I wasn’t sure how many times I had run towards this vexing hospital, but I didn’t think I could run any faster. They told me it was only five minutes away by cab. But I’d known how to maneuver across alleys to get me to the place in three. I supposed I was becoming impossibly efficient when I was panic-stricken - especially with matters involving Sojin.

I bustled conspicuously inside. Two nurses stared at me as I demanded a rasped, “Yang Sojin” with a light slam on the counter. Maybe it wasn’t as light as I had imagined but they got my hint anyway and immediately gave me the room number.

Eleven-oh-four. Of course she had to be that high.

I dashed towards the elevator, punched in the floor number and waited as the pulley took me higher and higher from the ground. I told myself I was getting nearer to Sojin with each elevated floor - just for some comfort. It barely worked.

I attempted to dial Sojin’s phone during my ascent, but the elevator’s confinement apparently disrupted the connection. Heck. I had no choice but to endure the agonized wait.

Five thousand, nine hundred, eighty-seven hours later, the bell finally dinged, followed by metallic panels sliding open. I didn’t wait for them to fully open. As soon as I estimated my body to fit into the crevice, I slithered out. To my right were rooms twenty-one and above, as indicated by the red plate plastered across the upper wall. To my left were rooms twenty and below, where Sojin’s room was. I ran.

I watched with horror as the room numbers decreased. Eighteen, seventeen, sixteen - what had happened to her? Did the clincher cause her a mental breakdown? But that seemed very unlikely. Ah, but what exactly did I know about her inner struggles? Twelve, eleven, ten - did this have anything to do with her disabled leg? Was she really going to be in crutches forever? Did it impair her success in the clincher? Eight, seven, six - how was I going to face her after what I had just discovered? This was probably why she had told me half her story the previous night; because attending the CHSC hearing might tell me much about her history, and well, it did. The devastating whole of it. Four –

I was here.

I was standing before her room and yet I couldn’t bring myself to enter. I couldn’t bring myself to face her, the girl I loved but the same girl I had caused heaps of misfortunes.

When I reached for the knob, it suddenly twisted from the other side. A woman in white clothing appeared behind the door and smiled at me.

“Are we visiting for Miss Sojin?”

“Yes.” Since when did Sojin employ the need of a personal maid? Had her disability gone that extreme?

“Well, you’re only too late, young boy. She’s not here anymore.”

“What?”

“Technically, she’s never even been here, silly me.” The woman laughed. “Her brother got a room thinking Miss Sojin had to be admitted -”

“Where is she?”

“In the doctor’s clinic, I suppose -"

“Where?”

“In a hurry, I can see,” she pursed her lips. “In the east wing, boy. And be careful!” she hollered from behind as I had already flown towards the opposite end of the floor.

The east wing, apparently, only housed rooms twenty-one to thirty. The rest of the space were allocated for doctors’ clinics. Some were glass-covered, which easily apprised me if Sojin was there or not. For enclosed clinics, I had to knock and personally ask assistants if a certain Yang Sojin was inside. I had no luck thus far.

Not for long. Two people speaking with each other by the lounge of a large clinic were all I needed to know where Sojin was: her father and mother.

The clinic was glass-enclosed but I suspected there was still an inner compartment as I couldn’t see Sojin anywhere. When I was about to enter, the two of them went further inside and finally disappeared behind white curtains. Was Sojin there?

My heart drumming against my ribs, I slipped inside and followed course. I could be hailed the most intrusive human of the decade with my actions, but I didn’t care.

“Luhan?”

My foot caught upon the lip of uneven tile when I recognized the voice, no matter its muffled state. I whipped around. And there she was, in another smaller glass compartment, sitting atop a mattress, a hand to her chest, as if to signify her surprise with my presence.

Sojin’s penetrating eyes narrowed. Her head tilted to one side. Her brows knit, then rose. Giving up trying to explain my presence, she said, “What are you doing here?” Her tone was still muffled behind the glass.

I could not speak. I only stared at her, assessing with a haywire brain her well-being. She didn’t appear ill to me. Besides the cast wrapped around her right leg, there seemed to be nothing wrong with her. Ah, but with Sojin, there was always so much more going on beneath the tranquil surface.

Still unable to speak or move, I saw her hop off the mattress and - I finally snapped free of my trance and leapt towards the glass door before she could move further. I slid inside, Sojin backtracking a few steps with my advance.

