♫ Sam Kim - If

“When I say I love you more, I don’t mean I love you more than you love me. I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us, I love you more than any fight we will ever have. I love you more than the distance between us, I love you more than any obstacle that could try and come between us. I love you the most.”

Unknown

“Sakura-san, congratulations. I think your thesis is complete now. It’s perfect.” Sakura’s professor said as he finished looking over her work.

“You really think so, Sensei?” Sakura replied.

“Yes. I know you’ll do great during your presentation. A lot of people will be impressed.”

“Thank you so much for your continuous help throughout the years, Sensei. I can’t thank you enough.”

“It was a pleasure to work with you. I can’t wait for the day I can see you in that white coat and call you Dr. Miyawaki Sakura.” 

“You’re too kind, Sensei. Again, thank you so much.”

“Ahh, stop thanking me. You should get some rest and relax for a bit now. You’ve been working nonstop for days, there must be something you’re itching to do, right?” 

“There is, actually.” Sakura shyly replied as a certain someone popped up in her mind.

“I’ll talk to you again on the day of presentations.” She added as she quickly packed her things, getting ready to leave.

“Don’t be late that day, okay?”

“Hai, Sensei!” Sakura exclaimed as she rushed out of the professor’s office.

•~•

“So you’re free now? You don’t have to work on your thesis or study for finals?” Chaeyeon asked while helping Sakura clean up their dishes from their lunch date at home. 

“Eung. I’m totally free now. That means I’m all yours for the rest of the semester.” Sakura replied.

“I’m glad you’re free and all, but don’t slack off too much. You’ve been working so hard on this presentation and it’s really important to you, so I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t do well.” 

“Don’t worry. Of course I’m not going to mess up. I’ll be sure to do really well so you can be really proud of me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m really proud of you already.” Chaeyeon replied with a smile.

“What about you? How are your finals looking? You’re probably busy, right?” Sakura asked as she finished up cleaning and joined Chaeyeon on the sofa in the living room.

“I’m honestly not that busy. I’ve studied for all of them, plus I’m practically done with two of them since they’re just essays.”

“Wow. Why does it sound like your medical school days are so much easier than mine? I’d probably be stressing right now if I was you.” 

“Who said I wasn’t stressed though?” Chaeyeon replied with a pout.

“Sorry, you just don’t look like it.”

“Well, maybe I’m just smarter than you so I have nothing to worry about.” Chaeyeon teased as she stuck her tongue out.

“Okay, now you’re just being childish.” Sakura said with a pout.

“Must be nice being you, Miss Smartypants.” She added as she stuffed a piece of fruit in .

The two glared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing at their ridiculous little quarrel. 

“Anyway, it’s been a while since we’ve been on a proper date. You’ve also probably haven’t had a chance to really see the cherry blossoms yet. Do you want to go?” Sakura asked.

“Eung, I would love to go.” Chaeyeon replied, smiling brightly.

•~•

“I can’t believe out of all the days we decide to go see the cherry blossoms, it’s suddenly snowing.” Sakura said in disbelief.

It was a rare occurrence. Sakura and Chaeyeon have never seen it snow while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom before. They thought they’d be able to walk around for awhile and maybe even have a little picnic for their date, but that’s not possible now. It was quite cold out for a long walk, and the ground was all wet. But even so, they still wanted to go on their little date. 

“You know, it’s actually not that bad.” Chaeyeon said while admiring the view.

“The cherry blossoms are always pretty, but something about snow resting on top of these delicate flowers gives it another charm. A different beauty.” She added.

“Yea, I guess you’re right. It’s unexpected, but they still compliment each other somehow.” Sakura replied with a chuckle as a thought suddenly popped in her head.

“What? What are you giggling at?”

“It’s nothing.” Sakura said, trying to avoid the question.

“It’s not one of your cheesy thoughts again is it?” Chaeyeon questioned, suspicious.

