Chapter One : Of His Visits...

The soft footsteps announced his arrival everyday to her; the sound of her door opening, the scrap of chair being moved as he sat down by her bedside. Sometimes he would bring her flowers and she'd play a game of guessing what flower he brought from the smell that filled up the room and chased away the antiseptic smell she so hate. She especially loved the smell of lily mixed with green tea he sometimes brewed in her room.

She didn't remember how long has she been in there or when has he started to visit but she remembered his soft voice, his soft breath if he fall asleep during his visits, his soft thumb as it grazed her cheek in caress sometimes, his smell that was uniquely his, like a blend of baby powder and spice, she cannot tell what it was.

Though time has ceased to matter in her world, she remembered the visits started with just a short interval of 5 to 10 minutes but it grew longer and longer, she supposed it because of his awkward personality needed time to get familiar with people. She tried to rationalize that she was not just any stranger to him, but maybe in his dictionary, she was a stranger.

She heard him sighed tiredly, no flower today she thought, but his smell was enough to distract her from her sleep, there was a note of sunshine in it like he just came from outdoor, maybe he fall asleep in the garden before he came. She heard him moved the chair closer and felt him took her hand in his. She can tell that he was thinking as his thumb made circles on her palm, it tickled but she couldn't do anything about it anyway… another sigh then suddenly a loud beep broke the silence, signal that he has to go, if she could sigh, she would do it now. LOUDLY and maybe stomped her foot in protest, but she couldn't. So she resigned her fate as she felt him let go of her hand probably to check for the message from the beeper. She heard him stood up, opened the door and stopped for just a few second like he regretted leaving her so soon before finally walking out then the soft click of the door.

She didn't know what make her wait for his visits… maybe one or all of those things or maybe because he was simply there… everyday.

Her parents visited, daily at first, but maybe it was too painful for them to see her this way, their visits became shorter and rare, though she didn't blame them, she knew how much they loved her. Her mother would brush her hair softly as she sang to her or talked to her about her day… her father rarely spoke, but he always brought with him a cup of her most favorite blend of coffee.

How long has she been sleeping, she didn't know… but her hair has now grew pass her shoulder. She didn't and couldn't remember what happened to her but that she was awakened in darkness one day. She guessed it must have been a long time already… it was not like she knew how to wake up anyway.

She sighed inwardly and decided to retreat to her darkness as she called it fondly, there was no term for sleeping when you were already technically sleeping.

… and so Ha Jae Kyung slept on until the next sound of footsteps…

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... and The Thought of Her

He was very irritated; annoyed in fact that his beeper destroyed his time with her but it was his line of duty to follow what was written in that little machinery. He pocketed it back as he walked in rapid steps towards the emergency room. As he opened the door thoughts of her flew out of his head immediately.

There seemed to be a serious car accident involving school bus filled with little kindergarten kids. His heart thudded painfully as he heard all the cries in the room. Now he knew why he was called urgently, of all the doctors that were available in the hospital, he was the best with kids. His soothing tone and calm presence somehow always quiet them down.

His trained eyes quickly scanned across the room determining which patient needed him the most, his brain already processing all the wounds he saw. There were roughly 5 children with severe wounds and 10 others with less severe ones.

His eyes quickly caught her working with a little girl across the boy he took care of, her nimble hands wrapping gauge over her head, her eyes gentle as she spoke softly to her, her long hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Turning away from the vision he involuntarily being drawn to, he concentrated on the task on hands.

5 exhausting hours later, he sat on the floor and leaned his back on the aisle outside the emergency room. All the children were taken care of; parents were informed and explained of their children's conditions. He heard the nurses thanked him but he only nodded while keeping his eyes closed. He felt sleep tugging on his consciousness; he was about to simply sleep on the floor like he often did when tired. The nurses in this hospital have now used to find him sprawled in odd places sleeping. They even had a chart of who has found him more than others and he thought that was amusing so he let them.

Something hot touched his cheek suddenly; his eyes flew open immediately in shock. Pair of warm brown eyes met his and she chuckled as she offered her the coffee she had.

"Are you planning to sleep here again, sunbae, and let Nurse Hyeon wins the Sleeping Chart?" her eyes twinkled as he straightened and took the offered coffee from her hands.

"Maybe… I'm a bit bored of the hospital aisle on 3rd floor." He replied after sipping the coffee. She laughed at his dry joke as she took a seat beside him; the sound of her laughter soothed his current frayed nerves as he smirked at his own joke.

"You could always go home and sleep in your warm bed, you know…"

"How would you know that my bed is warm?" he smirked at her.

"Yah!!" she hit his arm and he laughed trying to escape her, only this woman can brought out this side of him. He yawned and decided to stand up before falling asleep again. Her phone rang as he helped her to stand; she fished it out of her pocket and read the caller ID on the screen. Being taller than her, he easily caught the name flashing on the screen. "Babo" it flashed. He shook his head even as he heard her said hello to the caller. Only this woman would call her fiancé "stupid". He patted her head gently as farewell as he turned to the aisle leading to his office. She waved her hand and walked away from him while bickering over the phone with her "babo".

He stepped into his dark office, the moonlight shining in from the window behind his desk illuminating the room with its soft glow. He put his now cold coffee on his desk and sat on the expensive leather sofa lounge. He decided that going home was just too much hassle, he opted to sleep on his couch; at least he had bought the best quality knowing his own bad habit.

… and so Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo slept with her laughter still echoing in his head…

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