what_gd_is_it

** What Good Is It Now (FTTS FIC) **

Prologue

"Look at Hwanhee oppa! He's so cute!"

"No... Brian's way cuter!"

Yunjin and HeeJung were sitting over the high school yearbook, looking at the Senior Class.

YunJin said, "HeeJung ah... tomorrow's the graduation. Aren't you getting ready?"

"Okay... bye!"

"Bye! Call me when you're ready tomorrow!"

NEXT DAY AT GRADUATION

"HeeJung ah! Why so many flowers?"

"Hwanhee oppa..."

"CH! Give me some. My bouquet for Brian oppa isn't THAT big..."

HeeJung and Yunjin started walking to where the seniors would be. HeeJung froze. YunJin waved her hand in front of her face. She gazed at the direction of HeeJung's eyes. YunJin gasped.

Hwanhee was putting his arms around a girl's waist. HeeJung shook her head and ran out of the room. Hwanhee... girlfriend... no...

She ran out onto the street. YunJin, who was following right behind her, yelled, "HeeJung ah! Watch out!"

HeeJung turned, but it was too late. She heard loud honking in front of her... then the next thing she knew, she was on the floor... blood surrounding her...

Chapter One

YunJin gasped. She ran to HeeJung. How could she… no… She stared at her eyes… they were open, but blank. She yelled, “SOMEONE CALL THE AMBULANCE!”

YunJin cried. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her best friend… It was all Hwanhee’s fault. If he hadn’t been like this… then HeeJung wouldn’t have been hurt like this.

The ambulance soon arrived. YunJin was holding onto HeeJung’s hand the whole time. She whispered, “Please… HeeJung ah… be okay… Please…”

They soon got her into the hospital. YunJin waited outside, wringing her hands. The doctor came out and shook his head. YunJin asked, “What is it?”

The doctor sighed and said, “Call her family. Say your goodbyes… I'm sorry.”

YunJin collapsed onto the floor. How could… She took a deep breath. It was no use… Her parents wouldn’t be home. They would be drinking, clubbing, partying… I had to tell Hwanhee… It was his fault!

She shook her head and decided against it. She went into the room and looked at HeeJung. She had bandages all around her head, soaked with blood. HeeJung slightly opened her eyes and whispered, “YunJin ah… Thank you so much for being a good friend to me.”

YunJin started to cry and shook her head. “Don’t leave me… You promised to be my bridesmaid… And I need to be yours… Don’t leave me…”

HeeJung whispered, “I’m sorry… I didn’t know it was going to happen… YunJin ah… don’t… tell… Hwanhee…” She stopped talking. The hand that was in YunJin’s lost all its strength. YunJin screamed. ‘Hwanhee… I'm going to get you for this… You are so dead…’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hwang YoonSuk!”

The girl with Hwanhee and Hwanhee turned. Hwanhee smiled and said, “Did you come to congratulate me? I'm sorry… I really don’t know you…”

YunJin bit her lip and held her fists tightly. It was so hard not to punch him. She put her hands on her waist and motioned to him for him to come. He leaned closer and asked, “What’s your name? I think you know mine…”

The girl laughed and said, “Gosh Hwanhee… you’re so cute. You were even cute when you were in diapers…”

YunJin snickered and said, “Diapers? You guys grew up together too? How funny… you’re going out NOW…”

Hwanhee raised his eyebrows and asked, “Her? She’s my sister…”

YunJin fell to the floor. HeeJung died… for his sister? YunJin closed her eyes tightly and held in the pain. Stupid Hwanhee… he was so stupid… she hated him. She killed her best friend.

Hwanhee looked at her and asked, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

YunJin screamed. Everyone at the graduation turned to look at her. She stared at Hwanhee with her bloodshot eyes. “You stupid jerk!” She stood up and started to hit him with all the strength she had, but it wasn’t much. Hwanhee held onto her hands and asked, “What’s wrong?”

YunJin burst into tears in Hwanhee’s arms. Hwanhee looked confused. Some person who he didn’t even know came up to him and started crying…

YunJin took a deep breath and wiped the last of her tears. She pulled back and straightened her clothes. “You’re a big jerk, you know that?”

Hwanhee’s sister asked, “Why is he a big jerk? You just called my little brother a jerk… You better have a good explanation.”

YunJin stared at both of them and said, “You… you killed… my best… friend…”

Chapter Two

Hwanhee stared blankly at her. He didn’t even know this girl… And he killed her best friend? Impossible. He asked, “What? How?”

His sister got serious. “What? What are you talking about? Excuse me… this is a happy moment. Can you please take out your drunkenness on someone else?”

YunJin said, “I’m NOT drunk… Look, let’s go somewhere else. I need to tell this to you… She didn’t want me to… but…”

Hwanhee nodded and walked over to a shady area with a picnic table. They sat down and YunJin sighed as tears filled up her eyes. “Lee HeeJung… She was such a sweet girl. We met when we were 5. She saw you as you were getting up from the drinking fountain. She followed you around like a puppy. She knew everything about you. Your height, your weight, your schedule, your house, your number… everything.”

Hwanhee smiled and said, “Well, it shows I'm popular.”

YunJin stared straight into his eyes and said, “This is NOT funny.” Hwanhee straightened his face. She continued. “Yesterday, we planned to go to your graduation. This morning, she came with a whole bunch of flowers for you.”

Hwanhee interrupted and said, “Where are there now?”

His sister shot him a look and said, “Shut up!”

Hwanhee turned quiet as YunJin sighed. “She could have done so much better… Anyway, she… *sniff* she came to see you. And you were putting your arm around… your sister… She thought she was your girlfriend. So she ran. She didn’t know where; she just ran. And guess what she ran into? The middle of the street. She got run over by a truck. She had to go to the hospital. And she… just… died…”

She burst into tears and started to scream. “And this all happened when you were laughing! Talking with your stupid sister! I hate you, Hwang YoonSuk! I hate you!”

She raised her hand to slap him when someone grabbed her hand. He whispered, “Don’t hit my best friend.” She screamed, “My best friend is dead! Shut up!”

She turned around and came face to face with… Brian…

Brian stared at her. “YunJin ah… HeeJung? What happened?”

YunJin started to cry again as Hwanhee told him what happened in a quiet voice. Brian let go of YunJin’s hand and hugged her. She patted her on the back and said, “She was a good kid… Don’t worry… She’s happier in heaven… Don’t cry, YunJin…”

YunJin nodded and cried in Brian’s arms. Brian comforted her and Hwanhee asked, “Is this your girlfriend?”

Brian nodded and said, “HeeJung was a sweet little girl. I liked her a lot.”

