The sunset was red behind the clouds, and there was still 20 minutes until the blue hour. The bright city lights and most were returning home to end their day. For others, this was just the start. 

In Mi Ran's case, the day has yet to end for her. Although the girl was physically tired, her eyes still had a sparkle in them. 

"Tired?" asked Dongho.

Mi Ran drowsily shook her head as she leaned against the car window. 

He chuckled, patting her head as they drove out of the campus. "You made it," he stated with a proud smile.

A small smile found its way onto her face. It had been an exhausting day, but that's as much as she'll admit. She felt foolish thinking about how much she had worried. University life was a bit hard on her physical being except it wasn't anything that she couldn't handle. It had been useless fretting over blending in—the girl stood out regardless. 

Mi Ran was beautiful appearance-wise, if you ignored her fragile physical state. She looked foreign yet not at the same time; that alone would intrigue just about anyone. Her features were of favor to the general public so of course she would stand out. 

But standing out was both good and bad, depending on the situation. 

In Mi Ran's case, she stood out because of her beautiful appearance. She stood out because she was rumored to be the Shin Dongho's significant other. She stood out because she was a genius, according to all of Dongho's professors. 

During lunch time, students flocked to the cafe on campus just to catch a glimpse of this new visitor. They were all curious about her. As much as Mi Ran wasn't used to the attention, she handled it undeniably well. She answered whatever questions were asked of her and slowly, the social butterfly in her unfolded. The students who wanted to befriend her had bought her a birthday cake and she had looked so happy because to her, it felt like a real birthday party.

Dongho was pleased albeit possessive at the same time. He saw how the males looked at her and least to say, something in him was ready to snap. Mi Ran had been his special friend, but who was he to stop her from living her dreams? The most he could do for her was to let her experience living normally, like socializing and making friends in a public setting.

Mi Ran didn't have to worry about not understanding anything during the lectures either. Every professor would specifically call on her for difficult questions, except they were of no difficulty to her—as expected from someone under the legendary Shin Junho.

She was far from being uneducated despite living in the hospital. There was a private teacher that would come by to tutor her and she was taking classes online to get her high school diploma. She couldn't let her illness hinder her from everything. Of course, reading gave her more knowledge than any tutor or class ever could. The pages binded behind every cover were endless possibilities, which is exactly why her room resembles a library.

It was a no-brainer that Mi Ran would be drained considering how much she did today compared to how much she does usually.

But knowing her, there was no way that she would return to the hospital on her first day outside of its premises in years, right away.

As a result, the two were currently headed to the arcade after Mi Ran had heard about it from the other boys and insisted that it was a crucial part of Dongho's and Mi Ran's friendship for her to see it. She had also pulled the puppy eyes on him—how could he resist? 

It was a short drive and Dongho felt bad about having to wake her up, but he did so anyways. 

"Hey," he gently called as he shook her shoulders, "we're here." He unbuckled his seatbelt so that he could lean closer to her. He opened his mouth to call her once again but his breath hitched in his throat before he could form words. Her smooth, pale skin illuminated beneath the blinking lights of the arcade. Her eyelashes were unbelievably long and one had to admit that she had the cutest petite nose. Her lips were pursed into a small pout and he just wanted to—

"No!" he mentally yelled at himself.

With a sigh, he shook Mi Ran's shoulders with a little more force. "Mi Ran-ah, we're here," he announced.

She finally stirred, a small whimper escaping from her lips. She opened one eye and upon realizing that they had stopped, opened the other. She looked around through squinted eyes and rubbed at them with her knuckles.

Dongho almost exploded because of her cuteness.

Mi Ran groaned as she took her seatbelt off and stretched. She sighed in satisfaction before turning to Dongho, flashing him a bright grin. 

Dongho cracked a smile, ruffling her hair out of habit. He got out of the car and went over to the passenger door, opening it up and holding his hand out for her to hold. "Let's go?"

She gladly took his hand as she stepped out of the car. She craned her neck to look up at the two-story building in awe. It didn't look fancy or anything. Rather, it looked rundown and ratchet with its crumbling bricks and broken lights. 

