Morning had come and Soojung was awake a bit earlier than usual to wait up for Taehyung. She paced back and forth in her room while glancing out the window and door here and there. Jae was curled up on her bed also waiting to see him. 

"Ahjussi said he'll come when I woke up, but why isn't he here yet?" Soojung asked Jae, who didn't reply. She sighed and laid back down on the bed due to her health conditions getting worse and stared at the ceiling. "Did he lie to me again?"

"Soojung-ah, you're awake already?" her mother asked, but she didn't reply. "Is there anything you need? The bathroom? Food? A walk?"

"I'm okay, umma. I just want to stay in bed," she softly replied with a deep sigh; it was hard for her to even sigh. Her mother also deeply exhaled and got up from the couch to tuck Soojung in. 

"Just sleep then," she forcibly smiled and kissed Soojung's forehead. "Umma's gonna go home for a bit to change then I'll come back."

Soojung nodded and closed her eyes as her mother walked out of the room. Her gently shut the door and leaned against it with a sigh. 

"2 days...2 days left until my baby goes," she sniffled with a tear rolling down her cheeks. "What am I going to do? My poor baby...."

Taehyung walked down the hallway to see Soojung's mother crying in front of the room. She covered her face with her hands and dropped down to her knees. Taehyung could feel the pain she felt and so he walked up to her. 

"Are you okay?" he asked as she slowly looked up at him; he had made himself visible to her, but she was still unaware of what he was. "Did something happen?"

She sniffled and wiped her tears, quickly getting up out of embarrassment. 

"It's nothing," she replied and walked away. 

"You can talk to me about it," he said as she stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at him. "There are things I want to say too, but I don't have anyone to talk about it with, so I know the feeling of having to bottle everything up. Besides, I only have two days left until I vanish from this world and the least I could do is listen to someone who needs a listener while I'm still here. So you can tell me anything you want, I'll listen. Even if I may look like a child and even if I'm just a stranger, I'll listen."

Soojung's mother looked at Taehyung who gave a faint smile.

The two had gone to the hospital's garden and took a seat on a bench in front of the tiny pond. Soojung's mother deeply inhaled the fresh air and slowly exhaled with a soft smile. 

"I've always wanted to come out and breathe in the morning air with my daughter, Soojung, but it's getting a little harder for her to even get up," her mother said with a forced smile. "There's so much things I haven't done with her and so many things I haven't even said...and she'll be leaving me and my husband soon. I don't know what I should do, I'm not even prepared."

"What kind of conditioning is she suffering from?" Taehyung asked, looking at the ducks swimming gracefully in the pond. 

"She suffers from a heart condition," her mother replied. "For a child to have heart problems really is unbelievable, especially when it's your own child."

"I bet," Taehyung said. Mrs. Park nodded and it was silent. "Your daughter, Soojung...what's she like?"

Mrs. Park smiled a crooked smile. "She's a bright and smart girl; she's always smiling and laughing. Not only that, but she's strong too. She once told me and her father that she'll take care of us when she grows up to be an artist and that we don't have to worry about a thing. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter; if only she didn't have to leave us so quickly...but now she's not herself anymore. She's weak and pale, she won't eat or play; she won't even draw any more of those dandelions. It's like I've already lost her."

Taehyung swallowed hard and looked at Mrs. Park. 

"You haven't lost her yet," he said as she looked at him. "You're just making it seem like you did when she's clearly right in front of you. She may not be herself, but she's still Soojung, she's still your daughter; a daughter who needs her parents the most, especially at a time like this."

Mrs. Park slowly turned away and looked back out to the pond feeling her tears fight to come out. 

"I...I never had parents, I was always alone," Taehyung softly said. "Not only did I not have parents, but I had no one, just an old black cat by my side; he was never around anyways. Considering that I only have two days left, I would want someone who loved me to be with me until the end because no one wants to be alone on such scary days."

Taehyung hung his head low and weakly smiled. 

"Even if Soojung is hurting inside, she's not hurting because of her health conditions but because she's going through this alone," Taehyung said. "If you and your husband are there till the end, then the least you can expect from her is a smile. And trust me, a smile is the most precious feature you can ever see on a child's face."

