The days passed by peacefully.

The town seemed to bustle with quiet noise.

It seemed like any other day.

But not for Minseok.

He knew that even though he came home, things weren't fixed.

He may himself be on the path on understanding and helping himself, but he knew that there was someone who was still stuck.

And he was not going to leave her behind.

Not when she was the one who pushed him forward.

It was his turn to do so.

A small smile flitted across his lips.

He never expected this.

Having the urge to help someone.

But then again, he never thought he would willingly see people he never thought he would see again.

It was a whirlwind of a experience and it was something he knew he needed.

His thoughts traveled back to Kyungjin.

He frowned slightly.

He knew that even though Kyungjin was a positively happy person, there were times it was a defense mechanism for herself.

She kept herself happy to avoid any dark thoughts she had.

And Minseok wanted her to be happy with herself, without avoiding the things she didn't want to think about.

And he knew that she was not going to be happy.

"No."

Minseok blinked at her, expecting this reaction but also not this way.

He thought Kyungjin would be angry at his suggestion, but not exactly at how she presented it.

He blinked again as if he was trying to make sure he wasn't imagining it.

Kyungjin was straight out pouting.

She had crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks slightly, refusing to look at him. Her eyes trained straight out the window.

"I know you are angry."

"Then why did you even suggest it?"

Minseok blinked. "Because I'm not the only one who needs to move on from the past."

He tilted his head. "But I am confused. You're angry but not completely at my suggestion. It’s more as if you're angry at me. Please explain."

Kyungjin's pout deepened as she whipped her head at him.

"You can hear my thoughts; you should know why."

Minseok stared at her. "Yes, perhaps. But it's something that I think I need to hear for myself. I don't...really understand."

Kyungjin stared back at him and sighed.

"It's because of you."

Minseok didn't move. "Meaning?"

Kyungjin growled and threw her pillow as hard as she could at Minseok. He caught it with ease. "I said it's because of you, you dummy! You want to help me, and yet you didn't let me help you? It's not fair. Leaving me without telling me anything."

"I technically wrote you a letter."

"You think that was enough?" she shouted. "Because of that, I panicked and..." She trailed off, letting the silence speak the rest.

Minseok looked down. He felt the growing dark pit of discomfort in his stomach drop deeper. He never expected Kyungjin to react the way she did. He hated that he did that to her. He never wanted to hurt her. And he couldn't help but to feel like it was his fault.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

A solemn silence filled the room, both not saying a word.

"Well, that was nice."

Minseok looked up in surprise to see Kyungjin letting out a large sigh, her eyes twinkling with slight mischief.

"Aren't you angry?"

"Of course I am! But I get it. Plus, I wanted to see you flustered a little."

"Kyungjin," he said slowly, slightly nervous, slightly confused, and all around relieved.

"It's not my fault that you're always so calm and mature. Why am I the one who's always getting emotional and flailing everywhere?" She grinned. "Serves you right. And now I cross that off my bucket list."

Minseok groaned softly, letting his head fall to his hand. "I cannot believe you played me like that."

"Oh, my dear Minseok. Expect more from where that came from." She chuckled manically. "And then you shall feel my wrath rain upon you! Never shall you have the upper hand. For now, I, Kyungjin, reign supreme!"

She continued to laugh dramatically and Minseok sighed.

A small chuckle escaped his lips. He looked at her, the gnawing feeling in his stomach disappearing.

He was lucky.

To have someone like Kyungjin love him.

He leaned forward, closer to the girl and silenced her with a kiss.

Kyungjin immediately froze, eyes wide from surprise, not expecting such a reaction from Minseok.

He smirked slightly. "You were saying?"

A pink blush filled her cheeks as she cried, "God, I hate you, Minseok!" She whacked her remaining pillow at him playfully.

"You mean you love me, right?" his voice in a teasing tone.

"Unfortunately," she murmured in a pout.

"Ah, that's too bad. Because it's fortunate for me."

Kyungjin gave him an embarrassed look and opened as no sound came out. The blush on her face grew deeper in hue. "Do you want to be hit more?" she shouted, trying to ignore her embarrassment.

Minseok only gave her a gentle smile in response.

"I was planning on telling you eventually. But after you sorted your problems first," she explained.

"But you were hesitant. You considered not even telling me," Minseok retorted softly.

She looked down, smiling sadly. "Yeah, that did cross my mind. You seemed like you were finally accepting yourself. I didn't want to trouble you or make you stop focusing on yourself."

"But," Minseok added.

She let out a curt laugh. "But I realized how much I was still lingering on the past. I thought it was just Sehun that I was avoiding. But he wasn't the true root of everything. No, I didn't realize what it was until you left."

She sighed, "You see, Minseok, I have trouble with people leaving. Or more like abandoning me. When you left, I thought you were doing the same thing even though I knew you weren't. My own abhorrent fears caused me to question everything. And question you."

"Sehun wasn't the first to leave you, was he?" Minseok murmured quietly.

Kyungjin didn't say anything and only clutched the white sheets of the bed tightly.