Sakura froze as Chaeyeon hit the nail on the head.

“I knew it.” Chaeyeon said with just one look at Sakura’s face.

“Come on, let’s hear it.” Chaeyeon added with a defeated sigh.

Sakura smiled as she let go of Chaeyeon’s hand and embraced her.

“This reminds me of us in a way.”

“Huh?” Chaeyeon replied, confused.

“Spring always comes after Winter, right?”

“Mmhmm....”

“But today, Winter decided to surprise Spring. The same way you, who was born in Winter, suddenly came into my life and met me, who was born in Spring. Now look at us. We compliment each other so well.”

“Wow~” Chaeyeon replied, her expression blank and unimpressed as she broke from Sakura’s embrace.

“Too cheesy?” Sakura asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

“Mmhmm.” 

Chaeyeon looked at Sakura for a while before cracking a smile. She let out a little giggle before ignoring Sakura and continued to walk. Sakura sighed, smacking herself on the forehead before rushing to catch up with Chaeyeon.

“Hey, wait for me.” Sakura exclaimed.

After walking for a while longer, the girls decided to take a little break. Not wanting to sit on a wet bench out in the snow, they stopped and rested under one of the small pagodas within the park. They sat on the edge by a pond and continued to admire the scenery.

“Seeing this, there’s probably a lot of amazing views out there waiting to be seen, huh?” Chaeyeon suddenly asked.

“The world is pretty big, I’m pretty sure there are more amazing things to be seen or even discovered.” Sakura replied.

“Right? I wonder if I’ll get to see them one day.” Sakura heard Chaeyeon say in a hushed tone. 

Sakura stared at Chaeyeon as she continued to look around her in awe. Unconsciously, a smile began to form on her face.

“Chaeyeon-ah?” Sakura called softly.

“Hmm?” Chaeyeon answered, turning her attention towards Sakura.

“You know how I promised you that I’d take you to go see a night sky full of stars one day, right?”

“Eung.”

“Let’s do more than that. Let’s travel the world together. See things we’ve never seen before. Experience more amazing things together like we are doing now. Maybe even see things that no one has seen before.”

Chaeyeon’s jaw dropped as she looked at Sakura.

“Won’t you be busy once you become a doctor though?” Chaeyeon asked.

“Yea, but that’s just minor details. You’re more important to me. I told you already. I will always make time for you. I want to see the world with you. In fact, everything in my life, I just want it all to do with you, and only you.”

Chaeyeon covered as tears began to well in her eyes. Sakura didn’t realize right away either, but tears were also b her eyes.

“You really mean it?” Chaeyeon asked.

“Of course. There’s no one I want to spend my life with more than you.” Sakura replied as she wiped away Chaeyeon’s tears and gently pursed her lips on Chaeyeon’s lips.

“Will you accompany me?” Sakura added as she pulled away.

Chaeyeon stared at Sakura as she quietly nodded her head.

After sitting for a while longer in each other’s embraces, the two decided it was time to go home. They began to walk back home, but after taking a few steps, Chaeyeon suddenly stopped.

“Chaeyeon?” Sakura called as she turned to look at Chaeyeon.

Chaeyeon’s eyes were closed all of a sudden, and her body was swaying, as if she was trying to find her balance. It also seemed like she was also trying to say something, but nothing was coming out of . Sakura felt the grip on her hand tighten for a brief moment before going limp.

“Chaeyeon!” Sakura yelled as Chaeyeon fell to the ground, unconscious.

•~•

“Don’t worry Kkura-ya. The doctors said her blood sugar was just a little low. That’s probably why she fainted. There was nothing else out of the ordinary though. She’s hooked up to an IV right now and I brought some congee for her to eat too once she’s feeling a little better.” Hyewon said, reassuring Sakura that Chaeyeon was fine.

After Chaeyeon fainted, Sakura immediately called Hyewon in a panic. Thankfully, Hyewon was in the area and they were close to the university's hospital so they were able to get Chaeyeon help quickly. 

