"Someone's all smiley today."

I blinked. "I am?"

My mom snorted and pulled the tray over to my bed. "Have you seen yourself yet? You've been smiling to yourself even before I got here. So, what's got you all excited?" She asked as she pulled out my favorite porridge from a plastic bag. I shrugged and reached out for the container but sadly, she pulled it away. I whined and she gave me a look. "You're hiding something from me."

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed. "I am not. Can I have the porridge please? I'm starving!"

"Not until you tell me what's got you all giddy and bouncy," She argued and I sighed. "Fine. It's because of a boy. Happy?"

She let out a loud gasp and took a seat on the stool by my bed. "Who is he? Is he good looking? How old is he? How did you meet him? Oh my baby has finally fallen in love!" She rambled and my face grew warm. "Mom, keep it down. We're not the only ones in here." I hissed quietly and she gave me a look. "Is that important right now? You, Seo Jinyoung, have found a boy that you like after 17 years! Do you know how happy I am? I was always afraid that you wouldn't be able to experience love before you run out of time but I guess I don't need to anymore! Give me some details on him."

I rolled my eyes and opened the container of porridge, watching the steam rise out of it and taking a whiff of it. I breathed out in happiness and dipped my spoon in it. "Seriously, mom, it's not a big deal. I never even said I liked him. He's just someone who helped me pick up my phone when I dropped it yesterday, that's all." I took a sip of the food and winced at how hot it was.

My mom shook her head and leaned forward. "This is a big deal. My baby is finally growing up." I side eyed her and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jinyoung, ever since you were a kid you always got sick, making it hard for you to go to school and make friends. I knew how you always tried to seem cheery but was actually lonely. Now that you've met someone, make sure you hold on to them tight. I don't want you alone again," She said softly. I put the spoon down and looked at her. "I didn't know you felt that way. I'm sorry, mom." She gave me a small smile and hugged it. "It's not your fault. If anything it's my fault that you got sick."

I pulled away and scowled. "Stop saying that. No one knew that I would get cancer so if you and dad beat yourselves over this, I'm going to run away from the hospital and die somewhere unknown and wait for you to hear about it on the news." She slapped my arm and I winced in pain. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't you dare say things like that or else I won't forgive you. Now hurry and eat before it gets cold," She scolded and I grumbled to myself, taking in big spoonfuls of the food.

I always appreciated my mom coming to the hospital to visit me nearly every day. She knew how I would get lonely (even when I tell her that I'm not) and came all the time. She would bring me my favorite foods and books, tell me funny stories that happened with her friends or with dad. Although she would come all the time, I missed my dad a lot too. He was always business with work, paying the bills for both the home and the hospital. I felt really bad and wanted to be able to help out somehow but they would always smile and tell me that they had it under control.

"Hey mom, how's dad doing?" I asked and she curled my bangs behind my ear. "Your hair is about to eat as well. And he's doing fine, a bit stressed though. He did say that he was going to visit one day. He managed to get a day off and said that he was going to spend the entire day with you, maybe even take you out for a father-daughter date," She replied. My face brightened at her words. "Really? He said he was going to visit? When?"

She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "I promised not to tell. It's going to be a surprise." I sighed and went back to eating. "Okay then." She chuckled and as I ate, tied my hair up. "Seriously, your hair is about to eat its own share of the porridge. We're going for a haircut one day." I nodded and continued to eat, absorbed with how amazing the porridge was.

As we talked and ate (well, I was the only one eating since she had lunch before she came to visit me), the door to the room opened and from my peripheral view, I saw a familiar mop of red hair entering. I visibly stiffened and my mom cocked an eyebrow. "Are you okay? Does it taste weird or something?" I robotically nodded and replied, "Yeah, just peachy."

Not believing me at all, she saw my staring at something and turned around. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew that she was smiling knowingly to herself. She turned back to me and nudged me. "Is he the one?" I awkwardly cleared my throat and turned my attention back to the porridge. She grinned and was about to speak when Mark approached my bed.

He awkwardly stood at the foot of my bed and cleared his throat. "Um, I didn't know you had another visitor. Maybe I should come back la-"

"Oh no no no no, I was just going to leave," My mom said as she grabbed her things. I looked at her with wide eyes and she winked at me. "Well, I'll leave you two kids alone to mingle and whatnot." She giggled to herself and then left the room. I stared at the door and then back to Mark. He gave me a small smile and pointed to the stool. "Mind if I sit?" I shook my head and he took a seat next to me.

