Aeri gasped as reality pulled her back. She wiped the sweat off her brow and fumbled for her clock. The neon numbers blared in the semi-darkness. It was three in the morning. Aeri reached for a glass of water. Her fingers trembled. Her body shivered. The dream’s events were reconstrued in her mind. She noticed something important -- a building in the dream. It was a branch of a noodle shop that popped around the streets. There were a few outside her house. It was inevitable, Eunwoo would meet her before his supposed death. 

    Aeri had an important connection to his imminent demise. 

She stumbled out of bed. Her legs were like jelly, barely holding her weight. Aeri brushed back her long hair into a ponytail, fixing it in place with a pink ribbon. She decided to take a stroll downstairs and sit with the flowers for a bit until sleep found her again. 

    She had to make a bouquet for Jaehyun that day. It was her turn to visit him in the hospital. She rang him last night, just after his intense radiation treatment. He was due for his bone marrow transplant in the morning. Her heart reached out to him. She shook aside the days where she and Jaehyun cycled to the edge of the river and plucked the best flowers from their beds. He was always the daring one in the group. 

    He used to climb the walls over people’s gardens just to steal their best flowers for her. Once, he came back, face grazed with cuts, but the exotic bird-of-paradise flowers were handed to her, their beautiful sunny heads bouncing in the wind. Jaehyun matched her enthusiasm with his own raw and vigorous energy. 

    He would run for miles, scouring through fields of dandelions, and he came back, blowing them in her face. He claimed they were well wishes from him. Jaehyun did not wait for time; he eluded the hours, exploring every inch of the city and the fields that surrounded it. One did not have to look far to find Jaehyun climbing the hills and searching for unique things produced by nature. 

    He had a way with words; Aeri missed that about him. He became the exuberant wind, carrying them to a utopian land of wonder, curiosity and he became a source of energy that even broke Eunwoo’s morose. Jaehyun had too much energy, it seemed. Because his body eventually ran out of fuel earlier than he deserved. His passion for life was ending, fading away like an echo from a  thunderstorm. 

    She decided to deliver a bouquet that would translate her feelings of his current situation. Blinking back tears, she gathered the beautiful white magnolia and the daring purple pansy. To add innocence, she placed a few sprigs of daisies. Perhaps she took longer than expected, because the hours of dawn filtered through the windows. She proceeded to give some water to the other flowers. 

    “He’s leaving us, isn’t he?” she told them. She enjoyed that they agreed with her on everything. They would never complain, just nod their beautiful heads to all her conversations. “I’m going to miss him so much, you know? I just...I’m so guilty that I could never give back what he felt for me.” Her voice broke. Aeri wiped the foolish tears. 

    “I think he’s too good for this world. Everyone has to die sooner or later. But I’m glad Jaehyun never held back anything in life.” 

    He did hold back for one thing: her heart. And she was never ready to give him her heart. 

A dog barked loudly. Aeri jumped in her spot. It was too early for that, but the barking came from the front of the flower-shop. She peeked through the keyhole and gasped. Aeri hurriedly opened the door to allow the black husky inside. The dog wagged its tail, her hands and beckoning for her to follow. 

    “What is it, Umbra? Is Eunwoo alright? Is he hurt?” 

Umbra barked again. Aeri wasted no time in grabbing her coat. She was still in her nightgown, but that did not matter. Her blood pounded against her ears as images flashed before her eyes. What if the time had come? She took her satchel, locked the front door and raced after Umbra. To her dismay, she forgot to leave the bouquet behind. It remained in her grasp, like how she forgot to change her slippers.

    Umbra was Eunwoo’s dog, but what was he doing at such a quiet hour, and away from his master? There weren't many people on the streets. Umbra led her through a maze of alleys and crossroads. Aeri’s legs burned, and she gasped for breath. It took a while before Umbra came to a halt. 

    The dog barked again. Aeri glanced at the giant, downtrodden building. It was the hospital -- the same one where Jaehyun was meant to have his bone marrow transplant. Emotion tangled in , and her breath hitched inside her. She grasped , as if it should loosen the knot inside. 

    “You’re here because of Jaehyun, aren’t you boy? Is Eunwoo inside?” 

She patted the dog’s head. “You’re very smart. Good job, Umbra!” 

The dog waited faithfully outside as Aeri rushed in. She took to the haematological wards. Eunwoo was seated outside Jaehyun’s room. He hid his face behind his palms, still dressed in his dishevelled work clothes. 

    “Eunwoo!” 

He gazed up at her and it was not long before she found herself sinking into his tight embrace. He broke apart like a porcelain piece, hardly able to contain the tumultuous storm inside him. He mumbled his words. He was a mess. 

    “Eunwoo, calm down,” she encouraged. “What happened?” She slipped from his embrace, and stared into Jaehyun’s room. There were so many tubes and wires that it made her dizzy. A stout nurse wrote on a chart. The ether scent from the room disorientated Aeri.

“He contracted an infection yesterday,” Eunwoo managed to say. His voice almost drowned in a whisper. “Fungal pneumonia.” 

    Aeri held his hand and squeezed. Tears filled her eyes. Her lips trembled. She glanced at the nurse. “Can I