It was a Saturday with no schedules planned ahead, so the young couple slept in, rewarding themselves after a long difficult week at university. Around late morning, Myungsoo was the first to wake up, and he took his sweet time to wash his face as well as take a bath. When he was finally done, he put on his clothes and pulled a small towel to dry his hair. He exited the toilet to see Ji Kyung squirming in the bed, and she was now facing him with her eyes closed. He closed in the distance and observed her features attentively while sitting on the edge of the bed. His heart softened, and once again, he felt guilty for making her go through all the heartbreak and sufferings. A whisper of apology escaped his mouth in no time.

She heard a faint “Sorry” from a male’s voice. Her eyebrows were knitted together in an attempt to open her eyes. When she does, she realized her body was warmer than usual, and she did not feel refreshed even after a good night sleep. Cold sweat filled her forehead, and she looked at Myungsoo with a weak smile.

“Morning...”

“Are you alright?” The male asked with concern after noticing her croaky voice.

She breathed heavily in a slow rhythm, then continued to gaze at him and shook her head gently. He followed up with his palm on her forehead, and narrowed his eyes when he felt the heat.

Myungsoo caressed her hair and said, “You must have caught the flu. I’ll go get some medicine for you.”

He got off the bed as soon as he could and headed towards the kitchen to search for paracetamol without hesitation. Feeling utterly lethargic, she couldn’t wait for the medicine to come before she fell into another deep slumber again.

When Myungsoo returned to the room with the medicine and a glass of warm water, he almost stumbled and fall due to the presence of an additional figure in the room. He was back again, after a week or so. He sat beside Ji Kyung on the bed, carefully touching the strands of her hair and watching her sleep. Myungsoo walked over and placed the things on his hands onto the bed table, then stared at the intruder with an unwelcoming look. Byunghun casually return a glance at him, then asked,

She caught a fever?

Myungsoo heaved a sigh and nodded. Since his beloved was sick, he too, didn’t feel the mood to squabble with the third person.

Poor thing... I hope you’ll get better soon, silly girl.

The living male felt his heart aching when he listened to the other’s affectionate voice and his way of addressing Ji Kyung. Jealousy was getting on his mind, but he tried to keep it in and loosen his tightened fist. “Not today.” He thought to himself.

“Hey, Lee Byunghun... Mind telling me how’d you die?”

Wow, that’s rare. Why do you wanna know?

“You’re Ji Kyung’s dead boyfriend, aren’t you?”

Myungsoo asked, and his statement was confirmed with a nod from the other male.

So she told you everything about me already? That was unexpected. Alright then, I shall tell you how I died...

---

After learning the tragic death of Lee Byunghun, Myungsoo couldn’t help but sympathize with their regretful love story. He began to think about how unfair was it for them to be separated this way, but again, he concluded that it was his fate after all, and there was nothing that could change the current situation.

Leaving behind the sympathy, he still stood firm with his standpoint that it was unfair for Ji Kyung to see him as Byunghun’s replacement. But he started to understand her a little better now, especially after recalling all the times where she would cry in her sleep in the middle of the night and stared into space during certain days. His girl was probably traumatized, she was grieving alone by herself and she actually needed help to get over the incident. Just when he was still caught up in his own thoughts, the said girl stretched her arms and blinked open her eyes slowly.

“You’re awake? Come, take some medicine.”

Snapped back into his current surroundings, he went over to her side and supported her to sit up. He fed her the medicine and gave her the glass of water, then noticed that she looked slightly better after the nap.

“Myungsoo... Can I go for a walk?”

She requested out of the blue after drinking the water and swallowed the medicine. Her voice was still croaky, so the guy got worried once more.

“I think we should see a doctor instead for your sore throat.”

She nodded to his suggestion, but still insisted to go somewhere after the visit to the doctor’s. Defeated by her earnest plea, he promised her that they will proceed with the plan as she suggested. As for now, he offered to give her a piggyback ride to the bus station, so she happily jumped on the offer and got onto his back. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered a ‘thank you’ into his ears. He smiled.

When they were done at the nearest clinic, they got on a taxi to go to the place Ji Kyung had been talking about, and Myungsoo took the opportunity to ask her about the occasion. Ji Kyung’s lips curled up softly, but she only gave him a reply that confused him even more.

“You’ll know soon.”