He looked at the plastic container on my tray and his face brightened. "Is that the abalone porridge from that restaurant just down the street?" I blinked. "How'd you know?" He held up a plastic bag identical to the one my mom brought in earlier and smiled. "Because I went there to grab some food too. You don't mind if I eat with you, right?" I shook my head and gestured to it. "By all means, go ahead. Wow, this sure is a coincidence."

Mark had a grin on his face as he took out his food. "It really is. Who knew we would share the same favorite food? Well, I'm assuming it's your favorite." I shrugged as I stirred the porridge. "Well, I do like a lot of foods but this is definitely in the top ten."

"Same."

We just sat there and ate. It was really awkward just listening to each other blow the porridge to cool it down and sipping it. From time to time, I would sneak a glance but luckily, he would be too absorbed with his food. It was really weird of me to do but every time he opened his mouth to take a sip, I would look at his pearly white teeth and notice how his canines looked especially sharp. I don't why I kept on staring at them but I found them kind of attractive.

"Is there something on my face?" Mark asked as he caught me staring at him. My eyes widened in shock and I turned away to clear my throat. "No, I was just staring into space." I mentally rolled my eyes at my lame excuse and it seemed like he caught on to it since he chuckled. "I guess I'm that good looking, huh?"

My face burned and I stuttered, "Y-Yeah right. I've seen plenty of guys who are more handsome than you." He didn't say anything and I turned around to see a pout on his face. "Wow, that hurt." His jutted lips made my heart beat faster and I sighed. "Please don't pout. I swear pouts are like my weakness. And I was just totally lying. I've been in here for so long I almost forgot what it's like taking the bus or making friends."

He cocked an eyebrow and threw his garbage in the trash can by my bed. "Really? Because to me, it seems like you're doing a pretty good job with me." I awkwardly scratched the back of my head, forgetting about the ponytail my mom did for me. "T-Thanks. I consider myself pretty awkward since I haven't really made friends with people my age. I'm always around little kids and they're pretty easy to befriend so yeah." He waved the comment away. "Oh come on, you're not awkward at all. Actually, maybe just a little bit, but it's cute. By the way, how old are you?"

He just said my awkwardness is cute. Oh my gosh.

"I'm 19."

He straightened up and looked at me with interest. "Really? I guess that means I'm older than you."

My jaw grew slightly slack at his confession. "No way. You look like you're the same age as me." He laughed. "A lot of people do tell me that I look young for my age. I'm 21. Well, still 20 since my birthday is in September."

"Damn, I was not expecting that. Are you almost done with college?"

He beamed. "Yup, just a little bit more and I'll be free. But then I'm gonna start working on my internships and everything so I won't really have much time to play."

I nodded. "I see. I'm actually jealous of you. I haven't gone to school in years, always stuck in this hospital in case anything happens to me. School must be fun, huh?"

Mark pursed his lips together in thought. "Well, in my opinion, there are times where it's fun and times where it's just pure torture. Especially when it's finals weeks. I pull all nighters just studying my off to pass my tests and it's just extremely exhausting. But there are instances where I've had a whole bunch of fun. Like this one time I went out for a dinner with my friends and I got to see what kind of drunks they are. It was gold, I tell you." I looked at him enviously.

"You're so lucky. What are you majoring in?" I asked.

"Me? I'm in journalism."

My eyebrows rose at his reply. "Really? Because you strike me as the kind of guy who would be a doctor. Particularly because you're Asian." He laughed and I swear, if I was hooked to a heart moniter, he would've been able to hear the fast paced beeps of my heart beats. "A lot of people say that. Even when I was a kid, all the other white kids assumed I would be a doctor because I'm Asian. If you were in college, what would you major in?"

His question caught me offguard and I merely shrugged. "I haven't really thought about that. I mean, I like to do a lot of things but when it comes to my future career, it's just a blank slate. It's most likely because I know that I don't have much time left."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Don't have much time left?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have leukemia and it's a miracle that I've managed to live six years since my diagnosis."

The atmosphere turned tense and he awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked." I waved it off. "Eh, it doesn't matter much. I've lived with the cancer for a while already so telling people is nothing." He pressed his lips together and carefully looked at me. "So, uh, that means you've been in this hospital for six years." I nodded and he let out a low whistle. "Wow, that's amazing. You must be bored all the time." I shook my head. "It's okay. It's fun seeing new kids come in and annoy me. And by annoy me I mean make me play with them and grow attached to them. My mom visits nearly every day too so I don't get bored. But it just really knowing that I can't do the things that I want to before I die."