Ignoring her heightened shock, I closed our distance and gathered her in my arms. So many thoughts had been running inside my head that I finally gave up trying to entertain any. I only needed to know one thing at the moment; if she was all right, and it seemed to me that she was.

Sojin was unmoving beneath my embrace. “Luhan?”

“Y-yes?” What the - my voice was breaking. I cleared my throat. And then I repeated more firmly. “Yes?”

“Wait, are you crying?”

“No. What is it?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sojin, I’m sure.” Her stubbornness was making me feel so much better, because the more stubborn she was, the better it spelled for her condition.

“Okay, can I tell you something?”

“Of course you can.” I sighed. I didn’t realize what a relief it was to find myself within the arms of this girl - even when she was barely hugging me back. It didn’t matter. I propped my chin upon the crown of her head. “What is it?”

“I..” I felt my hold of her tighten and slacken as her lungs inflated and deflated. “I mean we..” She heaved another lungful. “I, uh, we, uh, won the IAC..? Um, uh... yehey?”

How simply the words left that I nearly overlooked the gravity of her news. But then again, as I had said, it didn’t matter anymore. So I echoed, “We did?”

Sojin finally squirmed free of my embrace. She stared at me the way she always had for the past few awesome years since we’d met: calculating and probing. Her gaze did not falter as she said, “You don’t exactly sound happy.”

“Says the one who delivered the news in the most unenthusiastic manner.” I took her hands. She continued to stare, and I knew better than to just drop the matter. “All right.” My disquietude over her expulsion lifted a little with the IAC diversion. “Let’s just say I was already expecting this outcome.” I shrugged.

She scoffed. “You’re insane. And I’m not flattered.”

“You should tell that to all the other schools who believed you would have broken our school’s record of defending the title had you remained in the metropolitan high school.”

Her jaws slackened; her grip loosened.

“Really, Sojin. With you representing us in the clincher, everybody seemed to dismiss the idea that the IAC was still even a competition.”

She stretched her silence. I could tell she was disbelieving still, but I could also sense that she had moved on to entertain other thoughts. “That’s not why you’re here, though, is it?” she said. “Just to tell me everyone was already expecting me to win?”

Always right on target. I cleared my throat. “No.”

“Okay.” Her face was evenly free of any expression. “Lemme guess, you’re here because you finally understand why I hated you.”

My stomach churned. She knew. She always did. Why did she always have to beat me into telling her?

Moving on to other important matters, I asked, “Do you still hate me?” It was a foolish question, because whether or not she still abhorred me held no weight in my affections for her. Still, I had to ask. If only so I would know how best to make amends.

“No,” she answered, frowning. “Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” She sighed, looking elsewhere. “Hate is such a strong word to coin a feeling; and while I’m certain I still feel very strongly towards you, I’m not sure if it’s hate anymore.”

My jaws gaped. That was probably.. the most subtle confession I had ever heard in my entire life.

But why? I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t like it - in fact, the earth could devour me any moment and I’d gladly welcome it - but, after all that I’d done?

“Sojin, I’m so sorry.” This apology was long overdue but still. “I didn’t know. It was.. unforgivable. I don’t know how..” I dropped her hands to press my forehead. “My apology will never be enough but still, I’m so sorry. I truly am.”

Her head docked. “To be honest, I don’t understand what you’re so sorry for, Luhan.” She still refused to face me but this time, she initiated to capture my hands. “Think about it, if I hadn’t been expelled, I wouldn’t have ventured out to another school; wouldn’t have gone through all these adventures.”

How dry her humor was to see her misfortunes as adventures. Not from my perspective, though. “You wouldn’t have been wrongfully shamed.”

“I wouldn’t have met such great friends.”

“You wouldn’t have tainted your scholastic records.” I finally pinned my eyes on her.

She returned the gaze. “I wouldn’t have met you.”

That silenced me. And hitched my breath. And toyed with my heart rate.

“Luhan, you’re such an airhead, you know that?”

But I was hardly worth the torment she had undergone. I strived to contain my merry spirits from exploding in pure bliss. “Why, Sojin?”

“What?” She pouted, discomfort in her eyes. “Why are you an airhead?”

“No, why are you being like this?”

“I’m only being as honest as I can.”

Of course. “Why did you never tell me then?”

“I don’t know,” she g