Hello, I hope that you will enjoy this chapter! (T/N: I might not have the chance to post for about two weeks, because of my mid-year examination. Wish me luck!)

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"Good morning," his deep husky voice greets the nurses at the counter. He punches his card as he whistles to the tune in his head. The nurses look at each other while raising their eyebrows, and the senior nurse shrugs. She quietly orders them to return back to whatever they were doing before, but Nayoung defies her orders. She closes the file she was examining and props up her elbows on the counter. 

"Doctor, you look happy today, did anything happen?"

Yongguk searches for his pen and a piece of paper from his bag. "Really? I do? It's probably because I got to rest yesterday. Must be because of the good sleep I had last night." He gives off a smile, and Nayoung takes a moment to appreciate it. Even though it's not a smile because of her, she'd take whatever she can get. If she can't have him, then his smile would do. 

Truth is, Yongguk barely slept last night. He was basically wandering around his room, thinking about Jiyoon who's under the same roof. He can't explain whether it's the fluttering feeling that had been keeping him up, or the slight nervous feeling that he wasn't able to shut his eyes and drift off.

"That's good because we have a lot of surgeries today," Doctor Jinhwan slips into his coat as he appears beside Yongguk. "Nayoung, can you tell me the schedule for me today?"

Nayoung explains everything as both doctors listen attentively. Occassionally, Nayoung would pay more attention to Yongguk rather than Jinhwan. Jinhwan notices this; he looks back and forth from Nayoung to Yongguk. He hides a smile and shakes his head. As Nayoung finishes her explanation, he slaps Yongguk's back and says, "Let's do this."

They move away from the counter, their shoes clicking on the tiles. "You can be dense sometimes, eh?"

"Sorry?" Yongguk is taken aback when Jinhwan suddenly speaks up. 

"Forget about it, for now, let's just focus on the surgeries we're going to do today."

...

"Eonni, are you okay? You've been staring at your food since just now. It's going to get cold if you don't eat it," Soojin says. 

"Y-yes?" Jiyoon snaps out of her trance and turns to the small girl beside her. 

"Don't you like the food?" Soomin asks. 

"It's- it's not that. I'm just not feeling well."

"I suspect that, since we went out to the grocery store, you've been looking pale. You're eating your medicines, aren't you?" Mrs. Bang puts down her chopsticks.

She nods mutely, and Soojin presses her hand on Jiyoon's forehead. "Eonni, I think you're not healthy."

"Go up and rest. I will check on you later," Mrs. Bang instructs, her voice filled with concern. 

She lies down slowly, hugging the bolster tightly. She doesn't feel good, but she's pretty sure it's not because she's sick. Daehyun's words have shaken her up and she doesn't like this feeling. He boldly came up to her and told her about his own feelings. How should she react to that? There are so many events that happened ever since the heart transplant surgery to the point she's getting frustrated. She's thinking... Maybe if she didn't accept the heart, their paths wouldn't have crossed. Daehyun wouldn't have known who she is.

Did she hear correctly, though? Was Daehyun playing with her feelings, since he knows that a guy like him can shake up any woman's heart? Or was he really being sincere, bravely admitting his feelings and then expecting her to return it? Should he be flattered that an attractive man confessed to her? Everything seems like a vague dream; she has to make sure that she isn’t fantasizing. She pinches her cheeks and assures herself that this is reality, not some weird dream she’s in. Just to make sure, she pinches her thighs. The feeling of pain that is sent to her brain convinces her of the authenticity of her situation.

There is a knock on the door, followed by a series of giggling. She’s pretty sure the one who knocked is one of the twins, and she allows them to come in. Two little heads peek in, with Soojin below and Soomin above her. Soojin holds out the basin filled with water she’s holding, and Soomin waves the towel above her head. “Mom asked us to bring these to you and she asked us to check on you.”

“Thank you, why don’t both of you come in?”

Both of them rush into the room, with Soojin carefully balancing the basin of water. Her tiny body wobbles from side to side as she tries to keep all of the water in. She fails as some of the water jumps out and splashes the polished floorboards.

“Soojin, you’re so clumsy!” Soomin comments.

Her twin’s loud voice alarms her and she loses balance. The basin of water drops to the floor, overturned. The water spreads on the floor, and Soomin slaps her forehead at Soojin’s clumsiness.

