Eyes suddenly fluttering open, Jieun found herself staring at the ceiling, yet surprisingly with nothing much on her mind. For the first time, she felt immensely light and free. Her illness didn't tie her down, nor did she feel that anything else could go wrong.

Not for now, at least.

With that thought, she breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and eventually went back to sleep.

Luhan fiddled nervously with his thumbs as he stood outside her ward together with her parents who had made an early return to Korea. They were obviously more than well-informed, and Mr Nam patted him on the shoulder.

"Young man, you look like you're the one with the illness right now." He gave a low chuckle, and Mrs Nam couldn't help but sigh at his optimism.

"I'm not sure how she'll take the news, she's not as strong as she looks sometimes -"

"I'm planning to get treated without letting her know. She doesn't see much of me anyway, she won't notice. I'll be well and up again faster than she realizes. She won't know, and I hope you won't tell her." There was a hint of sadness and guilt in his voice, and Luhan was at a loss of words to make him feel better. Nothing would make the situation better anyway - not if a miracle happened.

"I'll trust you to take care of our Jieun, just like how you've always done so," Mr Nam looked at Luhan squarely in the eyes, "As a father, I'm leaving her in your hands because I believe in you, so be a man and do what a man should do. And that's what I believe is the best a father can do under such circumstances."

"Yes Mr Nam." Luhan quietly whispered, and the three of them stood silently as nurses walked up and down the corridor, leaving them in their own little world. Finally, Mrs Nam broke the silence.

"I would have murdered Jieun had she been dating anyone else at this age, but you give me enough reason to do otherwise."

"Thank you for having faith in me," Luhan smiled, "I won't disappoint both of you."

"Jieun?"

"Mmm?"

She looked over at Jonghwan, who was reading a book that she had lent him. 

"Don't you ever wonder why the people in these books hardly go through tough times, but when they do, they always end up with happy endings?"

"Because the readers probably don't want a sad ending?"

"But wouldn't they want to read something more realistic? Think about it - no one's life is all rainbows and unicorns, and the biggest problem in life is not about being rejected by a crush. I have no idea why some people think it's the end of the world when minor things like that happen. There are more things that crush and destroy lives...it disturbs me, Jieun. It really does."

The melancholy in his voice was hard to ignore, and Jieun saw the anger burning in his eyes. She empthatized - how often was it that people shot them sympathetic looks, yet lamented over the smallest, least significant stuff in their lives as though they were the end of the world? 

"Because people enjoy deluding themselves, that's why." 

Having lost all appetite, Jieun pulled the sheets over herself and tried to go to sleep, knowing that it was the only way to keep negative thoughts temporarily out of her head.

"She's still asleep?"

Luhan pointed to the lump under the sheets and the untouched food, and Jonghwan pursed his lips. 

"Technically speaking, she went back to sleep."

Shaking his head, Luhan placed a basket of fruits on the table and handed an apple to Jonghwan, who gently refused it. "I don't like apples, maybe that's why I'm here in the hospital." Seeing Luhan's confused look, he added, "You know, they always say 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'?"

"Oh, right."

"You seem really distracted today. Not that you weren't spacing out last time but you seem to have a lot more on your mind this time round."

"Everything's a mess right now but I have no power to straighten everything out, and the only thing I can do is wait it out. I guess that frustrates me because I'm the kind of guy who likes to settle everything straight out and not leave things there to sort themselves out." Luhan shrugged, and took his Rubik's cube out. "Want to have a shot at it?"

Jonghwan laughed and shook his head. "No way, I can't solve that thing for nuts."

"You must be kidding, how is it that everyone doesn't know how to solve it?!" Luhan frowned, and deftly worked his way towards a perfect cube under Jonghwan's watchful gaze. 

"Because not everyone wants their life to be perfect."

Giving a wistful smile, Jonghwan pointed at the cube, "See how you're so eager and keen to solve it? You can't stand things being in a mess, yet things just had to be in a mess. You may be able to solve one type of mess, but not another. Learn to take things easy and in your stride. Not everything has to be perfect, and not every imperfection is bad."

Luhan looked at the perfectly arranged cube in his hand, and then back at the lump hiding in bed sheets.

"The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed." - Eminem