Sunmi stared through Myungsoo, as if he wasn't there in front of her. She wasn't actually herself; she's having those hallucinations and reliving the moment that changed her life forever. It all happened here, at the same hospital, only a couple of months ago...

…

..

.

"Jung Sunmi? Dr. Hwang is ready to see you now."

A girl in her mid-twenties thanked the nurse and walked inside the room. "Sunmi-ah~ Have a seat." The kind doctor pointed to a couch and walked over to seat herself beside the girl. Dr. Hwang had been the Jung's family doctor for ten years. Usually, the family will come together twice a year to have their general check-up; for this occasion, Sunmi had talked the doctor to keep her appointment a secret.

"I'm afraid I have startling news for you." Dr. Hwang immediately stated, garnering Sunmi's attention.

"What is it, doc?" She asked worriedly, her fingers fidgeting over her bag straps.

"Your insomnia is much worse than I thought. It says here that you might actually have FFI or Fatal Familial Insomnia." The doctor flipped through the clipboard she was holding and continued, "It is a very rare autosomal dominant inherited prion disease of the brain. You've inherited it from either of your parents, or both---"

"---is--is there a cure?"

Dr. Hwang looked up and shook her head sadly. "Doctors and scientists are still doing research about the illness and know nothing yet for a cure." She laid her hand over Sunmi's, rubbing it gently. "I'm so sorry dearie. There's nothing else we could do."

Sunmi suddenly felt a huge weight on her shoulders. "How much longer am I expected to live?" She asked, swallowing the urge to cry.

The doctor glanced at her clipboard again before responding. "You have 7-18 months." She pulled Sunmi close to her, hoping that she would give her the least bit of comfort from the shocking news. "You'll be alright, Sunmi. Be strong."

Sunmi pulled herself from the doctor's embrace, nodding in understanding. She bowed low and thanked Dr. Hwang before quickly leaving the room. At least seven months to live, and my wedding only three days away! These thoughts kept repeating in her head as she exited the hospital. Reaching for her phone in her bag, she called a number on her speed dials. "Oppa, I'm at the hospital. Could you pick me up? Yes; thank you, oppa."

Sunmi sighed in relief as she ended the call, thankful that she had managed to speak to her brother calmly even though she felt like breaking down. "This. Can't. Be. Happening. To me." She breathed, covering her face with her hands, letting herself drop to a sitting position on the floor.

It wasn't long before a black BMW M6 convertible came screeching in front the hospital's driveway. Jung Jinwoon stepped out of his car, running his left hand through his brown locks while the other hand reached to shut the door. Traces of worry could be seen in his handsome profile as he jogged to the distressed Sunmi on the floor.

"Yah, what happened?!" He sputtered the words out, about to burst from curiosity.

.

.

.

That same day, Myungsoo had met with Sunmi to talk about their last minute wedding preparations. Sunmi was unusually quiet and kept spacing out during their whole date, setting a heavy atmosphere, making Myungsoo anxious. He shrugged off the awkward feeling and focused his attention to his fiancée sitting across him and spoke. "In three days, you'll finally be mine... Forever." He kissed her hand and noticed the pink diamond ring missing. "Why aren't you wearing your ring?" He inquired, smiling at Sunmi's forgetful habit.

Sunmi gazed into his eyes for the first time that night; reluctantly pulled her hand away from his grasp, took the said ring from her bag and laid it into his palm. "Oppa.. I'm s-sorry. B-but I can't m-marry you-u." She stammered, her whole body shaking. She stood up to leave, but Myungsoo held her back. "Why? At least tell me why, Sunmi." She angrily wiped her tears from her cheek and shook his hand off. "I'm really sorry."

The hallucination ended and Sunmi, on the verge of crying, bit on her quivering lip. "Sunmi. Answer me, please?" Myungsoo gritted his teeth but had asked her in a calm pleading tone. He noticed streams of tears making their way down Sunmi's pretty face; she couldn't look directly at him and angled her head at the opposite direction.

In a quick stride, Myungsoo was beside her. He hesitated whether to hug her or not. "Oppa, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Sunmi cried, pulling him in a tight embrace and buried her face in his chest. Myungsoo wrapped his arms around her in response, shocked and bewildered of Sunmi's action and tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you as promised. I'm sorry for not calling you on your birthday. I'm sorry for breaking off our wedding. I'm sorry for leaving you without explaining--I'm---" She broke down sobbing; every word that came from Sunmi's lips sent more tears streaming down her face. Myungsoo's heart ached to release Sunmi from her suffering, if he only knew how. Part of him wanted to ask the reason why she left, but something held him back. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, claiming back his once lost love.

"I missed you, oppa~" Sunmi snuggled closer, inhaling his fresh, aromatic scent.

Myungsoo didn't reply; but the way he looked at Sunmi and wiped the tears off her face was enough to make the butterflies on her stomach flutter wildly. "Would you like to tell me why you're here? The truth?"

Sunmi nodded in his arms, inhaling his scent once more before sitting up to face him. "You see oppa, I'm dy---I--ah, I'm dying." She spoke the last word in a barely audible whisper.

Myungsoo pulled away from her embrace, "You're joking right? You're perfectly healthy! How could you be dy---you know."

Sunmi lowered her head and sighed. "My insomnia's gone bad."

Myungsoo scoffed and lifted her chin up, gazing into her face for the first time in 6 months. He noticed she had dark circles under her eyes, making her look like a panda. "Sunmi-yah, what happened to you..." He whispered, rubbing his thumb across her pale, almost sunken cheeks. “I don’t know..” She whispered back, looking into his eyes.

