"W-What should I do? Daehyun, what should I do?" She spoke anxiously.

He wanted to snap out of his shocked state, and he tried his hardest as if it came to be a matter of life or death, but he just couldn't get over it. He couldn't process his thoughts, and the amount of times he wanted to say something encouraging but failed to even open up accumulated to the dozens.  It was the first time in his life that he'd ever felt so weak. As if he couldn't do anything.

So all that he could do at the moment was run up to the girl, engulf her in his arms, and lock her so that she'd never run away. Jieun struggled at first, but soon enough, she gave away and nuzzled herself into his chest. 

Along with soothing hush-sounds, Daehyun lightly the back of her head, feeling the soft strands of hair gently split apart into different directions as he combed through it.

"Calm down Jieun. Let's just go to the hospital to see her alright?" he said in a low, still voice, pulling away from the tight embrace.

His arms were still holding onto her small build, and now that the two were facing each other, he could really see just how fragile she looked at the moment. Her eyes. They burned with a pinkish color to them, and her lips—they quivered, and her body was shaking relentlessly.

Daehyun knew for a fact that they would never get anywhere at this rate; her feet were practically glued to the pavement. However, as he just continued to stare and star at the girl, he had this sudden urge to be her light. To guide her out of the dark that currently swallowed her as a whole, so that way she too can be part of the radiant glow she once was a part of.

He wanted to protect this girl, so he grabbed her hand and held it.

Before he knew it, Daehyun was looking through his cellphone, calling up a cab while impatiently tapping his foot, Jieun’s hand locked with his. Then he began to speak, and as he did, the grip on her hand grew even tighter.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Jieun.

I promise.”

---------------

               
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Jieun left Daehyun’s arms, running to the reception counter and asking about her mother’s whereabouts. She signaled the man to hurry up, or else she was bound to go ahead and leave without him.                

Room 314. That was where Jieun’s mother laid, and the two waited in the elevator for three long floors, and the wait seemed much longer than it should’ve been. But when they finally reached the room, Mrs. Lee was laying down in her bed, an IV pole by her side, but her appearance was better than what the two had originally imagined.

“Mom!” Jieun cried, running over to her side and kneeling against the cold tiles of the room’s flooring. Her head was lowered down, and her shoulders shook. Then, the sound of sniffling. The other two in the room didn’t directly see the tears on Jieun’s face, but they both knew they were there, nonetheless. And so they stayed in silence, just listening to the sounds of her muffled whimpers. After a long period of nothing, it was the sudden abruptness of her words that filled the room.

“I was so scared Mom. I was so, so scared. What am I supposed to do if you aren’t by my side? You’re all I have, and I can’t lose you too.”

Mrs.  Lee gave her daughter a smile, lightly rubbing her finger against the brim of her daughter’s forehead.

“I know, and I’m extremely sorry for scaring you like that. We have to thank the Lord that this wasn’t a serious accident, and don’t be worried! I’m just fine.”

Jieun got up from the floor, standing herself up, and reached over to her mother and gave a tight embrace. At that moment, Daehyun knew it was an appropriate time to give the two their space, so he quietly tiptoed his way out of the room without them noticing.

His footsteps lead to a nearby vending machine around the corner, and Daehyun took the time to order a can of coffee, then making his way to a seat. He closed his eyes, and dimly lit memories of Jieun popped inside of his head. They were images of her crying not too long ago, and it would be an image he would never forget.

Daehyun only thought of Jieun as headstrong woman, an independent girl, and definitely someone who could handle herself. But only about half an hour ago, he was the one who had to take charge and lead way to the hospital, and she had to be dependent on him. Then he remembered her breaking down and crying, and the way she cried left a sharp sting in his heart at the moment. Daehyun cared, and he knew he did, and he could also tell that Jieun did have her vulnerable moments. And when she does, she would need someone’s support.

After quite some time, Daehyun woke up to the feeling of soft tapping on the right of his shoulder. He didn’t remember ever knocking out and falling asleep, but he ultimately assumed that it just resulted from waiting too long. Although, that was probably his fault too, since the coffee did make him super tired.

When opening his eyes, he thought it would be Jieun in front of him, or perhaps a nurse notifying that it would soon be closing hours, but never did he ever think that it would be Mrs. Lee standing in front of him with an IV pole in her hand. Seeing her so close to him, he jumped in surprise.

“Mrs. Lee! You should be in bed right now? What are you doing up? And where’s Jieun?” Daehyun started, and he continued to ask so many questions at once that Mrs. Lee had to rub her forehead, feeling a tad bit dizzy.

“Jieun’s fine, she’s sleeping on one of the couches in the room. And you’re Daehyun, correct? I remember you eating at our house a few times before. You’re welcome to visit anytime you want, if that’s alright with you. It's the least I can do for you, being such a good friend of Jieun's at all. I don't know much about her school life, but I know for a fact that she usually doesn't have company around, so I'm glad you're here."

The way Jieun's mother spoke at that moment was just so utterly sincere, and it only proved to leave Daehyun guilty. He pondered over to himself, the following questions causing a great conflict in his mind: was he a friend to Jieun? Could he even consider himself a friend in the first place? His whole life, all Daehyun ever considered the girl as was a threat. An enemy. Somebody he had to achieve, and a wall he had to break down and get past. Was she a threat to him? Yes. But was she a friend? Daehyun knew the answer was supposed to be a 'no', but he couldn't quite bring his self to say so.

It was only when she left that he brought himself to answer. To say something. Anything at all.

"No. I'm not. I'm not her friend."

Daehyun waited a bit more before deciding to leave. He wanted to stay even a little longer, just to keep Jieun and her mother company, or more so just to keep his mind well and in peace. By the time the sky turned from light baby blues to warm pink hues and setting purples, he knew that it was time to leave.

"I'll be on my way now Jieun," he said, leaving the girl a sign of notice, "Are you staying here for the night? I can take you home if you want."

She shook her head, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm staying her for the night."

"Oh."

And after, a few seconds of silence which was killing him, so he decided to speak up again.

"Well, I must be on my-"

"Daehyun?" Jieun spoke abruptly.

"Yeah?"

"Well," she began, scratching the back of her head, "it's just that you've helped me so much, and I doubt I could've done anything if you weren't there beside me. So... thank you. I truly mean it."

And while she smiled at him with a light tint of pink to hover over her cheeks, Daehyun's were fuming with bright pastels of red. He couldn't quite control himself for the moment, and it was almost as if he forgot to breath. All he could focus on was the fastly-paced beat of his heart, and how it wouldn't calm no matter how much he opted for it to.

It was a feeling which occured to him already. One which he knew for quite a while, but never had the guts to admit. But no matter how hard Daehyun tried, it was also one which he just could never dismiss.

He was in love.

And Jieun was the one who had stolen his heart.

Things are going to drift kind of differently from the actual storyline from now on, so bear that in mind while I update the upcoming chapters. Sorry for the super late update, but I'm sure you guys are used to it since I'm always this slow. OTL. Oh, and if you've noticed already, the main poster for this story isn't here anymore. That's because I'm planning on remaking it so keep a look out when that gets updated!

And if you haven't found out about it yet, for those of you Depression Clock lovers and JongU stans, I made a new JongU short-fic for this one contest I'm entering. I'd appreciate all the support I could get, especially since I'm cramming for it to get done by the end of this month! Expect quicker updates. LOL. When that gets done, I'm going to be focusing entirely on the KaiU story I started this summer!

Thoughts Unchanged