I.
She was sitting at the table, in the restaurant they’d first met, remembering it like it was just yesterday. Smile plastered on her face, her fingers kept on playing with her phone. The display was black. They’d promised not to use phones on that special day. She leaned back a little, her gaze falling out of the window, while all she could hear was the sound of the clock. Seconds, minutes passed and he still didn’t show up. She started nibbling on her lower lip. She’d just wait, he never dumped her anyway. Having gained new hope, she nodded and avoided looking at the clock.

“Excuse me, Miss, we’re closing.” A soft voice reached her ears. At that time, her hair was still short and she looked a lot like a boy, which was why she was surprised by hearing him calling her ‘Miss.’ If she wasn’t so hurt by then, she would’ve chuckled and given him a thankful and apologetic smile. But she wasn’t in the mood to chuckle, neither to smile. She just nodded and got up, grazing at the clock as doing so. She’d been waiting for 4 hours now. Every normal person would’ve left after maximum one hour. Tears filled her eyes when she was pushing the door open. But suddenly, she could feel somebody taking her hand. With hope in her eyes she turned around, just to see that cute waiter from before, giving her a smile. She shook her head and tried to make him letting go of her hand. He didn’t. Instead, he dragged her into the kitchen, made her sit down on a chair and pursed his lips. “Be warned!” He said, holding one of the chopsticks as if it was a sword, “I’m not the best cook, but I’ll cook you anything just to get a small smile.” Puzzled and a little afraid she frowned and he let out a shocked scream. Her eyes widened immediately. Was he crazy? “DON’T FROWN!” He shouted, hand on his heart, as if he was near to a heart attack. It was hard for her to get what was going on, but before she could say anything he gave her the menu and stood in front of her with a pencil and a sheet of paper. “So, what would you like?” He asked, giving her the cutest smile she’d ever seen. She couldn’t help but smile back when she handed him the menu. “Ice cream for the broken heart.” It wasn’t more than a mutter, but he’d heard it. And right after that, he came back, holding a bowl full of chocolate ice cream. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at the bowl and she clapped into her hands. “And Dirty Dancing.” She said, causing his eyes to widen.
“I’m  sure we could try…” He began and she burst out in laughter.
“I don’t mean dancing with you! I mean the movie!” She’d managed to say under laughter. His frown was replaced by a wide grin and he took the bowl, as well as her hand, and led her out of the restaurant, around some corners and into an apartment. She was crazy for going into a stranger’s apartment, she knew that. But at that moment, she didn’t care. He made her feel good, so she didn’t even think of the dangers. She’d broken each and every rule her parents had given her: Never talk to strangers. If a stranger gives you sweets, run. If he wants to give you a ride, run. If he wants to take you home, run. She did run, but in the wrong direction. She’d run straight into his arms, instead away from him. And she didn’t regret it even a bit.

After what felt like an eternity, her eyes fell back to the clock and a deep frown was on her forehead. Did something happen to him? She bid onto her lower lip and her phone- there was no missed call. The waiters, that knew her too well, approached her table and she jumped up, worried to death. “Have you heard something of Jiyong?” She asked, panicking. The boys shook their heads, and so she rushed out of the restaurant, and asked random people on the street if they’d seen him. Of course, nobody had. And everybody was looking at her as if she was crazy. Insane. Maybe she was, but when it came to him, she could never be sure that everything was alright. Suddenly, she could hear her mobile ringing. She looked at it, but the number wasn’t familiar. Everything felt like slow motion when she picked it up. “Excuse me, is there Lee Chaerin?” She nodded and it was too late already when she realized the person couldn’t see it. “Kwon Jiyong is in the hospital. You have to come as fast as possible.”
Her heart skipping a few beats, she dropped the phone and started running.

