They say that time changes people. Arrogance turns to humility. Jessica was one of the many people who was experiencing it right now. She had been the diva of her college. The undisputed queen of beauty. The vivacious lass who had captured the hearts of many guys in college only to trample it seconds later. She was known as the "merciless ice princess" but she had eyes only for the charming Siwon. Things were going good. Her facade had managed to con Siwon in days but deep down she felt an uneasy tug. The guilt of having to play with the feelings of someone who was so pure and true to her. But she couldnt take it anymore. The feeling was asphyxiating. So she had to call it off and go after someone who she thought would make her happy for the rest of her life.

And she couldnt have been more wrong. After moving in with her designer boyfriend, she had thought her career and her life were consolidated. But she felt her picture perfect world crumbling down into smithereens at once when she accidentally bumped into one of her fiancé’s ual escapades at a social gathering. When confronted, he was quick to snap at her telling her that she had been just a fling for him and nothing more. With nothing else left to do, she had called off the relationship and the engagement subsequently. Visibly shattered beyond belief, she had been reminded of something similar that she had done to someone who had sincerely loved her years ago. Not even the kind and consoling words of her parents and friends were able to cheer her up. She brooded over the fact that her suffering is probably the result of that terrible deed done in the past. She went into an emotional breakdown and felt guilty for having mercilessly played with someone else’s feelings. In an attempt to seek relief, she had resorted to alcoholism and drugs that further worsened her health.

And so as a last ditch attempt, she wanted to set everything right again. She wanted to seek forgiveness from the one person she had hurt the most emotionally. She felt as if it was the right thing to do and it seemed to her as if even God was with her in this mission when she had met Donghae in the International Fashion Show organised in Busan. He had been sent by his agency to cover the entire event for their magazine.

And as she saw Donghae settling down on one of the tables at the gala, she immediately stood up and strode towards him sitting across from him as he fiddled with his camera.

“Its been a long time, hasn’t it Donghae?” she began.

Lifting his head up and bearing a nonchalant look, he was met with the gorgeously familiar face back from his college days. He was shocked to see Jessica smiling warmly at him. She was almost angelic. Words failed to form in his mouth as he was seeing a much humbled, gaunt looking and an emotional drained out woman in the place of the vivacious bombshell.

“Je..Jess…Jessica Jung!” He stuttered while she threw a melancholic look.

“Its so good to know that you still remember me, for whatever reasons that you may see fit” she said and lowered her head in guilt and Donghae caught on to what she was trying to imply.

Propping his elbows up, he supported them on the table as he leaned a bit forward to listen to what she had to say.

“However you don’t know how much I am dying every single day thinking about how cruel I’ve been to Siwon. He was so good and kind and understanding towards me. And I just had to trample over his feelings like they didn’t matter at all. I didn’t deserve him in the first place. To be honest, I don’t deserve anyone’s love” She sobbed helplessly putting Donghae in a fix.

“*sigh* Calm down Jessica. Please don’t cry. Everyone’s watching!” Donghae pleaded but that only brought out more tears.

Aish! Girls! Thank god I am gay!

Excusing himself, he stood up dragging an emotionally distraught Jessica out into the garden. He made her sit on a bench, offered her a bottle of water to drink after she calmed down and sat down beside her as she hesitantly began narrating her sob story.

“I may not ever forgive you for playing with Siwon’s feelings. But I cant help but feel sorry for you. I hope you can cope with this soon and move on for the better.” As much as Donghae resented being in the very presence of a like her, he half-heartedly sympathised with her.

 I hate to say this but serves you right, !

He stood up in hopes of getting away from her but was suddenly stopped when Jessica held onto his sleeve.

“I know that you hate me. And you probably think that I deserve this. In fact I do and I admit that. But please Donghae! Please hear me out. I want your help!” she sobbed loudly.

Sighing heavily, he faced her again and asked “You need my help? Why?”

“Because I wanna set things right…….before I die!” she said as Donghae’s eyes went wide with shock.

“What…What do you mean?” he asked.

“I am diagnosed with acute Liver Cirrhosis. My days are numbered Donghae. And I don’t want to die bearing this guilt. I want to see him again. I want to see Siwon again and ask for forgiveness.” Jessica said.

Dear lord….what have I gotten myself into?

“What do you want me to do?” he asked composing himself.

She lifted her head and gazed longingly into his brown eyes with her tear-laden ones and asked “Please take me to Siwon. I want to see him again. Please I beg you.”

Donghae felt like he had been stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side was his best buddy who has only just started to recuperate from a heart break and on another side was his dying ex-girlfriend who was pleading for forgiveness.

