Sungmin finally returned from the hospital after a long day of examinations. He was wandering about the house, unsure of how to approach the situation that was just recently presented to him. He noticed his younger brother walking out of his room and into the kitchen, probably for his strawberry milk.

"Hyukkie~"

Hyukjae glanced at his brother, but instead of responding, continued to walk to the kitchen. Sungmin stood there, a pout evident on his face. He followed the younger into the kitchen and as he predicted, Hyukjae stood there, gulping down the carton of strawberry milk.

"Hyukkie, if you don't stop drinking so much, you'll choke and I won't save you."

At that precise moment, Sungmin heard coughing and water splashing on the floor. He gazed at Hyukjae who was violently coughing and pounding his chest. Even though it was mean, Sungmin couldn't help but laugh at how right he was.

"AHAHA! I TOLD YOU."

Sungmin stood off to the side, hanging onto the countertop for support as he laughed out loud and continuously stumbled from time to time, unable to withhold his balance. After his coughing fit, Hyukjae brought the carton of strawberry milk back up to his lips, but this time, he slowly consumed the liquid, savoring its taste. He placed the cap back on, twisted it, and restored it back into its rightful place, the refrigerator. However, rather than walking back to his room, Hyukjae glared at his older brother and slowly made his way towards the still laughing Sungmin. Sungmin felt a cold presence near him and instantly ceased his laughter. He looked up only to find Hyukjae in front of him with a deathly glare plastered on his face.

"Hyung, it's not nice to laugh at people."

With that, Hyukjae smacked Sungmin on the head, hard, but in a playful manner, only causing the older to flinch at the pain and rub his head.

"YAH! LEE HYUKJAE!"

Hyukjae rolled his eyes at Sungmin's childish behavior, but smiled nonetheless.

"How was the doctor's?"

Sungmin, who was now pouting, peered up at his younger brother.

"Eh? Oh, it was...fine, I guess...I just wonder why I keep on slipping and falling."

"Mmm...Don't worry too much about it, hyung. As long as you don't get hurt, it won't matter how you slip and fall, neh?" 

"Neh! I'm just careless..."

Hyukjae ruffled his hyung's hair and strolled back into his room. He turned around to give Sungmin one last, reassuring smile before closing his door, leaving the older all alone in the kitchen. He sighed and concluded to going back into his room. Once inside, Sungmin shut his light pink door, only to come face-to-face with his pink filled room. He smiled contently and gladly walked over to his desk. He was about to look over his absent work when a journal, lying on his desk, caught his eye. He pulled it out from underneath all his paperwork and observed it.

It was like any other journal, only this one was pink with bunnies prancing around on the cover.

"Just keep some sort of journal or diary, neh?"

Siwon's words replayed itself in Sungmin's head. He opened up the cover and examined the pages and pages of lines within. He picked up his pink pencil and started writing his first journal entry. Before he could even write a sentence, however, a knock on his door was heard, discontinuing his movements.

"I'm coming in!"

Sungmin whirled around in his revolving chair and faced the door.

"Kangin?"

Kangin quietly opened the door and stepped inside his son's room.

"How's your wound? Does it still hurt?" Kangin asked, clearly concerned.

"Mm..only a little." Sungmin replied.

"But, I already had to miss school and it's only the beginning of the school year. Such bad luck..." He added, sighing.

Suddenly, the door opened and in came Hyukjae.

"You know, when you miss school, you're supposed to be happy, hyung."

Kangin whirled around to face his younger son.

"Oh really? Then let's push you down a hill, neh?" Kangin teased with sarcasm obviously in his tone of voice.

"Quit joking." Hyukjae disclosed, rolling his eyes. He resumed his task by sitting on the floor, next to Sungmin's bed, with papers and art supplies beside him. Feeling victorious, Kangin grinned happily and focused his attention back on Sungmin.

"Anyways, before your pabo brother rudely interrupted us, I just wanted to say that you should rest more."

"Huh?" Sungmin announced, utterly surprised by his father's previous statement.

"Even though school and studying is important, many other things are important too."

Kangin made his way over to another chair placed in the corner of the room and sat down.

"What I'm trying to suggest is, follow your heart."

"Follow your heart?"

"Well, not really follow your heart, but, how do I say this? Follow your heart."

"I see. I'll try that..."

"Neh."

Outside, Leeteuk was washing the dishes. The water was running as he cleaned the bowls and plates thoroughly with a sponge and soap. However, as he was rinsing off a plate, his movements stopped. Leeteuk was contemplating his thoughts while staring into space, the sound of water echoing in the silent house. He recollected all of the events that occurred today.

Sungmin, please be okay...

