Holding 2 fingers up, she posed.

It was dark at night and the girl had been walking by a river when she spotted a stranger and asked him to take a photo of her by the river side for the night view of the city's nightlights.

"Hm. I think the picture would look a lot better if you stand closer to the edge," he suggested.

She moved a couple steps back until she was standing right on the edge. She wobbled a bit before gaining back her balance.

"Say cheese!" the boy told her, as he pressed the button down to capture the image.

 

The flash from the camera overwhelmed her eyesight and she stumbled backwards, causing her to fall straight down a few metres, plunging deep into the river.

He panicked and had a heart-attack when he didn't spot her head coming back up to the surface.

Having no other choice, he too jumped into the icy water.

It was almost completely dark so he had great trouble trying to the find the girl. With not much light, he could only follow the sounds of wild splashes and difficult breathing until he found her. However, just when he was about to reach for her, the loud splashing ceased and her body sunk into the water. He caught her but shockingly found that her cold body was unconcious. 

Reaching the land, he laid her gently on the grass and his shaking fingers dialed for the ambulance. After they told him that they were on their way, he hung up and looked over to the barely breathing body. Terrified, as the girl's breaths were shorten more as the seconds passed. 

 

------

 

 

"Doctor! She's awake."

Aeyoung slowly batted her eyes and blinked repeatedly. With the all too familiar white room and cliche talking, she immediately recognised her surroundings.

*The hospital?* She groaned at the thought. *Okay, what the heck happened?*     

The sudden feel of a hand grasping over her's breaks away her wondering thoughts of how she had ended up there, at the hospital, as she instead tried to recall if she knew who the young man holding her hand was. 

 

Her first instinct would've been to draw away her hand right away from the tight grip but she was too captivated by the man's face to do anything but stare back into his deep eyes. Though, his tight hold on her didn't last long and he quickly loosened his hold on her. He turned to face away from her, clearing his throat uncomfortably, embarrassed by his impulsive action.

He couldn't just behave like he was close to her or act as if he knew her well,. When in fact,  the man didn't know anything about the just awakened girl, apart from her given name.  Nothing like her age, what she was like, whether or not she had a partner. Nothing. He knew basically nothing about her. But he still kept staying with her for 5 days, spending a few hours visiting her during his breaks each day. He was guilty. He could of tried harder to save her. He could of prevented the accident from occurring. The girl in front of him could have spent the past five days content and conscious. But he had let her fall. Why did he suggest for her to stand so dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

He had been so happy just 5 days ago and went to the river side to have some time to think of the success that the band had revcieved. That night, he was so overjoyed and felt like nothing could crush his world. But it happened, this hospitalised girl completely changed how he felt. Now, all he could think about was her. If there was any emotion out there he would never like to feel, it would be regret and guiltiness. They just ate him alive. He hardly had time to sleep, but now he lost sleep because of her.

She's in a coma. There's a chance she may never wake up again. Her internal organs are deeply damaged. These sentences rang loud and agonisingly in his head, over and over again for five days. But finally, she was awake. The hundreds of bricks on his shoulders had been dropped.

 

Physcially pained and mentally blank, tears slid down her face. He softened, not being able to imagine the pain she must've been through.

Aeyoung studied the body's face after her tears dried. "Do I know you?" she asked softly.

He couldn't lie. He felt a tinge of happiness when he realsisd that she didn't recongise his face. The last face she would've saw before blacking out for five days. She would hate him with all her damged guts. He smiled bitterly and shook his head slowly. It was pretty much the truth, she did not know him. They are strangers after all.

As the doctor and nurse did checkups on her, he stayed by her side. He wanted to. To know that she'll be okay. And also because even though he had replied that she did not know him, she wanted him to stay with her. She told him she was a bit afriad of being in a hospital.

Aeyoung's parents arrived after all the check ups. Appartently, she had suffered from some memory loss, blood loss and had a few other conditions but other than some minor problems, she would be able to go back home in just a few days if she continued to progress well. 

 

Content with the outcome of knowing that the girl would be healthy in no time. He rested in the waiting room, leaving Aeyong with her family.  He shut his eyes. He still had some guilt left inside of him. She didn't remember that it was him that had told her to stand on that edge. He had left everyone to assume it was a simple accident, when he knew that he was the main cause of her accident.

Aeyoung took the seat next to him.

"Hey," she called to him as his eyes were closed.

He opened his eyes and immediatly smiled. A goofy love-struck smile. He had to admit, he did visit her everyday because he felt a responsiblitly. He did think of Aeyoung constantly because it had been haunting him. But he also thought the girl was beautiful and daydreamed of her ever-flowing perfection each time he was lost in his thoughts.

"Hi Aeyoung."

She frowned at him slightly but she continued, "I heard you were there to save me when I fell in the water." She looked directly at him and her eyes turned into the kindest pairs eyes he had even seen. "Thankyou," she said with great gratitude.

"It was nothing. It's what anyone would've done. Are you okay now?"

Aeyoung nodded in answer and turned her gaze to outside the window. "So I also heard that you've vistied me everyday ever since," she said in a whispering voice and turned back to him, waiting for his answer.

His ears turned red rapidly and his mouth hung open with nothing coming out. Aeyoung chucked cutely and that made him regain himself.

"Yeah I have. I've been really worried about you, Aeyoung."

After hearing that from him, it was now Aeyoung's turn to turn pink. "I'm thankful for your concern. But I'm really dying  to know one thing."

"What is it?" he asked, genuinely curious as well. What was making this goregous girl die from curiousity.

Aeyoung turned her head on an angel and looked right into his eyes intimately, with her face nearing closer to his. "What's your name?"

Surprised, he thought she wouldn't of cared since she didn't bother to ask him beforehand. He smirked, with his deep dimple popping right out. "I'm Yixing."