10 year old Hyewon who was supposed to be studying was busy chatting with her best friend. Textbooks were left forgotten at the desk while the two young girls were lying down on the bed. How free and easy a life of a child is, the only thing they worried about were tests and homeworks.

"Would you rather know how you're going to die or when you're going to die?"

Quite an odd question for girls at such a young age to ask but you see, this was inspired by what Chaewon heard. This conversation was one that would affect their lives deeply.

Hyewon who probably had the same confusion as you (readers) said, "Where did this question come from?" She looks at her best friend who in turn was staring at the ceiling.

"You remember that my dad works as a doctor right?" Hyewon nods, "Well, apparently there's a new sickness that tells you when you'll die. Or something like that, it's scary to think about it." Chaewon says.

"That is scary... To answer your question I think I'd rather know when I'd die than how." 

"Really? Why?" 

Hyewon ponders for a while, she's too young to think about death but it's just a would you rather question. "Because that way I can plan everything I want to do before I die. Meaning I'll use all my time to play with you and eat every food in the world!" 

Chaewon smiles her answer, "Of course you would."

"And besides can you imagine being scared you're whole life? Imagine if I knew the reason why I died was a spoon, I'd be scared of spoons forever and won't be able to eat." Hyewon puffs her cheeks just imagining. 

"Wow I never thought of it that way... I guess I'd choose the same answer as you then." Chaewon replies before holding her best friend's hand. Hyewon smiles, "Together we'll live our life filled with happiness and fun!" The two girls cheer while raising their hands in the air with excitment.

"And food!" Chaewon adds.

"With food!!!" 

_____

12 year old Hyewon was at the gym with the rest of her classmates trying to learn basketball. The boys were teasing them that they at the sport but the girls didn't care and just wanted to have fun. Luckily the teacher divided the place by boys and girls or else people were going to get shoved. And it was not going to be the girls.

She was running and chasing her classmates who had the ball, she didn't know what the points were but she just wanted to score at least once even if their heights weren't that tall yet. But it was when she started feeling a sharp pain at her chest area, more specifically her heart, that caused her stop. Her classmates continued playing thinking that maybe Hyewon was just tired, but she suddenly fell to floor causing them to scream and call for their teacher.

Hyewon woke up to white walls and her parents crying. "Dad? Mom? W-what happened?" All she could remember was very intense pain and then seeing black. Her parents didn't answer her because the doctor went in to check up on her and see how she was doing. It was her doctor, Chaewon's dad, that told her the news.

Kokuhaku Disease, it limits the person's number of heartbeats. And if there is any situation, event, or cause for the heart to beat faster it would bring the person closer to death. Hyewon was born with it but didn't show any signs of it's presence until recently. 

Mr. Kim finally left the family alone. Her parents hugged her in their arms and tried to give hopeful and assuring words to her even when they were broken and sad themselves.

"Don't worry Hyewonnie, me and mommy are going to take very good care of you. We're going to look for the best doctors around the world to help you." It made her feel better knowing that her parents were doing their best to help her live but the dreaded question remained.

"When am I going to die?"

_____

Doing the math, Hyewon had about till the age of 23 to live. 

Pretty short.

What could she possibly to do when she had 11 years to live her life?

12 year old her said that she would do all the things she wanted. But how could she when her family and friends made sure that she didn't do anything at all. She couldn't play, she couldn't do things that were fun, she couldn't watch anything scary, or go to all the fun places. There were so many things that Hyewon hasn't done and it seemed like she wasn't going to do them anytime soon.

She met Yena and Yuri a few months after the news. It was nice to have more friends but she felt sad that they treated her as if she fragile. She didn't blame them, if she had a friend with a similar disease she would be wary of her actions too. After a few years, the Joyuriz (the nickname the three called themselves) started becoming bolder. They would try to let Hyewon have some fun and feel excitement, may it go to the arcade or even prank their teachers. Hyewon was glad.

"A doctor?" 

"Yup. My dad is one after all, so I guess I'm just following his footsteps." 

The two best friends find themselves in the younger girl's room talking about what jobs they wanted to do. "You don't have to, you know." Hyewon says without looking at Chaewon, right now she was currently reading some manga.

"And why not?"

