Around four months ago, flashback

Hyunshik waits outside of the hospital while sitting on the bench, pretending to check his phone when he really isn’t paying attention towards the non-stop notifications coming in. He doesn’t want to seem like he is waiting for someone, but he can’t help himself and look out for that one face. He doesn’t want to lose her in the crowd. It’s not easy following her around, but that’s the only way he could see her.

He was confused and a tad worried; why did she go to the hospital all of a sudden? She was alone, and Daehyun was nowhere to be seen. He snorts to himself; so much for being called Sooyoung’s boyfriend. What’s the point when you’re not there for her? He shakes his head, and stops abruptly when he sees the familiar figure emerging from the revolving doors. He calls out her name, but she doesn’t turn around. She walks quickly, and Hyunshik quickens his own pace to catch up with her. He grabs her hand, forcing her to turn around.

She is crying. Her eyes are red and puffy; tears are staining her soft cheeks.

He’s too strong for her so she stops struggling to get free. Instead she just stands there like a statue; the only difference is there are tears flowing out from her eyes. Hyunshik notices the envelope she’s holding in her left hand and immediately grabs it. She doesn’t fight back. He tears open the envelope, too impatient to know what’s the content. He reads the lines one by one, not believing what he’s seeing. He flips the pages countless times; still refusing to accept the fact that Sooyoung is diagnosed with brain tumor.

“Tell me this is not true.”

Only the sound of her sobbing is the reply.

“Tell me this is not true!” He tears the paper to pieces, leaving the bits to fly away, brought along with the wind.

“You tearing the paper won’t change the fact that I don’t have that much time to live anymore. It won’t change anything…” she trails off. She runs away, bringing her pain together with her.

Hyunshik is speechless as he watches Sooyoung disappear from his view. He doesn’t have the energy to run after her. He balls his fists, his body shaking from anger. He’s mad at his own younger brother. Daehyun, who never knows how to take care of Sooyoung. He would bet all his money that Daehyun doesn’t know his own girlfriend is sick. Sooyoung’s right; nothing can change the fact that she doesn’t have much time to live anymore.

If he can’t change that fact, he will make sure that his own brother knows his own mistake.

…

“Sooyoung, wait!” Hyunshik stops her at the bus stop, just as she’s about to get on the bus. She looks around to find the owner the voice, and finds Hyunshik who just got out of his car. He waves to her, and she’s conflicted on whether she should go over to him. She doesn’t know him that much; she has only looked at his younger pictures and heard about him from Daehyun. From what Daehyun told her, he’s his favourite brother, and Daehyun told her every single good thing about him. It seemed like Daehyun really loved Hyunshik.

Only what Daehyun doesn’t know is that, Hyunshik has been following her around every time. Sooyoung feels uncomfortable, but as long as Hyunshik doesn’t do anything to her, she’ll let it slip away. She doesn’t want to make it into a big deal, so she just kept quiet. But when he knows she has brain tumor, she knows it’s going to be hard to keep him away. In fact, even her own boyfriend, doesn’t know about it. She prefers to keep it a secret; she’d rather leave quietly. Finally, she decides it won’t hurt.

She steps off the stairs of the bus, and the bus leaves her behind in a cloud of smoke. She coughs a bit, and Hyunshik approaches her with concern in his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She gestures to him that she’s fine.

Hyunshik clears his throat. “Thank you, for not getting on the bus.”

She keeps her head down and remains silent.

“I… I know you’re feeling uncomfortable with all of this. I just… since… um…” he fumbles with his words, “You… don’t have that much… time… I want to ask you for a favour…”

She lifts her head, and her head slightly to ask what the favour is.

“There’s this friend, a really good friend, he’s a doctor… He’s searching for a heart donor so I thought maybe you can…”

“Be the heart donor?” Sooyoung speaks up for the first time.

“Yes.”

She muses on the idea over and over again. It’s a good deed, and it’s not like she’s going to need it, right? But, she’s not just about to give in so easily.

“What’s the point of donating my heart? Isn’t the sound of my heart beating in somebody else’s body scary to you? That I’m alive but in another body?”

Hyunshik can feel his hairs standing on end, the chills reaching his neck. He gulps, thinking on the words to say to her.

“You don’t want other people to know about this, do you? Especially… Daehyun.”

She keeps quiet as she avoids looking at him.

“I’m right, aren’t I? You want to go away as quietly as possible.”

“Don’t speak nonsense.”

“I bet he doesn’t even know you went to the hospital that day. Is he even your boyfriend?”

“Don’t speak ill of him!”

“Ah, so I’m right. Do you want me to tell him right now? I can call him.” He takes out his phone and dials Daehyun’s number. He puts the phone to his ear; the phone rings and while at that, he says, “I’m his favourite brother after all, so he’ll surely believe me.”

Sooyoung snatches the phone and hangs up the call. “Don’t you dare.”

“Well then, what about it? Do you want me to tell Daehyun or do you want to donate your heart? It’s your choice.”

“Are you threatening me right now?”

He laughs cockily and takes back the phone from her. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“Huh, so this is really what you are. I can’t believe Daehyun looked up to you so much.”

He shrugs and puts out both of his hands, to represent the choices he’s giving. “To tell Daehyun-” he lifts up his right hand, “or to donate your heart?” his right hand descends and he lifts up his left hand.

