"Jiwoo?"

Her voice was no louder than a whisper, dry. God knew how long she had been asleep.

Jiwoo sniffles, snuggling herself into Jungeun's side even more.

"Kim Jiwoo, Jiwooming."

Jiwoo groans, pulling Jungeun's arm closer to her.

Jungeun lets out a little amused chuckle. Her head hurt a little and she was disorientated, but all that was in her mind right now was the woman in front of her, asleep while hugging Jungeun's arm tight as if it was a pillow.

Jungeun really didn't want to wake her, but she felt like she had to. was parched and the jug of water by her bed looked like it was teasing her.

That, and she was glad to see that her girlfriend was okay. The last Jungeun remembered, they were bidding goodbye to each other when she spotted a truck heading straight for Jiwoo.

"Jiwoo." Jungeun calls out softly once more, smiling adoringly. She reaches her hand up, to lightly poke her girlfriend on the cheek.

Jiwoo stirs awake then, and sits straight up, her eyes wide. Jungeun continues looking at her with a soft gaze, waiting for some sort of reaction.

And then Jiwoo slaps herself hard on the cheek.

"What the , Jiwoo?" Jungeun croaks out, before finding herself being engulfed in Jiwoo's arms.

"You're awake! You're awake! You're awake!" Jiwoo exclaims in tears.

"Yeah." Jungeun trails softly. "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, Jiwooming?"

"I'm okay, you dummy." Jiwoo replies brokenly, full out sobbing now. She lets go of Jungeun, and wipes her tears. "I'm going to call your doctor. Stay right here."

"Wait, can I have some water?"

"Of course, Jungie."

Jungeun blinks after the doctor shines a light into her eyes.

"Great. How do you feel, Ms Jungeun?"

"I feel... Fine. Nothing hurts." Jungeun said. Only then has she noticed that Jiwoo's current pink hair used to be a reddish brown. She had a terrible feeling.

The doctor holds up two fingers. "Can you tell me how many numbers I'm holding up with my fingers?"

"Two?"

"Very good. Do you know what two plus five is?"

"Seven."

The doctor nods. "Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital."

"Can you remember why?"

"I..." Jungeun looks over at her uninjured body, and then keeps her gaze on Jiwoo, who looked nervous. "We were on the way home, and a truck suddenly went towards Jiwoo. Or was that just a dream? I- I don't know... Did I faint somewhere?"

"Hey, breathe, Jungie..." Jiwoo says softly, taking a her hand.

"You are right, Jungeun ssi. Both of you were in a terrible hit-and-run accident. You almost didn't make it out." Her doctor explained gently. "You've been in a coma since November 2020. It's 28 March 2024."

Jungeun feels her soul leave her body.

"I don't feel good..."

Jiwoo silently traces circles on Jungeun's palm. They managed to coax Jungeun out from a breakdown, and Jungeun was finally breathing right again.

"Were you okay, Jiwoo? Did you get hurt from the accident?" Jungeun asks.

"I did, but I recovered fast. You protected me from most of the impact, you were in a worse state, Jungie. Please stop worrying about me."

Jungeun looked down. "I'm sorry. You waited four years."

"It was just slightly over three years." Jiwoo corrected, holding Jungeun's cheeks again at the slight crack in her girlfriend's voice. "Jungie, we've been together since we were six. Three years is nothing."

"But what if I didn't wake up?" Jungeun sputters tearfully. "Jiwoo, you shouldn't..."

"Hey, breathe..."

Jiwoo crawls in next to her on the bed and holds Jungeun close. Jungeun was slightly taller, but she had gotten considerably smaller after only getting her nutrients through a tube during her coma. Jiwoo felt her heart drop at how easily her once larger girlfriend fit in her arms.

"But you woke up. You stayed so strong for me, baby." Jiwoo says. "Everyone told me I should move on and I did try to, but no one came close to you, Kim Jungeun."

Jungeun remained silent, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"Can we stay like this for a while?"

"Of course, Jungie." Jiwoo combs her fingers through Jungeun's hair, giving her a sweet peck on the forehead.

"It's going to take a while for me to get used to your hair. You look very pretty, by the way, Jiwooming."

Jungeun smiles as the tips of Jiwoo's ears turn pink, blending into her grapefruit pink hair.

"I felt bad that you couldn't dye your hair crazy colours, so I tried them for you. I thought it would make you wake up."

Jungeun laughs. "Well I guess it worked. You look good."

"Thanks." Jiwoo kisses her on the cheek. "You look very pretty with your black hair too."

"I can't tell if you're trying to make fun of me."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Jiwoo gasps offended. "It's true! You look so good with your natural hair, Jungie! Why did you constantly dye it?"

"Because you were so impressed the first time I did it." Jungeun confesses, blushing. "So I just kept doing it. You being impressed gave me confidence too."

"Jungie!" Jiwoo sighs. "I can't believe you were going to go bald one day and it's my fault..."

"Hey, I wasn't! My hair has always been healthy."

"It was just a matter of time, Jungie..."

Jungeun rolls her eyes playfully. 

They sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's presence.

"So we're adults now, and I'm three years behind the rest of the world."

"I'll help you catch up." Jiwoo says, looking into Jungeun's brown orbs. "You could be ten years behind, and I'll still be here for you."