"Eunbi, I told you to unlock the damn door!"  I yelled.  After a few moments of thick anticipation, the sound of the lock clicked, and I opened the door.  She was sitting beside the bathtub with her knees pulled up to her face.  Her crying had stopped, but she was shaking.  She was scared.  She knew what we were going to talk about next, and that it was going to make her cry more. 

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Eunbi...  Don't worry about me or anyone else right now.  We're going to talk about you.  Don't you dare apologize again," I tenderly ordered.  She nodded and hid her face in her knees.  "Why didn't you tell me about your mom?"  

"I-I...  I knew th-that you'd try and come with me," she shakily said.  "And I didn't want y-you to."

"Why not?"  I asked, hurt.  I set the hurt aside; she had her reasons.

"B-because..."  She inhaled deeply and began to explain during her long exhale.  "Because I figured that if I had time away from you, you wouldn't fall in love with me, but that our lunches and little visits would be enough to keep you to myself."  She began to cry again and her breaths became uneven.

"That's cruel," I accidentally admitted.  

"That's why I'm sorry...  I'm so sorry Jongin.  I wasn't thinking."  

"Stop apologizing!"  I demanded, hysteria building in me. 

"Jongin...  I don't want you falling in love with me.  I carry the gene.  I'm most likely going to have cancer, just like my mom, and...  I want her to make it!  I really do!  But she's not going to last much longer!  Which means I won't last long, either!"  She whaled.  

"I'll risk it!"  I shouted.  She stopped crying and looked at me in shock.  "Eunbi, you're too cruel.  I was destined to fall in love with you even if we hadn't started dating."  She blinked and her last tears trickled down her cheek.  "From Day 1, I wanted to solve you.  Ask the manager at Barnes and Noble; that's how I found out when you'd be there next."  She began to blush profusely and it lightened the mood a bit.  I pulled her to me and rested my chin on her shoulder.  "Eunbi..."

"Yes?"  She quietly asked.

"Can I go with you this weekend to visit your mom?"  She hesitated but nodded in agreement.  "Eunbi..."

"Yes," she whispered.

"I love you."  

That weekend, I went with her to visit her mother.  The poor woman didn't resemble much of a woman anymore, but she had the same smile that Eunbi had.  She was very talkative and complimentary; she told me that I was handsome, that Eunbi and I were a perfect match, and that I was a nice young man to come and visit her.  In return, I told her about all the goofy things Eunbi did at school with me-- how she scolded me when I skipped classes to go to hers, how she walked out of the school store with an item in her hand before purchasing it just so she could greet Kyungsoo and Hana who were walking by outside(and how she was kicked out,) and how she wouldn't let me touch her unless others were around because she was afraid of being tempted.  Eunbi slapped me for telling her the last part, but we all laughed in genuine happiness and understanding.  Eunbi went to go make her mother some tea.  I stayed to chat with her some more, but the atmosphere grew intense as soon as Eunbi left.

"Kim Jongin-ssi, can you keep a promise?"  She asked as loudly as possible.  

"Yes ma'am," I answered.  She managed to reach her hand out a little and I grabbed it.  

"Always take care of her," she said.  A coughing fit took over her and I gently placed her hand back on the bed.  Eunbi came in with the tea.

"Here you go, mom.  This'll help with that," she soothed.  She put on a smile, but it was sad.  If I could see it, I knew that her mother could see it, too.  Her mom took a sip and sighed.

"Don't stay around me anymore; the day is almost over.  You two go enjoy yourselves, now.  I'll be upset if you don't."

"Alright, mom," Eunbi regretfully agreed.  "Goodbye, I love you.  I'll call dad tonight."

"Goodbye, precious daughter," she croakily sang.  Eunbi walked out first and I leaned over to kiss her mother's cheek.  

"I will take care of her.  I promise," I told her while hugging her.  When I stood straight, she smiled.  

"Goodbye, precious son," she muttered.  I began to tear up but restrained myself from crying because Eunbi came back into the room.

"Mom, I love you more than you love me," Eunbi teased.  "Just thought I'd remind you.  Come on, Jongin."  She dragged me out of the house.  The cab pulled up and she sighed.  "I need to cut my hair."

I knew what she was thinking.  I kissed her head and we got in the car and went to a hair salon.  She got a pixie cut, which actually suited her. Her hair was bagged up, and we took it to a wiggery.  They said to give them a week.  When we came back the next week, the wig was ready.  Unfortunately...  Her mom was ready for the wig.  

We walked into her mother's room, her father by her side, crying.  I spun Eunbi around and embraced her tightly as waterfalls of tears invaded my shirt.  I, too, cried onto her shoulder, but I managed to tell her comforting words.

The funeral was three days later.  Eunbi actually had a large number of friends that I'd never met.  Before the funeral, Eunbi cried on my shoulder a little more in the Pastor's office.  Several of her friends took her from me and comforted her, since several of them came in to do so.  A couple of her male friends touched her more intimately than I was comfortable with, but I put my jealousy aside.  They would look over to me and apologize with their eyes, and they were forgiven.  