"You're just doing that because of me. You don't have to do it."

"I don't have to but I want to." Chaewon crosses her arms, "You got a problem with it?"

"Yeah. You told me you wanted to be singer since like forever. And now suddenly you say you want to be a doctor?" Hyewon raises a brow, as if saying 'you think you can fool me?'

Chaewon grabs the manga from the older girl's hands and throws it away. "Hey!" Hyewon frowns.

"Dreams can change."

"Yeah but yours doesn't. I've seen you sing and I know first hand how happy it makes you, I'm not letting you waste it on poor, sick me."

"And why shouldn't I? I've seen people die, I see how sad my dad becomes whenever his patients dies. He's talking and collaborating with the greatest doctors to find a way to help people with the Kokuhaku disease. I want to help too, I want to help you."

"Well don't! Because I'm just gonna die anyways!" 

*slap*

The two girls were stunned, Chaewon just slapped her. Hyewon touches her cheek where she could feel the heat from the impact. 

"Everyone dies! You're not special, Hyewon. But it just so happens that you're going to die earlier. So let me help you because I won't be able to help you ever again when you're gone!" Chaewon finishes as she breaks down into tears. Hyewon was stunned in her place until she finally moved to hug the crying girl.

"I'm sorry." Hyewon whispers following the girl in tears. The two friends stay in that position until they stopped crying. "But can you promise one thing then?" 

Chaewon nods, "What?"

"That you won't stop singing."

They both smile, "Of course."

_____________

Years had passed and life was pretty okay, Hyewon would say. She couldn't do much compared to everyone else but seeing her classmates do any physical activities makes her feel tired just watching them. Hyewon needed something to do, something to be good at, so she took interest in gaming. More specifically in PC games, her and Yena would hangout in the internet cafes and play all day long. That's also how she met Sakura, someone who would change her life forever.

The pretty girl who beat her in the game was now her new classmate. Hyewon wondered if fate exists because she felt like it was pushing them together. The two hit it off quickly, they became friends and spent almost all their time together. Everything was good until Hyewon started to feel things.

Not anything bad, the new feeling scared her but it was a good kind of scary... you could say even exhiliarating. It made her heart beat faster than it should have, but Hyewon didn't mind it. Instead she accepted it and wanted it to continue if meant being with Sakura. 

But her recklessness caused her to lose more than she expected.

After the firework festival, when she and Sakura had ran just to get to the others, she had fainted. When she woke up she was told that her heart wasn't prepared for her to be running all of a sudden. She did notice the feeling of her heart burning in pain when she was running. But fainting wasn't the problem, it was the number of heartbeats she had left. The incident has cost her 2 years of her life. Her parents wanted to ban her from any physical activity, afraid that it worsen her health but Mr. Kim (Chaewon's dad) recommended Hyewon to have small activities to help her heart to get used to it.

_________

She and Sakura dated and they were already in their second year of highschool. Everything went smoothly, she was happy, they were happy, her heart may have been beating faster (because of love) but she was happy.

Was.

Until Hyewon woke up alone. Sakura was gone, she left without an explanation or even a goodbye. Her heart was broken, Hyewon was curling into a ball while grasping at her chest (where the heart was located), "Why does this hurt more than anything?"

She couldn't breathe. Everywhere she looked reminded her of Sakura, their school, the places where they used to hangout, even her room. So she transfered schools, Yena, Yuri, and Chaewon following her (she was very grateful for that). She closed herself off from the others, they can't hurt you when they leave you when they weren't close to you in the first place right? 

With her beautiful looks Hyewon was talked alot around the school, but she was mostly known for being cold and not hanging out with others. Yena wasn't in the same class as her, which , and obviously Yuri was in a different class because she was younger. Luckily she had Chaewon but she left later to go to America so she could learn firsthand about medicine. 

Hyewon guesses she might've felt empty... maybe even a bit alone. It's not her friends' fault, they did everything they can to make her happy, it's just she doesn't feel the same. It's amazing how one person can make you feel like you're on top of the world but only to leave you hanging on a cliff. So she felt like giving up since what was there for her to do with her little time? She'd take on her family's business, for what? One or two years. Get married to someone and might even have to have a baby so that the bloodline can continue. But even then, is that all her life has to offer?