They stayed like that for a while, lost in each other’s eyes, completely oblivious of everything around them. And for once, Sunmi didn’t feel so sick and burdened anymore; Myungsoo could finally breathe freely again, he lifted his hand and gently placed it on Sunmi’s cheek, his lips slowly parting into a smile. In other words, it was a blissful, serene moment for the both of them, till a vibrating noise broke their silence.

Myungsoo darted his hand away and plunged it in his jean pocket to fish out his phone. After pressing a few keys, he took one last glance before pocketing it away again.

“Uhm, that was my secretary. I have a couple more papers to sign.” He sighed, looking up at Sunmi’s clearly disappointed face. “I’m sorry I had to go so quickly. I’ll be visiting often.”

Sunmi’s faced immediately brightened. “Really?! I mean…” She shifted her position and lowered her eyes, mentally slapping herself for acting too obvious. “…that sounds nice. I’ll see you soon then.”

Myungsoo hid a smile and leaned over to give her hand a squeeze. “See you~”

You came. And I’m glad. At least I know I’m not forgotten. It’s all I’ve been waiting for…

~∞~

“So, what was the reason why she left?”

I brought the glass of wine to my lips and sipped generously before setting it down on the table and looked up at my friends staring at me. Tonight was boys’ night out. They would usually eat and drink, lay back and relax, letting out toxic airs from work and just have fun. But tonight’s atmosphere was very different and it gave them awkward, chilly feels.

“Well~?” Woohyun raised his eyebrow, unable to drink his wine from the suspense I was building up. This guy, really. I rolled my eyes at his impatience and my lips as I spoke. “She… She’s dying.”

I’m actually surprised I spoke the words without difficulty, only to have whispered the last word. Knowing Sunmi’s days were numbered gave me a numb, empty feeling. I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t bring myself to think that a happy, healthy girl like her could be dying of something like insomnia. Who dies of insomnia anyway? I shook my head, as to shake the thoughts away and emptied my glass.

“He’s spacing out again.” Dongwoo whispered loudly, nudging Howon, who was absentmindedly stretching the gum in his mouth. “Huh, what?”

“Aish, you are too! Never mind!”

Sungyeol shook his head disapprovingly at the two. “That’s it? Don’t take it offensively man, but in my opinion, that’s not a good reason to break an engagement.”

And there he goes with his opinions again… I was about to roll my eyes when I went through his words once more. He actually had a point. And to be honest, instead of clearing things up, it actually made it worse. “Thanks, man.” I mumbled, downing another glass.

“Hyung, slow down. The wine isn’t going anywhere.” Sungjong let out a small smile. Letting out another sigh, I sat back on my seat, rubbing my temples. “Are you planning on seeing her again?” Sunggyu asked, speaking for the first time that night. I shrugged my shoulders in reply, letting out long, deep breaths.

Would staying with her be alright? It definitely won’t help me move on but she is dying. I looked into Sunggyu hyung’s eyes, begging for help. I felt like a teenage boy going through a tough break-up; she’s the only one who could make me get out from my almost emotionless self.

…

..

.

Eight years ago…

“Yah, you! Yes, you, mister.”

I whirled around and found myself face-to-face with a girl – big-rimmed glasses, pigtails and bangs, lips curled up in a pouty manner, eyebrows meeting and her face full of determination. This was one thing I’d never forget about her, and I’ve got to admit – it’s what attracted me. “What?” I replied coldly, intimidating her with my stare.

“Uhm, can I see your hall pass?” She squeaked, looking down at her shoes for a brief moment. I showed an unmoved expression but I was puzzled on how someone can switch moods that easily – since it was quite new to me; our family full of problems has never been that expressive and I didn’t have that many friends then. After taking the pass, she thanked me by bowing and left.

We had almost similar encounters after that and soon enough, she broke down the walls I built. We dated for five years before deciding to get married. And then, three days before our wedding, she broke up with no explanations, disappearing in process. Since then, I buried myself with work and started rebuilding my walls.

My lips formed into a bitter smile as I stared at the red, swirling liquid at the glass I was holding. “Were you reminiscing?” Woohyun blurted out. “Well, hyung... Duh!” Sungjong remarked, setting the empty wine bottle aside. “That’s all for tonight! We should hit the hay, we have a busy day tomorrow I’m sure.”

I nodded good bye absent-mindedly and went inside the house, heading straight to my room. Looking under my bed, I pulled out a box and blew some of the dust off of it before lifting the flaps. I picked up the first thing I saw – the scrapbook Sunmi made during the early years of our engagement. A huge lump formed in my throat as I flipped through the pages, bringing back fresh memories to mind.

Wearing matching hanboks on Chuseok.

Riding the see-saws and swings.

Stealing Howon hyung and Jiah’s spotlight during their wedding.

Her birthday two years ago.

Christmas vacation at a tropical country.

I stopped at our pre-nuptial pictures and shut the book close, putting it inside my bag. I need to show her this soon. Reaching inside the box again, I took out the picture frame I used to put in my bed stand and cleaned it with the hem of my shirt before placing it yet again on top of the bed stand. I’m going back, no matter what happens. I’m willing to face anything.

*A/N: Creys. Updated after such a long time!

I just can't abandon this story and I'm glad I managed to slip out of my writer's block and write an update.

I'm inspired once more~ Hohoho! Enjoy! \O/