Hwanhee looked guilty. He had killed someone that he didn’t even know… Soon, YunJin had stopped crying and she whispered, “The funeral’s tomorrow. I hope you guys could all make it.” She pointed at Hwanhee. “And you… if you don’t… well, I'm going to make sure you do. You’re going to pay for this. You killed my best friend!”

Chapter Three

YunJin waited outside the church. She shook hands with everyone that came and thanked them. But she was out there for one reason. Hwanhee…

Suddenly, her face brightened a little. “Brian… I'm glad you could make it. Where’s Hwanhee?”

Brian smiled and said, “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s already stressed out that he supposedly killed someone. He might come a little later. Let’s go in.”

YunJin shook her head and said, “I'm going to wait for Hwanhee. Go in… Look how HeeJung looks… I didn’t even get to see her. I don’t want to…”

Brian nodded and gave YunJin a pat on the back. After Brian had went in, YunJin continued to thank everyone that was coming. She saw HeeJung’s parents coming… YunJin stared at them. Her mom was dressed in red. YunJin shook her head and whispered, “HeeJung ah… they’re not your parents. A wonderful girl like you can’t have parents like that.”

HeeJung’s parents were crying. What did they know? They didn’t even know whom their own daughter liked. She didn’t even look their way. Someone tapped her. Brian said, “Hey YunJin… we’re starting. Let’s go.”

YunJin reluctantly followed Brian in. She sat with HeeJung’s family, if you could call it a family. Her parents… that was it. And her. She had no brothers, no sisters. She sat through the whole funeral, crying, thinking of HeeJung.

Finally, it was time for her speech. She went up to the podium and cleared her throat. She looked at all those people that came to grieve for HeeJung. And in that whole crowd of people, not one of them was Hwanhee. She sighed and began her speech.

“Yesterday, we were at the high school graduation. My faithful friend, HeeJung, wanted to go to see a guy that she had been liking for a couple of years. So she went. But she saw him with someone else, who she thought was his girlfriend. But it was his sister. But HeeJung didn’t know that. She ran and got run over by a truck. I know that I'm supposed to talking about how good of a friend she was. She was a good friend. We were best friends… We had friendships everything. Bracelets, rings, necklaces, frames, mirrors… everything. But she doesn’t live next to me anymore. She’s not… here… For those people that knew her well, we all know that she was such a sweet little girl. But she’s not here anymore. But even though she’s not with us in this world, please… keep her in your hearts. Thank you.”

She stepped off. Ha, Hwang YoonSuk! If you heard that, wouldn’t you have been embarrassed? She chuckled and thought to herself, ‘Die, Hwang YoonSuk. I promise… the next funeral I'm going to is yours!’
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*After the funeral*
YunJin sighed. Hwanhee still hadn’t come. He HAD to be here… Then, out of nowhere, someone tapped her. She turned, expecting it to be Brian. She gasped. “Hwanhee… you’re here right NOW? Were you here for the ceremony?”

He nodded. “Nice speech, YunJin.” He shot her a smile that every other girl would die for… For what HeeJung died for…

YunJin slapped Hwanhee. He grabbed his cheek. She yelled, “Hwang YoonSuk! You stupid jerk! Do you think I would fall for that smile? The way HeeJung fell for it? I’ll admit it. She was stupid to fall for a guy like you! She was too good for you anyway!”

Brian ran over and held her. But she started going wild. She started kicking and shoving everyone. Brian was even pushed back by her force. It was only Hwanhee and YunJin. Hwanhee was scared. No one had ever done this to him before. Everyone adored him… Why didn’t this girl?

Then all of the sudden, between them, a girl appeared. She was wearing a black one piece skirt that came right above her knees. Her long hair was tied with a black rubber band. Hwanhee only saw the back of her head… but she was…

YunJin glared at her. “What do you want, MiJin?” Hwanhee winced at her voice. Such a mean voice… coming from a sweet-looking girl…

But the next voice he heard… he was enchanted. It was a sweet, melodic voice… Something he had yearned to hear.

”Unnie… be nice to others. HeeJung unnie always said that, remember?”

YunJin stopped and put on a blank expression. HeeJung… Why did you leave me like this?

The girl with the sweet voice turned to face Hwanhee. He drew in a quick, sharp breath. She was beautiful. Her eyes… big, round, innocent. Her nose… straight, long, not too pointy. Her lips… perfect, pink.

She bowed to Hwanhee and said, “I'm sorry for my sister’s actions. HeeJung unnie was her best friend…” She sniffed as tears started coming down her face. “She was so sweet. I loved HeeJung unnie. She always got me something when she came to my house. And everyone knew she lived by herself… And she had a job. And she still afforded to bring me something. HeeJung unnie…” Her eyes got a dreamy look on her face.

MiJin stuck her hand out and said, “Hi, I'm MiJin, YunJin’s little sister. I’m 15. You are…”

He reached his hand out and said, “Hwang YoonSuk… but my friends call me Hwanhee.”

MiJin immediately gasped and pulled her hand away. Her eyes grew wide as she whispered, “Hwanhee? The one that killed HeeJung unnie…”

Chapter Four

Hwanhee stared at her. Did everyone know? Even… this… girl…

MiJin smiled uneasily and said, “My sister is waiting for me. I have to go. Bye!”

She ran to YunJin and whispered something into her ear. YunJin turned and glared at Hwanhee. Hwanhee stepped back. Everyone was against him. They hated him. What would they say when they saw him on the streets? He felt like a murderer…

Someone announced, “We’re closing the casket! Everyone who wishes a last look!”

Hwanhee turned to glance at the casket. He sighed, but dragged his feet over to the casket. He forced himself to look at… his “victim.”

She was beautiful. She looked as if she was peacefully asleep. Her cheeks that were already rosy had blush on them, making them look red. But she was beautiful… wonderful… she even LOOKED nice…

Hwanhee couldn’t take his eyes off her. But the casket closed. He shook his head and tried to stop the tears from coming. Only if… he hadn’t put his arms around his sister… Maybe… he could have been with this girl…

He looked at the name-plate. It read: Lee HeeJung. A faithful friend, daughter, and person. You will forever be in our hearts.

Hwanhee murmured to himself, “Lee HeeJung… Find out more about Lee HeeJung… Lee HeeJung…”

He went into his car. He got in slowly and stayed there for a while. But he quickly stood up when he saw MiJin walking across his car. She was crying, with YunJin’s arms around her. He shook his head. He had hurt so many people… He HAD to apologize… but how?