She wasn't in her right mind, she just thought to herself one morning that she'd end it all. So she wrote a letter to Chaewon, who was still abroad, and planned to hide it somewhere for her to find it.

Maybe. Just maybe something will make her change her mind.

She stepped out of the school about to make her way home when she saw her. Someone standing too close to the edge looking like she wanted to jump and it just clicked to her.

She ran.

Why?

She doesn't know this person.

Heck, she shouldn't even care because she was about to do the same thing.

Maybe she was angry that someone who could live her life was about to waste it.

All she knew was that something told her no. She can't do that. She can't let this person die. So when she reached the rooftop and opened the door she shouts,

"I don't know what happened in your life but jumping isn't the answer!!

Life is limited, and unfair, and unpredictable. But there are people in this world that don't have a chance of seeing the light of the next day. But you do! Your life is important so don't waste it!"

When the girl turned to look at her, Hyewon was stunned. It was her classmate, Kwon Eunbi. 

And that was what or who changed her life.

___________________________________________________

Q: When does love come to us? Can we prepare for it?

A: When you feel love once, you either don't want to experience it or you do. But it's not our decision to make, our heart will try again. You can't prepare for love, instead it prepares you.

__________________________________________________

Hyewon wondered why Eunbi would like to go to the rooftop so much. If she wanted to see the sunset she should go to the beach, countryside, or even a taller building. The view from their school isn't really that nice. They were looking at the same scenery right? So what is it that Eunbi sees that she doesn't?

As she stood by the door watching the older girl look towards the city with the wind blowing through her hair, she took a quick photo to capture the moment. She looks at the picture when she goes back home and thinks that Eunbi makes the scenery look better. Is it weird to have it as her lockscreen? Hyewon doesn't want to be labeled as a creep or a stalker. But if you see the photo it can be anyone unless you take a closer look.

Hyewon gets her diary and starts writing what she felt and did today.

Date: XXXX

School again, but today I talked with Eunbi although it's only short. I know what to do this final school year and it's...

*Drum roll* (She actually draws a drum)

Eat 1000 takoyaki!!! :D

Just joking, it's to bring happiness to Kwon Eunbi. No specific reason to why yet, but I'll probably write one as days go by.

           - Kwangbae :)

And maybe there isn't a specific reason as to why she's doing this. Was she bored? Maybe. But there was just something about the brunette that made Hyewon want to do more. Little did she know that this girl was the one that made her heart beat again.

___________________________________________________

Q: How did you know that you love someone?

A: When I noticed that my mind would always think about her. When she smiled and I felt like it was my job to make sure that it would never go away.

___________________________________________________

Who knew that she was going to get stuck on the rooftop with a girl she just started talking to a few days ago. She was just taking pictures of the older girl for fun and then suddenly the door was locked. And she didn't have her phone because a certain duck decided to steal it, so she couldn't contact anyone (not that she had anyone to call).

"Can you stop walking like that? You're making my head dizzy just watching you." Hyewon says not even looking at the pacing girl, she was busy looking at her camera.

”Well sorry if I’m panicking right now. I don't get why you're not reacting like me. Oh wait, it's because you're a robot!” 

Hyewon doesn't show any sign that she was hurt, she was able to master showing no emotion by this point, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. But she could tell that Eunbi didn't mean it so she shouldn't take it to heart. Instead she tries to find a way to get them out of here, thus she tries the hairpin.

The hairpin obviously didn't work and now Hyewon found herself having a conversation with the brunette. It went to the topic of who would worry about them, which she found out Eunbi had a sister. Hyewon found herself admiring how much Eunbi cared and worried about her sister rather than herself, and she felt kinda jealous. She wonders how it feels like having a sibling.

After Eunbi asked to be distracted, Hyewon brings herself closer to show her her camera. Hundreds of pictures were displayed for Eunbi to see, all of Hyewon's thoughts, emotions, and memories were open for her. She was glad that Eunbi loved what she took.

”Wow, you’re really good at this. Are you going pursue it for college?” Eunbi asks.

”College?”

”Yeah. What are you going to do after graduation?”

After graduation? Well Hyewon only has a few years to live where she'll be spending it working at her parents