"Let me take you home." I say.

"What's with the rush, Juhyun-ah?" He asks and grabs my wrist.

I shiver.  

I look at him sharply. "Shinhye unnis called me just now, you know she won't be calling at this kind of hour if it isn't urgent."

"I'm okay." He answers. "I've never been this strong for days."

"You ran." I cut.

He ignores my eyes. "It's not like I want to be a black sheep." He says exasperatedly. "I just want to hear your answers to my questions." His smile was ghostly. "I wrote them all, and you answered them well, Seohyun ssi." 

"You didn't have to." I plea. "You shouldn't have. Look at you. You look like, like... --"

"Dying?" He finishes. He went way too far this time. "I'm not."

"No one says you will." 

"Stop looking at me with those eyes, Juhyun-ah," he straightens. "Seatbelt, I'll drive to our dorm."

-- 

"How could someone look so cold and so pale?" I tell him as I lay him on his bed, tucking him under the sheets. 

"What are you doing, Juhyun-ah?" He asks stubbornly. "I'm not a kid am I?"

"Oppa, you're still our Yong choding." I smile at him, sitting on the chair beside.

He smiles back and for a moment I saw the Yong choding that I knew, the Yonghwa whose smile's so contagious, whose atmosphere is as warm as the sun. 

"Earth to Seohyun." He snaps his fingers and pressed his hand to mine. It feels warmer. "How come you look so near yet you feel so far?"

I squeezed his hand, giving him reassurance that I won't leave him this time. "How long have you been like this? How long will this take?" 

"A month. But my doctor said I look better than before." He explains.

"I just don't get why you didn't tell me. You know you could always text me and all."

He sighs. "Ischemia." 

It was one word that hit me. "How did you come to this?" 

"Tss. Don't act like you don't know, Juhyun-ah." His Busan accent starts to surface. "W. O. R. K. Work." He shakes his head. "Look at you, tell me the last time you had an 8-hour sleep." I was silent. "See?" He wiggles his eyebrows. "And now when you could have at least a sleep of 6 hours, here you are, exhausting yourself in taking care of a 26-year old." He turns to his side, facing me. "Sorry, Juhyun-ah."

"Oppa." 

"I know, I know. You can't blame me if I blame myself for having you here." His voice is sad and guilty.

--

3 am.

We were chatting for almost an hour and a half instead of resting. 

Our schedules can wait, but this? Our time together? It can't. Oppa had said.

"Yah, Hyun-ie, come here," he gestures me to lean close. "We have a secret." 

"Aigoo. Choding." I complain but I lean anyway. 

"Closer." He demands. And I did. Before I knew it, he had his arms around me, pulling me down. He buries his face on my shoulder, muffling his voice. "Dongmak beach. August 29. 7:00 pm."

His embrace was firm and tight, giving me security. "That's our secret?" When I spoke, I felt him release the tension in his shoulders. He nods. "Would you be okay by then?"

"I'll do everything. I won't miss a single medication meeting." He says.

"Promise?"

"Promise."