No one would listen to him. What did he have to say? That he loved the girl that he supposedly killed? The stupid truck driver killed her. He didn’t do anything. Hwanhee screamed silently. His heart was about to burst with confusion. Why did everyone say that he killed her? He was just a regular kid that graduated high school… That was minding his own business. Until this girl named HeeJung, that happened to like him, got killed.

He was mad. He got out of the car. He ran to YunJin. He said, “YunJin!” She turned and frowned. MiJin stepped back as if she was afraid of Hwanhee. He asked, “Why do you think I'm responsible for her death? If someone should be responsible, it should be the truck driver! Why are you holding me responsible?”

YunJin hadn’t cried since morning. But now… she burst into tears. She looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “Do you know how much she liked you? Enough to love you… She didn’t even know you, and she loved you. Don’t you feel at least SOME pity for her? HeeJung… you have no idea how much she liked you. It even got scary sometimes.”

Hwanhee shook his head and said, “No one… could like me that much. She didn’t even know anything about me!”

YunJin asked, “You wanna bet?” She walked over to him and dragged him to her car. She said, “I don’t care if we miss the burial ceremony. I'm going to show you how much she liked you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hwanhee stepped into the clean room. He had never been in a girl’s room before. So this is what a regular girl’s room looked… But HeeJung wasn’t a regular girl.

He looked around and couldn’t believe his eyes. Everything… was about… him…? That was impossible. She didn’t even know… anything… He looked at her walls. Pictures she had took without him knowing were blown up, looking like posters. He looked on her desk. There were ten picture frames. Five of them had her and her friends in it. Five of them… they were filled with pictures… of… him…

He couldn’t believe this. HeeJung had been… she liked him… more like obsessed with him. But the thing he couldn’t believe more… Every time he looked at her face in pictures… he liked her more and more…

Someone knocked on the door. He turned, coming face to face with MiJin. MiJin blushed and said, “I'm sorry… I was looking for my sister.” When she turned to leave, Hwanhee said, “MiJin ah!”

She turned, and Hwanhee realized the truth. The awful truth… He was falling in love with two girls… One was dead… and one was afraid of him.

Chapter Five

MiJin stared at him. “Well…” Hwanhee shook his head and said, “Never mind… And your sister is probably in the kitchen.”

MiJin said, “Thanks.” Hwanhee sighed as he heard her footsteps echoing in the stillness of HeeJung’s house. He knew that it was true. He liked two girls at the moment. MiJin… and HeeJung…

He told himself to forget about HeeJung… she was dead. But he couldn’t… HeeJung was so… beautiful… breath-taking… BUT SHE’S DEAD!

He fell to the floor. Only if he… hadn’t put his arm around his sister… Then I would have met this wonderful girl… and I would be with her right this moment… If my sister… He pulled at his hair. But something suddenly made him stop.

He smelled the carpet. It was… of… apple… He frowned. His favorite scent… How did she know? This girl DID know everything about him… She was obsessed with him. He grinned. He laughed out loud. But his smile quickly disappeared as he thought of the fact that he was too late.

He liked her… but it was too late. His thinking had led him into a world of his own. A world where HeeJung still existed. He closed his eyes and concentrated on her… only her… A shimmering light flashed, then quickly disappeared. He opened his eyes. Had he seen her?

But something disrupted his thoughts as well. “Yo, Hwanhee. What are you doing here?” Hwanhee turned. He smiled and said, “Hi Brian. Hey… let’s get a drink. I think I need it.”

Brian stared at him and asked, “You never drink… Hwanhee, you okay?”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “Fine… let’s get a cup of ice tea or something. I need to talk to you.”

Brian shrugged and they drove to a nearby café. Brian asked, “Wassup?”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “Did you know HeeJung well?” Brian shrugged and answered, “Not really… I just knew that she was a friend of YunJin’s. I talked to her a couple times… She’s a really sweet girl. Why?”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “What do you know about MiJin?”

”Well… I know more about her than HeeJung. She’s 15, two years younger than you. She goes to a private school, so you’ve never seen her around. She has a nice personality. But when you first meet her, she’s really shy. Once you get to know her, she’s really outgoing and wild. Everyone’s like that, aren’t they? Well, she’s very smart, nice, and she isn’t that bad looking. I guess she takes after her sister…”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “Are MiJin and YunJin really close?”

Brian said, “Oh yeah~ They’re so close… they’re like chopsticks before you break them apart. But even though if you break them apart, they still stay together. MiJin came with us to all our dates except one of them. They’re starting to lose the togetherness. It’s like I dropped YunJin’s chopstick, you know?”

Hwanhee said, “YunJin won’t let MiJin date anyone then?”

Brian stared at him and said, “Are you telling me… that you like MiJin?”

Hwanhee was speechless. Brian was sure fast… But he guessed it was weird for all the questions. Hwanhee sighed. “I know it’s stupid. I don’t even know her. But her innocence… it captured me. But I looked at HeeJung… her face… her bright eyes in her pictures… That captured me too. Brian, help me. I'm in love with two people. One is dead… and the other hates me.”

Brian leaned back and said, “Well, pal. Wish I could help. I guess I can talk to YunJin about it…”

”No! Don’t do that! She’s going to kill me! She already hates me for supposedly killing HeeJung… And if she finds out that I like her sister… No chance at all.”

Brian chuckled and said, “Well… to tell you the truth Hwanhee… You have no chance at all right now either. She completely hates you.”

Hwanhee looked into his eyes. “Do you hate me too, Brian?”

Brian sighed and looked at Hwanhee. “You’re my best friend. I don’t hate you. But I'm just thinking… If things were different… If HeeJung even told ME that she liked you, I would have set you guys up. Then you guys would have been together. HeeJung just had low self esteem, and she thought that you would hate her. But…” He sighed. “It’s too late now, Hwang YoonSuk. She’s gone. And you can’t have MiJin either. So give up on both okay? I have to jet. Gotta meet YunJin in a few minutes. Don’t worry… I won’t tell her anything.”

Brian got up and Hwanhee nodded. “Thanks pal.” Brian nodded and went off. Hwanhee sighed. “…Too late now, Hwang YoonSuk. She’s gone. And you can’t have MiJin either. So give up on both…”

‘No,’ Hwanhee thought. It wasn’t too late. He COULD be with MiJin. Only if he tried… only if he tried to get YunJin to stop hating him, and MiJin to stop being afraid of him. He didn’t kill HeeJung. It wasn’t his fault. HeeJung… only if she hadn’t seen me at the drinking fountain… If I wasn’t thirsty…

He sighed. This was useless. But for now… his number one mission was to find out more about HeeJung… Lee HeeJung…

Chapter Six

He went to the police station. He went up to the man that was there and said, “I’d like to find out more about someone please.”

