End.

And in a blink of an eye, twenty years passed just like that.

“Jongin!”

“Jongin, come over here!”

“Jooongin~”

I let out a sigh as a dozen tiny children swarmed at my feet, tugging my hands and clothes in all different directions, screaming and yelling as they went. I rolled my eyes as a man in a long white coat approached me, laughing hysterically, revealing the whitest set of teeth.

“Please contain your patients, Doctor,” I said as the other man struggled to stand on his two feet properly.

“Jongin, let’s go play!” said a five-year old girl tugging my sleeve.

I gave her a light flick on the forehead and sighed. “It’s Dr Kim to you.”

“Don’t be so mean, Jongin!” the other man said, wiping away a tear at the corner of his eye.

“We want to play!” whined the children.

“Okay, okay, Dr Kim is going to get angry,” said the still-laughing doctor as he gathered the children and ushered them back towards the building.

After a round of groans and more whining, the children finally complied and made their way back into the hospital, forcing me to promise to play later. I let out a sigh and placed my hands in my coat, gazing at the garden showered in white. The garden that I had worked on growing for twenty years.

The other doctor noticed me admiring the garden and grinned.

“Why did you decide on the snowdrop? The hospitals stopped growing them a long time ago.”

“Because they represent hope and new beginnings,” I replied, “And also because they remind me of two very special people I once knew.”

“Two? You must be popular, huh.”

I made a face. “Shut up.”

I put a hand to my chest and felt the ring I had around my neck. A small needle of guilt and regret struck me as I remembered everything. After all these years, I had still held onto what was left of her. Sometimes when I remembered, it’ll hurt. Sometimes, it wouldn’t. I’ve grown up now and the past is the past. Things are getting better.

She would’ve wanted me to keep looking forward, wouldn’t she?

And then there was a certain snowflake. More like a strange girl who referred to herself as a snowflake.

Everything that happened with her all seemed like a vague dream. I can barely remember what she looked like anymore, with only her trademark sapphire eyes and her snow white hair that continued to stay faintly painted in my mind. She had left out of the blue, exactly like how she appeared.

I guess she really did disappear along with winter after all.

“Why did you decide on this career, Jongin?”

“The same reason as you,” I answered. “I want to save people. Just like how I was saved.”

I can still clearly remember the day of the accident. It had been a month since Hana had left and my mind was filled with nothing but her. At that time, the thoughts of dying and being with her took over my mind. But then I remembered what both of them had told me.

“The arrivals of people who you meet in life is also makes life 100 percent, is it not?”

“There’ll be people who will come into your life and change it. That’s when you’ll be able to live this life to the fullest.”

That’s when I thought to myself, I don’t want to die.

I want to keep living.

Maybe that’s why I’m still here today.

“Ah!” the other man chirped. “It’s snowing!”

I broke out of my reminiscence and looked up towards the sky. The familiar cold sensation met my bare skin and melted away. I let out a hand and allowed the snowflakes to fall to my hand.

A blurred face flashed through my mind. I couldn’t exactly recall it, as if it was just a figment of my imagination. All I could see were blue eyes and white hair. I don’t remember much about her but I swear a part of me knew she was here.

The snowflakes landed on my hand and left a tiny cold tingling feeling before completely vanishing. I looked up as snow continued to fall ever so softly.

Maybe she never really disappeared.

Maybe she was always here to begin with, watching over people like me.

What was her name again?

Oh, that’s right. I named her Sull-Hee.

‘Sull’, which stood for ‘snow’ and ‘hee’ which meant girl.

Her name was Sull-Hee.

I managed a smile as a certain memory crossed my mind.

“…Certain stories do end. Like ours, for example. So that’s why, by the end of our story, I hope that you don’t forget me, Master.”

I haven’t forgotten you yet.

Even though our story may have ended, I don’t think I ever will.

❄

 –  –

It really is ending.

The story.

I hope he doesn’t forget me.

I hope he’ll live a 100% life.

Things will definitely be better now, won’t they?