Here's to those who're constantly chasing something.
I hope one day you catch up,
I hope one day you'll end up being chased.

(Present Day)

'Dahyun ah...'

The voice Dahyun dreaded continuously echoes through her head. She shook her head, hoping to clear her mind as she took a deep breath. Dahyun positioned herself on the track. "On your mark. Get set- Go!" 

A familiar face flashes across her mind as she ran.
'I love you... but...' It continues playing in her head.
She huffed as she sprinted forward.

She still remembered the tears streaming down Nayeon's face that night. Her trembling lips, her shaky hand caressing Dahyun's cheek (she remembered how cold it felt), as they both stood under the streetlights. If not for the occasional sound of the crickets, that night's silence paired with Nayeon crying softly would have been too deafening for Dahyun.  

'Stop,' Dahyun wanted to say.
'Don't say it...' Dahyun wanted to plead.
'Please...' But she found herself to be speechless. 

'I love you but... but I-I... I can't. I just can't do this anymore.'

Dahyun wanted to hug her, to hold her tight and tell her how everything would be fine. Her Nayeon unnie who was always stronger than her. Her Nayeon unnie who had always helped her with her studies, who was always there with her through every race. 

'We can't do this anymore... I'm sorry Dahyun ah.'

Her Nayeon unnie... the only one who believed she could do anything even though everyone told her to give up.

'It's for the best...'

Even when Dahyun's parents had forbid her to run; even when she has anemia her whole life and still can't be fully cured. 

Her Im Nayeon who was her anchor, her light - the love of her life... crying and giving up on herself- on the both of them. 

She didn't want to see it happening.

Dahyun didn't want to hear it. 

'Let's break up.'

Dahyun remembered wanting to scream, to cry, to laugh at how absurd that was.
But she didn't, she couldn't- so she did only what she could. What she did best.
 

She ran. 

Dahyun ran for her life.
With her heart aching and her mind confused.
She ran into the freezing darkness, as fast as her legs could carry her. 

Away from the streetlight. 

Away from Im Nayeon. 

Away from the love of her life. 

RACE YOU TO HER HEART; 
Chapter 1: Chasing Im Nayeon (I)

(A Couple of Years Ago...)

Im Nayeon was just a girl that lived on the otherside of Dahyun's neighborhood.

She was well-mannered, good in her studies and well... generally nice to look at.

Very nice to look at.

Nonetheless, she was just a girl to Dahyun.
Just a stranger Dahyun never noticed.

The first time Dahyun saw Nayeon she felt like dying... 
literally. 

Dahyun had piano lessons that day. It was her first lesson with a new teacher, Mdm Choi, and she was pretty darn late. So with her nagging mother in mind naturally Dahyun started running as quickly as she could towards her piano teacher's house. Dahyun was no doubt blessed with talent for running fast... but unfortunately, Dahyun wasn't suppose to run; not with a condition like hers. You see, Kim Dahyun was diagnosed with Anemia. And to make things worse, Mdm Choi happened to live on a hill. 

Still, Dahyun ran that day to the otherside of her neighbourhood, thinking to herself about how it was okay to do that. This wasn't the first time she ran. She'd be fine as long as she took her medicine in the morning. And she did take her medicine that morning... or did she? She thought she probably did.

At most she'd feel slightly dizzy later on. Feeling light headed was better than leaving a bad first impression and getting scolded right?

Wrong.

Except Kim Dahyun was too foolishly optimistic then. So she went ahead and ran up a hill... until she reached the bottom of a flight of stairs. She blinked, looking up the flight of stairs. Dahyun then looked at the address on the piece of paper in her hand. Then she looked at the stairs again. Yup, Mdm Choi's house was up there alright.

"Geez..." she sighed in disbelief, panting as she started climbing up the steep flight of stairs. "Does Mdm Choi live in the mountains or something?" Dahyun checks her wrist watch. 3.28pm. "Crap...." she muttered. She shrugged, starting to jog up the stairs. "Might as well go up quickly since I already made it this far." She gripped onto the straps of her backpack and took a deep breath.

