“Sora-yah, Daesung-sshi is still in the garden… it’s already late…” The nurse was so worried about Daesung so she told Sora about it but the latter didn’t say anything. “SORA, LISTEN TO ME!”

            “Unni… you know I can’t face him. I already cut the connection between us…”

            “But you see… he’s really persevering just for you… to accept his feelings…”

            “You know everything already! I’m going to die soon... I don’t want him to feel the pain of being left behind.”

            “And now, don’t you think you are doing the same thing to him by pushing him away?” Sora felt speechless and looked away.

            “I know you’re afraid to hurt him more in the future… but this is not the solution… you’re just hurting him so much right now… and even yourself. Sora, why don’t you try? Don’t give up yet.” Sora was still hesitant and didn’t say anything. The nurse just sighed because she knows that she can no longer convince her. “I don’t know what to do anymore so I’ll just leave. I think it will rain soon so you better tell him to go home…”

            Sora had a difficult time falling asleep that night. She desperately wanted to but there’s something that stops her from sleeping. While forcing herself, she heard the sound of the rain from her window. Somehow, the rain was pouring very hard that made her think about Daesung.

            “Maybe, he went home by now. He isn’t a fool to stay there when he knows that I won’t be even coming down to see him.” She talked to herself.

            Bothered by the rain, she was still far from sleeping so she decided to check on the garden so that she can confirm by herself.

            “Okay Sora, you are just checking if he’s home or not even though you clearly know that if he’s on his right mind, he will definitely go home by now.” She took a deep breath and went out of her room to check. She slowly looked down but it was too dark for her to see so she decided to come closer and to her surprise, Daesung was still standing where she left him, looking like a puppy waiting for his owner to find him.

            “Daesung-ah, why are you still here?! Are you crazy?! Go home now!” Sora yelled at him.

            “I won’t! No matter how hard it is, I won’t move here and wait for you!” Sora was surprised by how stubborn he can be.

            “You might be ill if you continue doing that!”

            “Who cares? I can only think of you this time.”

            “You’re really crazy! Do you think you can force me to go down by that?! HELL NO!” she immediately went inside her room ranging from anger.

            “What is he really thinking?! He might be really sick if he still insists to stay here.” She looked really worried but again her stubbornness dominated. “I won’t care about him anymore!” she laid down her bed and covered her face with a pillow. She closed her eyes tightly wanting to forget and just sleep but unfortunately she can’t. “AIGOOOOOOOOOOOO!” she immediately stood up again and grabbed her umbrella. She immediately went down to see Daesung with the motive of convincing him to go home.

            “Sora?”

            “Go home now…” Daesung was firm on staying there.

            “No.”

            “Why are you so stubborn?! I told you many times to stay away from me!” Sora argued.

            “I don’t want to.”

            “WHY?!” she yelled at Daesung.

            “Because I love you.” Sora’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Daesung say those three words. “And no matter how much you pushed me away, I will still keep on pushing myself to you.”

            “Why me? There are many girls who are better.”

            “Yes… but there will be no other girl like you…”

            “I’m dying soon Daesung!” she yelled so hard while suppressing the tears that are soon falling down her eyes. “The doctors clearly told me that there was no more chance for me to escape this illness! That I need to prepare because I might die soon! Can’t you understand that?!” Daesung felt mad after hearing Sora.

            “I DON’T! I just know that when there is still life, there is hope. Everyone will eventually die. Don’t let this hold you back Sora. I don’t want neither of us to regret.” He held her arms while Sora’s tears started to escape from her eyes.

            “I can’t love you… I will just leave you… I don’t want to let anyone feel like they are abandoned… I just wanna leave this place without leaving a mark on someone’s memory so that no one will get hurt.”

            “Pabo. If you continue to do this, I will be hurt more and more. I won’t feel abandoned nor left behind if you die. Sora, look into my eyes.” Daesung held her face. “I love you. And I don’t care if you die next year, next month, next week or even tomorrow. All I care is that you accept my feelings for you and for you to not give up.” Sora pushed his hands away.

            “How could I fight when I know that I already lost in this game?! I can’t…” she grasped her arm and touched her chest feeling real hurt.

            “You can. I’ll be with you. We will fight together…” She shook her head and wiped her tears.

“No.” she turned around and walk further from Daesung.

“Stop acting like you are strong… I know you are afraid but I will be here by your side till the end… I won’t ever leave you…” she stopped upon hearing Daesung’s words. “I love you and I don’t care what will happen in the future. What’s important is today.” Sora’s tears flowed from her eyes again as she looked at Daesung.

“But…” Daesung came closer and suddenly embraced her.

“I’ll be by your side. Don’t be afraid. We will face this together.” She finally gave up her foolish pride and nodded. She embraced Daesung tightly as she cried. That night, Sora finally accepted Daesung into her life.