The policeman stared at him and said, “I think I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Hwanhee frowned but smiled. “Oh… I was on TV once… For getting the best grades in the school.”

The policeman smiled and said, “That’s right! I pointed you out and told my children to be like you. Glad to meet you. What’s the person’s name?”

”Lee HeeJung.”

The policeman typed something on the computer and printed it out. “Thank you for being a good example. My kids are trying their best to be like you.” Hwanhee smiled and took the paper from him.

“Goodbye, sir!” He had what he wanted. He read the paper in front of the police department. It read:

Name: Lee HeeJung
Age: 15
Birthday: July 14, 1986
School: Jung Bal High School
Martial Status: Single
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 120 lbs.

He frowned. This wasn’t what he wanted. It helped to know her… But he wanted personality… Inner things… There was no way to find that out. Something clicked in his head. MiJin… but she was afraid of him. He sighed and decided to give it a try.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm glad that you made it,” Hwanhee said as he sat down.

MiJin shrugged and said, “I still don’t like you. What do you want from me?”

”I want to know about HeeJung.”

MiJin loosened up and she relaxed. “HeeJung unnie. She was wonderful. She was the sweetest person alive. She went on trips a lot, even though she was poor. She wanted to be an artist. She went around, sold a few paintings. And plus, the nation gave her money… And whenever she came back from trips, she always got me something. No matter how on money she was. Once, she came back with a very small book. It fit into my palm. She said, ‘MiJin ah. I'm so sorry. I had no money left. So this was the only decent thing I could find.’ The cost of that thing… was five cents… equivalent to American money. If you used a magnify glass, it was a book about being a better person. I still have it… it’s all worn and ripped.”

Hwanhee stared at her and said, “You read it?”

MiJin nodded and said, “Of course I read it. I love that book. I memorized it. You wanna see? There are many ways of being a better person. First, you must feel comfortable…”

”Okay, okay! Stop. What else about her?”

”Well… she was very shy. Couldn’t you tell? She didn’t have the guts to tell you that she liked you.”

”Why didn’t she?”

”Too shy…”

”But if she did… maybe she wouldn’t be dead.”

MiJin stared at him. “What do you mean?”

”I mean… never mind.” Hwanhee looked away, ashamed. He didn’t want anyone to know… Everyone would make fun of him. He liked someone that was dead. He looked down at his lap.

MiJin sighed. “One more thing… before this… she almost died because of you.”

Hwanhee looked up quickly. “What?”

Chapter Seven

MiJin looked him in the eye and said, “Remember… when you were trying out for the basketball team?”

Hwanhee nodded and said, “So…”

MiJin sighed and said, “Well… She tried out for the cheerleading team… But you know that the cheerleading team only accepts juniors and seniors. But she was a sophomore at that time. But she begged and she got in. So she practiced hard… so she could see you at the games… and she could cheer for you. But during practice, she fell backwards, because someone that knew she liked you tripped her. And she fell off the bleachers… and she hit her head…”

Hwanhee gasped and said, “Is that when… the blood in the gym… and everyone told us to get out?”

MiJin nodded. Hwanhee said, “What happened?”

”She lost so much blood from that… She had to get donated blood…”

”Oh my god… I didn’t know… Did she really like me that much?”

MiJin looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you this… but she loved you.”

Hwanhee and MiJin sat in the room with an awkward silence. Hwanhee cleared his throat and said, “Well… I better be going. It was nice to talking to you, MiJin. I hope we could meet some time and you could tell me more about HeeJung.”

MiJin nodded and said, “Look… now that I’ve talked to you, I think I could see why HeeJung unnie liked you. You’re a nice guy.”

Hwanhee smiled at her and said, “What if I'm wearing a mask? And underneath the mask, I'm a 80 year old guy, wanting to kidnap you?”

MiJin smiled and said, “Then… you are a very good actor.”

Hwanhee laughed and looked into MiJin’s eyes. Hwanhee couldn’t hold it in… “You’re beautiful.”

MiJin was taken aback. “What?”

”Did you know that you have two dimples when you smile… And then there’s on small one next to the right dimple?”

MiJin blushed and said, “Well…” Hwanhee laughed. “So YOU don’t like anyone, just now?”

MiJin looked at him and said, “You know… I think I know what you’re getting at. But no… I really liked HeeJung unnie. And I'm not going to do that to her…”

”Do what to her?”

”I'm not going to go out with you.”

Hwanhee leaned closer to her and whispered, “Can I change your mind?”

MiJin loooked into Hwanhee’s eyes and saw something that she had never seen before. MiJin stared at Hwanhee until she knew he was serious. She smiled and said, “Maybe if you tried hard enough…”

Hwanhee smiled and pulled back. He headed towards the door and said, “Then watch… MiJin… I’m going to make you change your mind.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian smiled and said, “So… why’d you call me?”

”Look Brian… I really need your help. You’re the expert at girls, right? Well… How do you be romantic?”

Brian laughed and said, “Well… from what I hear from MiJin, you’re doing just fine.”

Hwanhee frowned and asked, “What?”

Brian grinned and said, “MiJin’s been talking about you nonstop. And YunJin is getting mad. You better do something about YunJin first. MiJin told YunJin that she’s starting to like you. And YunJin told her to respect HeeJung and don’t do anything with him.”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “I knew YunJin was going to ruin this. Why can’t she just leave people alone? No offense or anything…”

Brian grinned and said, “Non taken. Dude… You really should lie off a little… Let the fact that her sister likes her best friend’s crush sink into YunJin’s mind… Then do something.”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “If I could wait that long… Everytime I look at something, it just turns into MiJin’s face… But then again, I think about HeeJung… and I love her even more.”

Brian leaned back in his chair and said, “Hm… Hwanhee… I really think you should give up on both… or at least HeeJung. MiJin is a very sweet girl. You hurt HeeJung a lot… enough so that she would die for it. But MiJin is alive… and YunJin doesn’t want her sister to get hurt like her best friend did.”

Hwanhee sighed and said, “But I know I won’t hurt MiJin. If people had told me that HeeJung had liked me, we would have been together. It’s their fault they didn’t tell me. Why is everyone blaming it on me?”

Brian blinked once. He said, “You know what Hwanhee? I don’t know… But all I know is that YunJin won’t have ANYONE go near her sister… not unless she approves. Just give it time to sink in… and give up on HeeJung… I'm serious.”

Hwanhee sighed and nodded. He said, “Thanks, Brian. You’re a great friend, you know that?”