II.
They led her down the halls, around hundred corners, and she was sure that she would’ve never found it if she was to get there by herself. Her hands were shivering as she was running after the huge man with the white robe, and she swore he talked to her. His words just didn’t reach her. She couldn’t listen, even though he was explaining what had happened. Everything she could concentrate was that Jiyong had to be fine and, most of all, able to survive. The tears were slowly making their ways out of her eyes as she was tripping, recalling that day in December when he’d knelt down and proposed to her. Everything had happened in the same restaurant, they were practically living there. Her heartbeat was too fast, she knew that, when she got back to her feet and went on stumbling after the man.

“Joey’s diner? Again? Can’t we go eat Korean just once?” She pouted at him, but she knew he was too stubborn. They ate there on every anniversary, it was their thing. Anniversary. Looking at him, Chaerin couldn’t believe that they were together for so long now. Six years. When they first met, she would’ve never thought that they met again. Smile on her pretty face, she got into her dress and, finally, nodded. “Fine with me, then. Let’s go.” She could see his eyes sparkling and remembered why she’d fallen for him in the first place. She pulled him into a kiss and smiled at him. They both jumped into their shoes and left the apartment, which was theirs since a year now. Nothing would ever be able to tear them apart. Nothing but death. She remembered looking at him with a worried face. She knew what he was covering under that hat, and she never asked him to take it off. But she also remembered him looking at her, with sparkling eyes and a happy face. “Don’t look at me like that.” He’d said and she obeyed, giving him a smile. Both knew that their relationship wasn’t meant to last forever, but it seemed like the only one afraid of it was Chaerin.
After finishing the meal, Jiyong had ordered a cake. And by the way he’d stressed the word ‘cake’, she knew that he was up to something. She squinted when the waiter had brought them the cake and she’d easily stated that she didn’t want to try it, thinking he’d told them to make it spicy or something. When he’d just convinced her to eat it, a woman from the next table tapped onto his shoulder and Chaerin frowned. The woman held up a ring and Jiyong’s eyes widened. He thanked the woman and cleared his throat, clearly avoiding Chaerin’s gaze, who was laughing by then.
“Chaerin-ah~” He’d then said, and the girl had stopped laughing. She looked at the boy who was moving on his chair uncomfortably, lips tightly pressed together. “Chaerin-ah, you know, I love you.” He stood up and walked towards her, taking her hand and making her stand up, too. “I love you more than everything, and even though I’ve told you that I don’t want to marry you, I came to realize that you’re the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t care whether I just have a year left, or if we are to spend thousands of years together. All I want- No, all I need to survive is you. With you around, I know that nothing can hurt me. You’re my getaway. You treat me like a normal person, you’re the one giving me the chewing gum when I throw up in hospital. I love you with all my heart and every fibre of my body screams for you. I’m not able to live, to love without you. That’s why I’m asking you…” And by that, he’d already knelt down, giving her a hopeful look, “… Will you marry me?” But she had been speechless when he’d pulled out the ring and held it up. Under her tears, she’d barely managed to nod and help him to put the ring on.

She stood in front of a white door, nodding as the doctor told her that Jiyong needed some sleep. As long as she was with him, she didn’t care what he was doing. She just needed to see him, to see that he was alive. She wiped away the tears and entered the room.
There he was. Eyes closed, breathing steadily. The monitors surrounding him telling her that he was alive, that he was breathing, his heart was still beating. He hurried towards the bed and sat down next to it, taking his cold hand. His lips were dry as he was breathing through his mouth. She could feel her own heartbeat being a lot faster than his. She did her best holding back her tears. She didn’t want him to see them when he woke up.