Minseok noticed and silently slipped his own hand into her, intertwining their fingers. He gave a small squeeze and a nod to let her know that he was there.

She gave him a light smile and continued, a slight quiver in her voice.

She took a deep breath, clearing .

"My... my dad. He was everything to me when I was little. I practically followed him everywhere." She stopped talking, taking another deep breath. Her eyes threatened to water.

Minseok felt a tight squeeze from Kyungjin and nodded for her to continue. "He left us. Just...disappeared. I was probably only nine or ten at the time. I never really understood why he was gone when I was younger, but my mom told me later. We were going through some hard times. My dad used to work in the city, but he lost his job and couldn't find one afterwards. I guess he couldn't handle it anymore. And I don't know, I guess he had to leave."

She paused, her voice slightly breaking. "It really broke us. Me and my mom. More my mom than me though. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. Just staring at the door like he would suddenly open the door and appear."

She took a deep breath, collecting her nerve. "And that's when I decided to do something about it. I didn't know what to do, but I put on a smile and tried to cheer her up. I tried to be positive around my mom, and it started to work. She began to smile too. And I thought, wow, this really works. I thought that if I tried to be happy, then everything would be ok."

"And that's why you view everything in such a positive light?"

She let out a soft laugh. "At first it was to cheer up my mom. But I ended up doing it so much that I started to believe in it as well. But there was a part of me that I forced down. Something that I didn't want to see the light of the day. I just wanted to believe that everything would be ok. That my peaceful days would continue if I continued to be happy."

She looked at Minseok and frowned teasingly. "But then you came and messed everything up."

"Is that so? Then I apologize."

She laughed. "No, I should be the one to thank you instead. Because of you, I ended up facing my own insecurities. It wasn't good for me to continue with this mentality. And I knew I had to when you left. I relied on you too much. So much that I felt like the world fell apart when you left. It's stupid, really. I was the one who made you face your own fears, but I couldn't even do it. I was acting like a hypocrite."

Minseok stared at her and gently took her hand. She turned to look at him.

"But you are now. You telling me all this because you want to face them. Kyungjin, everyone has their own problems." He looked away but turned back. "I realized this when I met with my own past. And whether you face them or not is up to you. We choose to run away because we are scared. But you are not anymore. You're doing this because you want to be stronger. The fact that you are doing this means a tremendous amount."

"Maybe, but I still live in that fear. I still put on a brave face so that no one worries. It's hard, Minseok. Sometimes I want to sleep forever and not think about anything."

She looked away, her face weary from tiredness, from trying too long.

"Kyungjin," Minseok murmured softly.

She glanced at him with tired eyes.

"Kyungjin," he repeated again. "It's fine if you're tired. It's fine if you want to drop your cheerfulness when you feel sad. Because no matter what, I will be here for you. When you're happy. When you're sad. When you want to do everything. When you want do nothing. I will be here right next you. For as long as I live, I will be here for you. I promise I won't leave you."

She turned to look at him face to face and chuckled. "It sounds like you're proposing."

Kyungjin said it as a joke; Minseok knew that. But the moment she said those words, he realized how true it sounded.

He merely smiled at her and Kyungjin froze.

"Wait, Minseok, you don't really mean that..."

He didn't say anything and smiled a little bit wider.

Kyungjin turned bright red and pulled her hand out of Minseok's gentle hold.

She opened to say something, anything, but was interrupted.

The door to her hospital room burst open and Dr. Soo appeared, seemingly out of breath.

"Kyungjin," he gasped.

"Doctor?" she questioned with a tilt of her forehead.

He took a deep breath and lifted his head to look at her. His eyes were shining and had wide smile on his face.

"We found one, Kyungjin."

"Found what?" she asked back, still in confusion.

"A donor," he explained. "We found a match."

"Really?" Kyungjin exclaimed.

He nodded excitedly, but paused. "I know it's a risky procedure, especially for an unrelated donor, but I think you have a good chance. I'll tell your mother and think about if you want to go through with it." He looked at Kyungjin, then at Minseok, and then back to Kyungjin.

"Whatever choice you make; I will be there for you. Think about it and let me know as soon as possible."

He nodded and closed the door behind them.

Minseok turned to look at Kyungjin who was staring blankly with wide eyes.

"Kyungjin," he whispered softly.

"Minseok," she murmured, her eyes now full of worry. "What should I do? I... It’s so hard to find a donor. But a bone marrow transplant is risky. Especially for an unrelated donor. I'm young, so I have a better chance, but..." she trailed off.

"But there is a still a chance that you might not make it or that there will complications afterwards," Minseok finished in a quiet voice.

She nodded slowly and closed her eyes.

"Kyungjin," he said slowly.

She opened her eyes.

He smiled. "No matter what you decide, I'll be there for you."

She blinked once and a small tired smile formed on her lips.

"Thank you, Minseok."

She chuckled and leaned over, tenderly leaving a soft warm kiss on his cheek.

"Really, thank you."

A/N: Nearing the end. I predict about two/three more chapters left. Thanks for reading. It means a lot!