Chapter Eight

*A week later*

“MiJin ah… why can’t you love me? What did I do?”

MiJin looked into Hwanhee’s eyes and said, “Look… You’ve been so good to me the past few days. And I'm very grateful for that. I don’t think I’ve been this happy since… HeeJung unnie died. But that’s what I feel guilty about. I don’t want to fall in love with HeeJung unnie’s…”

They were in a restaurant, eating dinner. Hwanhee couldn’t hear the rest of MiJin’s words. He was struck. HeeJung was… gone though… She had no part in his life anymore. But in the corner of his heart, he couldn’t help notice the little tugging… telling him that loving MiJin wasn’t right. But then again, he had been good to her… for nothing then?

MiJin wiped her eyes with a napkin as she said, “I like you… I really do. But I just can’t love someone when someone that I love loves him. Do you understand? Please say you do. It’s not that I don’t like you…”

Hwanhee nodded and said, “Look, MiJin ah. Maybe… we could just put HeeJung behind us. She’s not… here… She can’t do anything to you.”

MiJin shook her head and said, “Yes she can. Don’t you know what she said? One day, she pulled me into a room and said, ‘MiJin ah. If I die, I’ll send you an angel to watch over you. If you die, will you do the same?’ I was speechless at that time, but I just nodded. Then… months later… she…”

She burst into tears as Hwanhee walked over to her chair. “MiJin ah… It’s okay. Don’t cry. I'm sorry that I even mentioned the whole thing. I’m sorry…”

MiJin stood up and said, “I don’t want to see any more of you. Not a single sign of you. Okay?”

She said as she left, “It was nice knowing you, Hwang YoonSuk. I hope you have a great life…”

Hwanhee plopped down on his chair. He had done so much…

”Where are we going?”

”Just keep your eyes closed. Tightly!”

”Okay… you could open your eyes now.”

MiJin gasped. “It’s so beautiful…” Hwanhee had taken her to a place that was very special to him. It was a shimmering, clean lake. Lights were surrounding it, giving it a mysterious glow.

Then all those times… were for nothing? MiJin didn’t love him? He sighed. He didn’t understand, but he could have guessed who made MiJin change her mind. Until yesterday… she loved him… cared for him… right beside him. And now, she was gone… Just like HeeJung. And he could have guessed whose fault it was… He snickered. He wasn’t going to have her accuse of him loving MiJin and NOT loving HeeJung. She… YunJin… was… going… to… get… it…

Chapter Nine

“YAH! Kim YunJin!” YunJin turned. “What now, Hwanhee? I let you at least BE with my sister… isn’t that enough?”

Hwanhee walked over to her and planted his feet in front of her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to a wall. He put her against it and said, “What did you say to MiJin that made her not want to love me?”

YunJin frowned and said, “Did you ask her out? And she said no? And you’re asking me why she said no? How am I supposed to know?”

”You mean… you didn’t say anything?”

”Why would I? I gave up, Hwanhee. My sister is love struck. There’s nothing I could do about that. And if she really finds happiness in being with you, why would I stop her? All because my best friend liked you? No… I wouldn’t do that… And plus, she’s been happier than ever these past few days.”

”Then why…”

”Why did she say no? I have no clue! So can you please free me so I could talk to my friends?”

Hwanhee pulled back and ran into Brian. “Hwanhee, you okay?”

Hwanhee was speechless. Then… MiJin had done this on her own? This was impossible… No… MiJin LIKED him… why…

He nodded and patted Brian’s back. “I'm alright… I'm okay.” But Brian knew he wasn’t as he watched Hwanhee running up to his car, getting ready to go somewhere… quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Kim MiJin! Where are you?”

Hwanhee strained his ears to hear for MiJin. Her footsteps… her laugh… anything. She was home, wasn’t she? But what came to his ears was unbearable. Her crying…

He ran up to her room and saw her crying on her bed. Her pillow was soaked, but he didn’t know if it was with sweat or tears. He frowned and put his arms around her. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

MiJin looked up at him and weakly hit his shoulder. “I told you to… go away!”

Hwanhee frowned. “I know that you don’t want me to leave. Even YunJin said that she didn’t tell you to refuse me. What’s wrong?”

MiJin nodded and said in between sobs, “That’s right. I refused *sniff* you myself. Because I don’t *sniff* like you. No… I *sniff* do… I really like you. In fact, I think *sniff* I love you. I just… *sniff* I’ve just had so many dreams… *sniff* make them go away!”

Hwanhee put her arms around her and said, “It’s okay… Come on. Dry up your tears and get up. Wash your face and tell me about these dreams.”

She did as he told her to and said, “Well… It all started two days ago. I was exhausted and I went to sleep. And I saw HeeJung unnie in my dreams. She was beckoning to me and trying to tell me something. I went towards her and every time I got close, she moved away. Then someone whispered, ‘This is you and Hwanhee. Every time he comes closer to you, you must move away! HeeJung… loved… Hwanhee… Don’t forget that.’ I was so surprised. So I ran. And I stepped all over…”

Hwanhee looked at her and said, “Go on. What did you step on?”

”I stepped in blood. And I turned around. And it was… it was someone… dressed… oh… It was awful. The thing… said to me that it was the blood of HeeJung unnie. And if I kept on going as I was doing now, I would soon be seeing the blood of… you!”

If Hwanhee was surprised by the dream’s ending, he didn’t show it. “Is that all?” MiJin nodded and said, “I was so scared… I decided to break up the day after, but you were so sweet. That night, HeeJung unnie’s ghost appeared in my dream and she said, ‘Why are you deceiving me? You know that I loved Hwanhee. How could you have a good time with him while I'm here with nothing… and you’re down there with my murderer.”

Hwanhee said, “But I didn’t…”

”I know! You didn’t kill her! She killed herself, trying to get to you! And it was her fault that she assumed that your sister was your girlfriend! It was all… her fault!”

She fell into Hwanhee’s arms. She looked up at him and asked, “Do you understand now? Why I’ve been having such a bad time about this? I really wanted to break it off… and you asked me to go out… and I had to say no.”

Hwanhee nodded and said, “Don’t worry… Nothing will happen.”

MiJin looked up at Hwanhee and whispered, “I'm just afraid that I might lose you… Like I lost HeeJung unnie.”

Hwanhee smiled and said, “Don’t worry… I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving your side. Ever…” But he was dead wrong…

Chapter Ten

“YunJin? Is MiJin there?”

”Yeah… Hwanhee? Wait a sec.”

”Hello? Hwanhee?”

”Yeah… Hey, MiJin… I wanted to ask you something. And it’s too precious to ask on the phone. Could you come outside for awhile?”

