Song-hwa's laughter fills Seok-hyeong's basement. Ik-jun frowns at her but stifles his own chuckle. "Song-hwa, I hate to tell you this, but I'm not that funny."

She sighs and swiftly pops a piece of grilled meat into her open mouth. "I know, but I rarely get to laugh in Sokcho. I have missed you all." She hides her teary eyes by drinking on her beer.

It has been a while since they had a get together like this; with everybody's life progressing in their own different paths, their promise to Seok-hyeong to rehearse once a week has been the only window where they can talk to one another.

Jeong-won almost had to bail – he wanted to eat dinner with Gyeo-ul, but she forced him to be with his friends instead. Earlier in their relationship, Seok-hyeong didn't fail to voice out his concerns about Jeong-won's possible departure from their band, but he assured his friend plenty of times that he would never do that. He wondered as well whether he would ever give up playing on the band once he and Gyeo-ul got together – at first, he was certain that he wouldn't, but he longed to see her and to be with her whenever he could. Somehow, being far away from her when he could easily reach her was the sweetest torture.

"Jeong-won," Song-hwa calls him out of his reverie. She giggles at his inattentiveness. "I heard that Jun-wan kicked you out. Where are you staying?"

Jeong-won shakes his head and looks at Jun-wan who shows his lack of concern by eating with his usual vigor. "I'm staying with Ik-jun for the time being, but I'll try to find an apartment when I have a free time."

Seok-hyeong stares at him quizzically. "Oh, are you going to move in with Dr. Jang?"

"I haven't told her that I was kicked out," he tells them. The information shocks the rest of the group, resulting to their simultaneous glare. He shrugs defensively as he wipes on the droplets of oil on the table. "I didn't want to bother her. And I'm trying to find the perfect moment."

Ik-jun points his wooden chopsticks towards his direction threateningly. "Good job. The other professors and I are trying to make her study for the boards. Don't go about and distracting her."

"Fine." Jeong-won smiles at his friend.

He finds her with her head resting on the crook of her arm on the table, a pile of books an inch above her. Her thin fingers are still curled around her pen, its point smudging her notepad. He sees her fresh handwriting on the paper, a testament to her meticulous study habit. He fights all urge to rush to her side and hug her, but he doesn't want to wake her up. He runs over to his office and grabs his blanket. When he returns to the GS room, she's still asleep.

Carefully, he removes her eyeglasses from his face. For a moment, he freezes as he stares on the serenity of her expression. His hands begin on moving on their own; his fingers graze her hair, twisting them until he has carefully tucked her loose hair behind her ear. Her cheek is warm in his touch; her breath deep and soothing. He pulls the pen from her hand and places it next to her books. He slowly places the thick blanket over her shoulders, hoping that the sudden addition of weight won't wake her up. She stirs for a brief second but returns to her deep slumber.

At the moment, like an involuntarily reflex, his hand finds the ring in his pocket; his heart feels so heavy and filled that it seems seconds away from exploding. He wants to tell her how much he needed to be with her, how whenever he looks at her, he sees his the rest of life before him.

He can picture himself sitting on a swing in the front porch of a house with white picket fence and trees on the front lawn. He can see her laughing in the trimmed grass with a picnic basket beside her. He can imagine her voice calling him. From somewhere, their children run around, chasing each other just how he and his siblings used to play with each other.

Every time he entertains that particular dreams of his, his breath gets stuck in his throat and he finds his eyes tearing with pure happiness. He is very lucky to be blessed with a life with her. All the doubts he once had has been replaced with an infinite source of pleasure.

He is thankful that she was strong enough to tell him that she liked her. He always cowers when he faces a fork in the road, but she has always been assertive to pursuing what she wants. He's the only one who has tried to hide from their predestined life together.

He has never felt this much emotion. Even when he mourns over the loss of a patient, he has always managed to pull himself out; the depression doesn't surprise him anymore, but loving her drowns him. He is surrounded by the crystal clear water and the only thing he can do is to stop and surrender. Her existence has managed to break the routine he sticks strictly to; now, one call from her, he can easily drop everything to be by her side.

If he only knew then what he knew now, he would've kissed her the moment he met her. He would've removed all the delays and started their forever the minute he shook her hand. He would've never tried to get away from his duties in Yulje; he would've met her on her first year.

But he needed to get out of his self-deception. He had to find her when he was at his worse and she was at her best.

The universe took its time to slap him with its omnipotent truth. He needed the diversion because the path that he was supposed to take was unfinished.

Her eyes flutter awake and her surprise to see him there is apparent. She straightens up as her hand search of her eyeglasses. He pushes it to her direction.

"What are you doing here?" she asks as she wipes the side of her lips.

"I wanted to see you." He stands up and, before he forgets, he gives her several packets of the Chocopie that she loves. "I swiped this from Jun-wan's office. Take it easy, okay? I'll see you tomorrow." Before he leaves, he kisses on the forehead. "I love you."