Dongwoo brought his girlfriend to her hospital room when she complained of being tired. She still hadn't explained what exactly her her disease was, but he didn't want to know. It was more than enoughto handleto thinkthat they didn't have much time left together.

As she got comfortable in her bed, he brought out a chair to sit by her and held her hand. They sat like this for awhile in a comfortable silence, silences they experienced and enjoyed very much since they first met.

"There was always so much I wanted to say to you when I thought about meeting you again," Dongwoo said as he held her hand a little tighter.

"Same."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She turned her body a little so she could face Dongwoo more.

"Why did you turn to Woohyun? Why didn't you come to me?"

She knew he would ask this question sooner or later. She sighed a little and responded, "I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want you to... to watch me die. I wanted to leave you with happier memories."

Dongwoo didn’t know what to say. All she wanted was for him to be happy, and just a few days before he had been so set on the belief that she had moved on and was living happily with some other guy.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

She shook her head. “No, don’t be. I should be the one who’s sorry.”

Then, the beloved silence enveloped the atmosphere again.

---//---

The next day, Dongwoo went to visit his mother before she was allowed to return home.

“Hey, mom,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m ready to go home.” She was sitting up in her bed and flipping through some magazines. She glanced up and noticed something different about her son.

Dongwoo was smiling to himself.

“Dongwoo, dear, did you forget to take your medications this morning?” She lightly placed her hand against his forehead as if she was checking for a fever.

He laughed and told her not to worry. “I followed your advice. I found her, mom.”

She squeezed his hand and let out a contented sigh. “How is she?”

“She’s feeling better, but she’s not getting better. The doctor says it’ll be harder and harder for her to leave her bed.”

“What about her family? Do they know she’s here?”

“We’ve contacted her grandma and aunt, but we haven’t heard back from her mom. Her aunt comes frequently, and her grandmother sends stuff for her.”

“When was the last time she talked to her mother?”

Dongwoo scrunched his eyebrows as he tried to recall the last time his girlfriend talked about her mother. He couldn’t think of any specific time she contacted her mother. “I honestly don’t know.”

Because family meant so much to Dongwoo and his mother, she decided to “adopt her in as part of the family.”

---//---

“Did your mother really say that? That I can be part of the family?” She was so excited to hear the news that she immediately sat up (with some help from Dongwoo).

“Yeah! Mom was really excited to have you part of the Jang family!”

“I don’t know. But I should go meet your parents and your sisters as soon as possible. I still haven’t met your family formally.”

“The doctor said you can’t leave your bed. At least not for a long time, so how about if they come here?”

“But I’m a mess. Maybe the doctor will let me out for one night.”

Dongwoo hummed a tune as he thought about it. “I’m not sure…”

“Next time he comes, let’s ask. I could make dinner and have them come over.”

“Let’s not overexert yourself. If-- and only if the doctor says yes-- you do get to leave we are going to go to a restaurant.”

For the rest of the night until visiting hour was over, she chatted about what they would wear, where they would go, what they would say, how they would act, and so on. Dongwoo just sat there, listening to every word she said and nodding his head as he held her hand tightly, happy to be by her side once again.

---//---

After much persuading, the doctor finally let her leave the hospital, but “for a few hours only and she must come back immediately after.” They first went to her apartment for her to change into something presentable.

“The house is so dirty,” she commented as they stepped in. It had been weeks since the last time she came home.

“I’ll clean up a little. Go get ready.” He pushed her wheelchair to her room and closed the door behind him. He offered to help her get ready, but she was adamant about doing everything on her own. Her body was getting weaker, and Dongwoo couldn’t help but worry.

“Just say my name if you need help, okay?” he called out while he wiped the floor with a wet towel.

In less than 45 minutes, they were on their way to the restaurant Dongwoo reserved.

“I’m so nervous. Oh gosh. Dongwoo, I’m so scared they won’t like me.”

Dongwoo squeezed her hand to help calm her down a little. “Don’t worry about anything. They already like you a lot, and I’ll be right by your side.”

The whole meeting went well, and Dongwoo’s family all agreed to treat her as part of the family. After dinner, Dongwoo didn’t want his girlfriend to spend one of her rare days outside of the hospital without doing something more fun, so he took her to a park.

He found a nice grassy spot and laid out a blanket before picking his girlfriend up bridal style and lightly setting her down. He sat down behind her so that she could lean on him.

“If you met me a couple years ago and asked me to go to a park with you, I would’ve laughed at you and walked away,” she said, looking up to the setting sun.

“But look at you now, sitting here watching the sunset. Isn’t this a lot better than parties and alcohol and stuff?”

She laughed. It had been so long since he had listened to her laugh. Oh, how he wished he could pause time, stopping the sun from falling any lower behind the horizon and listening to her beautiful voice for eternity.

“Sure.”

“Have you ever thought of getting married?” he asked. He was twiddling his thumbs again.

“Not really. Why? Have you?”

He was slightly disappointed at her answer. He would lay in bed just thinking about their future together, but hearing that she never really thought about it was slightly disappointing. “Yeah.”

“Oh.” She wanted to tell him the truth about how she couldn’t see herself with any other guy but Dongwoo, but she wanted to think realistically. She wasn’t going to live much longer, and she definitely wasn’t going to let Dongwoo suffer more than possible.

“What if we got married?”

She couldn’t get herself to answer the question, and it took a lot of effort for her to say anything. “I don’t think that’s the best decision right now,” she said quietly.

He looked towards the reddish orange ball of fire in the sky. “Why not?”

“Dongwoo…”

“I love you, and I want to marry you.”

“I won’t be able to rest in peace if I leave you behind like that.” She placed her hand over his.

He held back his tears as he held her hand. “I’m going to stay by your side forever. Until the very end. I promise.” And he meant every word.

The sunset they saw that night was one of the most beautiful sunsets either of them had ever seen, and by the time it was completely gone, she was already on her way back to the hospital.

-------------------//---------------------

It's been like almost a month.... Thanks to all those who are still following my story! I'm really grateful. But here it is~ It's a little longer to make up for my late update. The story should end soon, but I can't say how many chapters are left for sure as of right now! Comments???