"Oppa, should I have dressed formally? Maybe I should have dressed in a brighter color. And my make up may be a bit much. Maybe-" 

"You look beautiful. Stop worrying so much, Minchae." The driver interrupted, throwing a quick reassuring smile to the woman standing next to him.

Minchae looked at her reflection in the review mirror and frowned. She grabbed a tissue from her bag and pressed lightly on her lips, dimming the shade. The driver rolled his eyes but let her do as she wanted.

"My parents will love you." He said, touching her hand fondly. 

"But you said they are very traditional. I'm not exactly what they expect from you. I'm a foreigner."

"You're only half foreigner. The other half is as Korean as possible, believe me." He although there was a tinge of seriousness too.

Minchae narrowed her eyes at her fiancee before her mind wavered. She glanced at the backseat, at a large gift box that held what she wanted to be a token of peace.

"Do you think they'll like my gift? Is it too much? Maybe I should take out the bottle of wine and-"

The car stopped at a red light, giving the driver enough time to focus on his fiancee. He smiled in a way that made the woman calm down. His big black eyes were so soft and comforting that it reminded Minchae why she fell in love with him. There was something about him, something about how he could make all her worries fade away with one simple look.

"I love you, Minchae. That's enough. Even if they won't like you that means nothing to our future. What matters is my love for you." He said and quickly pecked her lips before turning his attention on driving. 

Traffic that night was moderate with many cars zooming to their destinations. The two lovebirds continued to chat about their future when the driver made a turn at the next intersection. They were a few blocks from their destination when they noticed it. 

A car was approaching rapidly from the front. Trying to avoid crashing into it, the driver pressed on the brake. However, from behind came another car with grand speed and pushed them straight into the car coming from the front. They didn't just hit it but also went flying over it and rolled once again before it stopped. 

Noise. So many voices were talking, screaming, murmuring and there was so much noise. Minchae opened her eyes, feeling very tired suddenly. She glanced at her face in the mirror and saw blood dripping down both sides of her head. Her head turned to him, the man that never failed in making her smile. He was bloody and his eyes were closed. The man that made her so happy was now making her cry.

For some reason, Minchae wouldn't fall unconscious. She was awake when the authorities came, when she was taken out of the car and the entire time in the ambulance. She couldn't hear and see clearly but she knew. She was tired and in excruciating pain but she was awake while her fiancee was unconscious. 

One thing she muttered when the doctor came to her. One thing that was more important than her life.

"Don't let Sunghoon die." She said, grabbing and grasping the doctor's hand tightly before they anesthetized her. 

It was day or it was night, she couldn't tell. Minchae opened her eyes to artificial light a few hours later. Her head hurt so much, just as if a bomb was ready to explode. Taking a look around, she realized she was alone. The door was half open and people were talking outside her room. When trying to get up, she noticed her legs were both injured. 

"Oh, you woke up. Do you remember what happened?" A nurse asked after she entered the room and closed the door behind her. 

"An accident." She mumbled watching the nurse warily.

"Do you remember your name?" 

"Jung Minchae. Where is Kang Sunghoon? Is he awake?" She asked, hoping the nurse knew who she was talking about.

She obviously did because she froze while checking the IV. Her reaction was not ignored by Minchae as her eyes darkened and face tensed.

"Take me to him."

"You barely woke up. It's impossible in this cond-"

But Minchae didn't listen and tried her best to get her legs off the bed. That wasn't easy with how tightly they were wrapped in bandages but she managed. 

"Miss, you can't just do whatever you want." The nurse threatened, pushing her patient back softly. 

"You can either help me or watch me doing it by myself." Minchae retorted in a bossy manner. The nurse considered both options before she opted for the better one. 

That was how Minchae ended in a wheelchair with the IV dragged on the side, on the way to Sunghoon's room. The hospital was very crowded but all the noise was fading into a sort of background tune as she came closer to her destination. Sound suddenly became clear and it was not pleasing. 

The nurse opened the door and Minchae's eyes swelled with tears. Sunghoon was on the bed, still unconscious with the heart machine showing a steady heartbeat. However, one look at the man and she knew something wasn't right.

"Will he be alright?" She asked the nurse. The woman sighed and pushed Minchae vloser to him.

"You can take your time." The nurse said before she left, letting the door open.

Minchae started to cry. She knew tears were flowing down her cheeks and her heart was breaking. He seemed so peaceful as if he was sleeping. 

