"When you get a new heart, will I still be in there?" She says, barely a whisper. "Will I still be in that heart?"
"You're not just in my heart," Jeongguk replies truthfully. "You're in the blood flowing through my veins, you're in my mind, you're u...
"The sun kept on with its slipping away, and I thought how many small good things in the world might be resting on the shoulders of something terrible."
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"How is it?" Yerim entreats when her doctor enters the room with the results of a recent medical test in his hand, along with an X-ray sheet.
He takes a seat in front of her bed and holds the piece of paper out for her to see for herself. "The cancer recently spread to a small part of your lungs. For now, it is still at a slow rate so we'll have to be extra cautious," he shows her the X-ray results and gives her an apologetic smile.
"If the cancer worsens, we might have to attempt a surgery."
Yerim's eyes widen as she gives the doctor a baffled look. "What are the chances?" She asks, a bit softer this time.
The doctor's eyes soften and he tilts his head. "We don't know for sure. We can only guarantee a 50% success rate. That is, if the cancer maintains its current state like this and does not spread furthermore. But the sooner we conduct the surgery, the better."
"And when will that be?"
"The specialist who's supposed to be conducting cancer operations like this will be back here from Ireland in about 3 days. Until then, we'll try our best to give you the proper medications and treatment to slow the cancer down."
She merely nods, taking every word in and breathing them out like a spark of hope. When the doctor leaves the room to tend to other patients, she leans back against her bed frame and stares at the IV tube connected to the back of her hand.
She doesn't want this. She wants to be given proper food; cakes, donuts, ramen, meat. Not sit here all day with a liquid tube connected to her body that's supposed to give her enough nutrients and energy to survive.
Despite already being one, she doesn't want to be treated like a sick person.
Yerim is pulled out of her jumble of thoughts when she hears a vibration on the nightstand. Tilting her head lazily to the side, she sees her phone screen light up with a message.
"Get ready to go out."
But why?
"Don't ask. You'll see. I'm picking you up," Jeongguk adds, as if he's been reading her mind.
Yerim doesn't know why, but a smile crosses her face at the thought of Jeongguk and his little surprises. For all her life, no one has ever been able to impress her. Maybe because she's even more intolerable than any man she's ever come across.
But Jeongguk was different in many ways. Where he lacked in enthusiasm, Yerim made up for it. Where she lacked in proper social skills, Jeongguk spoke up for her. He always seems to know which words were right to say.
And she's always thought that there would never be anyone who would be better at explaining things than her.
When Jeongguk arrives at her door and flashes her a gummy smile, she's already sitting up on her bed and finding ways to move the IV drip around. According to the doctor, she can't remove it yet because it'll be hard to put it back on. And she isn't exactly keen on the idea of getting picked, again.