Despite that, Dongho introduced it with a proud smile. "Welcome to our home."

She beamed in excitement as she held onto his arm, letting him lead her inside. 

It was dimly lit in the arcade area but she didn't mind. Unlike its exterior, the inside was in pristine condition, including the games. As they passed through, she reached out her hand to run them across the surface of some of the arcade games. The bright lights emitting from the games hurt her eyes, but she found them interesting. It all felt so lively, although they were the only ones on the floor.

When they reached the back, the stairs that headed upstairs were located behind a door.

Mi Ran was surprised to find that the top floor resembled that of a condo. It did feel like home, and she was glad that she had so fervently begged to come here.

The first room that greets you from the stairs was the living room where 2/3 of the boys were currently at. Kevin, Eli, Soohyun, and Kiseop greeted her in perfect unison before returning their full attention to the show on the TV. 

She stiffled her laughter when she saw miss A appear on the screen. Dongho would sometimes fawn over Suzy and she found it amusing.

Boys will be boys, right?

They turned left to head to the kitchen in which AJ was busy cooking—ramen. 

He turned to look behind his shoulder and grinned when he saw Mi Ran. "Hey, kiddos. I hope you ate already, Mi Ran. I don't think your doctor would allow you to eat ramen, right?" he joked. 

Mi Ran's bell-like laugh echoed throughout the house, spreading its happiness all over the place. "I'm sure ramen will be better than hospital food," she played along.

AJ smirked. "And this is why I like you," he said with a wink before turning back around to continue cooking his noodles.

After the little exchange with AJ, they went towards the rooms. 

"Hoon is probably in his room or something," Dongho told Mi Ran just in case she was curious. 

Dongho's room was all the way at the end of the hallway. 

Mi Ran could immediately tell whether it was the right or the left one. The large "KEEP OUT" sign sort of gave it away, but she didn't say anything. 

"Guess which one is mine!" he enthusiastically suggested.

She pretended to think about it before putting in an effort to by edging towards the wrong side but ultimately decided not to and opened up the door to the right. 

"You know me so well," he sighed.

Mi Ran sarcastically rolled her eyes at him. "I only chose yours because it didn't have a huge mirror hanging on it. We all know that that one belongs to Kiseop."

Dongho pouted. "Better than pure luck, I guess," he sighed in disappointment.

She chuckled as she observed Dongho's room. It was simple and clean; not too big and not too small. Nothing stood out too much—besides maybe the geeky gaming corner where his desk was placed. His room just screamed, "Dongho," and she liked how well it reflected the type of person he is. She didn't know what she expected his room to be like, but what she saw wasn't far from the image in her head. 

She turned to look at the boy who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's nothing much, but it's a nice atmosphere," Dongho shrugged. 

Mi Ran [slowly] made her way over to his bed, which looked very fluffy and inviting. Smiling, she touched the bed and yawned. It looked so much more comfortable than the hospital bed and she just wanted to—

Unknowingly, Mi Ran had sat down with a yawn and immediately zonked out. She unconsciously fell back onto the bed until she was properly lying down, curling up into a fetal sleeping position as she snuggled against the bed.

Dongho shook his head with an amused smile. He walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, reaching out to fix the hairs falling over her face. His smile softened the longer he looked at her. He rested his hand on top of her head, subconsciously patting it as if lulling her into a deeper slumber. "Good night, princess," he whispered, bending down and placing a soft kiss on her forehead. 

When he turned around, he saw Hoon standing by the opened door. 

The two stood in silence, staring at each other intensely. 

"Do you like her?" asked Hoon, breaking the ice first.

Dongho looked over his shoulder before turning to face his hyung again.

"No," he finally answered, "I love her." 

The older male was stunned by the words that came out of his mouth, but nodded nonetheless. "Love is a dangerous thing," warned Hoon, "but we're here for you, if you ever need anything."

Dongho smiled gratefully. "I don't think I have anything to fear. I won't regret anything," he told Hoon. 