"Class, settle down. Shindong isn't here today, so as a result, homeroom will be a free period. Oh, before I forget, class presidents?" 

Sungmin, startled, immediately looked up at the sound of his position being called out.

"Have you decided on a song for the choir competition yet?"

The whole class shifted in their seats, eyes staring at Sungmin, making him uncomfortable. He glanced over at Kyuhyun, hoping that maybe, the younger could save him from this situation. However, his hopes were crushed as Kyuhyun gave him an uninterested look and awaited for his answer. Sungmin sighed and turned back around to face the professor.

"M-mianhe, not yet."

"Please decide on a song by the end of the week."

With that, the professor exited the classroom, leaving the students on their own. However, as soon as the door closed shut, Seohyun gazed over at Sungmin with a disgusted look on her face.

"Tch. Isn't Sungmin going to ever decide?" Seohyun sneered.

"B-but---"

"Anything is fine," Sunny added, the same look on her face as Seohyun's.

Sungmin groaned as he was defeated. He had already given up hope in this choir competition since he was the one planning and arranging everything. As he was about to place his head on the table, seemingly exhausted from everyone's outbursts, a voice saved him.

"Then, everyone write down a song and hand it in to me. It'll make it easier for us to decide." 

Everyone's heads turned towards the direction of the voice, and soon enough, all eyes were upon Kyuhyun. After making the announcement, however, the whole class was filled with shuffling through bags as they pulled out their song books and a pencil. Sungmin scanned the room, amazed at how easy it was for Kyuhyun to make everyone follow his directions. He glanced at Kyuhyun who gave him a smirk. Sungmin blushed and looked away, attempting to hide his face. Kyuhyun mentally chuckled at Sungmin's cute behavior. 

Cute...

Leeteuk was at work in the hospital that was not too far away from their home. He was with a patient, examining the one year-old carefully. They commenced the visual tests, the baby sitting on his mother's lap.

"Which one's the dog?" Leeteuk asked happily.

The baby pointed at the image of the said animal, causing Leeteuk to beam proudly at it.

"Neh! Good job!"

He pushed the pictures away and handed the mother some paperwork.

"Next, measurements of height and weight."

Leeteuk gestured towards a different room as his patient stood up, exiting the room. He was organizing his work station when a child, learning how to walk successfully accomplished her task, caught his attention. He was reminded of Sungmin's examination with Siwon and how difficult it was for Sungmin to walk and balance properly. Leeteuk was staring out into space until a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Leeteuk-shii! Telephone!"

Hastily, Leeteuk stood up and rushed towards the phone. Phone in hand, he hurried to the corner of the room to speak in private.

"Yeboseyo?"

"This is Dr. Choi Siwon of the Neurology Department at Seoul University Hospital. The results for Sungmin's examinations have been revealed."

"Neh..."

"Please come to the hospital at once. If possible, please bring your husband with you." 

"I-is there something....that can't be made clear over the phone......?"

"Just...come to the hospital, first. I'll wait for you."

Reluctantly, Leeteuk disconnected the call and placed the phone on the table beside him. He was speechless, unable to produce any words. He didn't understand what could be wrong with his beloved Sungmin. He was anxious, worried, but most importantly, terrified. Siwon sounded urgent and scared, causing him to also anticipate the results of the examinations.

Back in the classroom, everyone continued to search for a song they would like to sing for the choir competition, Sungmin and Kyuhyun sitting there doing nothing. Suddenly, Sungmin stood up from his chair, facing everyone in the class.

"Um...a-about the song choice for the c-choir c-competition...," He started.

"Have you already decided?" Ryeowook asked.

"N-no it's not that!" Sungmin hurriedly replied.

"Since homeroom is self-study...can we all discuss the song for the competition?"

Kyuhyun gazed at Sungmin from his seat, admiring his courage and determination at trying to get everyone to cooperate. The only problem was, he wasn't interested. Ryeowook sadly observed his best friend as all the students returned to their previous activities, ignoring Sungmin.

"This is the first time for everyone here to enter the competition," Sungmin said, confidence building up.

"How should I put this..."

"I-I think everyone should work together more."

"Where is your husband?"

Leeteuk entered Siwon's private office at Seoul University Hospital. He bowed to the doctor, displaying his respect for him.

"I came here by myself."

Siwon looked around, unsure of how to approach the situation. He looked uncertain and uneasy, but Leeteuk noticed this and quickly resolved the issue.

"Don't worry, I'm a nurse. I'll understand," Leeteuk disclosed.

"More importantly, I'm Sungmin's Umma to him...," He added.

At that statement, Siwon looked up, and closely observed Leeteuk.

"Everyone should just inform me and Kyuhyun what songs you like," Sungmin continued.