“Jessica..I..I don’t….I don’t think you should see him ever again! Siwon has had it rough and life’s only just looking up for him. Seeing you again will only make matters worse. He’s moved on with much difficulty.” Donghae said.

“I just want to have a private talk with him. That’s all. I am not trying to make a pass on him again.” She said.

“Please Donghae! I beg you…please take me to him!” she reiterated and Donghae felt his resilience breaking with the way she was relentlessly requesting him.

“Alright fine! I am doing this because for some crazy reason, I trust you this time.” He said

Beaming with happiness, Jessica stood up and hugged him as she expressed her gratitude repeatedly.

~~~~~~

“And this is what happened….in Busan.” Donghae sighed as he finished narrating his meeting with Jessica.

He eyed a bewildered Siwon who was practically searching for words to speak. He could sense the turmoil that his best friend was going through at this very moment. In all his life, Siwon had never imagined Jessica to be inflicted with such a life threatening illness. And more over, he had thought that his chapter with her had been given a permanent closure once she had broken up with him. But here she was, again trying to enter into his life just so she could apologise.

Siwon didn’t know what to do. Whether to see her and comfort her in her difficult times or just carry on with his life that had given him renewed hope.

“Say something Siwon. Don’t just stay silent.” Donghae requested as Siwon stood up and walked a few steps forward.

“I can’t do it. I can’t see her again! I won’t see her again!” Siwon said.

“I know that its difficult. But it’s her last wish. She is dying and I think she should be given a fair chance. Atleast she is feeling guilty.” Donghae said.

“But Dongh..” As Siwon began, Donghae approached him and placed an arm on his shoulder.

“Everything will be alright! Just get things over with once and for all.” he said.

Everything will be alright huh? Everything was alright till she came back. I can’t think straight now.

But his best friend’s words started to leave an impact on him the more he thought about it. Even after getting home, he didn’t have the appetite albeit the dinner smelled delicious as usual. He made up an excuse that he had eaten outside and that he had wanted to go to sleep since he was exhausted. He couldn’t sleep that night as the thought of coming face to face with the ghost of his past haunted him.

Tossing and turning on his bed, he stretched over to the bedside table taking his phone in his hands. Thinking and rethinking about what he was about to do, he quickly typed and sent a message to her. He placed his phone back on the table and switched off his table lamp.

Meet me tomorrow at the same café at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, Hankyung was fawning over Kyuhyun like a mother hen after the latter returned home rather heavily drenched in rain.

“Seonsangnim I am fine. It’s just water.” Kyuhyun reasoned although he knew that his attempts to calm down his raging teacher were futile. Hankyung immediately went into his room to grab a few dry towels.

He shivered slightly at the coldness that seeped through his wet clothes. However, he cursed inwardly as the shiver persisted making his chest muscles to spasm incessantly for a quick few seconds that led to a short bout of cough. His immediate reflex was to make sure that his mentor hadn’t quite heard him cough noticeably. To his good fortune, Hankyung had been entertaining someone over the phone.

Whew! I thought I was a goner….But what is this?? Why am I coughing?

It didn’t seem like he had caught a cold. So he wasn’t quite sure about the reason behind his difficulty. After hanging up, Hankyung came rushing in with the towels to pat dry Kyuhyun’s hair and face. He forcefully made his student sit down on his bed and grabbed his head rather tightly that Kyuhyun squealed in discomfort.

“Ah….Seonsangnim! Stop pulling my hair” he whined meekly as Hankyung furiously rubbed the soft towel to dry his hair.

“This is your punishment for staying out late….in this heavy downpour. God knows what would have happened if Donghae hadn’t accompanied you.” His teacher said.

“But…” As Kyuhyun began reasoning he was silenced by the stare that his teacher was giving him at the moment.

“No buts….I am not in the mood to listen to your excuses. Haven’t I told you to return home the moment the clouds begin to gather? Do you like getting me paranoid like this?” By the time Hankyung had asked this, the angry look had started to dissipate and a pleading look began taking its place and Kyuhyun hated being so burdensome to the one person who mattered the most to him, aside from Siwon of course!

He opened his mouth to say something, at least to apologise but closed it immediately as soon as his lungs collapsed for an instant before becoming normal again. He gasped momentarily but thanked his stars as Hankyung was facing away from him at that very moment. And then it hit him. His eyes went down to take a look at his injured and bandaged foot as he realised that his teacher would probably send him back to his hometown or would probably disown him as his student if this news ever broke out. He dragged his foot backwards and hid it behind the bed covers that were hanging down.

“Get yourself warm. Go and take a nice steaming bath. Change into your house wear and meet me down at the dinner table.” Hankyung said with a worried expression that didn’t go unnoticed by his protégé. Instead of saying anything, he nodded as his mentor exited his room. Not wanting to waste time, he quickly shrugged off his heavily wet clothes and stepped into the bathroom for a hot shower.

He let the hot water soothe the swollen ankle as he relaxed back into the tub, all the while thinking about his health. He recalled how he had been gasping for air back in the rink earlier this evening. He let out a strained sigh before glancing up at the ceiling of the bathroom.

What is happening to me? Why…..Why do I feel so weak? I’ve been taking my medication regularly these days….Then why…..

And there it was again. Incessant bouts of cough wracked his body mercilessly. His vision glazed over until he could faintly see the outline of the faucet at the far end of the tub. He clutched his mouth with his hand as he coughed till his eyes became bloodshot and tears poured down into a continuous stream over his pale cheeks. He tried getting air into his lungs as fast he could but it appeared as though his organ was stubbornly refusing to oblige. His chest hurt terribly. He firmly clutched the white porcelain rim of the tub with his hand to steady himself and after what seemed like an eternity, his breathing normalised. It was then that he was able to see clearly for himself just how sick he was in reality.

As soon as he had removed his hand that was clutching the tub, he was met with a rather shocking and a disturbing sight. To his horror, he saw a stark red smear of his blood on the surface of the tub that he had clutched a few seconds ago. Reflexes kicking in fast, he hastily shuffled out of the water even ignoring the shooting pain in his ankle and stared at himself into the mirror. Sadly mirrors don’t ever lie and he dreaded that fact as he saw the same smear of red blood that coated his lips and the insides of his mouth. He panicked. He felt scared. He didn’t know what to do as he stood still in the bathroom hunched over the sink while a million thoughts passed by in his tormented mind. Splashing water over and over on his face, he desperately tried to ease his hysteric mind

Suddenly he scrambled to wash away the blood stain on the tub and thoroughly washed his mouth to get rid of evidence. Changing into a simple white tee and a rather lengthy pair of track pants to hide his bandaged ankle, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before proceeding downstairs for dinner.

What should I do? Should I tell seonsangnim or not?

No...Maybe its just a minor infection and it'll go away if I take my medicine regularly!

Making his way to his seat, he sat down as his teacher smiled warmly before asking him " Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

Shaking his head gently from side to side, Kyuhyun smiled back and said "Nothing. Whats for dinner? I am starving". Sadly little does his mentor know whats really been troubling him.