Mrs. Park then started to cry. "But I don't want to lose such a precious smile. I...I don't want to lose my only child just yet."

"Sometimes fate just doesn't go the way we want it...fate can be really cruel," Taehyung said. 

"But she's my little girl," Mrs. Park cried harder. "I just don't know what I'm going to do without her."

Taehyung swallowed hard and moved closer to Mrs. Park, patting her back to comfort her. 

"I, too, wouldn't know what I'd do," he whispered. "Especially when I'll be the one to take her from your hands. I'm sincerely sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Park."

Once she had said everything she wanted to say and had calmed down, Taehyung started to talk as Mrs. Park listened. 

"This little girl I'm taking care of is also very sick," he started with a heavy heart. "She, too, doesn't have very much time to live and it also pains me to have to watch her suffer so much. And the worst part of it is that I can't do anything about it, just like you."

"Is she your dongsaeng?" Mrs. Park asked as he shook his head. 

"We just happened to meet," he softly smiled. "But sometimes I wished we hadn't met because once she leaves, I'll start to regret everything. This little girl made me feel alive, like I was human. With her I laughed, smiled and felt loved for the first time. Normally, I wouldn't have any of these feelings, but with her I completely changed and now I'm only regretting it because I have no one to laugh with or to smile at once she leaves me. Everything I've learned from her will only go down to waste."

Mrs. Park felt like crying once again just hearing Taehyung speak, but she held it in. He sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky. 

"I know though, that this little girl is going somewhere beautiful, somewhere so much better than this world she would have called home," Taehyung smiled at the sky. "Your daughter Soojung would probably like it too."

"She probably would," Mrs. Park faintly smiled also looking up at the sky. Taehyung brought his gaze back down and stood up, looking down at Mrs. Park with a smile. 

"I have somewhere to go," he said. "It was nice talking to you."

She smiled and nodded. "You too, uh-"

"Taehyung, my name's Kim Taehyung," he said and bowed to her. He started to walk away when he stopped to quickly say something. 

"Let's not try to regret anything and create more memories for her while we can!" he said and walked away soon disappearing from her sight. 

Mrs. Park had waited a few more minutes before heading back up to Soojung's room. Once she entered, she saw Soojung sitting by the tiny desk in the corner with her back faced to her. 

"Soojung?" Mrs. Park said her name as she turned around with a smile. 

"Umma~!" she tried to say in a happy tone, but it wasn't the usual tone she would've said it. "Guess what?"

"What is it, honey?" Mrs. Park asked walking up to her as she lifted up a tiny homemade book. "Oh? What is that?"

"Ahjussi made me a book and secretly put it on the desk when I was sleeping~" Soojung said in the brightest tone she could. Mrs. Park looked at the book as Soojung proudly read it to her mother. 

"Adventures with Park Soojung and annoying cat Jae," Soojung began to read as Mrs. Park smiled at the happier Soojung. "Chapter one, once upon a time there was a little girl who was very sick. She was so sick that she didn't have much time to live, so she was given a friend whom she called ahjussi, but he was supposed to be called oppa in this world...Taehyung oppa-"

"Taehyung?" Mrs. Park whispered as Soojung continued to read. 

"...then on the last day of their journey, Taehyung ahjussi and Miss Soojung had snuck out to the beach for the first and the last time. Soojung was able to see the sunrise with ahjussi just before her time was up. She smiled and thanked ahjussi for being her friend, for laughing with her, for taking care of her and for being with her for the last time. Taehyung didn't want to lose Soojung and so he didn't try to take her life, instead he had gone away with Soojung whether he had gone to Heaven with her or not. As long as Miss Soojung went to Heaven Taehyung ahjussi was happy and had no regrets. The End," Soojung read as Mrs. Park felt a lump in . 

"Soojung-ah-"

"I like ahjussi's story more than mine, umma," Soojung smiled. 

"If it makes you happy then I won't say anything," Mrs. Park said with a smile when she saw something in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw Taehyung, who had vanished into thin air, but she didn't freak out or have any negative reactions. Instead, she could only smile at the empty doorway. "Thank you for filling the gaps we couldn't fill as parents, Taehyung-ssi. I entrust Soojung to you."