"What do you want to do?"

Damn it, me and my big mouth. "It's nothing much, really."

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look. "It is most definitely not nothing. Come on, what do you want to do? Maybe I can help."

And there it was.

"I don't really think it's something you can help me with." I said.

Mark frowned. "Well I have to know what it is in order to see if I can be of any help. Come on, I swear I won't laugh if it's embarrassing."

"No."

Lo and behold, there was a pout on his face. A really cute one at that. His bottom lip jutted out and he had this kicked puppy look at on his face and I felt my heart weaken against all the cuteness. I couldn't help it. I had a weakness for puppies and all things cute.

"You're lucky you're cute," I grumbled to myself. He blinked and leaned closer. "What's that you said?" I shook my head. "It's nothing. And do you promise to not laugh? Like promise promise?" He chuckled and nodded his head. "I swear. Now, what is your last dying wish?" My eyebrows scrunched together at his words. "You know, you make it sound like I'm about to die soon. Which in fact could be happening but I just don't know it. And do you seriously promise? Like promise promise promise?"

He rolled his eyes. "I promise. Now tell me!"

I started to feel nervous, scared that I would be sharing my dying wish with a boy I'd only knew for two days.

"I, uh, I want to fall in love before I die," I mumbled as I twiddled my thumbs on my lap. He leaned closer, signalling me to talk louder and I huffed. "I said I want to fall in love before I die."

He stared at me and I pulled my knees up to my chest only to bury my face between them. "Oh god, this is so embarrassing," I muffled through the hospital clothing.

"How long have you been in this hospital again?" He asked suddenly, making me look up at him meekly. "Six years," I answered softly. He hummed in response and nodded. "Well I guess that wish is understandable. If I were in your position, that would be one of my last wishes too. To find my one true love seems romantic, don't you think?"

I stared at him incredulously. "You don't think it's embarrassing to want to fall in love before you die?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sure everyone wants to find the right person to live with for the rest of their lives before they die. Heck, I want to as well but as you can see, I obviously have no accomplished that yet."

A small grin appeared on my face and I bit back a laugh. "Well, you're not alone on that. I haven't even had my first kiss yet. Or first boyfriend. Which makes me feel pathetic when I see six year olds walking around with their boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Guess that adds to your bucket list," He said and I shrugged. "I guess it does. You know, you surprinsingly took this well. I expected some sort of laughter or snort but you accepted it. Why?"

Mark crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back a bit. "To be honest, it wasn't weird at all. Although I was expecting something along the lines of 'I wanna go sky diving', hearing you say that you want to fall in love just showed that you're like everyone else in this word. Everyone is waiting for that right person, their soul mate to show up and I would be worried if you didn't say something like that."

My eyebrows rose up. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You seem like a really nice girl so I'm sure you'll be able to find someone. And even if you don't, as long as you happy, that's enough for me and your parents and all of your friends."

My cheeks grew warm and I looked away shyly. "T-Thanks. I guess you won't be able to help me with this wish, huh?"

He rubbed his nose awkwardly and gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry?"

I softly laughed and shook my head. "It's fine. I never really expected you to be able to help me. But it definitely is nice to have your company."

His face grew a bit pink and he scratched the back of his head. "Gee, that makes me feel embarrassed." I snorted and leaned back against the head of my bed.

"Oh Jinyoung, I have a question," He said suddenly. I nodded and he asked, "Would you mind it if I visited you every day? Well not every day since I have class but when I'm free. Would that be okay with you?"

My heart raced and I shyly nodded. "I think I would really like that," I replied while twiddling with my thumbs. He flashed me an eye blinding smile and I think my mom was right. I am in love.

holy shizzles it has been nearly a month since i updated and i am so sorry for that OTL i had to take my SAT and i had a whole bunch of finals as well so that kept me from updating. HOWEVER, my last day of school is tomorrow and i'll be done! well technically i'll still have to go back for state tests but besides that, i am free from school! woot woot!

i'll try to update again as soon as i can but please keep in mind that i'll be busy trying to update a gazillion of my other stories and doing stuff over the summer to look good for college. i'll try to make time for this story as well as others but no promises so i'm super sorry >.<

hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! let me know what you thought about it in the comments! i'd really appreciate it c: