Her hands clutched the armrests tighter while her eyes were squeezed shut. “Faster, Baek!” She demanded before grinning from ear to ear when he picked up the pace. Her hair flew in the air; the ends of the strands tickled his face as they rushed down the corridor.

“You two, stop!”

Baekhyun glanced behind his shoulder and clicked his tongue. “Aish! She’s still chasing us,” he told her. “I think we should really-“

“Faster!” She laughed.

“I’m trying!” He replied while pushing the wheelchair. “Whoops! Sorry!” He apologized to a nurse whom they almost hit but thankfully didn’t.

Baekhyun wanted to chastise this girl so bad for being stubborn and childish, but hearing her laugh like this made him unable to control his own growing smile.

“Stop here!” She told him when they just turned at a corner.

“But the nurse-“

“Ssh.” She looked back at him pressing a finger on his lips; a playful smile grazed her lips. She then stood up from the wheelchair before pulling him by his hand and quickly entered a room two doors down.

Just few seconds later, they heard hurried footsteps. “Huh? Why is the wheelchair left here? Geez! Where did they go?” They heard the nurse said before the hurried steps were heard again; the sound approaching the room they were in.

Baekhyun’s panting breaths momentarily stopped when she scooted closer and hugged him. Without realizing, they both held their breaths. Yet the sound of the steps passed the room and soon got fainter.

Letting out a breath, she chuckled. “I think we lost her.”

Baekhyun sighed in relief and chuckled too. “I guess we did.” He then frowned and lightly pinched her cheek. “But you shouldn’t have run away.”

“Technically, YOU ran.” She grinned before wiping the sweat from his forehead. “My heart isn’t strong enough to do that kind of exercise. I only sat on the wheelchair you know.” She shrugged putting on an innocent face. “And I’ve been through some tests yesterday. Surely they can hold off another test just for a moment.” She pouted.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Still. They need to run the test on you-“ He was cut off with a quick peck on the lips from her. 

Her grin was full blown when she pulled away. “I’ll go through it. Just let me spend time with you peacefully.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room with her. “The nurse might come to check this place and I don’t have much leisure time, so let’s go!”

Baekhyun sighed relenting and gave her a small smile. Despite her cheerful attitude, he knew that she was actually tired of fighting her heart condition. She just needed a little breather.

She took him to the small garden of the hospital and sat down on one of the benches. Baekhyun remembered the first time they met here at the garden. He was fifteen back then when he thought he would die any time soon from his illness. He was crying alone there until this one girl suddenly showed up and sang while dancing in front of him. He learned later that she was fighting a harder battle. Like a magnet, her positive attitude drew him in. Time and laughter forged their friendship. Little did he know that years later he would fall in love with her and have her as his fiancée. 

She sighed with a smile and leaned her head on his shoulder while intertwining their hands. He looked down at their intertwined hands and caressed the ring circling her finger symbolizing that they were one step closer to together forever.

“You sang and danced in front of me like a lunatic back then, remember?” He suddenly snickered. “I was too stunned I forgot I was crying.”

Gasping, she pulled her head away from his shoulder. “I did not!”

“Yes you did!” He retorted and stood up. “You were dancing like this.” He re-enacted how she danced and even tried to copy how she sang.

She frowned at first but laughed soon after. Seeing her laugh, Baekhyun continued doing silly acts. He realized that maybe she wasn’t the only one who needed a breather. He did too. Because truthfully, he was worried. Worried that the transplant surgery wouldn’t work. Worried that he would lose his beacon of light.

She always told him that he’s her light of hope, but she was also that light that shined through his darkened life back then and guided him to fight for life again. If he were to lose her- He didn’t even want to think about it.

.

.

The nurse eventually found them and she complied to follow this time. After she was examined, they came back to her room and lay side by side on her bed despite how small it was.

“Ha! You still can’t beat my score!” She stuck out her tongue.

“Damn it! Why are you so good at this!” Baekhyun complained while his finger tapped the “Try Again” option on the screen. 

She shifted on her side and giggled seeing how focused Baekhyun was on the game. Lying on his back, he had his arms stretched up to hold the phone in front of him. Scooting closer to him, she poked his cheek. “Baek.” She poked his cheek again. “Hey.”

“Hm?” He replied but his eyes were still focused on the screen of his phone, his forehead creased, and his tongue slight poked out of the corner of his lips.

She pouted at his lack of response and scrunched her nose before deciding to duck under his arm, rest her head on his shoulder, and wrap her arm around his torso. Baekhyun continued playing nonetheless while she tilted her head back to look at him. A smile played on her lips. Everything about him just made her want to smile. To fight for life. To live.

“My puppy,” she mumbled poking his cheek again. “So Baek-“ she placed her arm back around his torso “- do you prefer me wearing a short dress or a long dress for the wedding?”

“Long of course!” He replied; eyes on the screen and fingers tapping on the screen. “With long sleeves too if possible.”

“Why?” She slightly frowned.

“Because you are allowed to reveal everything else only to me- aish! I almost missed that!” He cussed at the game.

She felt heat running to her cheeks at his reply. Pursing her lips to hide a growing smile, she cleared . “What about guests? Whom should we invite?”

“I was thinking of inviting only close friends and family.”

“Me too.” She nodded. “What about...” She slowly glanced up at him who was still playing the game. “Kids? How many kids should we have?”

Baekhyun suddenly froze before he lost grip on the phone letting the device smack his face. He instantly yelped.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” She slightly propped herself up to examine his face. She laughed and caressed his nose before resting her hand on his cheek.

Baekhyun chuckled over a grunt. His chuckles gradually died down when he looked up at her laughing self.

God! He just couldn’t get enough of her laughter.

Baekhyun reached up a hand to cup the side of her face. “Will you be ready if I want a lot of kids?” He pursed his lips to hide a growing smirk when he saw her cheeks blush at the question. She cleared before hitting his chest. “What?” He laughed. “You asked how many kids we should have.”

She clicked her tongue and Baekhyun smiled. 

“Actually,” he started again. “Whether we have a lot or none at all, it doesn’t matter to me.” She blinked her beautiful eyes at his statement. Baekhyun thought he could stare at those eyes forever and never got bored of them or the feelings they gave him. “As long as you are there with me,” he finished.

A smile grew on her lips. “I will,” she firmly replied before leaning down to peck his lips.

She pulled away only to look down at him with her brightest smile. Baekhyun smiled along as he pulled her head down again to claim her lips. 

__________

Her parents came half an hour before the surgery with her dad complaining about Baekhyun and her being in one bed since they weren’t married yet. It was her mom who defended them by revealing- much to younger ones amusement and her dad’s embarrassment- that he used to coax her to cuddle in his bed while they were just dating back then. 

The time finally came for the transplant surgery. They escorted her on her bed to the operating room. She held Baekhyun’s hand who walked beside her bed. He was trying to smile, but she knew he was worried. And she couldn’t have that. He was her light of hope. She needed him not to lose his glow. 

She squeezed his hand. “With my new heart, I think I’ll be ready if you want a lot of kids,” she told him in a whisper.

Baekhyun snorted and softly chuckled. /This girl and her jokes!/ She just knew how to make him smile and feel at ease.

“What was that?” Her dad asked with knitted brows from the other side of the bed.

She turned her head toward her dad and smirked. “Nothing, Dad.” She turned to Baekhyun again and winked.

Baekhyun in a shaky breath when they finally came to a stop in front of the operating room’s doors. 

“We’ll be here waiting for you. Okay, honey?” Her mom leaned down to kiss her forehead. 

She nodded and smiled to all of them but frowned at Baekhyun who looked away. “Hey.” She touched his hand making him turn to her. “I’ll be right out in no time! Don’t worry. That’s why you, my lighthouse, should not lose your light!”

Baekhyun smiled at her words. He took a deep breath and straightened up. “I’m not worried. I was actually just counting in my mind how many kids we can afford to have later,” he joked.

Her dad deeply cleared his throat. “Mind your thoughts, Baek.” He clicked his tongue seemingly annoyed while Baekhyun instantly looked frozen and drained of blood.

“Yes, sir!” He gave out a little gesture of salute.

She burst out laughing along with her mom. For that short moment, Baekhyun felt genuinely relieved of his worries. However, the fear of losing her slowly seeped in again when the nurse started to push the bed inside the operating room away from them. From him. 

But when she waved her hand to them with a shout of “see you soon!”, there was a sort of force pushing back his fear and giving way to hope.

He knew she would survive this. She had to. Because she was his light as much as he was to her.