"Aish. So annoying...," Seohyun derided.

"I don't like discussions," Sunny supplemented.

Sungmin felt his confidence slowly breaking as everyone started to join into the conversation.

"The choir competition is such a waste of time," one person said.

"We don't have time to play around. We want to study for our exams coming up," another added.

"But, there's still lots of time!" Sungmin argued.

"Sungmin has spinocerebellar degeneration disease."

"S-spinocerebellar degeneration disease?"

"Although we'll perform another check-up, there's no mistake."

Leeteuk stared at Siwon, tears building up in his eyes.

"My appa owns a bread shop. Appa inherited the shop from grandpa because he didn't want to close down the bread shop." Sungmin declared. Half of the class was listening while the others were talking amongst themselves. Kyuhyun was listening carefully and intently, taking in every work Sungmin was saying.

"He worked at different unrelated jobs beforehand, however."

"First, he worked at city hall, but eventually discovered that sitting behind a desk didn't work for him. Therefore, he quit his job at city hall and moved on to other jobs. Maybe he was bored, so whatever job he worked at, it never lasted very long. Then, my appa sold handmade watches, even if they weren't very appealing to the eyes. Even picture frames and he's quite skilled in cooking."

"Where are you going with this?" A student interrupted.

"We don't really follow you," another one added.

"What I'm trying to say is, even though appa took the long way around, and his jobs proved to be useless, because he took the long way around, he decided to keep the bread shop opened. Meaning, there is nothing wrong with taking short cuts or taking the long way around. There's no need to rush. We can try a lot of different things, maybe even be a bit reckless."

"That's why the class president should decide on a song," Sunny scorned. However, this time, Seohyun turned around and issued her a look saying that now isn't the time to be saying those things.

Sungmin looked around the classroom. Ryeowook smiled happily behind his best friend while Henry beamed up at Sungmin from the front of the classroom. Kibum and Heechul nodded their heads in approval at Sungmin's determination, while Seohyun kept her eyes on Sungmin. Kyuhyun, however, was utterly moved by Sungmin's words, though his face was still expressionless.

Sungmin...where do you get all of this courage?

Why do you try so hard?

Kyuhyun sat there in silence, contemplating his thoughts and sorting out his emotions. He didn't know what was happening to him. His heart was racing as he stared at the figure of Sungmin standing there.

W-what are these feelings?

During all of this commotion, back at the bread shop, Kangin was out, getting the mail. He was looking through all of the envelopes when he saw a customer, patiently waiting for the owner's return.

"Mianhe! Mianhe!"

Kangin promptly raced back behind the counter and continued to serve the customer. He gently placed the envelopes on a table beside him. In one of the envelopes contained pictures. One in particular was lying on top of all the others.

It was the family picture that was taken on the first day of Sungmin's high school entrance ceremony. Sungmin was smiling happily while Hyukjae showed off his gummy smile. Leeteuk was hugging Sungmin tightly while Kangin's arms were around both Hyukjae and Sungmin. It was the perfect family picture.

After having served the customer, Kangin carried the envelopes back into the living room of their house and pulled out a large book from a bookshelf. It wasn't just any book, however, it was a scrapbook, filled with pictures and memories. As he opened the first page, there was a picture of Sungmin as a baby with Leeteuk holding him happily. He flipped it to the next page, showing a picture of Kangin, Leeteuk, and baby Sungmin. The pictures continued on and on until Kangin reached a blank page. He slid the picture in its rightful place and admired his work. 

The smiling faces of his family looked up at him as he was about to close the book. Kangin sat there and grinned, grateful for having such a wonderful family.

Teukie, Minnie, Hyukkie, saranghae...

"Even though the disease will progress slowly, it will tend to worsen each and every day. Even if the motor nerves are damaged, the organs will function properly. However, the thing is, Sungmin will be unable to move when he wants to move, unable to talk when he wants to talk. He needs to understand this. It's a very cruel disease." Siwon divulged. 

"I-it can be cured, r-right?" Leeteuk questioned, tears threatening to fall.

Siwon remained silent.

"I-It c-can be c-cured, r-right?" Leeteuk repeated.

Siwon looked down and sighed.

"From my knowledge, there hasn't been a single patient who was fully cured."

Leeteuk's eyes widened at the doctor's declaration. His tears that he was trying so hard to hold in finally came pouring out.

"Even if we do useless things along the way, it won't do us any harm," Sungmin pointed out.

"Because we still have a lot of time."

Kyuhyun stared at Sungmin who was standing up there, proudly as ever.

Sungmin...

"My life is like a flower that hasn't fully bloomed yet."

"From the start of this youth, I want to treasure it and have no regrets."