January...

The sound of the machines was incessant. The mechanical machinations of the IV stand rapped out a staccato beat as the oxygen line hissed. The EKG machine beeped more slowly as the minutes ticked past.

Kim Minjun sat at his sister Miryo's bedside holding her hand. Their younger brother, Jongup, sat nearby with Miryo's five-year-old daughter, Gain, cradled in his arms.

"Jun?" Miryo whispered. 

"I'm here, sweetheart. I'm here." Minjun kissed Miryo's fragile hand. He'd been at the hospital for nearly twenty-four hours straight, needing to be here when his older sister took her last breath.

"Have so much I need to tell you." Miryo's lips drew up in what Jun thought was a smile "We need to talk about Gain."

"You need your rest, Miryo. Just rest. We can talk later." not even losing their parents in a car wreck six years ago had been as painful as watching Miryo die by slow inches over the last three months.

Miryo smiled sadly "I'm dying, Junnie. I don't have any "laters" left in me."

He knew his sister was dying, but hearing her talk about her fate so matter-of-factly broke something inside of him. Jun swiped away the hot tears scalding down his face.

Kim Miryo had been a vibrant young woman who was always the life of the party. It had been a devastating blow to what was left of their small family when it turned out the frequent headaches she'd been suffering weren't caused by seasonal allergies, but instead by an aggressive brain tumor.

"If you don't want to talk about Gain, then let's talk about you. You've spent the last few months only going back and forth between school and my hospital room. When I'm gone, promise me you'll get back out there and rejoin your life. I want you to be happy." 

After the way things ended with his ex, the last thing Jun wanted to do was "get back out there". He wasn't about to tell his sister that on her deathbed "I'll do my best."

Squeezing Jun's hand, Miryo sighed at her younger brother "Taecyeon made you happy, Junnie."

"We're not talking about me now. This is about you." as angry as he still was at his ex-boyfriend, Jun was self-aware enough to be able to admit Ok Taecyeon had been the love of his life.

"You're wrong. This is about you. I can't leave knowing you're too stubborn to reach out to Taecyeon. Promise me, Junnie. Promise me you'll call him. My life is ending, but yours could begin again if you would only be brave enough to reach out and soften your heart. I know he hurt you. Forgive him and start fresh. Life is too short to hold on to even one ounce of bitterness."

"I promise." guilt stabbed through him. He'd agreed to call his cheating bastard ex just to give his dying sister peace in her final moments, but there was no way he was going to follow through on his vow.

"Gain," Miryo fought to take another breath "...tell my baby girl every day how much I loved her."

Jun could feel fresh tears pricking the backs of his eyes "Gain will always know how much you loved her." 

"She loves Pucca and apple juice, her woobie and kittens."

Jun laughed softly, turning to look at Gain as she slept. The tiny dark-haired girl was hugging her woobie- a ratty blanket, which looked like it had seen better days- and an equally ratty black stuffed cat to her chest as if they were her most prized possessions.

"I trust you to raise her, Junnie." Miryo gasped for breath, using what was left of her strength to squeeze her brother's hand "I'm giving my greatest treasure to you."

"We've been over this before. I don't think I'm the right one to raise your daughter." he still couldn't believe what he was hearing. Miryo wanted him to raise her daughter? Why not Jongup? As embarrassing as it sounds, his younger brother had more stability in his life than he himself had.

"You've been over this before." Miryo's left eyebrow lifted a bit "You're wrong, Junnie. You're perfect and she loves you so much."

They had been close their whole lives. When Miryo wanted to marry Jung Ilwoo at twenty-one years old, Minjun was the one who walked her down the aisle. He was the one who was there for his sister six months later when she walked in on her newlywed husband ing her best friend. Six months after that, he was the one holding her hand in the delivery room when Gain was born.

"I had Jongup write this into my will when the doctors told me there was nothing else they could do to fight my cancer. I tried to talk to you about 

this a few months back and you didn't want to talk about it then either. Please tell me you'll raise her."

Jun couldn't stand to see the pleading look in his sister's sunken brown eyes "Of course I'll raise Gain. I'll love her like she's my own."

"She is your own now, Junnie." Miryo took a shuddering breath, her frail body rattling with the effort "I'll only be a prayer away." her eyes slipped shut while her grip loosened on Jun's hand.

Taking a gulping breath, Jun signaled to their brother, who carefully stood up and walked over to the bed.

"She wants me to raise Gain." Jun whispered though his tears in a bereft voice.

Jongup set a hand on his brother's shoulder "She tried to talk to you about this. We both did, but you wouldn't listen."

"It's just so...permanent." Jun wondered how the hell he was going to raise a five-year-old girl on his own. Maybe that was the reason Miryo had brought up Taecyeon. She knew how much Jun's ex had adored her daughter.

"I know it is. Neither one of us have wanted to face the truth of Miryo's diagnosis. The only one of us brave enough to that is our big sister." 

"I don't know how to raise a child, Jongup! Taking her out for ice cream is a far cry from taking care of her 24/7." to be honest, Minjun was scared to death of being responsible for his niece. His stomach pitched like he was about to throw up.

"You're an elementary school principal. Of course you know how to raise a child." Jongup squeezed Jun's shoulder. 

Jun snorted "Being in charge of a Montessori school hardly qualifies me to be a father." he swallowed hard, still having a hard time believing his sister's final request was that he raise Gain.

"We're all gonna be here to help you." Jongup promised "You've got me and your friends and you know Hwang Narsha-ajumeoni and Hwang Kwanghee-ajusshi would be glad to help out with Gain just like they do with their grandson, Jay."

Jun nodded, feeling a bit better. His best friend and kindergarten teacher at Little Wonder Clovers, Lee Junho, had just gotten engaged to a single father of one of the student's in his class. He'd become an instant father too. Minjun knew his circle of friends would be there to help him and Gain out.

"How are we gonna live without her, Jongup? I can't remember a moment of my life without Miryo being in it."

Jongup held his niece closer, dropping a kiss on her forehead "One day at time. It's all we can do." 

Miryo's hand slackened and fell out of Jun's while the EKG machine flat-lined.