"Wake up, Sunghoon. Please, wake up. Don't let me alone, not like this." She started, grabbing his hand tightly. "Don't leave me. I love you so much. You promised we will do all the things we couldn't as children so please, don't break our promise. Don't break your will to fight. Please." She continued, her voice growing alarmed as more tears spilled out. 

"My son! No, my son!" 

The screaming woman barged in and completely ignored Minchae. She went straight to her precious son and touched his cheek, caressing it softly just like a mother does. 

"Sunghoon! My beautiful boy, what happened to you...how could this happen to you." The mother cried out in pain as she watched the condition her son was in. And then her eyes fell on Minchae.

Minchae, the other person in the car. She was alive and well enough to move from bed while Sunghoon's eyes were still firmly closed. 

"You witch!" The older woman screeched loudly. Minchae frowned, having no power to respond. "I knew you were a bad omen! Ever since my son met you a lot of bad things happened to him! And now look at you, strong enough to move while my poor Sunghoon..." she continued, eventually crying over her son's body. 

Minchae froze. The accident was not her fault and yet she was being blamed. She could understand Mrs. Kang's point of view but she was being too harsh.

"You don't even know me. How can you blame me so absent mindly? Do I look like I'm enjoying this situation?! Can you even see how much pain this iss giving me too?!" 

She couldn't control herself. It was a mistake to scream at the mother she was supposed to meet and get a blessing from but her heart was breaking too.

The mother was ready to blow up in anger and her husband could foresee how bad it will get. That was the main reason why he grabbed Minchae's chair and took her outside.

"You have to understand, it's hard for us too. Sunghoon is our son and we want him to be smiling with joy not lay in a hospital bed." Mr. Kang said softly yet with sorrow in his voice. "The doctor will come soon. Let's just wait silently. Let my wife be a mother." He added.

Minchae peeked inside and saw Mrs. Kang carefully move hair off Sunghoon's forehead while keeping a tight grip on his hand. She was murmuring sweet nothings to him, hoping he could hear her and answer. 

Maybe 10 minutes passed until the doctor came with two nurses. Mr. Kang entered by himself but let the door open enough for Minchae to listen in. 

"Are you Kang Sunghoon's family? I am afraid I don't have good news. His brain has been greatly damaged. We hoped it will pick up after the treatement but there is no brain activity." The doctor explained as simple as he could. "I'm afraid your son is dead. The only thing that keeps him alive at this moment is the hospital equipement."

The rest of the sentence wasn't important anymore, not when the loud cry of a wounded mother filled the room. Minchae couldn't believe it. The news were not what she wanted to hear. She kept staring at the door as if the doctor will change his statement and say he was wrong. 

But it didn't happen. Not then and not in the next few days. The parents disconnected him but that was all she found out from the nurses. The worst thing was her improving condition. She was getting better while her soulmate died. 

She cried so much at night that she had no tears left during the day. Her eyes were swollen and she lost every ounce of life from her eyes. 

"Hello," 

Even at the new voice that appeared next to her, she didn't sketch one sign. The man moved one hand in front of her, which she caught harshly and pushed aside. 

"Staring at a door won't change anything." The person added persistently. "I've seen you come here and stare every day for long, long periods of time. You look dehydrated and probably you don't eat much either. Obviously not respecting the doctor's instructions either from the look of your swollen feet." He commented, trailing his eyes over her figure.

Minchae sighed but didn't turn to him. The stranger copied her only he sighed in worry. He took something from his pyijama's pocket and placed it in her palm. She looked down and saw a piece of chocolate. 

"It mends the heart, or so they say. It will keep you from fainting on the way back." 

"I don't mind dying." She said feeling hurt. She seriously didn't talk ever since the moment her world crumbled at her feet.

"That's what I said too. And then I almost died and realized in those moments that instead of letting myself go I was gripping onto life with everything I had." He said smiling at the memory. "It hurts to lose someone, I know, and it won't be easy moving on. But closing yourself in and staring at a wall won't bring the dead back."

"Then what will?" She asked, finally turning to the stranger. It was a man that looked way too comfortable in his posture as a patient.

"Memories." 

Minchae's eyes widened only a bit and she looked at the chocolate in her hand. She grasped it as she fully registered what that stranger said. 

Seeing how his advice soothed her heart, even if just for the moment, he couldn't help but be content. He decided he might as well stay with her in silence and reassure her she wasn't the only one whose heart was aching. Heck, he literally had to go through a transplant for his own broken heart.

Characters

Jung Minchae

Jo Insung