”Sure… what is it?”

”Nothing… just come out?”

”What is it about? Is it that important? Is it bad news?”

”No… just come out…”

*click*

MiJin frowned. What was this all about? She grabbed her jacket and ran outside.

Hwanhee, on the other hand, sighed. They had been going out for about a year now… and nothing like this had been bothering him. They had been the cutest couple… always sharing an ice cream, splitting a hamburger, hugging each other… But… something had been bothering Hwanhee this whole time. It was just that he didn’t want to admit it.

What was wrong with him? He knew that he loved MiJin. And MiJin loved him. There was no problem in that. It was just… something was nagging him. Something in the back of his brain. Something that told him… something…

He stood up. He saw MiJin walking towards him. He smiled and waved his hand. She smiled at him and crossed the street. “Were you waiting long?”

Hwanhee shook his head and motioned to her to sit down. She smiled and asked, “What’s wrong? You never call me out at 11…” She looked at the look on his face and asked, “Hwanhee oppa? What happened?”

Hwanhee sighed and turned to her. “Look… We love each other. I think that’s all that matters. But something is nagging me…”

MiJin looked at him, eyes opened widely in fear. “Don’t tell me… that you want to break… Please… oppa… don’t tell me now. After all that we’ve been through… no…”

Hwanhee shook his head. “No… it’s not that.”

MiJin looked into his eyes. Those loving eyes… What was wrong? What did he want? What was missing? Had she not done enough for him? What was it?!

Hwanhee sighed. “All this time… I’ve been thinking… feeling… something.” He looked straight into her eyes. “Something about HeeJung.”

MiJin looked surprised. “But oppa… that’s… it’s been a year… Why now?”

Hwanhee shook his head and said, “I remember just like yesterday. YunJin coming up to me… screaming at me, telling me that I killed someone. Something about her is missing. I know that I’ve hurt you, asking about her. But I need to know.”

MiJin sighed and whispered, “Maybe you guys WERE made for each other…”

”What?”

”There is something else… something that no one knew except me… HeeJung unnie didn’t even tell YunJin unnie, know that she was such a worrywart about things.”

Hwanhee looked at her and asked, “Then… there WAS something?”

MiJin nodded as tears came to her eyes. “She… she had leukemia. She was so weak, oppa. Every time I went to the movies with her… or anywhere, she would lean on me slightly… so slightly that YunJin unnie wouldn’t’ even notice. The white blood cells… it was taking over her… slowly… but it showed.”

Hwanhee whispered, “Then… she was… going to die anyway?”

MiJin cried and said, “I don’t know… But YunJin unnie found out at the hospital, after she died. And she blamed you for sending her off earlier…”

Hwanhee was speechless. He put his arm around MiJin and said, “Don’t cry… stop crying. Like you said… It was long time ago. It’s over. I just needed to know. Don’t cry. Go home… and get some rest.”

MiJin smiled at him and said, “Thanks oppa. I think I need it. Good night.”

”Good night. Sweet dreams.”

Hwanhee’s heart thumped as he watched MiJin get up and walk towards the crosswalk. He sighed and closed his eyes. Leukemia… leukemia…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tears blinded MiJin’s eyes as she saw the green light shaped like a person blinking at her. She put one foot in front of the other… slowly walking… but not knowing where she was going… Then, the noise. Why was the world screaming at her? Because she had revealed a secret that was supposed to be hidden? She screamed, as the light blinded her…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hwanhee turned. That noise… he saw nothing. No one. He turned, telling himself that it was nothing. But something clicked in his mind. MiJin… was supposed to be… walking… across the street… He drew in a sharp breath and looked again. A lifeless… figure… lying… on… the… floor…

He ran to it. He didn’t want to go near it, not knowing what it was. But in his heart… in his mind, he knew. It was… MiJin. He swallowed and felt his throat tighten up. He took a deep breath. He heard, “I called the ambulance. I'm sorry. She just stepped out of no where…”

That noise! So deafening to Hwanhee’s ears! He screamed, “Shut up!” The person shut up. He stared at the person in front of him… He shook his head. Sirens… He yelled, “Shut up! Shut up! Don’t make so much noise! She’s resting! She told me she went to rest!”

He looked at people in white lifting his MiJin up. She was soaked… he didn’t know if she was soaked with sweat or blood… It was so… wet… so red… He yelled, “Turn that thing off! Now! She wanted to rest, hear me!”

The people in white… were touching him… He pulled away and said, “Let go!” He looked at her once again. There was nothing on her face… “Aren’t you supposed to put a mask on her or something? Something?!”

The person in white looked at him and said, “I'm sorry… So much blood was lost…”

Hwanhee stared at them and blinked. “You’re… that’s your job. Saving people’s lives…”

The people in white all looked down at MiJin. Hwanhee felt his legs wobbled. “My MiJin… my beautiful MiJin.” Those were the last words he whispered as he fell to the floor to the deafening ring of the sirens.

Chapter Eleven

Hwanhee fluttered his eyelids open. He looked around. This was NOT his room. He frowned. Everything… was… so… white… He whispered, “Am I… in heaven?”

A person in white turned her head and said, “YoonSuk shi… you’ve waken up!”

Hwanhee frowned and asked, “Are you… an angel?”

The person shook her head and said, “No… I am not an angel. I'm a nurse. And you… you woke up from a 2-day period of unconsciousness. Are you alright?”

Hwanhee nodded as memories started to flow back to him. “I'm sorry… so much blood was lost.” He shook his head… He had been dreaming… of course. He turned to the nurse and asked, “Where’s MiJin?”

The nurse’s face turned blank. “Who’s MiJin?”

”The girl… that probably came here with me.”

The nurse was taken aback. “I'm… so sorry…”

Hwanhee shook his head. “Why are you sorry? What happened? Did she leave before I did? Is that why you’re sorry?”

”The doctors said… that she lost so much blood. I'm truly sorry. I'm sure she was a nice little girl.”

”No! How do you know how nice she was?! She was beautiful… She was… Oh God, this is all my fault. All my fault! I told her to go home. I should have held her… even for two more seconds.”

The nurse ran out of the room and when she came back, she wasn’t alone. The doctor said, “Hwang YoonSuk shi… We need you to calm down. This is a hospital and we will not tolerate all this noise.”

Hwanhee begged the doctor, “Then take me to a place where I CAN make noise! Now! I need to make noise.”

The nurse looked at the doctor and asked, “What should I do?”

”You may leave. Leave it all to me.” He turned to Hwanhee and said, “Listen… I know…”

Just then, a door slammed and someone’s voice said, “Hwanhee?”

