By the time the mother arrived back at the hospital that same day, she saw her daughter’s eyes had opened once more. The daughter was still lying on the bed, but she was staring blankly at the view outside the window. Mrs. Kim had requested Sunny to wait outside the room for a few minutes even though she knew the woman was in deep worry, dying to see Taeyeon.

“Dear, you are awake already” Mrs. Kim ran to the bed immediately.

“Eomma” It made Taeyeon turn her attention to her and smile weakly. “I’m sorry”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Sorry because I passed out. Sorry for not taking care of my body well and made you scared”

“You don’t have to be sorry for that” She caressed Taeyeon’s head. “How are you feeling now?”

“I still feel exhausted, but my head’s okay” The young woman touched her own forehead then. “And my temperature seems to be lowering, too”

“That’s so good to hear” Mrs. Kim, once again holding her girl’s hand tightly, cleared . “Honey, actually, Sunny-ssi is waiting outside to meet you”

Taeyeon’s mouth slightly opened and she jolted right away. “She knows!?”

Mrs. Kim nodded. “I told her. I thought it would be good for you if she comes. Honey, listen to mom”

Still thinking of what to do, Taeyeon looked at her mom nevertheless.

“Listen to your heart and follow what your heart says. I know you are worried about everything, especially your dad. But you know that sometimes even parents don’t always know what is best for you. You know yourself the best. You know what you and your little one need right now. So let her see you, Taeyeon”

Taeyeon stared deeply at the woman who had given birth to her and bite her lips. “Is appa here?”

“No, he isn’t. That’s why I could bring Sunny-ssi here”

Instead of answering, the daughter went silent and once again gazed at the view outside the window to give herself a thought. Not bothered to wait for Taeyeon’s agreement, Mrs. Kim stood up again.

“I will go outside now”

Taeyeon’s eyes moved to the direction of where her mom was stepping. She knew in a matter of minutes, through that door Sunny would enter and they would be in one room, just the two of them. She counted the days then and lost track of how long it had been since they talked heart to heart.  

She heard the creak of the door after that, making her heart pound faster and her body tense. She tried not to look at first, but the realization of the other woman not saying anything after a few seconds of entering made her turn. Their eyes met and by then she realized how much Sunny had missed her and how she had missed her, too.

“Hey” Sunny began.

“Hey” That’s all she could reply.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better” Taeyeon held her breath for a moment. “How about you?”

“Me?” To her surprise, Sunny showed her a painful grin upon the question. “I’m never fine without you”

Not sure of what to respond, Taeyeon’s eyes met her hands.

“So…” Sunny sat on the chair. “How did you end up here?”

The woman on the bed moved her eyes. How did she end up here, indeed? Wasn’t it because she kept thinking of the woman on the chair and missed her too much that she forgot to take care of herself?

“I… I was too tired”

“Is the little one fine, too?”

“He’s fine. The doctor didn’t tell me there’s anything wrong with him” Talking about children, Taeyeon suddenly noticed an absence. “Where’s Hara?”

“Ah, Hyomin was discharged from the hospital so she took Hara back home with her”

“So you’re alone at home now?”

Sunny took a second to look at Taeyeon, and realized that the latter was doing the same. Forcing a smile, Sunny moved her head up and down. “Yeah, you can say so”

Taeyeon bite her lips again when she spotted that forlorn look on Sunny’s face. Her dad was not there, she thought, she could use this chance to actually say how much she missed this woman in front of her. Touching her cheek once after a while wouldn’t hurt, she mentally encouraged herself. She was about to move her arm when the sound of the door was heard again.

“Pardon me for interrupting, but Ms. Kim has to get her meal now and take her medicine” A nurse with thick make-ups appeared.

“O-Oh, sorry…” Sunny instinctively stood up.

Letting the nurse put all the meals on the table, the other two women in the room stayed in their own solitude. It took around 10 minutes for the meals to be completely prepared and for the IV tube to be renewed.

“It’s done. Ms. Kim, do you need any help to eat the meal?” The nurse gave a warm smile to the sick woman.

“No, I’m fine. I can eat by –“

“I will help her” Sunny cut her off.

“Okay, then I will leave now. If you need any help, just press the emergency button, Ms. Kim” The nurse said, while her hands busy writing a note on her report book, before once again leaving Taeyeon and Sunny alone inside.

“Let’s eat your meal first” Sunny put herself back on the same chair.

“You don’t need to help me. I can eat it by myself” Taeyeon reached her arm to grab the meal pot – which seemed to contain a ginseng soup – only to drag it back due to the hot food.

Sunny giggled a bit at her. “I can help you cool it off”

She then carefully moved the food tray from the table to her own lap and mixed the soup before bringing a spoonful of it near to her lips. After blowing it with air from , she slowly moved the spoon to Taeyeon, who was looking at the food solemnly like a child losing her appetite. 