“Do you want me to stay with her and take her back to her dorm later instead of you? You don’t look so good.” She added as she noticed how pale Sakura looked.

“I’m fine. I was just a little shocked over the incident. I’ll be okay after sitting down for a while. Plus, I want her to stay with me tonight. Not that I don’t trust you taking care of her or anything. I’ll just feel much more at ease watching over her myself.” Sakura replied.

“I won’t take it personally. I know you trust me. I’ll have my phone on me at all times. Just let me know if something comes up or if you need me to bring you guys anything.” Hyewon replied with a gentle pat on Sakura’s shoulder.

“Thanks Kang-chan.”

“Don’t mention it. Just make sure you’re doing okay too. If you’re not doing well, how do you expect to take care of Chaeyeon? I don’t need two of my friends to be sick at once. Especially you since your presentation is coming up soon. You know how Chaeyeon will feel if something bad happens to you right now. ”

“I know. Thanks for looking out for me. I’ll make sure I’m healthy and I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

After thanking Hyewon again and seeing her off, Sakura returned to the room Chaeyeon was resting in. Sakura was still a little shaken up, but as Hyewon assured her, there was nothing to worry about anymore. Chaeyeon should be doing fine now that she’s resting. Calming her nerves, Sakura took a deep breath in before she slid the door open. As she entered the room, she saw that Chaeyeon had woken up already and was sitting up. Sakura quickly rushed over to Chaeyeon’s side to check up on her.

“Are you doing okay? Are you alright to be sitting up already? You should keep lying down.” Sakura said as she grabbed Chaeyeon’s hand, gripping them tight.

“I’m fine. I’m feeling a lot better now.” Chaeyeon reassured Sakura as she gave her hand a little squeeze.

“I must’ve given you quite a scare earlier, huh?” Chaeyeon added with a gentle smile.

“Babo-ya” Sakura whimpered as she brought Chaeyeon’s hands to her cheek.

“Sorry for making you worried. I guess I should have eaten something before meeting up with you.”

“Why didn’t you eat any breakfast?”

“I wasn’t feeling hungry.”

“Even if you weren’t, you need to at least eat something light.” Sakura scolded.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do that next time.”

Even though Chaeyeon told Sakura she’d be more mindful, Sakura was still worried. It must’ve been really apparent since Chaeyeon seemed to have caught on.

“Why are you still looking at me like that? I said I was sorry, didn’t I?” Chaeyeon asked as she gently Sakura’s cheek.

“I haven’t said anything lately because I didn’t want to assume anything, but you’ve been eating properly right?” Sakura asked after hesitating for a moment.

“Yea… why?”

“Well, for one, you didn’t eat breakfast this morning, and two, you’ve lost quite a bit of weight recently. It’s not good to be losing this much weight in such a short time, you know. That’s probably why you fainted in the first place.”

“I know, don’t worry Saku-chan. I swear today was the only day I skipped breakfast and this was the first time I passed out. I’m just on a slight diet, that’s why I’m a little thinner. It could also be due to some stress. It’s normal.”

“But it’s not normal for a person to faint so suddenly. Why are you even on a diet anyway?” Sakura asked, slightly agitated.

“For you. You’re so thin already. I have to look good standing next to you too.” Chaeyeon replied with a slight pout.

“Well you don’t need to do that. You’re already mine, so you don’t need to impress anyone else. I don’t want you to have to diet for me either. You looked beautiful before, so stop dieting, okay?”

“Okay~.”

Chaeyeon’s expression saddened right after Sakura’s reprimanding so Sakura felt a little guilty. Especially right as she woke up. Sakura understood Chaeyeon was just doing it for her, but she didn’t want Chaeyeon to ever put her health in jeopardy for her. Sakura sighed as she got up and sat on the bed with Chaeyeon. 

“When we get ho