Hwanhee perked up. “MiJin?”

He looked past the doctor to see YunJin and his shoulders drooped. Tears came into YunJin’s eyes as she said, “Hwanhee! Oh God… Why is he taking away all the people I love?”

She fell into Hwanhee’s arms as they cried together. In front of the door, the doctor and Brian were talking. “He might need more rest.” Brian nodded and said, “Thank you.”

Brian walked towards them as he tried to hold in the tears. He had to act strong… Two people had already broken up in front of him. He, at least, had to be strong.

He gulped and said, “Come on… YunJin ah… let’s go. Hwanhee needs his rest.”

Hwanhee shook his head and grabbed YunJin’s shirt. “Don’t leave me! I don’t need rest! I need MiJin! Now!”

YunJin looked pitifully at Hwanhee. She whispered, “Hwanhee… please understand. I miss her already. Just… keep it in.”

Hwanhee hung his head and thought about those times… How he tried so hard to win her heart. And now that he did, she was gone.

 MiJin looked up at Hwanhee and whispered, “I'm just afraid that I might lose you… Like I lost HeeJung unnie.”

Hwanhee smiled and said, “Don’t worry… I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving your side. Ever…” Of course… he hadn’t done anything wrong. MiJin had left him. I had lost someone I loved. HeeJung… I loved her after she died. MiJin… I loved her before… and I still do.

He shook his head. Why was this happening to him? Why couldn’t he just be with someone that he loved? Forever… and ever…

He took a deep breath and called for the nurse. She looked at him and asked, “Yes?”

He closed his eyes and asked, “Do you think… is there… a shot to send someone off forever?”

The nurse raised her eyebrows and said, “I cannot reveal that kind of information.”

”But what if I'm sure I want to do it?”

The nurse shook her head and Hwanhee asked, “Then when can you reveal that kind of information?”

”If the doctor tells me to.”

”Can’t you just give me rest? Can’t you make a poor guy happy? I’ve lost two of them already. Have you lost any of them? Do you know how it feels? I don’t want to be here… I don’t want to hear people say how sorry they are for me when they don’t even know how it feels! Get me out of this place! Just say that I fell off the bed and hit my head! Please!”

The nurse shook her head again and went out of the room. Hwanhee glared at the back of her and said, “Fine. Then I’ll just have to send myself off… for good.”

Chapter Twelve

Hwanhee ran out of the hospital with the nurses right behind him. But right now, he didn’t really care about anyone… he just wanted to get out of that hospital… and the world. He ran… until he came to a lake. Memories flooded him.

”That lake is so pretty!” MiJin exclaimed.

”Why do you think it’s pretty?”

”It’s so blue… clear… so innocent.”

”Like you?” 

Hwanhee could remember those blushing cheeks as she quickly walked away from him. He sighed. He looked at the lake and stared at his reflection. It seemed like… half of him was missing. Even though all of him was reflecting at him, he seemed so empty. MiJin was… all of him. And he was going to bring her back… or he was going to go where she was…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later, he came back to the lake. He sighed. Why did MiJin have to leave him now? He walked slowly… but didn’t know where he was going. He just walked. But his feet took him somewhere. He saw the blue ocean and knew what he was going to do.

He took off his shoes and socks… rolled up his pants, and put one foot in the cold, blue water. He swallowed, but held his head high. He was doing this for MiJin… his love… to be with her.

He took his second step. Just think… of her eyes… her face. Her mouth turning up at its corners when she smiled at you… Third step… fourth steps… fifth… sixth… seventh… eighth… The water was up to his neck now. Ninth… tenth… He kept on going. The water was freezing cold, but he needed more… He needed to die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I just found him here… I don’t know anything about him. I just came to the beach to fish… and he was floating there. His face was so white… so lifeless… *shudder* Is he…”

The doctor just said, “Thank you for finding him. Did he have any ID with him? In his pockets?”

The girl shrugged and said, “I don’t know… I didn’t check his pockets! That’s sick! He was… white… all white… But he DID leave his shoes, socks, and a piece of paper.”

”Can I see the paper?”

The girl pointed to the pile that was left and said, “There. I'm sorry… I really don’t want to touch it.” The doctor, with his gloved hands, picked it up and read the note. His eyebrows raised and he murmured, “People are too lovesick these days. I would never do something like that for my wife.” He said, “Put on gloves and hold this.”

The girl put on gloves and held the paper by one corner. But she couldn’t help seeing some words… MiJin… loved… died… She frowned. She read the whole note…

To: Anyone who finds me (I hope someone does)
My name is Hwang YoonSuk, but my friends called me Hwanhee. By the time this is being read, I will probably be dead… I hope. A girl named Kim MiJin… who I loved, died two days before. I hope someone finds me so they could find Kim YunJin (MiJin’s sister) and Brian (my best friend) that I loved them and I did this for MiJin.

Hwang YoonSuk

The girl dropped the note. The doctor yelled, “I TOLD YOU TO HOLD THE NOTE! IT’S VERY VALUABLE EVIDENCE! IF THIS WAS REALLY A SUICIDE OR A MURDER! HOLD IT!”

The girl started taking quick heavy breaths. The doctor glared at her and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

She whispered, “This person… Hwanhee… I knew him.”

The doctor’s eyes grew wide. “What? How?”

”MiJin… I'm MiJin…”

Chapter Thirteen

“But… MiJin died… How could you be…”

MiJin sighed and said, “It’s a long story, doctor. But is he…”

”I really can’t tell. It looks like he’s dead… then somewhere, I could hear his heart pumping… But… Let’s just get him into surgery first. We need to get all that water out of his lungs. Let’s go.”

MiJin couldn’t keep still. Her Hwanhee… who was supposedly been dead… Was found… by her… But her Hwanhee… oh, what was happening? She just couldn’t fit the puzzle pieces together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hwanhee’s eyelids fluttered open. He saw a girl peering down at him, holding his hand. He pulled away. “Who are you? What do you want? Where am I?”

”Hwanhee oppa? It’s me… MiJin.”

”Who’s MiJin? Why am I here? Where’s my mom?”

MiJin frowned. “Hwanhee oppa… you said your mother died when you were little. Hwanhee oppa… don’t you know who I am? The person you were committing suicide for… Kim MiJin!”

Hwanhee shook his head and pulled his sheets around his body. He said, “I want someone I know. Now!”

MiJin was hurt. How could he not remember her? What had happened? Something was wrong… Something had been wrong… from the beginning. When she heard the honking… and saw those lights.