“I can do it myself” She firmly stated.

“Taeyeon” This time, Sunny fixed a serious gaze at her. “You remember the first time you came to my house? That first morning, I did the exactly same thing – feeding you. Why can’t we at least go back to that day? I understand if you don’t want me… if you don’t want us anymore. But why can’t you at least let me do this as a friend?”

Taeyeon knew when Sunny stared at her like that sooner or later she would lose the battle. So Taeyeon hesitantly accepted the food, opening and letting the warm soup inside. While was chewing the food, her eyes were still fixed at the woman who was now focused on cooling off the next spoonful. It took her a long time to finish the full pot, but the whole time of Sunny feeding her was pure joy for her.

Sunny helped her take the medicine as well, even though she actually didn’t want to take the pill because she knew it would draw her into drowsiness and she would fall asleep eventually. It meant losing her time with Sunny, losing the chance she could get while her father was away. However, to think about it, it might be the opportunity to stop herself from being greedy and from dragging Sunny into another problem. With those thoughts contemplating in her brain, her eyes gradually closed themselves and her mind brought her to the dream land.

Thirty minutes had passed, and not even in a second did Sunny want to go away from the room. She felt so full just by watching Taeyeon’s sleeping face, knowing that she was right beside her to keep her safe and sound. However, the growl on her stomach said otherwise; it reminded her that she hadn’t got any food since the morning before she took Hara to Hyomin. She gave one last look to the woman she loved and fixed her blanket. Smiling in satisfaction, she walked out and closed the door as silently as possible.

“What are you doing here?”

The bass, heavy voice shocked her right after the click sound of the door was heard. She turned around to find the man she recognized as Taeyeon’s father, with the boy she recalled as Baekhyun right next to him.

“I- I…” Sunny could notice the trail of fear in her own voice, but she realized she got to be strong. “I just visited your daughter, Mr. Kim”

“Let me mind you that you’re nothing with her now, not even friends” Mr. Kim kept his face cold and expressionless.

“Even if I am nothing to her now” Sunny hung her head low. “I just want to see her. It is okay if I cannot be with her. It is okay if she gets married to anyone else. But I just want to be here. I just want to see her safe. I want nothing but her happiness”

Expecting the woman to run scared and hopeless, Mr. Kim was stunned instead by her answers, to the point where he could not even say anything.

“You can pretend I am not here, Mr. Kim, but I still want to be here. As long as I can see Taeyeon until I am sure she is back to full health, I will be here”

“I don’t care. Do what you want to do” Letting out a short breath, Mr. Kim passed by her coldly with the young boy tailing him from behind.

* * *

When Taeyeon opened her eyes once more, she could tell immediately from the darkness behind the curtain that it was night already. She blinked several more times to gain complete consciousness from her long sleep. A sound from somewhere next to her awoke her more. With a little struggle she managed to turn her head to the right side of her where she could find her father. That old man was flipping through a newspaper.

“Appa” She greeted in her tired voice.

The image of Sunny as the last person before she fell asleep came back to her, but obviously she could not ask about it unless it had been her mother who was in the room right now.

“You’re awake” Mr. Kim folded his newspaper and tossed it to the table. “Baekhyun-ssi is here too to see you”

Taeyeon closed her eyes, trying to hold back her disappointment. She was not in the mood to meet that boy right now.

“I will call him for you” He stood up and stepped out of the room. When he opened the door, though, the mentioned boy was nowhere to be found. Feeling confused, Mr. Kim browsed all across the room and instead of finding Baekhyun he found Sunny falling asleep on the waiting room’s bench.

The woman’s head was crooked to the left and was opened, letting out light snores. Her arms were folded and her short legs were hanging above the floor. Exhaustion was clearly seen all over her face; that was the first time the master of the Kim family softened his heart. It was the first time in his life he felt like a part of his decision was wrong, for he had never felt he had taken a wrong decision his whole life before and he had always judged himself as the right one. Nevertheless, due to his pride, the only thing he did was clearing his throat and leaving the woman alone.

“What is bothering you?” His wife walked in from the waiting room’s entrance.

“Did you meet Baekhyun-ssi?”

“Baekhyun-ssi?” Pretending to be clueless, Mrs. Kim tilted her head a bit. “I don’t even know he was here. No, I didn’t meet him”

“Where’s that boy when we need him the most” Mr. Kim sighed, scratching his head.

The wife smirked as she remembered a few hours ago she had asked Baekhyun to leave the hospital, using her husband’s name to make the boy believe and leave. “Why do we need him, by the way?”

“I have a meeting in Paris next morning and I have to leave soon” The husband answered.

