She was almost asleep when the commotion began. She had no idea what was going on and was too tired and sore to find out. She rolled over in her bed as the screaming down the hall got louder and louder and no one seemed to be doing anything to make it stop and after about five minutes of non-stop screaming and yelling, she began to feel like a blender chewed her up and spat her back out. She groaned and rolled over again, placing the pillow over her head to try to muffle out the noise. It didn’t work. Suddenly, the door opened and an older yet still handsome man walked in with a lab coat on. “Good morning Ms. Do, how are you feeling today?” the man asked her.

“I feel miserable, Dr. Han,” she stated bluntly, “I don’t think this medicine is working on me.”

Dr. Han smiled and walked up to her, checking the IV attached to her arm and the blood pulse monitor clipped onto her finger. “Don’t worry,” he said calmly, “it will soon. Just give it some time.” The screaming outside suddenly became louder, causing both of them to look at the door. “We have some very special visitors at the hospital today,” Dr. Han explained, “Don’t worry. The screaming will die down soon enough.”

She smiled at him and tried to return back to sleep when the nurse suddenly knocked on the door. Dr. Han excused himself and went over to talk to the nurse. Through the hollering and the yelping, she couldn’t’ make out anything they were saying but she got the gist that something happened that shouldn’t have happened and now they are going to have to fix it. Dr. Han nodded and the nurse walked back into the hallway and Dr. Han waved at someone that she couldn’t see.

He looked back at her and stepped out of the doorway. “Ms. Do,” he said, “Please forgive me but we have run out of available beds so our special guest will have to stay with you. Normally we don’t room men with women unless the circumstances are necessary, so I really hope you forgive me.”

She nodded and gave him a weak smile. “That’s okay, Dr. Han. I understand.”

Dr. Han sighed and motioned for the guest to enter the room. In rolled a very handsome young boy in a wheelchair and a cast going up his entire left leg followed by five other men, four of them equally attractive and the other one…not so much. “Ms. Do, I would like you to meet Shim Changmin of DBSK, Changmin, this is Do Hae-Won.”

They all slightly bowed their heads and smiled at each other. “Please, call me Max,” Changmin said, trying to get into his bed. The nurse then walked over and helped him out of his wheelchair and into the bed next to Hae-Won and propped his leg up in the air.

She didn’t know why but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that was telling her that something bad was going to happen. She could tell that, however long Max was planning on staying in the hospital with her, it was going to feel like an eternity. She’d stayed at the hospital very frequently nowadays and was used to having her own room (or at least, when she had a roommate, they were usually quiet) so she would not put up with these punks any more than she felt necessary. She wasn’t afraid of them.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hae-Won said with a sickening grin, “You can call me Hae-Won if you want. But I’m not feeling good so I’m going to rest now.” She closed her eyes and listened to some footsteps walk out of the room. She thought that for once she could actually get some sleep for the first time in days now that the pain had subsided. She was wrong.

“I told you that you weren’t ready to do the flip, Max!” another voice yelled. Hae-Won peeked her eyes open ever so slightly to see who was talking. The four drop dead gorgeous boys were still in the room all crowded around Max. She didn’t know who had just said that but, whoever he was, his voice was giving her a splitting headache.

Max laughed. “Hey! It’s not my fault! Blame Junsu, he’s the one who flipped me in the first place!” he pointed to a boy on the far side of the bed who had a very gentle and child-like face.

Junsu laughed and covered his face out of embarrassment. “But Jaejoong told me to in the first place!” He pointed to the boy next to him: the classically handsome man with the million dollar smile that all of the girls would fall head-over-heals in love with before they drew their next breath.

His face was soft and his voice was too when he yelled out, “I did not! Yoochun was the one who dared you to!” Jaejoong pointed to the next guy in the circle. The guy with the hard exterior who you could tell was probably the most gentle out of the bunch.

“Don’t blame me for this!” he retorted, “I wasn’t even in the room!”

Finally the guy with his back towards me stood up and leaned into Max and said, “So who are you going to blame now? Huh? Huh? Huh?” Yep, that was him: The Headache.

