"Hey Han Bin, are you alright," Hae Rin helped Han Bin up. She could see blood coming out from his nose.

"Hey Han Bin, I'm sor..." Yu Jin rushed over to say sorry to Han Bin, but Hae Rin immediately pushed him away. 

"Just stay away from him, this is only a friendly match, do you have to be so violent?" She yelled at him.

"Calm down Hae Rin, he didn't mean to do that, it was an accident," Eun Chae tried to protect her friend. She stopped Yu Jin from approaching Han Bin and pulled him to the bench.

"Eun Chae, I really didn't mean to..."

"I know," she said under her breath, "But you shouldn't have done such a tackle, it's really dangerous, you know? What if his shoes had metal studs and pricked your arms."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't need to say sorry, lemme see your arm first", Eun Chae checked and saw a bruise on his right arm. "See, you injured yourself!" She said and ran away to dampen his towel with some cold water and wrapped it around his bruise.

After things had all been settled and the tension seemed to soften, everyone left for home. Hae Rin gave Eun Chae a hug before going back, not forgetting to give Yu Jin a devilish glare. "Darn it, she hates me now," Yu Jin mumbled and scratched his forehead.

Eun Chae and Yu Jin came back home and had some noodles for dinner. Yu Jin felt a bit guilty and awkward because he upset her best friend. But Eun Chae did not appear to mind it at all and she was still very warm-hearted towards him.

"Hey Eun Chae, do you think that Hae Rin will hate me after this?"

"She might, but only for a while. I'm pretty sure she will forget this very soon. You should be worrying about me being mad at you instead," she screwed her face up.

"I'm sorry," he said and pinched her cheek, "I really mean it when I said that."

"Don't be so reckless next time, such tackles can be very dangerous. I don't want you to hurt yourself, understand?"

"OK, I'll take note."

They were peacefully enjoying their food until Eun Chae suddenly had a stomach ache. He clutched her belly and ran into the bathroom to vomit.

"Hey Eun Chae, are you OK?" Yu Jin nervously inquired as soon as he saw her leaving the bathroom.

"Yeah," she nodded her head. But Yu Jin had a bad feeling that there was something wrong with her. It seemed that her health was getting worse.

"If you feel something not alright, then you must tell me, understand?"

"Yeah, I will. But don't worry, I think I'm just having indigestion."

He nodded his head and stared at her. He wished that he could believe what she said, but the fact that she was suffering from a terminal illness kept pinching his heart like tiny needles. The only thing he could do was just to reassure himself that he was just overthinking.

******

Eun Chae had a great passion for astronomy, and she had always been wanting to go stargazing and to watch the meteor shower somewhere outside Seoul. However, she had never had the chance to do that, not even once. This year, or this August to be exact, she would like to do that, not alone, but with Han Yu Jin.

In addition, she also wanted to help Yu Jin celebrate being accepted for an internship application at Yulje hospital. It was, guilelessly, partly because his father's friend was working there. According to what that professor told him, as long as he did not act stupid in the interview, then he will be accepted. However, it was undeniable that Yu Jin did put effort into it. Hence, it was still worth-celebrating.

"Hey Yu Jin, you wanna go to Yangpyeong for stargazing this Saturday night?" She put her chin onto Yu Jin's shoulder and asked him while they were having dinner.

"I wanna say no. But if you want me to go, then I'll go with you," he gave her a grin and smoothed her hair.

"That's nice of you," she gave him a big smile, "Actually, I...I've always wanted to go stargazing with a guy before I die so...thank you for fulfilling my wish."

"Just stop talking about death. I wanna hear good things from you, OK?" He scrunched his face up at her.

"OK, I'm sorry," she pouted.

That night, at about one o'clock, while Yu Jin was quietly and relaxedly lying on his bed and reading a book, Eun Chae suddenly knocked on Yu Jin's door. Opening the door, he could see a half lethargic and half unsettled face. It seemed like she had just been awoken by something.

"Oh hi, why are you here this late?"

"Yu Jin, I...I...Can I sleep in your room tonight. I was scared cuz I had a nightmare. I won't disturb you, I promise," she was clasping her hands together and puckering her lips. Her face was looking down on the grown, but Yu Jin could still easily see it blushing.

"Oh...sure," Yu Jin was a little hesitant about sleeping in the same room with a girl. But he did not want to leave her alone and being terrified by her nightmare in her room so he decided to let her in, "You wanna sleep on my bed? If you do then I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, just sleep on your bed, I'll sleep on the floor," she said and then came back to her room to retrieve her blanket and pillow.

Yu Jin stopped reading and turned off the light in his room so that Eun Chae could fall asleep more easily. They slept together in his room. He was lying down on his bed, burrowing himself under the cushy blanket. Meanwhile, she was lying on the ground, wrapping herself in her blanket and hugging her pillow. Yu Jin could see her seeming to be shivering, maybe she was feeling cold.

"Hey, if you feel cold then come up here. I will sleep on the ground."

"No, I'm fine. Don't w..."

