She could hear the door opening, along with the thuds of heavy footsteps across the linoleum floor. Through the blurriness, she saw a pair of tan, combat boots at the corner of her eyesight. As her eyes slowly glanced up, the image before her sharpened, and his concerned eyes appeared. Most of his face was covered by the hygiene mask, but she could still see the unspoken worry behind his tired eyes. She had rarely seen those worried eyes, except for the few times that she had been near danger, such as when they first saw each other after the earthquake a few weeks ago. So much had changed since then, and while they had jumped through every hurdle that has appeared so far, they knew that many more would appear in the future. Even now, with her body numb in the icy water, her heart still fluttered, knowing that Seo Dae Young was hers and that all those months that she had chased relentlessly after this cold, unemotional sergeant had been worth it now that they were together.

    Stopping just beside the tub of ice water, he kneeled down. He could feel the presence of the doctor and the nurse, but maybe it was because he had been separated from her for so long, or that he regretted all the times in the past when he had ran away from her...he reached for her hand that was submerged underneath the icy water. Trying to bring warmth to her frozen hand, he grasped her hand as tightly as he could without hurting her. When her other hand appeared on top of his, he tried to cover her icy fingers as well. His concern briefly turned to hot anger as he stared at her weak and pale face, suddenly wishing that he had knocked out Manager Jin the last time he dragged that sick excuse of a human being outside. Even though thoughts of revenge and murder flashed through his mind momentarily, they all came to a stop as he stared into her eyes. Her skin betrayed her by displaying her current, sick state, yet her eyes were still gentle and alive. She smiled at him, and he suddenly wished that he could be braver and hide the concern in his eyes, so that she wouldn’t have to reassure him by hiding her pain.

“How are you?”

“I missed you…how are you?”

His heart refused to let his response spill from his mouth, knowing that his voice would betray him and reveal his broken emotions. Instead, he could only grip her hands tightly. He briefly heard Doctor Song telling him it was time to go, that he should get some rest as well, but his feet refused to move. Eventually, Doctor Song and Nurse Ha knew it was pointless to ask him to leave, so they left the two alone.

For the next few hours, as the night sky outside the  window slowly lightened up, he held her hands, every so often checking her monitor as she drifted in and out of sleep. His body was becoming stiff from kneeling for so long, but he had experienced a lot worse during his first few months in the military. When the warm sunlight had radiated through the windows and into the room, he heard Doctor Song and Nurse Ha appear again. The nurse took her temperature and handed the thermometer to the doctor. He held his breath, knowing that his and her life rested solely on the number on that thermometer. It felt as if decades had passed, before the doctor slowly nodded his head. Relief washed over him and he eagerly lifted her from the icy tub that he despised. As the nurse helped her out of the dripping, wet hospital gown, he stood with his back turned, facing the sunny day outside. Even though he had never really been much of a church person, he silently thanked whoever was above, making miracles like these happen. When the doctor and nurse had checked her vitals and left the room again, he walked back, stopping beside the hospital bed.

    Her eyes were threatening to close, yet her mind tried to fight against the approaching sleep. As she studied the figure beside her, she whispered,

“Do you regret meeting me…? Seeing me like this…?”

He leaned over and gently brushed her hair to the side. “If I had known you would be sick like this, I would still do the same thing all over again. I would run away 100 more times, only because I know I would reunite with Yoon Myung Joo 100 more times as well. I would still work myself to death in the army and listen to your father, because I know as each day passes, I would be closer to gaining approval from him...and closer to you. Get some rest and get better. I won’t worry much….I know my Myung Joo is stronger than even the strongest guy in the military.”