He began to yell and playfully mess around with Max but he kept getting louder and louder. “Hey! Shut up!” Hae-Won yelled, grabbing the tissue box from the nightstand next to her bed and throwing it at The Headache, hitting him square in the back of the head.

The Headache quickly turned around and stormed up to her. “What’s your problem?” he asked her, slamming the box of tissues back on the nightstand where they belong. She finally got a good look at his face. It was rough. It was the kind of face that when you first see it, you think it’s that of a bad boy’s but then you realize that it’s too soft for that.

“What’s my problem? What’s your problem?” Hae-Won yelled at him. “I don’t know if you notice, but you’re in a hospital: where people go when they’re sick! And here you are blabbering your mouth away obnoxiously while I told you that I’m trying to sleep! That’s what my problem is! I’m sick and you’re giving me the worst headache of my life!”

He chuckled. “You’re sick? Oh what’s wrong with you? Too arrogant?”

“It’s none of your business why I’m here!” Hae-Won said, “But let me tell you—” She couldn’t finish her rant—for a good reason too. She was about to tell him off when suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t because five of Korea’s most gorgeous men were right in front of her, she just couldn’t breathe. She sat up, knowing that it would help her get more breath into her. She could barely hear the sounds of the boys asking her if she were okay—it was getting hard to hear anything. She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t hold it in. She then suddenly leaned over the bed and threw up right on The Headache’s shoes.

The next few days were a blur. Hae-Won stayed quiet while Max and whichever band member was with him talked and just hung out. She was feeling miserable. Her entire body ached and she couldn’t eat much. In fact, death seemed like pretty good right about now. Then again, she didn’t have a choice. Hae-Won was dying. She didn’t know when she was going to go or how it would feel but she knew that it was going to happen very soon. As it turns out, Max’s broken leg got infected somehow during his stay in the hospital and so Hae-Won would have to continue being bothered by The Headache as long as Max is her roommate. But one day, something happened. Something happened that no one expected to happen that ended up changing the course of Hae-Won’s life as she knew it.

Max hadn’t had any visitors that whole day, which was surprising to Hae-Won because someone seemed to always be with him. It was quiet until the door to the room flung open sometime in the late afternoon and in walked The Headache himself. He walked about two feet into the room, plastered on a big, goofy grin and threw his hands up in the air and said, “Yunho’s here!”

“Yippie,” Hae-Won mumbled sarcastically. Yunho had only returned to visit Max twice since their first encounter so Hae-Won was kind of used to Yunho’s cockiness. Used to it—not liked it. She just couldn’t tell if it was real or just him goofing off.

“Excuse me?” Yunho said, dramatically placing his hands on his hips and dropping his jaw, “Could you please not ruin my good mood? I was having a perfectly wonderful day until I saw you.”

She glared at him. “So why did you come in here? You know that Max and I are rooming together.”

He walked up to her and pulled the chair that’s usually next to Max’s bed over to Hae-Won’s and sat down in it. “Because,” he said, “I tried to clean my shoes—you know, the ones you threw up on—and it didn’t work. So, you owe me new shoes!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Here’s my shoe size. I like shoes with lots of personality!”

Hae-Won snickered, “Why? Is it to make up for your lack of a personality?” She crumbled the piece of paper into a little ball and threw it at Yunho’s face and said, “I owe you nothing.”

Yunho clenched his jaw and glared at her. “Okay, that’s it,” he said, “No more mister nice guy!” He stood up and pushed his chair back to the side of Max’s bed and then sat on top of Hae-Won. Yunho snickered as he felt her squirm underneath him. “This’ll teach you to mess with me!” he rejoiced, crossing his arms and attempting to get comfortable on his new throne.

“Dude! Get off! You’re hurting her!” Max yelled at him, sitting up in his bed.

Yunho laughed and said, “Oh come on! I can’t possibly be hurting her! I don’t weigh that much!”

Hae-Won struggled to get Yunho off of her. She knew that he was just messing around and he didn’t know that him sitting on her felt like a car being placed on her spleen. Max had even told him that Yunho normally wasn’t like that. He was usually very down to earth and fun to be around. But now, he was even annoying to Max. She couldn’t say anything. No words would escape . She wanted to yell at him to get off of her but she couldn’t even whine in pain. All she could do was writhe in pain and hope he got the message.

