“Please tell me that I’m dreaming. She can’t die. Not now. Not that soon. I barely had a chance to hold her. I’ve waited years for this chance. This can’t be how it ends.” Nichkhun almost dropped to the floor, his legs going numb and weak. He felt like crying. Could they be mistaken? He just couldn’t believe it. Yuri said that she only had Hepatitis. He came out from behind the wall and showed himself.

   Yoona and TaecYeon stared at him in fear. The secret was out.

   “Does Yuri really have cancer?” he asked still seemingly calm. But in reality, he was wavering painfully inside. The two couldn’t make up the right words. TaecYeon frowned, keeping the strong act.

   “What are you saying? Of course not.”

   “I heard you just now. You said that Yuri has cancer.” He now looked as if he wanted to seriously burst into tears.

   “You must’ve misheard me. I never said that,” confirmed Taec. Yoona didn’t say anything. She watched him suffer painfully at the news. A nurse came out of the emergency room where Yuri was being treated with a passive expression. She took a glimpse at all the faces surrounding her and stated the announcement.

   “The patient is awake. You can go see her now if you want,” she confirmed before walking past them in a rush to the next task. Nichkhun kept a worried expression on his face when thinking about the situation. He was confused, and couldn’t lead himself to believe that his girlfriend was really sick. It was unreal.

   “I don’t believe you. I want to hear it directly from Yuri. She would tell me the truth.” He abruptly twisted the doorknob in anger and walked straight to the bed where Yuri sat peacefully. Her guard lifted at her boyfriend’s sight as she made out an innocent smile. She saw the darkness in his eyes and her grin slowly dropped.

   “Nichkhun oppa, what’s wrong?” Without taking the time to sit, he eagerly began.

   “Yuri-ah. Please answer me honestly.” He his lips. Yoona and TaecYeon followed from behind and observed the prince’s frustration. They trembled, waiting for his words to come out. “Do you have cancer?”

   She gazed away, avoiding his burning eyes. Nichkhun grasped both her arms, making her face him. “Tell me! Do you?”

   They deeply stared at each other in the eye. Yuri’s heart began to beat faster. What choice did she have? “Mianhe oppa. I should’ve told you earlier.” Nichkhun felt his whole body fail to function at that very moment. His grip lightened as he walked away without a word. Yuri could feel him hurting terribly. His eyes were filled with sorrow, as if someone had died.

   “Oppa. Where are you going?” He walked past the spectators and then past the door. His stare stayed fixed to one point. He shuffled his legs down the hallway without even paying the slightest attention to where he was going. His mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t face Yuri now. It hurt too much. The thought of losing her was a nightmare.

   Yuri began to tear up when seeing him leave in sadness. She was sure that he was somewhat mad at her for lying. He had every right to.

   “Go get him,” suggested Taec. She broke out of her gaze and heard the order.

   “Bwoh?”

   “Don’t leave him like that. Get out of here and do what you got to do.” Yoona smiled from behind. Yuri nodded in agreement and slipped on a pair of shoes to race towards him. She found him slowly walking towards the hospital exit. Not wanting to disturb his gaze, she followed leisurely from behind. The minutes of pacing led them outdoors. The breeze was fresh and the scent meant autumn was coming in.

   Nichkhun stood near a tree, his hand in his pockets. Yuri could hear him sob and let out tears that he wiped off every now and then. Leaving him alone for a while, Yuri decided to finally make a move. She placed herself behind him and got a hold of his shoulder. Without turning around, he immediately knew who this was.

   “Oppa, are you mad at me?” No answer was given. “I don’t blame you one bit for hating me right now. I made a huge mistake by lying to you. I deserve every ounce of your hatred.”

   He remained in the same position, pretending like nobody was there.

   “Whether you’re listening or not, I just want you to know that I lied to you for a reason. I didn’t want you to get hurt or to worry about me. The reason you came back was to stay away from the pressure in Thailand. It would have been imperative to let you preoccupy about my health.” His silence bothered her. “Look, I know that it’s hard for you at the moment. I just bombarded you with a tone of information that you probably preferred not to hear, but at least look at me.”

   He didn’t turn, no matter how much she tried to pull his shoulder. Nichkhun avoided everything to stay away from pain.

   “Khun oppa! Just look at me for a second. Please! Why don’t you just turn around?”

   “Because I can’t look at you… without feeling hurt,” mumbled Nichkhun in disturbance. Yuri went in front of him and pulled his face closer to hers. Their lips overlapped. She could feel his lips tremble and his cheeks shake before pulling away. Her face was a few centimeters away. Her small brown eyes gleamed in the light coming through the leaves.

   “Is looking at me now hurting you?”

   “It’s burning a hole in my chest.” At the sound of his shaky voice, Yuri got a hold of his hand. She gently slipped her fingers in between his and  her own lips.

   “Is my presence hurting you that much? Should you never see me again in that case?” His hand gripped tighter.

   “Aniyo! Not seeing you at all is what scares me the most.” His soft voice somehow made her body numb. Seeing him suffer with her wasn’t very enjoyable.

   “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll be fine. God will decide if he takes me or not. For now, all we could do is pray…" Her words were comforting, yet it didn't feel entirely right. Nichkhun didn't want to leese her, not even for a second. "But oppa, are you sure that you want to date me?”

   “Why wouldn’t I?” She took a strip of her dark, long hair, and held it up.

   “See this; it’ll be all gone in a few weeks. I’ll be bald, pale, and disgusting to look at. You’ll begin to ask yourself why you picked me over Yoona.”

   “No I won’t. I won’t regret a second of ever choosing you.”

   “Ya right! You’re just saying that now. Let’s see what will happen in two weeks. You’ll probably be on your way back to Thailand out of fear. You’ll maybe even marry that Victoria girl or whatever. I’m sure that…” Before she could finish her sentence, his forehead leaned on hers as he planted another soft kiss.

    His touch was gentle and smooth. His skin rubbed on her little nose. After savoring the moment, Yuri separated the contact and opened her eyes.

   “So, does this mean that I’m forgiven?” she asked playfully.

   “I’ll only forgive you if you live.” Nichkhun smiled like a child and rubbed his nose against her skin. His hand played with the smooth black hair.

   Suddenly, Yuri’s hand moved to her the side of her body. It began to hurt excessively in that area. She bended to her knees and tried to sooth it while sitting on the floor. Nichkhun, who’s arms were still holding Yuri, followed.

   “What’s wrong?” he asked.

   “I just need to sit down oppa, just a second.”

   “Let’s go back to your room then,” he suggested.

   “Aniyo! I don’t want to go back. I’ll be stuck in there for the next few weeks. I want to stay away from that building as much as I can.” She shut her eyes in irritation by the painful body part. With a gentle gaze, he placed his back on front of her. Yuri weakly opened her eyes.

   “Get on. I’ll carry you around the grounds until you fall asleep.” After insisting that it would make him tired, Nichkhun convinced the patient otherwise. He laid her on his back and lifted the body around the grassy area of the hospital. When they were kids, Nichkhun always gave Yuri piggy back rides when she was tired of walking. Even if he hated it back then, he still did it for her satisfaction. Now, carrying her wasn’t a burden, it was a gift that he had to cherish while it last.

   After a few turns around, Nichkhun felt Yuri’s head lean heavily on his shoulder. Like most family members with relatives suffering from cancer, Nichkhun hopped that this wasn’t her last time to fall asleep and to wake up.