When the anesthesia begins to take effect, Eunbi feels all her pain fading away. She is very clear what the doctors are going to do with her body and the possible consequences, as she agreed and signed all the papers. Dr. Kim Minju has got her a lawyer to make a will. If she is going to die on the operation table, she should have no regret; and if she is going to live, she promised herself she must lead a brand new life.

She could not recall the last time she had slept with no pain and no worries, so this may be one of the most comfortable moments in her adult life as she gradually fell into a deep deep sleep, so deep that even dreams did not appear.

She faintly heard some cheerful voice telling her, "congratulations, the surgery is successful, please wake up."

"Um..." She utters a sound and went back to sleep.

When she regained consciousness again, she felt someone squeezing her hand and calling her, but her eyelids were like lead.

"Eonnie, are you awake?" A familiar voice askes.

Eunbi took all her strength to open her eyes and looked at the person besides her and thought she was still in a dream.

"Chaen?" She clears .

"Yes, you want water?"

She utters a sound and a straw was put into . "Just one sip first. Slowly."

She took a few sips and fell back to sleep.

The next time she woke up, the sky outside the window was in a strange pastel blue. Eunbi cannot be sure if it is evening or morning.

"You are finally awake?" So it isn't a dream, the girl is really here.

"Do you need to pee?" Chaeyeon pulls off her surgical mask for a second and put on the cutest smile she can.

"No. What time is it?" Eunbi sounds weak.

"5:30 am. Do you want some more water? I have made you some rice porridge," the girl disappears and reappears with a thermos food jar.

"You what?" 

"Come on, eat first."

"I am not hungry," she says as Chaeyeon helps her for a few more sips of water.

"When did you eat last time?"

"Yesterday lunch."

"No way, your operations started at 2 pm yesterday. You mean the day before yesterday?"

"Um..." Eunbi still feels groggy after sleeping for 10 hours.

Nonetheless, Chaeyeon adjusts Eunbi's bed, then opens the jar.

Eunbi smells heaven.

Chaeyeon takes a long spoon and put a small spoonful of porridge into Eunbi's mouth. "Beware of the heat."

After a few mouthfuls of porridge, Eunbi feels she is back to life and stops.

"How do you know I am here?" She asks, slightly lisping.

"Everyone in Seoul knows that you are here."

"Answer my question, Chaen."

Chaeyeon startles a bit on Eunbi's seriousness. "I read the news, and I asked Dr. Kang. She asked me to come before the operation ends, but it overran. I waited until you woke up from the general anesthesia and went home to cook the porridge. Is it tasty?"

Eunbi looks at Chaeyeon and nods. "But please don't do that again."

"Eh?" Chaeyeon is confused.

Eunbi sighs and speaks very slowly, "I've been thinking...over and over: what had gone wrong in those...three months. I remember you...used all the time...taking care of me, and you suffer. I'm sorry, but not again."

Chaeyeon has never expected this from Eunbi, and she just stands there speechless.

Eunbi continues, "I am sorry to be cold. I really appreciate...but you should not...You make me very confused." She pauses for a long time. "After I fell, l lay on the ground...just wished you were there, but I forbid myself...It hurts even more."

Chaeyeon's lips part but cannot utter a sound, this is not the Eunbi she knows.

"I am sorry." Eunbi pauses and hints she wants more porridge.

Chaeyeon is more than happy to continue the feeding. She knows she can never win an argument with Eunbi, and the best way to deal with her is to keep mum and divert her attention. 

After another few mouthfuls, Eunbi stops and says, "you said you want to be...my friend. Friends have boundaries."

Chaeyeon squeezed a smile, "so does it mean if I don't do this again and keep the boundary, you will unblock my number?"

"Chaen," Eunbi closes her eyes, "did Dr. Kang tell you...my illness?"

"No. I just know you had an accident."

Eunbi inhales deeply, she feels weak to talk, but she doesn't want to stop. "I have developed many cysts and tumors in...my body. It reflects how messed up my system...has become, and how bad...my emotional state is. Most of them were developed after you left..." She pauses again, "I swallowed all my sufferings...thought that's the best way...for us, I've tried my best to stay strong and look good..."

Eunbi chokes on her tears and stops.

"Eonnie, please stop talking and rest first?" Chaeyeon takes a tissue and wipes off Eunbi's tears.

But Eunbi turns to Chaeyeon and sends her an angry glare instead, "Lee Chaeyeon, listen. Even though it was not totally...your fault, I really feel very very upset when...you just left me...without a word...and never replied my text." She is breathing heavily but still insists to continue, "it was like living in hell. But...but I don't know why...why I have to endure? I should have blasted...and scolded you...until you block me, and...slapped you when we met...in the City Hall!"

"Eun please!" Chaeyeon actually feels relief that she finally got scolded, "you just had an operation and please calm down. I am really really sorry. I know I was a jerk. Forgive me, please?"

She wants to give Eunbi a hug but only found that there is nowhere she can lay her hand on without agitating her wounds.

Suddenly, they hear a small knock on the door. The person coming in is as surprised as the ladies inside.

"Good morning! Family reunion?" Dr. Kang comes in and turns to Eunbi. "How are you feeling, Eunbi-ssi?"

Eunbi instantly changes into a warm smile. Although she is still panting and cannot speak, she glances tight at the doctor.

"Why are you gasping?" Hyewon looks a bit worried.

Eunbi just smiles and shakes her head. That smile looks so familiar in Chaeyeon's eyes.

And the doctor's eyes are twinkling. When Chaeyeon met her last evening after the operation, she was tired as a living dead.

Chaeyeon finds it amusing watching the two adults flirt as if she was not there. 

Suddenly, the doctor takes a phone charger out from her lab coat pocket and plugs it into Eunbi's phone, "I will buy you a new one when I am off duty, so we don't need to share."

Chaeyeon can't help but laugh silently under her mask. There is something in the air so strong that even she can smell it. She decided to leave.

"Eonnie, I go home and have some sleep first. I am leaving the porridge to you and will pick up the jar later today," Chaeyeon winks, "leave me a voice message, okay?"

Eunbi rolls her eyes, but she doesn't want to say no in front of Dr. Kang.

"She is not my real...sister, you know?" After Chaeyeon left, Eunbi says softly.

"Of course, I knew it by the first sight," Hyewon nods, "but it is easier to put it that way."

Eunbi chuckles. "You are very attentive."

"Yes, I am." The doctor is accepting a compliment but her voice was still impressive.

"Doctor, can you...chat with me for a while?"

"Yes, sure. But why?"

"I'm afraid to face...reality again."

"No, I will try my best to protect you – by the way, I have successfully saved your right ovary, that's why the surgery has taken much longer time than expected. We will continue to observe its condition closely, but I believe this is the best solution; at least you don't need to be on medication."

Hyewon's tone is confident, but her eyes turn sad.

"Thank you. I don't know how to...express my gratitude." Eunbi pants lightly and looks at the doctor's eyes, "but why do you have sad eyes?"

Hyewon thinks for a while and says, "you remind me of my mother. She had cervical cancer when I was in medical school. But the only thing I could do was to ease her pain."

"That's why you...became a gynecologist?"

"Yes. I've promised her."

"May I ask, why do I...remind you of your mother?"

Hyewon hesitates a bit before she responds, "because you are beautiful."

Eunbi chuckles, "but you meet beautiful...women every day, don't you?"

"But that's different.”

"How?"

Hyewon pauses and continues, "They make me painful, you make me extraordinarily painful."

Eunbi is surprised at the answer