Kyuhyun was beginning to get frustrated and increasingly irritated at his problem. Just when everything had begun falling into place, his illness had had to relapse. He remembered as if it had happened only yesterday. He reminisced his ordeal as a 10 year old when he was wheeled into emergency care, his distraught parents crying and clutching the hands of the doctor whom they considered as the only hope to save their only precious son. He was diagnosed with primary complex as a child due to which his immunity was severely compromised. And as he was being treated for that, one after another, things got complicated and out of hand.

As a frail child, Kyuhyun had spent most of his childhood indoors. He was envious of the neighbourhood kids as they played and had fun out in the streets as he wallowed in self pity. He was mostly rebellious demanding that he be given freedom to go out and play but his parents had never complied. The only time they had allowed him to have the time of his life was during a family tour where they had gone to a kid’s park and that too under their constant surveillance. They were equally guilty for putting their only son through so much in such a young age but tried to put up a façade as if they were being strict on purpose. They couldn’t discuss about his condition out in the open to him and expect him to understand it either. Due to this, Kyuhyun had been mostly rebellious in his childhood, always disrespecting his parents. That was until……..everything took a turn for the worst.

He had trouble breathing early in the morning the next day and he was barely able to make a sound. He felt strangulated as his breathing became laboured and his voice reduced to a helpless whimper. He coughed and heaved till he was sure he couldn’t go any further. Immediately he was rushed to the hospital where the doctors found it difficult to stabilize his vitals. His parents had prayed to every known God that existed to save their son and it wasn’t until a meticulous 3 hour medical procedure that their prayers were finally answered and Kyuhyun was saved from the obvious. The doctor who had tended to him and stabilized him had never seen a case quite like this one where no matter what they had ventured into, Kyuhyun continued to slip away from their grasp. He had even turned blue because of lack of oxygen in his system. At one point, they had lost all hope to revive him. But then there was still the last resort. And they were taking a gamble. Not having the heart to let a cute little kid die of something this deadly, they went for it.

They injected Adrenalin through his intra-venous drip and prayed that it work as soon as possible. And to theirs and Kyuhyun’s good fortune, it did. His parents felt like they were forever in the doctor’s debt for not giving up on their son. From that day onwards, Kyuhyun evolved into a mature and a much understanding individual. From that day onwards, he knew just how precious his life was, not only to him, but to those who love him.

And now it was happening to him again. But the thing was, he just couldn’t understand why it had to relapse when he had given utmost importance to his health. Maybe it was due to the change of weather, maybe due to some food that didn’t agree well with him or maybe it was bound to happen sooner or later. He knew he had to find answers before it was too late. And for that he needed to make a stop at Seoul National Hospital before heading back home later in the evening. The most important thing being that his mentor never find out about it until he himself was sure about it.

Meanwhile, at Seoul National Hospital, it was an entirely different story. Jessica was weeping hard over the phone as the nurses tried their best to calm her down. She was talking to her mother who was devastated after knowing about her breakup with her designer boyfriend. She had not wished to break this news to her parents but they came to know of it eventually when they had called up Pierre just for the sake of courtesy. And he had spat straight at their faces without any speck of remorse that he had indeed broken up with their daughter. Following this they had tried her phone several times but it remained mostly unavailable. Slowly days turned to months but there was still no news of Jessica. They didn’t know where she was, how she was doing and what she was doing. They came to know of her return to Seoul through her closest college friend and that she had been undergoing treatment in Seoul National Hospital for Cirrhosis of the Liver.

And the very first thing they did was book two train tickets to Seoul. They had acquired her contact number that was currently in use through her friend and contacted her right away saying that they were on their way to see her.

Her parents finally made it and were immediately taken to her room. And the sight broke their hearts. Jessica was smiling like an angel with unfallen tears in her eyes as her right arm was poked with an IV. With overwhelming emotions, both came forward and hugged their daughter as they were relieved to finally be able to see her and saddened over her present state.

“Where were you all this while? What were you doing? Why didn’t you…..” her mother unleashed a torrent of questions but couldn’t continue as she choked.

“Mama….please. Please don’t cry. I am here now.” she tried her best to calm her mother down who looked like she would go hysterical any minute now.

“Sweetheart, what’s all this about? The least that you could’ve done was to come back home….to us” her dad pleaded.

She faintly shook her head and said “I am sorry Papa. I am a miserable human being. I tried hard to refine myself but couldn’t. I am a failure as a daughter!” Her eyes soon filled with tears again and they began making wet streaks down her pale and ashen cheeks. Their moment was soon interrupted when Jessica’s doctor knocked at the door and made his way inside for her routine check-up. Quickly she dried her tears and straightened herself while their parents made way for him to stand close to her bed.

“Good evening Ms.Jung. And how are you feeling today?” he asked and smiled warmly.

“I am *sniff* fine doctor.” She managed a reply.

“I don’t mean to be rude but can your parents both wait outside till we’re finished with the examination?” he asked as Jessica silently nodded at them to wait outside the room. They obliged and let him continue. He checked for her vitals and readjusted her dosages of medicines.

“I know that it’s a difficult phase that you’re going through but please do reconsider the options that I gave you earlier, alright!” the doctor reminded her. He had indeed suggested a few of the famous doctors who were his colleagues who were now working abroad in some of the most state of the art hospitals that had solutions to almost all diseases and disorders known to mankind.

