[October 2008]

[Author POV]

“Oppa, where are you going?”

Daesung smiles as he hides a red rose behind his back. “I need to run some errands.”

The girl pouts. “More business?”

“Neh.” Daesung lies. “I have to set up another meeting.”

“When are we going to have more alone time?” The girl asks, walking up to Daesung. She places her hands on his chest and smiles up at him.

“Soon.” Daesung replies, trying to keep himself from shaking at the lies.

“Promise?” The girl asks, giving him a look nobody can resist.

“I promise you, Jiyoung.”

“Good.” Jiyoung smiles brightly. She stands on her toes and pecks Daesung on the lips. Daesung grips the stem of the rose tightly as he kisses her back. Daesung later pulls away and bids goodbye. He leaves Jiyoung’s house and gets in his car. He looks at the rose in his hand. Kind of bended, but the rose was still perfect. He carefully sets it down on the passenger seat and drives off to the hospital.

~O~O~

“When are you going to open your eyes?” Daesung wonders out loud as he caresses Mi Sun’s cheek. As expected, there was no response. The boy sighs and pulls out the comb on the table. He starts combing her long, brown hair.

Daesung still visits Mi Sun. Sadly it isn’t daily as it used to be. Since he agreed to follow through his parent’s plans for him, he hasn’t had enough time for Mi Sun. He was lucky he was able to go to the store every few months. He only sees Mi Sun once a month now.

Daesung’s parents know how smart their son is, and they sure aren’t letting it go to waste. Since Daesung is 19 now, he’ll be finishing up school early. Then he’ll run his parent’s company. To add more to the “successful future”, his parents set him up for an arranged marriage. For this, Daesung refused at first. But his parent’s threatened him about not seeing Mi Sun anymore, so Daesung had nothing else but to accept the marriage. Pitying their son, Daesung’s parents won’t let the arranged marriage start until Daesung was 21 years old.

Who was Daesung arranged to marry? Kang Jiyoung. Kang Jiyoung is pretty, smart, outgoing, and fun to be with, Daesung admits. But he sees her as nothing more than a sister. Jiyoung is head over heels with him already, and Daesung doesn’t have to heart to let her down.

With another heavy sigh, Daesung sets the comb back down and fixes up Mi Sun’s bed.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been visiting like I used to.” He murmurs softly, as if he’s talking to her. Daesung pats her pillow a couple of times to get it to soften. “You know my parents and their plans. I’ve been so busy.” He continues to talk, busying himself with fixing her bed up. He moves chunks of her hair away from Mi Sun’s face. He plops back down on the chair, resting his arms on the bed.

“Mianhae, Mi Sun.” Daesung says, his voice suddenly getting hoarse. Tears sting his eyes. “I feel so guilty. I don’t want to lead Jiyoung on like this, but I have to do this for my parents. But… I don’t like this feeling. It feels like I’m cheating on you. Please, open your eyes. I miss you so much.” His voice cracks.

Daesung bows his head on his arms as tears escape his eyes. It’s always like this. Whenever Daesung would visit, he would shed a few tears and talk about his life. It’s as if he’s keeping Mi Sun up to date. Daesung doesn’t give up. Each visit, he would pray and beg for her to open her eyes. No prayer had been answered and no beg had been heard.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Daesung sniffs and squeezes his eyes shut. Not now, please, Daesung pleads. But still, no beg has been heard. The beeping continues. Daesung opens his swollen eyes and fishes his phone out. A sigh escapes his lips. He has a meeting to go to in 15 minutes. He tucks his phone away and gently grabs Mi Sun’s hand. He rubs her hand back and forth, warming it up.

“I’m sorry, Mi Sun. I… I have to leave you now.” Daesung mumbles as he presses his lips on her forehead softly. “Please, open your eyes soon.”

Daesung places the red rose into one of the vases and heads for the door. With one last glance, he walks out of the room where his whole heart surrounds that one girl who was still in the dark…

~O~O~

[Mi Sun POV]

I’m a little closer to the surface now.

I weakly smile from the progress I’ve done. Even if it is tiring me, I managed to keep a strong mind. I keep hearing this voice, a deep husky voice. That voice is what gives me strength to fight through these dark waters. I lost a lot of my air supply though. I think it was still worth it.

As long as I get to hear that voice, I’ll be okay. I don’t know who that voice belongs to, but it became my comfort, my strength. I fall in love with it. It’s like music to my ears. I wonder how long I’ve been underwater, how long it’ll take for me to finally reach the surface…

"Mianhae, Mi Sun.”

Hmm?

A light bulb switches on in my head. I smile another weak smile. It’s that lovely voice again…

“I feel so guilty. I don’t want to lead Jiyoung on like this, but I have to do this for my parents. But… I don’t like this feeling. It feels like I’m cheating on you. Please, open your eyes. I miss you so much.”

What? Who’s Jiyoung? Cheating on me?

The thing about this voice is that it says weird things. I have absolutely no idea what that voice is talking about. Sometimes I think that voice is talking to the wrong person. I wonder what that voice means about opening my eyes. I mean, aren’t my eyes open right now? I always wonder who the owner of this voice is. I would wonder what that person looks like. Though, I wonder how can this person miss me if I don’t even know them.

“I’m sorry, Mi Sun. I… I have to leave you now.”

I feel my shoulders slump. Does the voice have to leave now?

“Please, open your eyes soon.”

I find myself nodding. I don’t know what the voice means, but I’ll try my best to figure it out. I look up. The surface still seems far. I start to move against the dark waters again.

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A/N: Just another reminder to pay attention to the dates in the [brackets] 

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