Max struggled to get up out of his bed. He could tell that Hae-Won was in agony. He also knew that Yunho was too arrogant to get up at the moment. He ignored Yunho yelling at him to get back into bed and Max stood up, trying not to put too much weight on his leg and walked over to Hae-Won’s bed and pushed Yunho off of her. “Hae-Won, are you okay?” Max asked, checking to make sure that Yunho hadn’t removed any medical equipment. Hae-Won didn’t respond to him. She couldn’t. She just sat there writhing in pain. “Yunho,” Max ordered, “Get Dr. Han, now!”

She was getting worse. Yunho was right. Normally, her body wouldn’t have been that sensitive to someone sitting on her, but her condition was a special circumstance. Her body was getting weaker and weaker every day and she couldn’t do anything about it for it was too late now to even begin treatment.

The next night at about two o’clock in the morning, she heard a voice—Max’s voice. He wasn’t talking to her, though (he knew not to talk to her when she was sleeping after what she did to Yunho that first day). He was talking to someone on his phone. “Dude, you’d better apologize to her,” he said in the phone, “After you left, the doctor came in and told her that whatever was wrong with her is getting worse. Then, last night, she wouldn’t stop throwing up. I was worried that she was going to start throwing up blood or something. And, honestly, I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

That last sentence stabbed her. She didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. She wouldn’t make it. Hae-Won was on her last weeks on this earth. At first, she didn’t want the treatment because she knew that it would be grueling. But now, she’d take that over wondering when you will fall asleep and not wake up any day. She felt the tears crawl down her face. She didn’t want to die.

It was noon when she woke up the next morning and Yunho was already in the room. As soon as he noticed that she was waking up, he switched the chair’s location between the beds from Max’s side to Hae-Won’s side and sat down next to her. “Hae-Won, you’re awake!” he pointed out, calmer than usual.

“Yes, I am,” she said, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them, “so what are you doing here next to my bed?”

“I’m here to apologize to you,” he said, looking down out of embarrassment, “I’m sorry for being such a jerk and for being so cruel to you by sitting on you when you were obviously in pain. I just—I don’t know what came over me. I—I’m—I—”

She placed a hand on his arm, signaling him to stop. “It’s okay,” she said quietly, “I understand.”

Yunho breathed a sigh of relief and then got an idea. “When was the last time you went outside?” he asked her.

She shrugged. “Probably since before you guys got here, so a little while. Why?”

He grabbed her arm and tugged on it almost hard enough for her to fall out of her bed. “Come on,” he said, grabbing a nearby wheelchair, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Hae-Won smiled as she breathed in a fresh breath of the cool fall air as Yunho pushed the wheelchair around the park at the back of the hospital. “It smells significantly better than hospital out here!” she said with a grin.

“That’s why I brought you out here,” Yunho stated, “You needed to get out of there, trust me.” He wheeled her next to a bench under a tree that was turning orange and brown with the season and he sat down on the bench next to her wheelchair. “So why are you here?” he finally asked her after a moment of silence.

She sighed, “I got sick. Really sick. The doctors don’t think I’m going to get better right away so they want me to stay here so they can keep a careful eye on me while I’m trying to recover.” She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she was dying. She didn’t want him to find out. Not yet, anyways. “And while we’re on the subject of apologizing,” she added, “I’m sorry for throwing a tissue box at your head and throwing up on your shoes.”

“Yeah, you still owe me a new pair of shoes!” Yunho laughed.

“How about if I buy you a new pair of shoes when I die?” she responded half sarcastically, laughing as well.

“That’s not fair!” Yunho said, elbowing her playfully, causing her to laugh again. She had never been this happy. It was as if Yunho was a completely different person than he first started out to be. He was kinder, gentler, and sweeter. She recognized it somehow, though. She just couldn’t put her finger on it quite yet. “Hey, are you okay?” Yunho asked, noticing that she had begun coughing violently. She just nodded and Yunho felt her forehead. “You’re burning up,” he pointed out, “let’s get you back in and see Dr. Han right now.” Without waiting for her to respond, he quickly rolled her back into the hospital.