...

By her 15th step she started to feel a little sick. She turned around, looking down. 

That only made her feel worse. 

"Come on Kim Dahyun you're almost there..." She told herself as she continued walking up. But after a few more steps, her vision started to get blurry. "Oh crap..." she muttered again, hands reaching for the handrails. She held onto the cool metal tightly, thinking about sitting down. But just then her feet decided to sleep on her. 

She inwardly started to panic because she was pretty sure if she fainted now she'd roll down the stairs (and probably die).

She weighed her options.

Since she might pass out anytime, if she lets go of the handrails to use her cellphone to call for help she'll - again - also roll down the stairs and might probably die before anyone even comes to her rescue. She wasn't capable of yelling for help either... and the place seemed deserted anyway. 

Not knowing what to do Dahyun started to mumble a little prayer as she regretted ever running up the hill. She was leaning her head on the handrails, and just as she was about to faint she heard footsteps walking towards her. 

"Excuse me, are you alright?" A gentle voice asked. Dahyun wanted to respond but she couldn't speak.

A hand lands softly on Dahyun's shoulder and Dahyun tried to look up. She sees a girl... or at least she thought she did. "Hey are you oka-" That's when she felt her eyes roll backwards, before everything went pitch black. 

-

Dahyun later wakes up to the smell of antiseptic and a needle in her arm. She slowly blinks her eyes open, adjusting her vision to the bright white ceiling.

"Ah, I'm in the hospital." She notes, knowing the scent of the place all too well. "Wait... why am I here?" Dahyun tried recalling what happened and remembered going to Mdm Choi's house. "Omo I'm late for piano lesson!" She realise all of a sudden as she sat up. Immediately she regrets doing that as her head started spinning.

She glanced to her left and noticed that there were two more empty beds. 'Ah... I'm in a ward... alone... creepy,' she thought to herself.

"Kim Dahyun-ssi," She hears someone call her all of a sudden. Startled, she looks towards the door noticing a nurse walking in. "Kim Dahyun-ssi?"

"Y-yes?" 

"You're awake?" The nurse stated looking at a clipboard. 

Dahyun glanced at her oddly. "Yes i am?"

"How do you feel? Any pain anywhere?" The nurse asked not looking up. 

"No, but my head's a little dizzy," she said. 

"That's quite normal, nothing to worry about." The nurse reassured her. "Next time, please remember to take all your medication before leaving your house."

'Ah, so I didn't take my medicine in the morning...' she inwardly face palmed herself.

"You should avoid all strenuous activities too," the nurse continued.

'Strenuous activities? But all I did was climb some stairs...' Dahyun thought, but she decided to just reply with an "... okay." 

"We have managed to inform your parents and you should be able to leave soon. Is your friend taking you home?" 

"Huh... my friend?" Dahyun asked confused. And that's when she realised that there was someone else in the ward with them. 

On her right, not very far away from the bed she was lying on, a girl was sleeping on a chair. Dahyun stared at the girl with her eyebrows raised. The girl had her head leaning forward, resting on her hand, and her long dark hair covered her face. She also held some sort of biology textbook limply in her lap.

Dahyun was seriously creeped out at first. Since her mind was still hazy, she had thought she had seen a ghost. It didn't help that the girl was wearing a white school uniform.

"Excuse me?" The nurse went to tap on the girl lightly. 

The girl swept her hair back revealing her face and Dahyun heaved a sigh of relief. 'It's okay Dahyun ah,' she told herself, 'she's human. Calm down.' 

The dark haired girl furrowed her eyebrows, rubbing her eyes awake. "Yes, what is it?" She mumbled out.

"Your friend is awake now," the nurse told her. "She may be discharged. Are you seeing her home or are her parents going to come fetch her?"

"Oh I'll wait here with her till her parents get here to fetch her," the girl replied simply.

With that the nurse nodded and left. 

The girl tossed her textbook onto a table, "Hi," she suddenly spoke. Dahyun continued to stare at her not knowing if she should respond... she was still a little creeped out and the girl was a stranger after all.