Not even waiting for Eun Chae to finish her sentence, Yu Jin swept her into his arms and carried her onto the bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She exclaimed in utter mystification.

"Just lie there!" Yu Jin gently put her on the bed, bringing her her blanket and pillow. He also removed his stuff from the bed and hurled them on the ground.

"Hey, don't sleep on the ground. What if you get sick because of that?"

"Considering the situation, it's you who seems easier to get sick. So stop chiding!"

"Wait! Actually...there is enough space for both of us to sleep on your bed. If we sleep on the two opposite ends of it then it'll be alright, right?" She sat up and held his hand, stopping him from further removing things off his bed.

"Me and you, sleeping on the same bed?" He gaped at her with his eyes wide open and put his hand onto her forehead.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She pushed his hand off her forehead

"Are you having a fever? Or did the nightmare stun your brain?" He clutched her shoulder and mildly shook her body, "Are you out of mind?"

"I'm fine, don't worry," she grumbled.

"Then why do you want to sleep on the same bed with me? You're a girl, are you seriously this easy-going on everyone?" He raised his voice.

"I'm easy because that's you. I trust you, understood?" She screwed her face up at him and moaned. After that, she quickly sat up to retrieve Yu Jin's bolster and put it in the middle of the bed, "Each of us will be on one side of the bed, are you happy now?"

Yu Jin remained silent and fixated his confused scowl on her for a few seconds. However, eventually, he still some magically how ended up agreeing with her. After all, it depended on him to think whether sleeping on the same bed with her was appropriate or not. If he did not have any bad intentions, then it should be fine.

They decided to sleep on two opposite sides of the bed. Things seemed to be fine at first as it took Eun Chae only a few minutes to fall asleep, but Yu Jin's tranquil respite did not last too long. Eun Chae started rolling her body on the bed, sometimes swatting her arms or her feet on Yu Jin. "So this is the way energetic people sleep," he thought to himself. Could not do anything else, he inserted his bolster in her arms. She was so deep in her slumber that she did not even know it when Yu Jin lifted her arms up. She was sleeping soundly like a baby, snoring with her mouth wide open. "If she closed her mouth, then wouldn't she be way more adorable?" Yu Jin sighed. Hugging the bolster, she could finally stay still and Yu Jin could eventually enjoy his sleep in peace.

******

That Saturday evening, both of them boarded the high-speed train for Yangpyeong. Eun Chae had prepared for the trip meticulously from booking train tickets to packing stuff for a picnic under the stars so Yu Jin did not really have to do anything much.

"Why didn't you tell me that you booked the tickets yourself? I could have paid for mine if you told me earlier," he naughtily scolded her at the bustling train station when he found out she had already paid for everything without telling him.

"Nah, it's fine, the tickets were not that expensive so don't bother," she gave him a grin and patted his back.

"I'll pay you later," he insisted.

"You don't need to pay me. Just enjoy your trip, that's enough to make me happy."

"OK, fine," he pinched her nose.

"Hey, stop pinching my nose," she yelled and scowled at him.

"I'm sorry, OK?", he playfully made a face at her, "Hand me your bag, I'll carry it for you."

"No thanks, I can do that myself. My hands are still alright," she twinkled her eyes, grabbed his wrist and then they hopped onto the train hands in hands together. Pulling Yu Jin forward with her hands, Eun Chae showed no sign of realising his awkwardness.

"Hey Eun Chae, do you think that we're looking like a couple right now?"

"Nah, we're just...close friends...Wait no, we're super-duper BFFs," she tilted her head and affectionately looked at him with her sparkling eyes.

"Oh...OK...I see," he fixed his eyes on her with his lips parted and nodded his head. There were times when Yu Jin questioned himself if his feeling for Eun Chae was something more than friendship. However, he chose to keep it to himself instead of telling her. According to what she said, then this relationship should only be defined as friendship, not love. It was a precious friendship with a precious person, a friendship that he did not want to jeopardise with a confession that might change everything.

They could not find a seat and had to remain standing beside each other as the train was a bit crowded. Because Eun Chae felt tired, Yu Jin let her lean on him. They were closing their eyes and chilling until Yu Jin heard a mild shriek from his friend.

"What happened?" He sluggishly rubbed his eyes.

"I think somebody's just touched my butt," she whispered into his ear.

"What?" His eyes widened in alarm, "Who?"

"I don't know, but I guess it was on purpose."

Right at that moment, he saw a guy who was wearing a cap and a mask passing through them from behind Eun Chae's back, weaving his way through the jostling crowd.

"Hey you, stop right there!" Yu Jin shouted at that guy in anger.

The suspicious guy continued setting forth, pretending he could not hear anything. He was making a swift escape as if he had just done anything wrong.

"I said stop!" Yu Jin dashed after him and grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from moving any further. 

Thank you very much for making it this far! If you enjoy reading my story and are excited to find out what is going to happen next, don't forget to click the star to vote for me as well as recommend my story to your friends. You votes really motivate me a lot^^