There is a boy in room 404, who has white hair and pale skin that blends with it. The doctors say that he’s strong, and that they have faith in him, and that they hope he survives another year.

And there is a girl with dark hair and dull eyes, who is always with him. She prays and wishes to believe in everything the doctors say.

Time flies from their grasp like grains of sand within their palms. Time flies even if they’re struggling and dragging the days on. And time brings them to chilly November.

She remembers her birthday; October 24th. She remembers spending the whole day with Sehun. She remembers him telling her that she looked worn out, and that she hadn’t looked like her at all in the past few weeks. And she remembers not telling Sehun that he looked worse; because the doctors still have hope and had brainwashed Sehun into thinking the same.

But to her hope is a delusion. Because Sehun now no longer has ash-white hair. It’s his natural hair now because the white had grown out and got cut off. His hair is also shorter. He doesn’t look like Sehun anymore.

She remembers cakes and candles and gifts but vivid is the image of Sehun smiling bright at her. She remembers Sehun’s hands on her waist, their hands clasped, his eyes on hers as they slow danced in Room 404 late in the night, because Soojung doesn’t remember their first dance together and Sehun simply can not accept that fact.

Lately, Sehun wants her to remember a lot of things.

And she remembers talking with Sehun that night. About old diaries and Sehun promising to give her more memories. And she remembers Sehun permitting her to ask him just one question she had been dying to know the answer to. She remembers his pursed lips and nervous eyes upon hearing her request.

“Tell me more about who I was, and who we were. I want to know.”

She remembers, also, the smile on Sehun’s face after his brief silence.

“You were that new kid with long, dark hair with bright eyes and a contagious smile, who spoke in thick accented Korean, who scrunched her face up when offered traditional food. You were treated like , but you were strong.

I was that boy who got lost in the library. I was that boy you consoled. I was that boy you tried to save. I was that boy who got you in trouble most of the time. I was the one who got you in so deep you lost yourself.”

And she remembers Sehun refusing to