MiJin took Hwanhee’s hands. “Listen… oppa… my name is Kim MiJin. And before you were in this bed… you were in another hospital. And I found you in the sea… you were very white… and pale. And I was scared, but I got you out and called the police. And I… you… died for me. Because you thought I died.”

Hwanhee blinked at her once. He cocked his head. She was pretty cute. Big eyes filled with… freight…? A nose that was crinkled up with worry… lips that were telling him all these useless things. He shrugged and drifted off back to sleep.

But he was awaken by a shaking of someone’s hand. “No… oppa! Listen… I don’t know what’s wrong with you… but you don’t remember me… I was… your girlfriend. And we had the best times together. You took me to a lake once. It was so beautiful… Clear, blue, and innocent… like me… Please remember… Please, try to remember.”

Hwanhee squinted his eyes thought about it. A lake… a shimmering lake… blue… clear… innocent. He saw a lake in his mind, but it didn’t help.

MiJin asked, “Who do you remember? Anyone?”

Hwanhee nodded slowly. He whispered, “Lee HeeJung… leukemia…”

MiJin gasped. How could he remember her… and not remember me… This was so unfair. She said, “I'm not leaving this room until you remember me, Hwang YoonSuk.” She tried to be firm, but her voice broke under the fear. “Please… oppa… remember.”

Hwanhee reached in his mind to find out some information that this girl named MiJin would want. He frowned. “But I don’t know anything… I don’t remember. I can’t.”

”Please try…” MiJin’s eyes made Hwanhee nod. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember… “A honk…” he said. MiJin nodded. “Sirens… shut up…”

MiJin’s eyes became teary as she clapped her hands. “Try harder, oppa!”

He closed his eyes tighter. There was nothing. He took a deep breath and took up all his strength. Reach in… remember… It slowly came back to him. All from the beginning. HeeJung dying because he had hugged his sister… Her funeral… Kim YunJin… accusing of him being a murderer. Him falling in love with MiJin and HeeJung. MiJin finally coming to him… after so long… HeeJung having leukemia. MiJin crossing the street… A honk, then sirens… then passing out. Then the horrible news… MiJin had died. But then… who was this girl, standing next to him?

He turned to her. “Who are you? Are you a ghost…”

MiJin giggled. “No… I'm MiJin.”

”Then how did you… live from that crash…?”

”You didn’t get to look at the girl’s face clearly, did you?”

Hwanhee shook his head. “So red… so wet…”

MiJin sighed and said, “You see… this woman that was there… she…”

Chapter Fourteen

MiJin stopped to wipe a tear. Hwanhee didn’t believe this. He said, “Wait… rewind… So… you were crossing the street and a woman pushed you… Right?”

MiJin nodded and said, “And I got pushed… to the center of the street near the bushes, and no one could see me. And you… I saw you go to that woman. You didn’t even get a good look at her face, and you thought it was me. I had no strength, oppa… I couldn’t cry out to you, or even make a noise. So I watched… I watched you getting in the car with her… with someone you didn’t even know.”

Hwanhee said, “Then… where did the woman come from?”

MiJin shook her head and said, “I don’t know… It was so dark… I couldn’t see anything.”

Hwanhee said, “Then what happened?”

MiJin took a deep breath and said, “Then… someone found me. And took me to the hospital… I got cleaned up and I was as good as new. I tried to find out where you were… but they wouldn’t let me in. I told them that I was his girlfriend, but they looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘His girlfriend is gone.’ I stared at them and they said, ‘She just disappeared during the night.’ I couldn’t believe it. She had been hit by a car! How could she disappear?”

Hwanhee said, “Then… what did that nurse mean by she was sorry?”

”Probably sorry that she disappeared and they couldn’t find her.”

Hwanhee said, “I get it… the woman that saved you disappears at night. And I… in grief, I try to commit suicide. But you save me… and we have no idea where the woman is. Oh… how perfect. I get it perfectly fine. But why were you there?”

”I was with Brian and YunJin unnie. They tried to make me forget about you… and took me fishing. But I said I wanted to be alone… and I was looking out towards the ocean and I saw you. It was so shocking…”

Hwanhee grinned and said, “So then… everything is okay now… And we could just go on with our lives, right?”

MiJin nodded and said, “But… let’s try to find that woman. I can’t really remember her though.”

Hwanhee said, “I think I could walk now…” He got up to take a couple of steps, leaning on MiJin. He made it to the door and back. MiJin smiled and said, “Let’s go tomorrow.”

They sat there, smiling at each other, knowing that nothing could part them now. But suddenly, MiJin gasped, turning white. Hwanhee panicked. “MiJin… what’s wrong? What happened?”

MiJin faced him and said slowly, “Oppa… you were face up… If you walked into the ocean you would have been face down.”

Hwanhee shrugged and said, “I was face up?”

MiJin stared at him and said, “Think oppa… think really hard. Was there someone else… before me?”

Hwanhee sat there for five minutes, thinking about it. Then he said, “I think… there was someone that said, ‘Wake up, Hwanhee… Wake up for MiJin…”

MiJin closed her eyes and grabbed onto Hwanhee’s arm for balance. “Oppa… angels can do anything, right? They could even disappear during the night, can’t they?”

Hwanhee nodded slowly… still having no clue where she was getting at.

MiJin gulped and said, “I think… the person that saved me… she said, ‘For Hwanhee…’ Oppa… do you know what I think?”

Hwanhee stared at her for an explanation. MiJin started to look like a ghost… She was so pale.

She whispered, “I think… the person that saved you and me… I think it was an angel… HeeJung unnie’s angel. Her guardian angel for me… and you.”

Epilogue

Some things are left better unknown. Why HeeJung died… Who pushed MiJin… Who flipped Hwanhee over…

Because some things… they just can’t be explained. Was it HeeJung who pushed MiJin? Or was it the guardian angel she sent? Was it HeeJung who flipped Hwanhee? Or was the guardian angel? Did HeeJung die to save MiJin and Hwanhee? So they could love each other…?

Believe what you want to… But some things CAN be explained… Hwanhee and MiJin got married… naming their first daughter, HeeJung. Hwang HeeJung. Brian and YunJin got married… naming their first son, YoonSuk. It was just a circle of names… But meaningful names.

But if you think about it… more things can’t be explained than things that can be. Why MiJin and Hwanhee’s second child died… Right after birth. Was he too weak? Too light? Or was it just simply… HeeJung… because she was lonely, and she wanted someone. Maybe that was why MiJin and Hwanhee just simply looked up to the sky… feeling empty because the death of their second child… but feeling happy, knowing someone would be there to take care of him.

Things like this… if they’re left unexplained… they seem to make so much more sense.

 END
********************************************