A while later, Dr. Han exited Max and Hae-Won’s room and walked up to Yunho and said, “Thank you for bringing her back in. She could have been in serious danger if you let her shrug it off.”

Dr. Han began to walk away but Yunho stopped him. “Doctor, what’s wrong with Hae-Won?” he asked him. Dr. Han looked at him and he could tell that whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“I’m not really supposed to tell you this,” he said with a sigh, “but since you seem like a trustworthy young gentleman and care a lot about Hae-Won, I will tell you. She is in the final stages of leukemia. From the very start she refused treatment and still refuses it. Now there’s nothing we can do for her. She doesn’t have much time to live and based on her current condition, maybe a week at maximum. I’m so sorry.” Dr. Han bowed and then left without another word.

He had wanted to see Hae-Won to make sure that she was okay, but now he wasn’t sure. Max was going to be discharged tomorrow and then they could all leave in peace and don’t have to worry about seeing each other ever again.

Five days later, Yunho hadn’t returned to see Hae-Won. He didn’t think he could handle seeing her in so much pain and agony. Why did he care so much about her? He couldn’t stand her since the first day they met and now it’s practically like he’s in love with her. Love. Was this love?

“Yo! Earth to Yunho!” Max said, waving a hand in front of Yunho’s dazed face. Yunho blinked and brought himself back to reality. “You’re thinking about Hae-Won, aren’t you?” Yunho didn’t respond, only blushed. “You know you should go back and see her.”

“Why should I?” Yunho retorted, “I know that she doesn’t care about me. I was nothing but a jerk to her. Besides, I’m probably the last person that she wants to see now that she’s on her last days of life.”

Max patted him on the back. “You know she doesn’t have a family. They’re all gone. She told me that on my last day in the hospital. She has no one to say goodbye to before she leaves. Want to know what else she told me? The only person that she really wants to see is you. You left without saying goodbye so she wants to see you one last time. So go to her Yunho, for both of us.”

The next day Yunho decided to fulfill his promise to Max to go see Hae-Won one last time. He wasn’t expecting her to, but when he walked into the room, she smiled at him. She smiled at him through the death printed all over her face. She had become ghostly pale and seemed to have lost at least fifty pounds. This really was the end for her.

“Hey,” he said unsurely, pulling his usual chair over to her, “How are you feeling?” He tried to ignore the heart rate monitor slowly beeping right next to him.

She smiled and placed her hand on top of his. “I’m fine,” she said weakly, “I’m happy to see you.”

Yunho tried to hold back the tears that came from hearing her so weak. “You’re lying,” he said, “You’re not okay. You’re dying. You’re leaving me.”

“I won’t leave you. I promise,” she quivered, “I’ve been thinking a lot lately…about you. I didn’t know why until just recently. You gave me hope. All of the hope I could’ve wanted. You have the type of personality and charisma I wished I had from the very beginning.”

He suddenly felt a little drop of water flow down his cheek. “Please,” he whispered, “Please don’t die. I don’t want you to die. I...I love you.”

She smiled. “I don’t want to die either,” she whispered, “but now that you’re here, I’m okay with it. I was scared before, but now, there’s no more pain. Instead, all I feel is happiness.” She placed a hand on his cheek as the heart-rate monitor’s beeping became slower and slower. Her hand felt cold against his face and he gripped onto her hand tightly, pressing it harder against his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered quietly before the beeping turned into a constant noise and her hand went limp.

Yunho let the tears flow freely now. He wanted to cry out to her—get her to wake up, but he knew that she couldn’t hear him. She was gone. There was nothing that he could do. He looked at her once again; preserving the image he had of her for one last moment when he saw a slip of paper in her hand. He gently took the paper out of her grip and look at it. “Look under the bed,” it read. Yunho peered under and saw a box. He grabbed the box and looked at it. It had his name written on it in what he assumed to be her handwriting. When he opened it, he almost choked on his own tears. It was a pair of shoes.