“Why are you so desperate for me to donate my heart?”

“Because only then, I’ll feel good as I’ve completed something I wanted to do for a long time.”

“And that is?”

“It wouldn’t be fun if I tell you, wouldn’t it?”

“Whatever, suit yourself.” She crosses her arms.

“So, we have a deal?” He extends out an arm.

Sooyoung stays stationary and stares at his hand. He shrugs and points at her. “To tell Daehyun or…”

“Fine! I’ll do it.” She slaps his hand away.

Hyunshik smiles with satisfaction; he’s finally one step closer towards getting his revenge.

…

“Yongguk! How are you?” Hyunshik says into the phone, while fiddling around with the button on his coat. He’s sitting at his table in his bedroom. He has made sure no one is home, so that no one would hear his conversation with Yongguk. He wants this conversation to only be heard by the two of them, and it’s the perfect time to do it.

“Hmmm… What do you want? Make it quick, I’m really busy.”

“Aish, is this how you’re supposed to treat a friend? Say, being a doctor is really hard, especially when you don’t have time for yourself. It’s even harder when you have to see the patient suffering in front of your own eyes, seeing them counting down the days…”

“Just cut it and go straight to your point. I don’t have time to play your games.”

“Tsk, fine then. How’s that patient doing? Park Jiyoon, right? The one that you love so much; you haven’t found any heart donor yet, right?”

“If you don’t have anything important to say, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait! I have an offer for you. I’m sure you won’t be able to ignore this.”

“Offer? What offer?”

“I know someone who is willing to donate her heart…”

“…”

“In fact I know her very well. She’s… suffering from brain tumor and she decides to donate her heart as her last deed to the world. Say, would you want it?”

“Ask her to go to my hospital! I would arrange it so I can find out whether it’s compatible with Jiyoon.”

“Look at how eager you are, but not so fast. There’s one condition…”

“Whatever it is, I will do it!”

“You’ll do whatever?”

“As long as Jiyoon gets a new heart, I’ll do anything!”

“Even breaking the law?”

Yongguk keeps quiet. He knows he’ll go far to save Jiyoon’s life, but he’s not sure whether he’ll go that far. He thinks of all the possible things Hyunshik would ask him to do, and knowing Hyunshik, he doesn’t trust him that much. Yes, Hyunshik’s his friend, but that doesn’t mean he can put his trust in him.

“Say, I need you to take away someone’s life…”

“What are you talking about?”

“To put it bluntly, I want you to kill my younger brother, Daehyun. He needs to go; I don’t want to see him live anymore. He doesn’t even treat Sooyoung the way she’s supposed to be treated. With all the feeling of anger I’ve kept towards him for years, I decided it’s time. He should die,” he says, his voice shaking.

“Are you crazy? You want me to put an end to an innocent life? You should think about this again! I won’t be involved in this madness. If you’re so furious at him, then why don’t you just kill him?”

“So you’re asking me to kill him?”

“It’s not that… It’s just… Argh! Can you stop making my head spin. None of this is right, Hyunshik.”

“He’s not that innocent… If I could, I would kill him with my own bare hands! But no… I need to be free for the rest of my life. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison. In order for that to happen, I need someone’s help. And that someone happens to be you, Doctor Yongguk.”

“You sound psycho now. Please, stop. Just stop this madness right now. Think straight, Hyunshik!”

“Psycho? What’s more psycho is that Daehyun gets whatever he wants while I had to live like a ragged doll. I’m nothing but a used toy. Do they pay attention to me? No. Spending all those years with Daehyun teaches me that nobody actually cares for me. And now he gets his own apartment, with Sooyoung as his beautiful girlfriend. How can I live to see that? Now that Sooyoung doesn’t have that much time to live anymore… this is all Daehyun’s fault. If only he had taken care of her… If only I was her boyfriend, I would have cared for her so that she wouldn’t be diagnosed with brain tumor.”

“Listen to yourself talking! You know deep down that Daehyun is not at fault. It’s not his fault that things don’t go the way you want to. Life has its ups and downs, Hyunshik.”

“Easy for you to say, isn’t it? You’re a successful doctor, so of course everybody look up to you. Me? Being the middle child is the worst. You get no attention, and people expect nothing of you. Why am I not mad at my older brother, you ask? Because he was born before me, and we didn’t spend that much time together. With Daehyun, we were always side by side. Only, I hated his presence. I wanted all the attention in the world, but I never got it. Now, even when Daehyun’s away, my parents can’t stop thinking of him. What logic is this? Who am I to them?”

“Hyunshik please get back to your senses. This is not the right thing to do! You can try talking to your parents; tell them how you really feel. Or you can just talk to Daehyun, and resolve things. He’s not the one responsible for all of this.”

“So you really think my parents would hear me out? I’m still waiting for that day to come. Why are you on his side? You should be on mine, not his. Once you know what he’s about to do, you won’t be on his side anymore.”

“What he’s about to do…?”

“Kill Jiyoon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because if you don’t agree to do this, you won’t be able to meet the heart donor, and you can finally say your last goodbye to Jiyoon.”

This chapter is purely made up of flashbacks! I finally had some time to update, phew.