Previously…

Jinyoung took Mi Young to the hospital garden and gave her white day candies, which led her to start crying again.

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You kept your head on Jinyoung’s shoulder as you continued to cry silently.

Jinyoung didn’t say a word. He just stayed quiet and hugged the shaking you closer to himself.

After a few minutes, you slowly started to calm down but you kept your head in his shoulder.

You didn’t want him to leave. You just wanted him to be with you for the whole time. You wanted to stay by him while you had time.

“Jinyoung?” you called, your head still on his shoulder.

“What?” he held your hand in his.

“What would you do if I… leave?” you asked.

“Who said you’d leave me? You promised, so you’re not going anywhere,” he squeezed your hand.

“What if… I can’t keep my promise?” you asked.

“Um… it’s getting cold out here, let’s go inside,” said Jinyoung, trying to change the subject.

He then got up and helped you sit on your wheelchair.

He took you inside your room and placed you on your bed.

 “Time is up. Visit time is over sir,” Luhan announced after stepping inside the room.

With that, jinyoung planted a soft kiss on your forehead and gazed into your eyes for a few seconds.

“I’ll come back tomorrow as well,” he smiled reassuringly.

“D-don’t leave!” you almost whispered.

“I would stay if I could… but I have to go...” he hung his head low and let go of your hand.

“See you tomorrow…” he said and left the room without a word.

You just sighed and lay down on your bed.

“Had fun with your boyfriend?” Luhan asked as he took the special hat off your head and placed it in the special bag.

“Yeah…” you nodded slowly.

“I envy you… you’re so lucky,” said Luhan.

“Why?” you raised a brow at him.

“When I was at the hospital, not many people came to visit me; actually, my sister was the only one who came,” he gave you a smile like that of a lost kid.

“At least you gained back your health,” you said.

“Don’t worry, you will too,” he smiled and patted your shoulder gently.

“Your surgery is next week…” he informed.

“Yeah, I know,” you said and lay back down.

“It’s on my nineteenth birthday,” you faked a smile.

Luhan dropped the medicine bottle from his hand; however, it didn’t break.

“Oh… um… sorry,” he said and lifted up the bottle.

He then helped you take your medicine and changed the bandages on your palms.

After helping you eat your dinner, he set the room temperature on a suitable degree.

“Call me if you needed anything… and sleep well,” He said and left the room.

After putting the flower Jinyoung gave you in a flower vase, you placed it on the table next to the bed and lay back down on your bed.

After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, you touched the necklace around your neck. You softly stoked the camera charm attached to it and sighed.

After a while, you finally fell asleep.

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A few days had passed and there was only one day left to the surgery.

You slowly opened your eyes to see a lady standing by your bed.

“M-mommy, is that you?” you asked, happier than ever.

You blinked your eyes repeatedly, trying to clear up your vision.

“Yes my little baby, it’s me,” your mom came and gave you a tight hug.

“I missed you…” you whispered through the hug.

“Me too, my dear,” she said and pulled away.

“Why didn’t you come earlier?” you asked.

“I’m sorry dear, I just couldn’t. We were going through a hard time back in Turkey. We were about to go bankrupt… I'm really sorry,” she said and your cheek.

“No need to be sorry, I understand…” you said with a smile.

“Where’s dad?” you asked all of a sudden, looking around the room.

“He’ll be here soon,” she said.

You two chatted for a while until your dad finally came.

“Daddy!” you shouted and tried to get up but fell back on your bed.

“Don’t use too much energy, it’s ok… no need to get up,” your dad said with a shaky smile.

He then came over to your side and pulled you into his embrace.

“I missed you my little kiddo,” he said and hugged you tighter.

He sighed deeply. It was hard for him to see his strong daughter so weak and helpless, so fragile.

The little kid, he used to read bed time stories to, had grown up now.

 “I didn’t think you would come!” you said after he pulled away.

“How can we not come? We’re your parents!” your dad said.

“My little kiddo… I’m proud of you…” your father said, trying to hold back his tears.

“W-what? Why?” you asked, startled. This was what you wanted to hear from him for almost all your life.

Since you were a kid, Ilwoo used to be a genius who was always a top student in his class. He often helped your dad with his work and was an obedient son.

You on the other hand, were the naughtiest of them all. You were too stubborn and noisy. You wasted your time on playing football with the kids in the neighborhood rather than studying and getting good marks.

You often overheard your dad telling Ilwoo stuff like: “that’s my boy”, “you’re exactly like your father”, “good job”, “I'm proud of you”.

No matter how much you tried to ignore the feeling, you still couldn’t. You envied Ilwoo because of all the attention he used to get from your father. The attention you would only get in your dreams.

You thought that your dad didn’t love you as much as he loved Ilwoo because he never said anything like that to you.

“I said I’m proud of you…” your dad said again with a shaky smile.

“W-why? What did I do that makes you proud of me?” you asked.

“You stayed strong. It’s a really hard thing to do in your situation… but you did it no matter how hard it would be,” he explained. He obviously didn’t know how many times you tried to be strong but failed. He didn’t know you committed suicide; he didn’t know that you shaved off your hair, or about the many nights you cried yourself to sleep.  You weren’t strong, not anymore; in fact, you were becoming weaker by every passing day, both physically and mentally. However, you did not say a word; you didn’t want your dad to know about your problems. He had enough problems of his own and telling your problems to him would just add up to his grief.

You couldn’t say anything so you just hugged him.

“Thanks daddy…” you said through the hug.

After spending a few hours with your parents, it was time for your last chemotherapy session.

Luhan came and took you to the special room. Then the doctor came and the same routine went on.

When you came back to your room your parents had already left.

You sighed and made your way toward the bathroom. After a long session of throwing up, you could finally breathe.

Luhan helped you wash your face and took you out of the bathroom.

You lay down on your bed and started staring out the window.

“I wonder if I’ll ever be able to go outside without holding onto anything or anyone once again,” you sighed.

“Don’t worry, you will… soon,” Luhan said and left the room.

You turned your attention back to the window.

The sky was cloudy but you could still hear the chirping of the birds.

You were in your own dreamland, when the door suddenly flung open and five figures burst inside the room.

“Mi Young!” Sandeul called, running toward the bed.

Baro came from the other side and sat silently on the sofa, away from the bed.

“Hey Mi Young!” Gongchan came forward and you did your handshake with him with the little strength you had.

Gongchan and CNU were the only ones who were acting normal.

Baro kept quiet as he sat on the sofa, while Sandeul was bombarding you with different questions.

Jinyoung on the other hand, was busy putting the flowers they bought you in the vase Luhan gave him.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Sandeul asked, worry written all over his face.

“I’m fine Sandeul,” you said for the thirtieth time.

“Then why don’t you call me Sanduckie anymore?” he whined like a little child.

“Fine… Sanduckie,” you said with the little voice that was left for you and faked a smile.

“I still don’t get the reason why you hid this from us all this time,” said Gongchan.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you guys get worried because of no reason,” you said.

Just then, Baro stood up and stormed out of the room.

“What’s wrong with him?” you asked, your eyes locked on the door.

“I guess he still needs time to digest this,” said CNU, “he has been like this since we told him about your conditions.”

“See, this is why I didn’t wanna tell you guys,” you said and sighed.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Gongchan said and left the room.

Gongchan found Baro sitting on one of the benches near the room.

“Hyung… what’