked once and opened the door.

" Kayoung-ssi? You have a visitor," she said softly, and then she gave him a gentle shove inside. 

Kayoung.

Kai felt his heart shatter. She was so tiny, so frail. He had seen her just last year and she didn't look this breakable. He should have changed her. He should have changed her and never let go of her. The despair choked him.

" Kayoung …" he said thickly.

The woman gasped weakly at the sight of him. Her eyes watered with tears but she smiled brightly and brought a hand to .

"K-Kai…" she whispered. He heard the door shut as the nurse gave them privacy, and he was by her side in an instant.

He delicately picked up one of her small hands, the skin papery and spotted with age marks. He brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss onto it, closing his eyes as he breathed her in.

"I've missed you so much…" Kayoung whispered tearfully. "Thank you… This, well it's what I wanted more than anything."

Kai took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers, amazed still at how fragile she was. He looked down at her in awe. He didn't see her white hair. The deep wrinkles she wore were invisible to him.

He saw his Kayoung. Her chestnut hair fanned out on the pillow. Her brown eyes glinted mischievously and her full lips smiled teasingly. She was vibrant and full of life. Her eyes shone with love for Kai, and Kai alone.

"I'm sorry, Kayoung" he whispered, appalled at his weakness. He was crying. Without tears, but crying nonetheless. "I wish…I wish I could just go back."

She raised one trembling arm and he bent down to her, resting his head on her chest. Her fingers tangled in his hair and it felt so right so familiar, so heartbreakingly comforting.

"I had a wonderful life, Kai. You gave me an amazing gift," she said gently. "But I never stopped loving you. Not even for a moment."

He closed his eyes tightly and she held him just like she used to. His noble plan to let her go and lead a normal life suddenly seemed like a horrible mistake. It was all leading up to this moment - this panicked, terrible moment, and now there was no time.

“Do you remember when we danced?” she whisper

“Of course”

·         FlashBack

“Oppa!”

“Come on one more time!”

“I’m tired~~”

“One more time~~”

“Oppa~~”

“Fine let’s rest a little bit” They sat at the floor and drank a little of water. “You’re lazy… tooooooo lazy”

Kayoung  nodded.

“I already know~~” He smiled.

·         End of flashback

“You’re still lazy~~”

“Hm~~” she nodded “Well… Since I’ve my kids I’m not that lazy like I usually was…”

He just smiled.

"I love you, Kayoung " he said brokenly, raising his head to look at her. "You know that, don't you?"

"Of course" she laughed and smoothed his hair back. Her expression sobered and she studied him seriously. "I had forgotten how beautiful you are. I knew, but remembering isn't the same as seeing. And me... what you must think of me, an old woman now."

"No," he smiled, shaking his head. "My Kayoung. Always, my beautiful, beautiful, Kayoung." He watched with bittersweet emotions as a hint of color rose to her nearly translucent cheeks. "And I can still make you blush."

Kayoung 's lips turned up in a smile and she squeezed his hand tighter.

"Stay with me," she whispered.

Kai nodded, fighting back his sobs. He slid one hand underneath her neck and the other under her knees, and gently moved her over on the bed. He climbed in next to her and Kayoung cuddled into him.

"It feels like always," she said into his chest. "Like you never left."

He couldn't answer and instead held her a little tighter. His instincts told him now that it wouldn't be long. There was so much to say, so much that she needed to know, but he couldn't even speak.

"Do you regret it?" Kayoung asked. She lifted her head to look at his face and he could see the effort it cost her.

"Were you happy?"

"Yes" Kayoung whispered.

"Then I don't regret it" Kai responded strongly. "I just wish that I could have given you it all."

She didn't respond and they fell into silence. He breathed in her scent, trying to memorize it, and the sound of her breathing, and the way she felt in his arms again after so long. The pain in his chest increased with each second as her body grew weaker. There wasn't enough time. I went out a little bit... I want to confront her daughter and grand...

"Ah...Ahjussi" Kai heard a sweet voice. "Grannie-"

Kai closes the door.

"Ahjussi!" the young girl had her eyes red "W-who are you?"

"I'm a very close friend of your grandmother.."

Suddenly Kayoung's daughter approached us

"Omma! This..." the young girl tried to say. Meanwhile her mother just smiled.

"Finally you decided to come to see my mother" Kai was surprise to hear that.She started crying "When I was a child, my mom, every night, told me a story about you two... When my father died, she told me about you and how important you were"

Kai had tears on his face.

"What's your name?" Kai asks

"I'm Ga Hee and she is my daughter, Hyojin"

"Ga Hee and Hyojin..." Kai whispers "Our love story is like in the books, some of them doesn't have a good ending..."

"Yes..." Ga Hee nodded "Is it ok If I... talk to you?"

Kai just nodded.

"My mom meant the world to me. All my life I felt lucky to have her as a mother. A time comes to mind when I was in first grade. About three or four children flunked a test and I was one of them. Our teacher instructed us not to return to school until our F paper was signed by a parent. I was devastated. I couldn't imagine how I could tell my parents about this. That night I said nothing to either my mom or dad. The next morning Mom drove us to school. My brother and sister had already left the car but I just sat there frozen. Suddenly I burst out crying and pushed the paper towards my mom. She signed the paper, patted me on my leg and told me not to worry about it. She never mentioned it again.  I remember that even at six I was thankful she was my mother. When she came to the hospital...All I can tell you is that it was the most disturbing time of my life. At one point she said:

"I want you to go home and I don't ever want you to come back. This is something you will never get over." 

Of course I didn't leave and my mission has become to prove her wrong. I will get over it."

"Stubborn as always..." Kai whisper

"I want to thank you for giving my mom this opportunity... for gives us the opportunity..." Ga Hee bow.

Kai return to her room and while walking to sit next to her...

"I felt you," Kayoung said suddenly. "Every time. Whenever you were here, I could tell. I could feel you."

"I had to make sure you were okay," he said hoarsely.

"I know," Kayoung smiled. "I love you, Kai."

"I love you, too, Kayoung " he said fiercely. There wasn't enough time left to tell her how much. "More than anything, ever."

"Kiss me once more?" she requested softly.

"Anything you want," Kai replied, brokenly.

He tilted her face to his and pressed his cool lips to hers, remembering their first kiss and every kiss in between, from then until now. He felt her smile and savored the warmth. Kayoung tucked her head down into his neck and rested her palm on his chest, right above where his heart was. He covered her hand with one of his. He held her like that, until her heart began faltering and her breathing grew raspy.

She whispered her love once more and he whispered his back, fervently pressing kisses to the side of her head.

“I’ll meet Hyoju and JungSeob” she whispered weakly "And I'll take your secret with me..."

Kai cradled Kayoung against him, sobs escaping his throat as her lungs rattled once more and her body grew still. The room suddenly felt empty, and he knew Kayoung, his first and only love, was gone.

I wish I could save you...

" xxxx 14 January, at 5PM, Seoul Hospital, Park Kayoung's death "