“You have to eat, Daehyun. You haven’t eaten your breakfast, have you?” Minji sits in front of Daehyun, holding a tray of food. She pushes the tray towards Daehyun, but he pushes it back to her. Just before it was Minji who’s in a state of mess, but now it’s him who’s zoning out. Of course he didn’t eat his breakfast, he was too eager to find a ring for his soon-to-be wife. A ring that he doesn’t even have the chance to put on Sooyoung’s finger.

“Hey, you have to eat! I don’t want you to faint because you didn’t eat anything. Come on,” Minji tries to coax him again. She’s starting to accept the fact that her best friend has kicked the bucket, but now Daehyun is not helping much. He seems composed, but his labored breathing states otherwise. His eyes are empty, and it takes a few tries for Minji to grab his attention.

“They’re going to give her heart to someone else… My Sooyoung’s heart in someone else’s body…” Even though his voice is raucous, Minji is glad to hear him speak up. She sighs and pick up the fork to eat the coleslaw.

“We can do nothing about it, since it’s what she wants,” she says through a mouth full of food.

“We can stop it, right? We can, right?” Daehyun’s eyes suddenly light up and he shakes Minji’s left hand gently.

Minji pulls back her hand and flicks her finger to his forehead. He shouts in pain and rubs his forehead. “What was that for?”

“That was for you being an idiot. Daehyun, it’s written in her will. That. Is. What. She. Wants. She knew all along that her time was short, so she probably wanted to do something good by donating her heart to someone who really needs it.”

He groans and slams his head on the table. “I know she’s nice- but why does she have to go to that extent? Nevermind-“ Daehyun puts up his hand. “-you don’t have to answer. You’re going to give me the same answer anyway.” Minji shrugs and continues eating the tray of food. Daehyun pushes back his chair and stands up. He grabs the unopened bottle of juice in front of Minji and stands up. “I’ll take this,” he shakes the bottle softly.

“Yah, that’s mine!” Minji tries to grab the juice but he’s too quick for her.

“Sorry, you have to buy another one!”

Minji rolls her eyes and continues to eat. She grumbles about how Daehyun is ungrateful and why Sooyoung chose him as a boyfriend. “She can do so much better!” she shouts, but her voice gets gradually slower when she comes to the realization that Sooyoung is not here anymore.

...

He unlocks his car, gets in hastily and starts up the engine just as soon as he closes the door. He ignores the paper bag beside him; he just wants to get out of the hospital immediately. The hospital is just going to be another place to him where bad memories happen. He steps on the gas pedal and drives aimlessly. He opens the bottle of orange juice and slugs it down. In just a few seconds, he manages to finish it all. He throws the bottle beside him, knocking the paper bag onto the car floor. The box containing the ring is spit out.

He reaches to grab it, but he almost lose control of the car so he forgets about it for a moment. He drives for a few kilometers more, and then he stops by the road. He parks his car by the road shoulder, and finally puts the ring back into the paper bag. The road is empty, only sometimes a lone car passes by. Otherwise, the surrounding is very serene.

This is just what he needs.

He gets out of the car, slightly shivering because winter just passed. He wraps his trench coat tighter to his body, and he leans against his car. He pores over the vacant road; the meeting with the doctor still bothers him. The doctor had said it so calmly, as if it’s a normal thing to do. Well probably it is a normal thing for a doctor, but to him, it’s a bizarre thing. He can’t imagine Sooyoung’s chest being cut, her heart being taken out and then given to someone else.

“The operation will be done after this, and trust me, Mr. Daehyun. This is her request and I’m sure she wants you to respect her decision. You’re doing her and the patient a very big favour by allowing this operation to go on. I’ve already informed her parents and they’re fine with it. And you, I somehow think I need to get your permission before we can really go on. I know it’s hard for you to accept it, but please regard it as you’re doing a last favour for your girlfriend,” Yongguk unclasps his hands.

Daehyun lets out a deep breath and sits back slowly. He lies back into the chair, almost sinking down. He is really conflicted between respecting his girlfriend’s last wishes or be selfish for once.  “I… honestly don’t know. This is really hard for me, I didn’t expect it would turn out like this.”

Yongguk nods quietly. “I understand, but the patient is in critical condition. She really needs the heart.”

Daehyun looks into the doctor’s eyes and searches for anything ominous in them. But he doesn’t find anything inauspicious; instead his eyes show pure sincerity. He looks the doctor straight in the eye and say it in one breath, “Do it. Do the operation. I’m in no position to prevent it from happening. If it’s for the good, then go on.”

Daehyun is sure he can see the doctor’s eyes light up. Yongguk gives a smile- this time he knows it’s sincere- and Yongguk almost leans forward to give a hug to Daehyun. “You won’t regret it- you won’t, I promise!” Daehyun is not sure whether it’s just him, but he can see the tears form at the doctor’s eyes.

“Only… on one condition,” Daehyun says.

“What is it? Just tell me.”

“I want to see the patient after the operation.”

Yongguk seems to be hesitating, but Daehyun assures him, “I’m not going to do anything to her. I just want to see the person who received her heart.” After a few seconds, then only the doctor nods. However, he still seems unsure.

He snaps back to reality. He shakes off the bad feeling he’s been having about the operation. What if the operation fails? What if his girlfriend’s effort of doing something good just goes to waste? Just then, his phone rings, and an unknown number comes up on the screen. He’s torn on whether to answer or not because he doesn’t really want to deal with anyone right now.

He decides to take the call anyway. He recognizes the deep voice straight away. Why is Yongguk calling him? Did anything happen? He suddenly becomes very nervous when the doctor starts talking. “I just want to… notify you that we’re going to do the operation now. It should take around 4 hours, 7 to 8 hours the most.”

So the doctor just wants to tell him about that. His breathing returns to normal and he wipes the sweat off his face. “That’s good… Good luck on the operation.”

Daehyun is about to hang up when Yongguk stops him. “Wait! I- uh- I want to say thank you. Thank you for allowing the operation to happen. It means a lot to me- I mean the patient. Thank- thank you.”