III.
She could feel his hand moving a little and immediately was wide awake. She must’ve dazed off a little, but now she was all fine again, squeezing his hand gently. “Jiyongie? Are you awake?” The boy moaned, obviously in pain, and it broke her heart. The urge to take away his pain was bigger than anything. “Chaerin-ah?” His voice cracked while calling out her name, and seeing him suffer made her feel even more helpless. What could she do?
“Jiyong, honey. Do you hear me? I love you.”
A tear was running down his cheek and Chaerin knew that she had to be strong for him now. She couldn’t show him how hurt, how desperate she was. She needed to help him. “You’ve scared the hell out of me, Pabo.” She said, gaining strength, but not knowing where from.
“I’m sorry.” He muttered and looked at her out of his beautiful, yet fearful eyes.
“That’s okay.” She said, smile plastered on her pretty face, and squeezing his hand a little. “Just get better soon, so we can finish the wedding planning.” He nodded, but his eyes showed her that he couldn’t. The fight was over. He’d lost. “And we should talk about our honeymoon.” She said, knowing that he loved talking about this topic. He, immediately, seemed to be wide awake and looked at her, lips pursed. “Jeju-do.”
“Yah! Kwon Jiyong! I told you that I don’t want to spend my Honeymoon in Korea. What about Hawaii?” But Jiyong shook his head and pouted and then stuck his tongue at her. “Ah, do you know what, we can go to Jeju if that’s what you want. But only if we’ll have three children instead of one.” She leaned forwards, still holding his hand, while a tear escaped her eye. She didn’t even notice it until it fell onto his blanket and his brown eyes examined her.
“But then one will feel left out. Two kids are perfect.” He argued with her, but she shook her head, raising a finger for shutting him up. “No! We’re already going to Jeju, I won’t give in at this one.”
He rolled his eyes, smiling. “Fine with me. Three kids it is, then. But! I don’t want to live in Seoul after we married. Let’s move somewhere where our kids can grow up safely.”
“Into a small village?” She asked hesitating and he nodded. Now it was her rolling her eyes, but she still agreed and stole herself a kiss from his dry lips. He kissed her back, but it didn’t feel like the kisses they shared before. More like a goodbye kiss. She quickly pulled away, seeing the tears in his eyes. And suddenly, she had an idea. She kissed him again and rushed out of the room.

IV.
When she came back, Jiyong was still breathing, focusing on the monitors around him and obviously having a hard time staying alive. Seeing him like this killed her, but she was strong. The chaplain walked in with her, and for once she was happy to always carry around the rings they had chosen. Her heart was beating fast, one of the nurses had given her a veil a bride once had forgotten there and she’d the song they’d chosen to be their wedding song on her mobile, while she was walking in with the chaplain. Jiyong’s eyes were widened as they walked in, and he couldn’t hold back the tears. She hurried towards him while the Chaplain was standing in front of the bed, saying a few verses. Chaerin had written down their names somewhere, and when they came to the vows, she took a deep breath.
“Kwon Jiyong, you know you surprised me a lot when you proposed to me. But it was also the luckiest moment of my life. You’re the only person I’ll ever truly love, and I can’t imagine my life without you.” The words had a bitter taste on her tongue, but she went on talking, telling him everything she’d ever wanted to tell him. “I don’t care where we live and how many children we’ll have, as long as we’ll do all of it together. You’re the man of my life. Remember that night seven years ago? I sat there, waiting for the boy for four hours before giving up. I would never give up on you. I’ll wait forever, because I know that I can trust you and that you’re worth waiting for.  No matter if we’re rich or poor, if we’re thin or fat, I know that nothing can break us. We’ll go through everything together. We’ve made it up to here, and we’ll make it forever.” She hadn’t noticed she was crying until her voice broke and she wasn’t able to talk, and it was the same for him. She put on the ring that was for him. He wasn’t able to wipe away the tears by himself, so she did it. The beeps on the monitors were slowing down a little and she started panicking.
“Chaerin-ah.” He whispered and she nodded, still crying. “I’ll love you forever, forever and always. Please just remember, even if I’m not there. I’ll always love you, forever and always.”
He hadn’t even managed to put her ring on and when the Chaplain had finished the sentence ‘I know declare you husband and wife’ all there was heard in the room was the endless beep of the monitors. And the quiet sobbing of Chaerin, who was still holding on to Jiyong’s hand.