“I can be here to take care of Taeyeon”

“No, you need to rest. I will call Baekhyun-ssi to come back here” He took out his phone from his blazer’s pocket.

Spotting Sunny falling asleep on the corner of the room, Mrs. Kim smiled. “Why don’t we ask Sunny-ssi’s help?”

“Are you kidding me?” Mr. Kim raised his voice, although it did not make his wife change her mind.

Before Mrs. Kim made an effort to plead to her husband, she saw Sunny waking up and slowly walking toward them.

“I can stay here to take care of Taeyeon” She said; the tone of her voice was firm.

“Stay out of our business” The old man gave her a glare.

“Mr. Kim, please” Sunny made a few more steps. “I promise I won’t touch your daughter. I won’t talk to Taeyeon unless she needs something. I won’t try to persuade her to get back together with me or anything like that. I just want to take care of her, nothing more than that. Please, let me stay”

“Yeobo, Sunny-ssi only means well” Mrs. Kim continued, rubbing the man’s arms. “It’s only for a night. If Baekhyun really cares about our daughter he would have stayed but he is gone. There’s no one else we could ask help for”

Mr. Kim inserted his hands into his pocket, tapping his foot on the floor. He rubbed his chin back and forth as he tried to make a decision.

“I will let you stay tonight as a reward for taking good care of our daughter before” He finally stated without bothering to look at the other two women. “But keep in mind that this doesn’t mean anything for your relationship with her”

Sunny let out a relieved breath. She bowed to the man who granted her request even though the man was walking away from her.

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Kim. Thank you”

Mrs. Kim walked along her husband to the exit gate, but after a few steps she secretly took a glance at Sunny. The younger woman was still waiting until they were completely gone. When their gazes met, she threw a victorious wink at Sunny and was replied by a sincere, happy smile. Convinced that the parents had been out of reach then, Sunny walked back to Taeyeon’s room door.

She opened the door and waited a little bit before daring herself to look at Taeyeon again. The other girl was now looking at the TV even though it seemed like she did not what she was watching. Not wanting to shock her, Sunny knocked the wall to gain her attention.

“You’re still here?” Taeyeon widened her eyes.

“Yes, I am”

“Why?”

“Because… I want to stay here”

“God, Sunny. You have to go home” Taeyeon said in panic. “My father’s here”

“I just met your father. He let me stay for the night”

Hearing the information, Taeyeon froze. “He did?”

“Yeah” Sunny forced a smile. “Thanks to your mom’s help, too, I think”

“A- Ah… I see”

“So… If you need anything, just tell me. I will be here”

“Wait” This time, Taeyeon really looked at her. “Did you mean to tell me, you’re really staying the whole night?”

“Yes. Why?”

“The whole night, as in until tomorrow morning?” The slightly taller woman widened her eyes.

“Yes, err… You don’t like it?”

“N- No, I mean… There’s no bed here, Sunny. How are you going to sleep?”

Sunny shrugged her shoulders. “I am used to sleeping on the chair. I can just lean my head on the table”

“God, Sunny, no. You will get sick that way” Taeyeon began searching for the emergency button. “I will call the nurse to bring you an extra bed”

“Hey, hey” Sunny let out a short laugh, her heart getting warm by the fact that the other woman was still thinking of her. “No need for that. I am strong enough to not get sick, and if my body really aches I will sleep on the bench outside. How does that sound?”

“But…”

“There’s no but. Your father especially let me stay here just for tonight to take care of you. Just let me, will ya?”

Still worried, Taeyeon watched with uneasy look as Sunny grabbed the same chair she used earlier in the evening. By the time Sunny looked back at her, for the nth time that day their eyes met and she had to look away to avoid the gaze again.

“I- I am getting sleepy again, though” Taeyeon muttered. “The side-effect of the medicine is still lingering, I guess”

“It’s fine, go to sleep” Sunny smiled at her. “I will be here if you need something”

“O- Okay…” Taeyeon laid herself on the bed and tucked her body inside the blanket with Sunny’s help.

“Good night, Taeyeon-ah” Sunny whispered.

“…Good night” She replied. She tried closing her eyes despite the fact that her heart was still yearning for Sunny’s words and touches. Not a long time after, she could hear Sunny turning off the lamps and she secretly opened her eyes as darkness surrounded them. opened and she wanted to call her again. She wanted to talk to her and hear her voice again and feel her hands in her own.

Sunny sighed as she came back to her previous seat, wishing she could talk to Taeyeon heart to heart right at that moment. She wished she could tell Taeyeon how much she still wanted them to be together. She turned her head and saw Taeyeon’s closed eyes.

Taeyeon's health came first for now, Sunny thought as she closed her own eyes; hoping she could meet the other woman in the dream and talk to her.