“Eonni, I’m- I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to- to make your floor wet. I- I will clean it up. I will!”

Jiyoon chuckles. “It’s fine, Soojin. Don’t worry, accidents happen at times. I will help you to clean it.” Soojin blinks at her gratefully.

“I thought eonni is sick?” Soomin enquires.

“I think I’m better when I see the both of you,” she smiles and the twins’ faces glow.

Soon the three of them are running around the room, wiping the water that spread so fast. Soojin catches Soomin who almost slipped because of the slippery floor. They giggle when Jiyoon falls flat on her back. She rubs her painful back, but starts joining the both of them laughing. After switching on the fan to the maximum speed to quicken up the drying process, the three of them sit cross-legged on the bed, forming a circle.

“We’re really pleased that you’re here! We’ve always wanted a big sister.”

“Why? Is Yongguk oppa not treating both of you well?”

“It’s not that, but he’s always busy so he doesn’t have that much time to spend with us. Yesterday was actually the first time he went back home after a few weeks. We only got to speak to him through the phone,” Soojin complains.

“He’s a doctor, so of course he’s busy. You should be proud having a doctor as your brother,” she tucks a piece of stray hair behind Soojin’s hair. She’s still wearing a ponytail, and Jiyoon finds it’s easy for her to differentiate the both of them.

“Of course we’re proud!” Soomin straightens her back.

Jiyoon beams and ruffles the twins’ hair. “I know both of you are good girls, so don’t ever complain, okay?”

They nod in unison and all of them break out in laughter again. Mrs. Bang who’s downstairs, wonders what takes the twins so long to check on Jiyoon. After hearing laughter, she knows that she’s fine. She smiles to herself, puts back on her reading glasses and gets absorbed into the newspaper she’s holding.

...

The surrounding is enveloped in darkness, restricting his vision. He isn’t able to make out whatever is around him, but he can see that he’s standing in the middle of a road. There are holes everywhere on the road, each of them filled with tiny stones. He looks around him but finds nothing familiar. Everything is just black, and fear starts to clench his heart. His breath comes out as jagged, forming vapors as he exhales. He can’t say it’s hot; he’s hugging his body as he walks further. However, he can’t say that it’s cold; sweat is starting to form on his face.

He blinks into the obscurity, willing his eyes to adjust to the new location. How did he get here? He doesn’t remember driving his car to get to here; in fact he doesn’t know where here is. Did someone knock him out cold and dragged him here?

His heart is furiously pumping blood to his whole body, increasing his heartbeat. In the back of his mind, he fears the worst. What if he’s actually dead? He walks forward slowly and squints when he sees a figure at the end of the road. From the stature, he’s sure it’s a woman. The woman is wearing a white wedding dress, and she’s holding a bouquet of flowers.

Recognition grips his mind and he increases his speed. He knows that woman. Why does it feel as if he’s running in place? The faster he runs, the farther the woman is. He reaches out his hand, but he can only grab nothing. The woman is smiling sadly, and her hand is still gripping the flowers tightly.

She’s far away, but he can hear her voice clearly, as if she’s right beside him. “Daehyun, I miss you so much…”

“Sooyoung, please, wait for me! Don’t go!”

“I must go, Daehyun. My time is over, please wake up,” her voice trembles.

“Just wait for me a little bit more, I’ll be right with you and we can be together,” he runs faster, but he’s not getting any closer to her.

“I’m so sorry I left you.”

“It doesn’t matter! Now we can finally be together, can’t we? Stop being stubborn for once and listen to me,” he desperately drags his heavy feet.

“You’re the one who’s being stubborn, Daehyun… I’m just your illusion. Get back to your senses.”

“Don’t say that! You’re real and I can see you,” he shouts as he stops to catch his breath. The distance between them doesn’t even decrease even though Daehyun’s sure he just ran more than 200 metres. What is going on? Why can’t they be side by side?

A tear rolls down her cheek as she sadly waves her hand. “I hope you take care of yourself well…” She steps back and the darkness engulfs her. There is no more sign of her as the pressure in his ears increases. He can’t seem to hear anything else.

He drops to his knees, and screams into the darkness.