The girl yawned, running a hand through her hair. "I hope you don't mind that I kinda rummaged through your belongings," she said. "They were asking for your name and stuff in order to register you here so... yeah..." Then she stood up to stretch. Her blouse rode up slightly, revealing milky white skin. Dahyun stared at her, still in a daze. She was pretty convinced that the girl was human then though. Dahyun's eyes unintentionally travelled to the exposed skin above the girl's skirt and she blushed.

The dark haired girl walked over and sat down next to Dahyun. "Hi there," she greeted again with a smile. Once again the confused Dahyun just stared at her. She noticed how the girl had bunny like front teeth. "Kim Dahyun right? I'm Im Nayeon, nice to meet you."

-

Im Nayeon was just a girl living on the other side of Dahyun's neighborhood... and Dahyun started seeing Nayeon a lot after that incident. She found out that Nayeon actually goes to the school opposite her's and wondered why she had never actually seen Nayeon around before. 

Dahyun was on her way home from school when someone started casually walking next to her. She wasn't really bothered by that until the person started moving closer and even started to match her footsteps. 

Finding it rather odd Dahyun decided to stop walking. To her surprise, that person stopped too.

'What the...' she thought to herself. She was prepared to strike the person with the blue plastic file (which contained all her damn homework) she was holding onto if that person happened to be some sort of ert. 

Dahyun turned her head nervously... only to be met with a familiar looking dark haired girl.

"Annyeong Dahyun-ssi," the girl greeted her. 

Dahyun blinked, feeling puzzled. She thought about where she had met this girl before. "Ah," she gasped in realization, "You're the unnie that brought me to the hospital!" What Dahyun had wanted to actually say was really, "Oh bunny teeth ghost unnie!" but that did sound kind of rude wasn't it? So she decided to keep that to herself.

The girl smiled at Dahyun nodding. 

"Oh annyeonghasaeyo Na..." What was her name again? Nayong? Nayoon? Na-

"It's Nayeon," the girl said shaking her head.

"Ah, annyeonghasaeyo Nayeon... sunbaenim!" Dahyun bowed again, smiling. 

"Just Nayeon unnie will do." She corrected Dahyun. "Ah, I pretty much saved your life and you don't even remember my name. I'm hurt you know?" Nayeon sighed with a small frown. 

"Uh I'm sorry..." Dahyun apologized looking at the floor. She truly felt bad. It can't be helped though. After Nayeon's short introduction that day at the hospital, Dahyun remembered falling asleep again. And when she woke up she was somehow already in her dad's truck on their way home. So her entire encounter with Nayeon truly felt like some sort of dream.

"Hehe I'm just kidding! But you better remember me from now on alright?" Nayeon said patting Dahyun on the head.

"Yes, I wi-" Dahyun was going to say. But when she looked up, her eyes were met with a grinning Im Nayeon and all of a sudden she found that she couldn't speak. That was the first time Dahyun took a proper look at her benefactor's face. 

Dahyun realised that Im Nayeon, with her dark long hair, high cheek bones, and pretty eyesmile, was rather beautiful.

That's right... Im Nayeon definitely wasn't a ghost.
She was a human being.

A very good looking human being. 

Who had once saved Dahyun's life.

And has a gentle soothing voice. 

And Dahyun didn't know why exactly but her breath was suddenly caught in . 

"Hey are you okay? You're not going to faint again are you?" Nayeon panicked, hand reaching to touch Dahyun's forehead. "Your face is kinda hot. Did you not take your medicine again?"

And just like that, Im Nayeon was officially tugged into Dahyun's life.

A/N: Greetings everyone :) Oh wow I'm just so surprised that there are people taking interest in this even though all I posted was some lame foreword. How was it though? This first chapter... I hope y'all are not too disappointed/bored by it. I apologize for the depressing intro at the start, but it had to be done... for now. Anyways, thank you so much for even bothering to read this fic! :) Also thank you for the comments (I read them all)! Let's see where we can go with this story yeah?

See you in the next update!:)

~ strangemagnet