YOUNGBAE POV

I woke up feeling sore.
My whole body feels heavy and my head hurts.
I was about to put my hand on my head when I felt someone holding it.

The room is partly dark but the light from my lamp was enough for me to see who's holding my hand.
First I couldn't believe what I'm seeing so I rubbed my eyes using my free hand.

I reached to brush the hair of the woman who is resting her head on my bed.

'No, I'm not dreaming.' I thought. ‘It’s really Dara.'

Knowing she was right beside me was enough to put a smile on my face.

'What is she doing here in our house? In my room?' I wondered, glancing at the clock on my bedside table.

It showed 12:09 AM.

'And at this hour?'

I looked around and realized it was just the two of us.
I slowly moved a little so I can sit up.
I tried not to shake the bed too much but I failed.

She opened her eyes and sat up.
With sleepy eyes she looked at me.

"Oh, Youngbae-ah, are you feeling okay now?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes I'm fine now, Dara." I answered, giving her a warm smile.

She smiled back and yawned.

"That's good." She said in a whisper.

I moved to the other side and patted the space beside me on the bed.

"Come and sleep here." I offered.

Instead of climbing into my bed, she went back to her sleeping position.
She leaned forward and rested only her head on the edge of my bed.

I let out a chuckle and shook my head seeing how sleepy she was.
Obviously, she forgot where she was.

Carefully, I got out of bed totally ignoring the fact that I'm still weak and feeling dizzy.
I gave out all of my strength and energy just to lift her into my bed.

I stood beside my bed just staring at her beautiful face.

"I wish that everything that happened these past few weeks were just a bad dream." I whispered while caressing her face.

Watching her sleeping in my bed, I felt relieved that she was physically close to me.

"Youngbae-ah." Dara suddenly mumbled in her sleep.

I leaned closer to her.

Her eyes were closed yet her face showed a trace of sadness.

I held my breath when I saw a teardrop falling from the side of her eye.
I wiped it gently with my thumb.

My heart is hurting just by seeing her like that.
I feel guilty for all the wrong things that I've done.
I should be protecting her and making her happy but it didn't turn out that way.

My own eyes are now drowning in tears.

I held her hand and wrapped it with both my hands.

"Youngbae..." She whispered.

"Shhh..." I hushed. “Go back to sleep. I'm just here."

END OF YOUNGBAE POV

**********

At Seunghyun's apartment. . .

SEUNGHYUN POV

I've been tossing and turning in my bed for hours now.
It's already 1:30 A.M. and I still couldn't sleep.
I reached for my cellphone that's on top of my side table.

I haven't receive a single text message or call from Dara the whole day.

'Is she home?' I wondered. 'Or did she stay at Youngbae's house?'

I let out a big loud sigh.

I reached for a pillow and put it over my face.

'This is going to be a long night.' I thought.

END OF SEUNGHYUN POV

**********

The next day....

Mrs. Dong entered Youngbae's room with the maids.

They brought breakfast for Dara and her son.

She smiled when she saw that the two had changed positions.

Dara was now sleeping in his son's bed and Youngbae was sleeping on the couch.

She walked over to her son and checked his temperature.

"Good. He's better now." She said smiling.

Mrs. Dong glanced at Dara and walked towards her.
She fixed the blanket on top of her.

After the maids finished setting the table with their breakfast, they all went out quietly.

Youngbae woke up minutes later.
He sat up and turned to look at his bed.
He was happy to see Dara still sleeping soundly.

He tiptoed his way to the bathroom.
When he came back to his room, Dara was already sitting and rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning." He greeted.

She turned to look at him, blinking.

He took a cup of coffee from his table and offered it to her.

"Coffee?" He asked her with a grin.

She came to her senses.

"Yah!" She yelled.

He took a step backwards when he saw her getting up quickly from the bed.

"Yah! Youngbae-ah!" She yelled again while heading towards him.

"Whoa! Chill!"

"Chill?!!!" She angrily replied. "You're asking me to chill after knowing you're sick!"

She scanned him from head to foot.

"What the hell are you doing standing there?" She asked in a panic voice. "Go back to bed!"

She went went and grabbed the coffee from his hand.
She put it back on the table then she dragged him towards the bed.

"Yah! What the..." He said, gently releasing himself from her grip.

"Dong Youngbae!" She shouted, glaring at him. "You're sick and you need to rest."

He just laughed.

She gave him a fierce look.

"I'm fine, Dara." He assured her.

He took her hand and placed it on his forehead.

"See?"

Dara paused for a second then she took her hand away from him.

She remained quiet and just stared at him with a familiar expression only he understood.

Youngbae bit his lip knowing exactly what is about to happen.

Dara's lips quivered.
She clenched her fists and started hitting him on the chest.

"I hate you!" She cried.

After a few hits, he caught her hands and held them tight.

"Arasseo, arasseo." He said pulling her into his arms.

She started sobbing when she felt his arms around her.

"Stop crying already." He begged while her hair. "I'm sorry. I won't get sick again."

Dara has a phobia of people close to her getting sick.
She lost her favorite grandmother when she was very young.
As far as she can remember, her mother kept telling her that her grandmother was sick.
She was surprised to know that after a week in the hospital her grandmother died.
As she grew older, that's when her parents explained to her it was cancer that caused her grandmother's death.

"I told you to take good care of yourself." She said, sniffling.

"I'm sorry, baby." Youngbae unknowingly blurted out.

She suddenly freed herself from his arms which caused an awkward atmosphere to them.

He gave out a nervous laugh. "C'mon, let's eat breakfast before we go down."

She nodded, heading towards the table.

He watched her as she sits on the chair.

Instead of following her, he sat on his bed looking down on the floor.

"Youngabe-ah, are you okay?" She asked with concern when she saw him.

He didn't reply.

His gaze was still glued on the floor.

She stood up from her seat and rushed to him.

When he felt her presence in front of him, he slowly lifted his gaze.


YOUNGBAE POV

Seeing her standing in front of me I don't know what to do or say.
I felt the sharp pain in my heart when she pushed herself away from me.

I patted the space beside me.
She sat down wondering.

"What's wrong, Youngbae?" She asked with concern. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

I turned to look at her.

"Yes, I'm hurt." I replied with a faint smile.

Her eyes widened.

"Where?! Where?" She panicked.

She started touching me but I stopped her hand and led it on my left chest.

She knew right away what I meant.

"It hurts here." I said quietly.

She avoided my eyes as she slowly took her hand off.

I took a deep breath.

"I know I did you wrong and I'm not asking for you to forgive now." I began saying. "I can't blame you if you hate me."

She remained quiet.

"I know sorry is not enough, but still I want to keep saying those words to you." I continued.

This time she looked at me.

"You don't have to keep saying sorry, Youngbae. You're still my best friend, remember?"

I didn't reply.
I should be happy that after what happened to us, she didn't hate me.
But every time I hear the words best friend, it tears me apart.
I wanted to say to her that I don't want to be just her best friend and I want us to be together again.

I want another chance.

But saying those would be selfish.

She reached for my hands.
 
"When I decided that we should remain friends, it means that I've already forgiven you."

My emotions took over me.
Not caring if she sees me crying again, I let my tears fall.

"Babo-ya! Why are you crying?" She said, wiping my tears.

"Nobody died." She joked.

This time she leaned closer to wrap her arms around me.

"Saranghae..." She whispered. "Saranghae chingu."

END OF YOUNGBAE POV