A very obvious unhappy Taemin was looking at the cheerful looking bouquet of flowers in front of him. His hand was still holding the little card that came with it.

Mianhe, Taemin oppa. I couldn’t come and visit you.

Get well soon and see you when you’re discharged.

Sincerely,

Choi Sulli

He scoffed when he read the little note. Sincerely? If she was sincere, she would have come and visit him at the hospital instead sending him the flowers. He made the move to swipe the offending bouquet off the table but couldn’t in the end. It was from Sulli, thus he couldn’t destroy anything that was related to her. So, he ended up with a fresh wound in his already bleeding heart. He bowed his head, his hair covering his face, and crumpled the note.

At the moment Krystal walked into the room.

“Oppa, you can be discharged today. I’ve already settled everything for you”, she said slowly while at the same time looking at the man sitting in the chair near the window carefully. She sensed that something was wrong and quickly went to kneel next to the chair.

“Taemin, oppa? Gwenchana?” she asked softly.

“Am I always this stupid?” he said sadly.  Taemin turned to look at her with tears trickling slowly down his pale cheeks.

Looking down again at the crumpled note, he said, “Why am I in love with somebody that doesn’t love me as much?”

“Pabo ,Taemin … Pabo, pabo … pathetic ,Taeminnie”, he scolded himself.

Krystal didn’t know what to do. She had seen the many facets of Taemin but never this one. He seemed so upset and down that she knew she had to do something to make him better. So, she took the crumpled note from his hand and threw it away. Gently, she held both of his hands in hers and placed her forehead on his. Taking a deep breath, for courage, she said to him slowly, “ Oppa,  you’re not the first person to be a fool in love, nor would you be the last.”

“You’re a beautiful person inside and out. Don’t you ever think otherwise. So, now focus on getting better, alright?”

Taemin was surprised and touched by his assistant’s words. They didn’t heal his bleeding heart but her soft words had comforted him more than he thought they would. Though they had never been as close as this, but it seemed she knew about him a lot. He should be nicer to her, he thought. He moved back to look at her and bent to give her a grateful kiss on her forehead.

Minho opened the door to see Taemin kissing his sister’s forehead and stopped. When Taemin was done, only then he faked a cough.

“Ahh… Oppa!” Krystal stuttered, fumbling to get up from her kneeling position.

“Doctor Choi”, Taemin greeted him with a slight bow of the head.

“Hi! Sorry to interrupt you guys”, he said smiling.

Krystal thought his brother was smiling extra brightly. She blushed slightly guessing the reason.

“Taemin-shi. I came to say goodbye since I heard you are being discharged today. Please take the medicine given to you on time and don’t forget your appointments. I am sure my dongsaeng will make sure of that”, looking pointedly at Krystal.

Taemin smiled and nodded his head to him.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave then. Good day Taemin-shi. Bye, Krystal” he said taking his leave.

“You’re brother is a handsome looking man. I’m sure he has girls lining up for him” Taemin said to Krystal.

She smiled, “I’m sure he has but none of them ever made into his heart. Anyway, he’s not an easy guy to get along with as a person. My mom and I, we are lucky because we’re family.”

Suddenly, Krystal remembered something important.

“Oppa, your manager asked me to remind you about the award ceremony in Seoul. He can’t make it, so I will be the one accompanying you. We’re flying out tomorrow morning on the 10.30 am flight. Mianhe … he said you can’t skip the ceremony” she said apologetically.

Taemin sighed.