Hoon looked at Dongho, then at Mi Ran's sleeping figure. "I bet," he agreed, turning around to exit the room. "She's special, quite alright." 

Dongho's eyes lingered on the door for a few moments before he walked over to the lights. His heart swelled up and his lips immediately curled upwards every time his eyes laid on Mi Ran. With his realization, he felt lighter. Although he was aware of all of the risks that came with it, he was ready to face them head on. Where this sudden courage came from, it was actually very simple. 

She was worth it.

Mi Ran was worth it, simple as that. 

He would do anything for Mi Ran at that point. He had fallen too deep, and there was no turning back. 

He was madly in love, and for the first time in forever, he didn't feel alone anymore.

«»«»«»

Right before visiting hours ended, Dongho carried a sleeping Mi Ran back to her room. He gently placed her on the bed before tucking her in. He gave her another kiss on the forehead and smiled. He would never get tired of that. 

"Happy Birthday, love," he softly whispered in her ear. 

The nurse came in to check up on Mi Ran but he held up the palm of his hand before gesturing for her to walk back outside as he did also. 

He carefully closed the door before turning to the nurse again. "She's fast asleep and she already took all of her medications. There were moments throughout the day where she had exerted too much energy and looked like she was going to pass out, but she was strong. There's nothing to worry about," he updated. 

Nurse Ahn chuckled while shaking her head. "Thank you for looking after her," she expressed her gratitude. 

"The pleasure is mine," he bowed. 

The nurse patted his shoulder before walking off to finish her rounds of the day. 

Just as he was about to leave, his uncle called out to him. He became silent, not even looking at his uncle straight in the eye. 

"Would you like to go home together?" Dr.Shin asked with high hopes.

Dongho scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Why are you trying to be chummy all of a sudden?"

"I know—I know that I've been a bad uncle. I know that I always leave you alone, and I'm sorry about that. I'm just so thankful that you've put in so much effort to help Mi Ran. The things you do, I would never be able to do for her, but you do them so easily. I'll try harder to be there for you, like how you are towards Mi Ran," his uncle promised. 

Dongho turned around with his back facing his uncle. "I'll be waiting in the car," he muttered before stalking off without saying anything else.

Junho grinned, quickly finishing up whatever he was doing before timing out. 

Althought the drive home was in complete silence, Dr.Shin didn't mind at all. It was the first time he ever came home with his nephew. Or rather, the first time he was ever home at the same time with him. 

He was going to make changes, whatever he can do to make it up to Dongho in return for helping him out. 

Junho had noticed Dongho slightly smiling whenever a love song came on on the radio, and he found himself smiling also. He knew more than anyone else how dangerous it is to fall in love with Mi Ran because he was her attending physician, but who was he to stop Dongho? This was the least he could do for his nephew. He was determined to find a way to cure Mi Ran—he had to. For the sake of the both of them, he set his mind to it. 

"Did you eat dinner yet?" Dr.Shin asked as they got home. 

Dongho muttered, "Mi Ran and I ate out before going to the arcade. I bought her a cake also." 

Junho nodded, not knowing how else to continue the conversation.

"I have classes tomorrow morning; I'm going to bed now," Dongho announced. 

He started up the stairs but paused. "Good night," he managed to say before dashing up the stairs.

Dr.Shin beamed, watching his nephew's figure disappear around the corner. "Good night, Dongho!" he hollered so that he could hear.

A good evening, indeed.

«»«»«»

A/N:

hehehe
how many months has it been?
oops
well,
i'm on my summer vacation now!
sorry guys ;^;
i'll update a lot more i promise!
in case you guys haven't read this yet
here's my full and organized fanaccount
from meeting teen top ;^;
(x)

on another note,
happy birthday to my love,
shin dongho.
thank you for everything for these past 7 years.
there's less than half an hour left of your birthday in korea
but i hope you spent it well.
i hope you're healthy, and most importantly, happy.
there's not a day where i go without thinking about you.
i hope you're doing well, and always be happy.
i love you, shin dongho.
happy 20th birthday;

"However many years a man may live,
let him enjoy them all."

-Ecclesiastes 11:8