~~~~~~

The wait till 7:00 p.m was ought to be nerve-wracking for Siwon. He just knew that he wouldnt be able to concentrate properly on his job today. Not having slept properly the night before, he yawned for the umpteenth time before heading downstairs for breakfast. His mom passed a worried look at her son before asking " Whats the matter Siwon-ah? Are you not feeling well?"

"*yawn* No mom. I am fine. I have to go early to the office today." he said as he made way towards the front door and put on his shoes.

"But...atleast have some breakfast before you leave!" his mom suggested.

"No I really have to leave now. I promise that I wont starve myself and will have something from the cafeteria later, alright?" he assured her before hugging her real quick and dashing out.

The sooner I go to work, the sooner I'll finish it before 7....

On the way to office, he received a message from Donghae saying " Are you gonna go see her this evening?"

Scoffing in response, Siwon quickly typed a reply " Ya. At 7. Same place as yesterday."

Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, he alighted from the bus once he reached his destination. Work was monotonous as usual. Despite the obvious bore, he tried hard to immerse himself in it just to pass away the time till 7 and mostly because he wanted to keep his mind off of Jessica and her hidden intentions. Unlike her usual way of doing things, she seemed to be undeniably headstrong about a reconciliation with him according to Donghae. If everything was what Donghae had claimed to be and if she had been really and truly remorseful for everything she had done to him then it didnt seem to be bad idea forgiving her and giving this whole "digging up dirt" chapter a permanent closure.

Hey guys! Missed me? I know I have! I've missed u all n this story of mine that had received so much love n support from all of u.

Some of u have even posted to me about resuming my writing n here I am officially updating this story. I cant guarantee a periodic update but I can assure you it'll be within 2 or 3 weeks max....So please anticipate.

As per this update, the story is taking a major turn with Kyu suffering from a possible relapse!!? And Jessica trying to gain sympathy votes from Siwon...

Tell me what you think of this update. Do comment n upvote! I seriously hope U guys still remember this fic n would continue to give the same attention n love to it as before!