After the service, I went to outside of the church to catch some fresh air.  The service made me realize that I really needed to visit my mom more often.  She was alone and restricted to a wheel chair, and reading was all that she liked to do nowadays.  On my way back in, some guys stopped me.  Eunbi's friends.  

"How did you do it?"  One of them asked.  They had some sort of regret flicker in their eyes.

"Do what?"  I calmy asked.

"You got over being intimidated by her," another male answered.  I looked around, and five men were all staring at me, with the same expressions, and the same desire to know the answer.  

"You all loved her once," I smirked.  It was amusing, considering she had this many guys as admirers but none of them stepped up to bat.  They all looked in different directions, answering my question with their shock.  "I threw my pride away," I shrugged.  I slung an arm around the guy who asked me the question.  "Gentlemen, I think we could be very good friends."  

From that moment on, Eunbi's life was my life.  There was just one part of my life left that I had to introduce Eunbi to.  A few weekends later, I took her to see my mom.  

"Eunbi, this is my mom.  Mom, Eunbi," I nervously introduced the two.  Mom was reading some book and looked at me in shock when I brought in Eunbi.  I'd never brought a girl to meet her before.  

"Nice to meet you," my mom broke out of her daze and placed her book in her lap.  She wheeled over and shook Eunbi's hand.  Eunbi's eyes widened.

"Is that the sequel to Divergent?"  Eunbi squealed.  Just like that, my mom and Eunbi were attached at the hip.  Well, almost.  I wouldn't let Eunbi detach herself from my hip.  

At Christmas, I invited Eunbi and her father to come to our home and celebrate with us.  We said a prayer before our dinner, blessing the food and honoring her late mother and wishing my dad luck with his business overseas.  When dinner was over, Eunbi's dad and my mom engaged in conversation and I led her outside to build a snowman.  

"Now, we're kind of like a family," I chuckled as she placed the head on the snowman and it rolled off.  

"I guess so."  She grinned and sneakily pecked my cheek.  I turned to her and furrowed my eyebrows.  "What?"  She blinked.

"It's Christmas, and you think that you're just going to get away with a kiss on my cheek?"  I laughed.  She shrugged and continued working on the snowman.  "You know...  The others aren't here.  What if I make it my objective to tempt you?"

"What?!"  She yelped.  She ran back into the house and quickly took off her boots and coat.  Our parents watched us with keen eyes.

"What are you two doing?"  My mom asked.  I wasn't so sure myself, so I made something up.  

"Her journal is in her bag upstairs, and I'm going to go find out what she thinks of me," I told a little white lie.  

"No you're not!"  Eunbi played along.  She'd finished disposing of her snow gear and raced up the steps.  I quickly threw off my jacket and chased her. 

"Yes I am!"  I cheered.  I heard our parents laughter before I chased her to the recreation room and she slammed the door in my face and locked it.  "Eunbi," I sighed, "I won't do it.  Let me in."

"Nope."

"You're really going to do this?"  I asked.

"Yep."  

"Fine.  Sleep in the recreation room all night.  I don't care," I laughed.  After a few minutes, I heard her walk to the door.

"Have you calmed down?"

"Yes," I lied.  She opened the door and hugged me before I could scare her again.  We both knew I was going to.  Not only would I get to , but I'd get to hold her lovingly for a short while.  Before she pulled out of my arms, I kept a strong hand on the small of her back, nudged her forward with my body and shut the door with my foot.  "I lied," I whispered. 

She squirmed and tried to wiggle away from me, but I threw her on the recliner and she fell back.  The seat reclined and I crawled on top of her and pinned her shoulders down.  

"One bad move, and this entire chair flips," I warned.  She stayed still and, of course, looked anywhere but at my eyes.  I cupped her face, leaned in and kissed her.  She pushed me off and sighed.

"This isn't good enough," she whined.  She kicked the seat and it sat up again.  I slightly fell back and sat on her lap with my legs resting beside both sides of her.  I was going to step off before she grabbed the collar of my shirt.  "I'm tired of you teasing me, Jongin," she whispered while she nuzzled my neck.  I sat, lifeless and in shock, while she traced my jaw with her lips.  Of course, when she kissed my lips I responded.  It wasn't much, but it definitely wasn't nothing.  We were both holding onto each other so tightly, so keenly, and she pulled away.  "So I'll just have to tease you back."  I climbed off of her and she laughed.

"That was not funny!"  I croaked.  She could tell I was embarassed.

"Yes it was!  That's how you are, all the time, and I have to resist it!  It's not easy, is it?"  She proved her point.  I grabbed her arm and pulled her down to the ground with me.  

"Just hang in there, okay?  I'm waiting for the right time," I shakily said while rubbing her arm, "but one day...  You know..."

"What?!"  She asked, eyes wide.  A look of disgust spread across her face.

"Stop your dirty thinking...  I'm just saying that one day, when we're married, you won't have to resist-" She cut me off and kissed me.  

"I love you," she cooed.  She hugged me and forced me to lay down and cuddle with her.  

"I love you, too," I chuckled.  I ruffled her short hair and she lightly hit my chest.  We closed our eyes and let serenity take us.