“But doctor I…”

“No buts Ms. Jung. I just cant see you go from bad to worse and if there’s even the slightest chance for you to survive then I want you to seize this opportunity before its too late. You wouldn’t want to see your parents devastated, would you?” There was logic behind his concern but Jessica wasn’t sure if she was worth it all. To be honest, after everything came tumbling down she had lost all hope to live this miserable life any longer.

“*sigh* I suppose I’ll try and give it a shot.” She said exasperatedly. The doctor was pleased and smiled triumphantly at her reply.

“Good. That’s like a good girl! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.” he said and headed outside where he was quickly engaged by her parents. And as they enquired about their daughter’s health, they noticed a young boy with a pale complexion and beautiful features who was apparently in search of someone, approach them. Soon as both headed back inside, Jessica’s doctor was quick to notice him and called out “Kyuhyun-ah! What are you doing here?”

“Umm. Good evening doctor. Is Dr. Hyun Soo available today? If he is, then I would like for a consultation.” He said in a low voice that would have clearly roused suspicion. The doctor eyed him sceptically since he seemed to be somewhat sick and worn out.

“Why don’t you go and wait inside while I go and call him?” he said and walked away. Kyuhyun carefully made his way inside and noticed that one of the beds already had an occupant. A sickly woman who seemed to be in her late 20’s looked at him and smiled warmly. Not wanting to seem rude, he returned it with a dazzling smile of his own as he proceeded to take the neighbouring bed and sat down. He coughed a couple of times and that raised concern in the young woman’s eyes. Both her parents were by her side and occasionally exchanged worried glances and Kyuhyun wondered if one day he would also have to face a similar situation. Because from the looks of their gaunt expressions, one would easily assume that the person concerned was suffering from something grave and life threatening.

He gently set his bag aside and sighed heavily. A fresh bloom of perspiration appeared on his forehead as he heaved and coughed again, this time straining a bit more than earlier.

“Are you alright?” the woman asked in worry. He couldn’t form coherent sentences as he continued gasping for air. He removed the handkerchief that he had used to cover his mouth and found red spots dotted on it against the stark white surface.

Jeez…Why would I be visiting a hospital if I am alright?

Of course he didn’t mean to sound rude to her as he simply nodded his head. Her mother offered him a glass of water which he accepted. She seemed to be a nice lady as she gently Kyuhyun’s back to ease his breathing and calm him down.

“Thank you” he said meekly. By the time Dr. Hyun Soo arrived he was only barely back to normal. The doctor then pulled the curtain as it now separated the two patients from one another.

“Whats wrong Kyuhyun-ah? You don’t seem well…..at all!” the doctor said out of concern.

“I….I don’t know whats wrong! I feel suffocated. My lungs are starving for air. And all this coughing…”

“Well why don’t you just relax against the bed. Lie down while I perform some tests. Is that ok?” the doctor asked as Kyuhyun nodded. He had briefly gone away to fetch his equipment and in that short duration of time Kyuhyun had managed to know what the name of the woman was who was lying on the bed on the other side of the curtain was.

“Do you need anything else Jessica-ssi?” her nurse had asked.

“No. Nothing.” Came the short reply.

Jessica??? That’s the name of Siwon’s ex lover isn’t it? Could she be……

No. That’s too farfetched!

He didn’t know what it was that made him feel restless as he fiddled with his thumb. Very soon the doctor came back accompanied by a nurse who was seen carrying an assortment of instruments in a steel tray. And as he began checking his breathing through the stethoscope, Kyuhyun could hear Jessica telling her parents that literally knocked the wind out of him for a short time.

“Siwon said he’s coming to see me now!” she said in a pleased tone. His immediate reflex was to bolt straight up from the bed, go over to her and ask if it was Choi Siwon she was referring to.

Is she talking about Siwon? Siwon, who?

Its not my Siwon she’s talking about right? Its only a coincidence……

His breathing quickened. His pulse started to race. The doctor became anxious and said “You need to relax Kyuhyun-ah. No need to feel anxious. I am just going to poke you so that we can run a thorough test on your blood and see whats really wrong with you, alright?”

“Al..Alright!” he gulped and relaxed back thinking about Thomas, college, prelims, Olympics…..just anything that would distract him from that nagging feeling at that time. Suddenly he heard the door creaking open. A visitor.

“Hey …its been long. Siwon!” he heard Jessica say out loud.

And the voice that replied to her was no mistake. Kyuhyun wouldn’t mistake the voice among anything in this world.

“Hey, you said you wanted to see me.”

It was Siwon. Choi Siwon, the handsome clerk with whom he had shared wonderful moments until now, with whom he thought he had an amazing connection, that which couldn’t be explained, whom he had come to love with utmost sincerity. And the next thing he felt was the painful sting of the needle that plunged into his vein.

Ahoy! mates. Long time huh....Well here I am with the part 2 of the chapter. Hope you like it. Dont know if its a long enough update but dont worry, I'll make a lengthy one next time around. You see, I am quite busy with college and stuffs so its hard to update frequently like I once used to. What will happen to Kyuhyun? Will Siwon and Jessica patch up? Kindly wait till the next update to find out! Also tell me how you liked it so far. Comments are a must guys!