HyeSoo had been awake the entire time, feeling the warmth of MinWoo’s body against her own slowly growing colder skin. She had wanted to respond, but she couldn’t. Her eyes wouldn’t stay open, her body could barely move. She felt the familiar yet terrifying pull of eternal sleep once again, but like before, she pushed it away. She still had some things to do.

Using some of the last bit of her strength, she slid out of MinWoo’s arms and scrawled messily onto a piece of paper that she’d saved underneath her pillow. Solemnly, she acknowledged that she wasn’t sure she would even hold out until morning. She had one thing she desperately needed to say to him, but with a heavy heart she knew it was something she’d never be able to say to him out loud. It hurt too much.

Half hoping that he would never find the note and would never read her urging words, HyeSoo set the paper where she’d lain before and then began making her way to the exit of her room. One down, one to go.

Soon, her small reserve of energy had run out, and HyeSoo found herself half-crawling, half-dragging herself across the floor.

----

The nurse himself wasn't sure why he continued to stand there outside her room. MinWoo half hoped that the wimpy boy would come out of the room rejected and dropped, but no matter how long he waited, once the high schooler had entered with the movie, he didn't come out.

When three or four in the morning came, MinWoo assumed that the two had fallen asleep or decided to spend the night together. At the thought of the two curling up together in her hospital bed, a small rage ignited deep within him. It had never really sunk in that the two were a couple, skins hip was to be expected, so for a moment, MinWoo had a half a mind to rush in there and drag the scrawny kid away from her. 

Having been tormenting himself inwardly about the couple, MinWoo thought he was imagining things when a weak voice called his name from the other side of the door. He continued to contemplate the closeness of his patient and her boyfriend until he heard his name again. This time, the door creaked open slightly, revealing a practically crawling HyeSoo peeking around the frame.

Immediately upon seeing her face, MinWoo's stomach churned and his heart squeezed. She looked like she was on the brink. He wasn't even sure how she'd managed to drag herself to the doorway in her condition. "Can you take me to the hospital gardens?" the meek smile she gave him as good as ripped his heart out then and there. "In all the time I've been here, we never did get to visit."

Within what seemed seconds, MinWoo had fetched a wheelchair and was setting the sickly girl in the seat. "Are you sure?" he finally questioned when they approached the gardens. 

HyeSoo gave a weak laugh and retorted, "A little late to turn back now, isn't it? Yes, I'm sure."

HyeSoo was pleasantly surprised when they entered the garden. MinWoo rolled her straight to the center, a cobblestone clearing with an open view of the moon. The two sat and watched the distant satellite and the surrounding stars. Only the crickets could be heard until HyeSoo spoke softly, “I know I’m going to die.”

Those words caught MinWoo by surprise. If anything, he certainly wasn’t expecting that line to come out of HyeSoo’s mouth. He stared at her, flabbergasted. MinWoo dropped to his knees to look her in the eyes, “HyeSoo... I’m so sorry.. I’m sorry I kept it a secret..”

HyeSoo narrowed her eyes at him, “You’re not sorry you kept it a secret; you’re sorry you got caught. You would’ve never told me.” At his bewildered, guilty face, she laughed raspily, “But it’s okay. I know you only meant well. MinWoo told me it all. You’ve been taking care of me. I had guessed it before- but it really has been you feeding me, caring for me. Why else would I be staying in a room like that?” She feebly his terrified face. “I should have another couple of weeks, right? Well, I would if I held on.”

MinWoo took her hand in his and held it in place, his eyes suddenly flooded with tears. “What are you trying to say? If you held on? You’re still here, what if some miracle happens?” He knew the words were empty, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept the event that he’d been aware of this entire time.

“I can feel it pulling on me,” HyeSoo met his gaze, an expression of longing mixed with sadness plastered on her face. “I’m ready.”

“What? No!” MinWoo’s grip on her hand tightened. “You’re not going to die.” With those words, MinWoo realized just how attached he’d grown to her. He sounded just like MinWoo had sounded when he’d heard about HyeSoo’s condition. Why was he speaking the same lines as her boyfriend? The jealousy, the happiness, the growing fear that he’d been feeling... did they really mean that he’d fallen in love with someone that he knew was going to die?

HyeSoo’s eyes narrowed again, this time in a smile, “Thank you for always being such a good friend. You’re so talented, you’re going to help so many people one day.”

Suddenly, MinWoo was the only force holding HyeSoo’s arm up. He stared at her with wide eyes, tears streaming without so much as a blink. His mouth hung open, void of any sounds. That was it? She was gone? Why did she have to leave so soon? Why did she give up? He still had so much to say! Frantically, he checked her pulse- albeit faintly, it was there.

His body acted on its own- he was running through the garden, HyeSoo’s limp body rolling in front of him. He was at the front desk begging that they save her, shouting and being dragged away when they told him that she was “in no way” associated with this hospital anymore. Watching her body sit in the lobby, cruelly forgotten and rejected-- dying. Sitting, his face in his hands, in HyeSoo's room, suddenly hating the hospital and his powerlessness passionately.

----

Only a couple of hours later, the sun had risen and was shining brightly through the small, high window in the storage room that HyeSoo had called home for the last few months of her life. The sun's rays befell MinWoo's face perfectly, waking him. Almost instantly, he felt a chilling absence at his side. Glancing at the place where HyeSoo should have been, he only saw a small piece of paper decorated with handwriting he would recognize anywhere- no matter how sloppily it was written. Before he could read it, a familiar voice spoke, "The hospital didn't want anyone to look into her because I've been keeping her here. It would have been a potential threat to their perfect record. They wouldn't treat her." The high schooler found MinWoo's body crumpled in the corner. The older man hit the wall, "Those bastards."

MinWoo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was the nurse implying..? "No.." his mind was sent whirling. "Where is she? Are you sure she's not just-"

"Give it up, kid." There was a deafening silence. "She's gone."

MinWoo slumped back in the bed, defeated. Why now? Why was she taken before he could tell her everything properly?

"Her father has her body. He's preparing for the funeral. He had me stay here to break the news."

The younger boy said nothing in response as his tears flowed. The nurse let him be- the silence in the room only broken by the sound of labored breathing from the two crying men.