“I’m sorry for your loss,” Yongguk says to Daehyun after the both of them finish paying their respects. They’re outside the funeral home, and the both of them are wearing black suits. The latter gives the doctor a depressing smile, and their journey to the hospital is silent.

“So… you want to meet the patient, right? She’s still weak but she can interact with people now,” Yongguk says as they enter the air-conditioned building. A few nurses passing by them greet Yongguk. They go up to the sixth floor, and soon they’re in front of the ICU the patient is in. Yongguk is about to open the doors but Daehyun stops him.

“Wait,” he puts a hand on the doctor’s arm, preventing him from making any move.

“Why? Is there anything wrong?” he frowns.

Daehyun lets out a sharp breath and shakes his head. “I’m- I’m anxious. I don’t know why.”

“It’s probably because you feel weird thinking about it. Don’t worry too much,” Yongguk assures him and continues to open the heavy doors.

Daehyun finally sees the patient; her body so thin, her face pale and bits of hair sticking on her face. She has long hair, and it looks like it hasn’t been washed for a few days. He assumes that she’s around his age. Many wires and tubes are attached to her body; it makes Daehyun pity her. She was asleep when they enter the room, but she wakes up when she hears the door being closed.

“Jiyoon? Are you feeling better now?” Yongguk’s voice catches Daehyun off-guard; his voice is laced with so much care that he isn’t sure what he heard was the doctor’s voice. Daehyun only observes as Jiyoon struggles to prop herself up, and Yongguk rushes to her side to help her.

“You shouldn’t stress yourself too much, the stitches might burst. You’re going to worry everyone,” he smoothes Jiyoon’s hair.

“Oppa, you’re the one worrying too much. I’m fine, really.”

“That’s what you always said! In the end you always ended up fainting because you didn’t have enough oxygen,” Yongguk pouts. Daehyun’s eyes almost pop out seeing the drama unfolds in front of him. This is something new to him. Daehyun clears his throat, and the both of them turn to him. Yongguk scratches his head and bows a few times.

“I’m sorry- I almost forgot you are here,” he ushers Daehyun to stand beside Jiyoon and the patient gives her a smile. An innocent, pure smile. Daehyun has to look away because he’s starting to feel weird… He doesn’t return the smile, and he can see Jiyoon’s smile starting to fade. He feels guilty but he keeps a straight face.

“Jiyoon, this is Sooyoung’s boyfriend- Daehyun- Sooyoung is the one who donated her heart to you,” the doctor taps Daehyun’s shoulder.

“Really? That’s great! I really want to thank you so much. Yongguk oppa told me everything about you, and I’m really grateful,” in her eagerness, Jiyoon grabs his right hand but in an instant Daehyun pulls back his hand. She’s confused at first, but she decides to ignore it. “I’m- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to grab your hand. I was just too excited, but at the same time I’m sorry for your loss.”

He puts up a hand to show a sign that he’s okay, and he turns towards Yongguk beside him. Yongguk is still staring at Jiyoon, but his mouth is now a straight line. He sees that the doctor’s eyes are filled with pure concern. He opts to excuse himself from the room. “It’s nice meeting you- um- Jiyoon. Yongguk, thank you for allowing me to meet her. I think it’s time for me to go now.”

He rushes to the doors, and two pairs of eyes follow him. He’s out of the room almost immediately. Yongguk looks back to Jiyoon, but Jiyoon is still staring at the door. “Hey,” Yongguk taps lightly on her hand to get her attention. She finally looks at him; her eyes indicate that she’s still tired. “You’re still tired, aren’t you? Stop saying you aren’t, I can tell that you are.”

“I’m not,” she says playfully.

He crosses his arms and put on a serious face. “Jiyoon, I’m the doctor here. You can’t lie to your doctor about your condition.”

Jiyoon giggles and nods. “Fine, I’m tired. Are you happy now?”

His face breaks into a smile and he aids the patient to lie down again. He pulls the blanket over Jiyoon, and pats her head. “Sleep tight, just press the button if you feel anything unusual, okay? Don’t hide anything,” his voice full with trepidation.

“Sure thing!” she gives him a thumbs-up.

Yongguk spins around to get out of the room, but she stops him. “Oppa,” she calls.

“Yes?”

“That Daehyun guy… he’s really weird isn’t he?”

Yongguk is taken aback when she asked the question. “I guess he is, now go back to sleep. You don’t have to worry about Daehyun, he’s none of your business,” all of the words come out of his mouth quickly. He doesn’t turn back anymore to hear her reply.

When the doctor leaves the room, Jiyoon’s eyebrows crease. “Why is everybody acting so weirdly today? Is there something wrong with me?”

…

“You’re still here? I thought you had to leave?” Yongguk greets Daehyun, who’s still sitting in at the benches just outside the ICU. Although it’s cold because of the air-conditioned floor, Daehyun’s still sweating. He rubs his hands on his pants and is up on his feet when he sees Yongguk.

“I did, but I just wanted to talk to you first.”

“Sure, what is it about?” he sits next to Daehyun.

“It’s about Jiyoon.”

Yongguk suddenly concentrates fully on Daehyun when he says the name of the patient.

“What- what about her?” he takes in a gulp of air and gazes at the man beside him with interest. “What about her?” he repeats the question. His body goes rigid and he clenches his fist. He doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t even like Daehyun mentioning her name.

“She’s more than a patient to you, isn’t she?”

The doctor lets out a sigh of relief and nods slowly. His shoulders relax and he unclenches his fist. “Since she always visit the hospital frequently I’ve grown fond of her. But I don’t think she feels the same way about me… She only sees me as her doctor who’s older than her.” He hangs his head in shame.

Daehyun lets out a heavy breath and awkwardly pats the doctor’s back. “I’m sure she’ll realize your feelings soon.” He gets up hastily and waves at the doctor. “I really better get going now. Thank you again, for everything.” He walks towards the direction of the lifts.

While waiting for the lift, he rubs his hands together. He’s still sweating a lot, and he’s not even sure why. He’s pretty sure that the air-conditioner is working well. Even his heart is beating strangely fast… He’s trying to make sense of what he’s feeling right now. He’s trying to block the thoughts that he’s having.

It couldn’t possibly be…

He only met her once, so is it even possible?

He can’t be falling for her, can he?