"Eun Chae!" He yelled and rushed over to her place, lifting her head up. Putting his finger in front of her nose, he discovered that she was barely breathing, and her breaths were extremely weak. "Someone call the ambulance please!" He shouted out in vain for help. Yu Jin had been trained in first aid skills when he worked at Yulje, but seeing Eun Chae in such a condition, his mind went totally empty, rendering him unable to act. The first-aiders arrived in an instant and she was immediately transported to the hospital, with Yu Jin accompanying her. The ambulance was racing to the hospital, yet her situation continued deteriorating. She stopped breathing on the way and was already in a critical stage upon arrival. Her life was at risk, and Yu Jin knew that only a miracle could save her now. Standing outside the ER, all Yu Jin could was nothing but praying for that miracle to happen as some tears began welling up in his eyes.

Upon Eun Chae's arrival at the hospital, two of her best friends, Hae Rin and Han Bin, were also called. They were all worried and shocked, not believing that their friend's life might end because of a car accident.

"Eun Chae's gonna be alright, right?" Hae Rin struggled to hold her tears and asked Han Bin.

"She'll be fine, don't worry," Han Bin assured by hugging Hae Rin in his arms despite him being overwhelmed too.

Meanwhile, Yu Jin was mindlessly leaning on the wall at the side of the door. His blank and haggard face remained fixed on the ground as he attempted to decipher what was happening. Thinking about the accident, he began to cry uncontrollably and his eyes were becoming blurred because of the tears. It was all his fault, if he had not asked her out for dinner, she would have been in such a life-threatening situation.

As the deafening silence went on, a doctor emerged out from the ER, with disappointment etched on his face.

"Are you all patient Hong Eun Chae's companions?"

"Yes, doctor," Hae Rin quickly ran over and anxiously asked, "My friend's OK now, right? Please say that she's alright. I'm begging you."

"She's gonna be fine, right?" Yu Jin queried with a quivering voice.

"We're sorry but," the doctor sighed and lowered his head. "We've tried our best but...we were...unable to save her. Her condition was too critical and she had lost too much blood even before arriving here. We apologise," he gave them an apologetic nod and retreated to the ER.

"What? This is not true," Hae Rin chased after the doctor and grabbed his wrist, "Doctor, please save my friend. There must be some way, she's still young, she has her future ahead, please don't let her die like that."

"Hey Hae Rin, calm down," Han Bin tried to restrain her and stay composed, but tears were also trickling down his face.

"How am I supposed to stay calm right now," Hae Rin's voice cracked as she screamed out loud and flung Han Bin's arm off.

"We're very sorry, we know this is hard to accept but...please be prepared to come in and...see her for the last time."

Meanwhile, Yu Jin was so appalled that he could not say a word. He bit his lips, collapsing in horror and letting his tears drop onto the group.

Entering the ER, he could see the doctor pushing toward him a stretcher, on which lied a body covered under a white mattress. Raising up the sheet, he could see the girl he loved resting with her eyes closed as if she was only enjoying a deep slumber.

"Hey Eun Chae," Hae Rin rushed over and grasped her friend's hand. "It's me, your little Kitty Kang here. Can you hear me?" She said, attempting to hold back her emotions. But her feelings were too raw to conceal. It took just a few seconds before her voice broke. "Hey, can you hear me? Wake up, please! Wake up and talk to me. I still...have many things I wanna tell you, you know?" Her voice faded as she began weeping. Han Bin, despite being devastated, had to hold her hands to reassure her, but it was evident that it could not help.

"Eun Chae, open your eyes!" Yu Jin pleaded and gently stroked her hair, just as he always did. "Please, Eun Chae! I love you, and I need you...so please...open your eyes and look at me. We still have to make a lot of plans, you know? Christmas, New Year, and then Lunar New Year too, right? Don't leave me alone!" He cried out and collapsed beside his girlfriend, resting his head on her cold, lifeless body. He wanted to cry even more, to scream even louder, and to tell her how much he needed her. But no matter how hard he tried, his effort could not reach her.

The doctor eventually moved the stretcher away, leaving behind Yu Jin, Hae Rin and Han Bin in the room filled with nothing but sorrowful sobs.

******

That night, Yu Jin went home in a depressed state. He wanted to lay his head down and have a sleep after all the shocking that had just happened, but he could not do that. The thoughts about Eun Chae kept torturing him. His heart kept aching and his head kept blaming himself for that incident. He was tormented by the though that if he had not asked her out for dinner, she would have still been here, lying next to him and hugging him. Or at least if he had picked her up, she would have not had to endure such a painful death. Those thoughts did not stop wandering in his mind even until when the alarm rang. It was six in the morning, the first morning in her absence. A dreary and cloudy morning which was entirely at odds with Eun Chae's bright personality when she was alive.

"You should come for her wake, I'll send you the address," Han Bin messaged him and then sent him the address of the funeral home that Hae Rin chose.

Just as what a friend, or to be more exact a boyfriend, would do, he requested a day off to attend her wake. No matter how broken he was, he still needed to give her a proper goodbye. Coming to the wake, he could see many of Eun Chae's friends there, tearful and heartbroken, which definitely proved how much her short life meant. He could see a portrait of her. Her coffin was placed in the end corner of the room, surrounded by some candles. The lid of it was made of transparent glass so he could see her, clearly and vividly. She was lying in the coffin, her mouth was slightly curving up just like she was smiling at him.

"This is for you," he whispered and placed the pair of keychains that he bought for both him and her the previous day on her casket, "Take it to heaven with you, so that you'll remember me. I won't forget you, so don't forget me, OK?"

He stayed at the wake for about half of the day, having some soju with Han Bin in the hope that alcohol might help him forget all the sadness he was having. However, beginning drinking, he recalled the stargazing night in Yangpyeong when he enjoyed liquor and watched the meteor shower with her. The more he drank, the more pain he felt. Eventually, Yu Jin ended up leaving the wake because he wanted to hide his tears from everyone.

Not knowing what to do, Yu Jin hopped onto the bus and sat there while it was wheeling around the city, mindlessly gazing at the surrounding landscape. Through the glass covered by numerous tiny raindrops, he could recognise some of the places where he and Eun Chae once visited together. No matter what he did or where he went, everything seemed to keep reminding him of her and he had no way to get her out of his head.

He was too naive. After everything, he was still a naive guy. Eun Chae had told him that life was unpredictable, and he could not foresee anything, even death. She taught him that he needed to live his life to the fullest as nobody knew how the next day would be. His death might be approaching, but he was unaware. He had resigned himself to that notion. But about Eun Chae, he some magically how thought that she was guaranteed about one more year to live. He blindly believed that a girl suffering from pancreatic cancer was at least granted a tomorrow. He was too credulous to think that the world would at least treat a dying girl nicely. Perhaps, that was also what Eun Chae thought. What a foolish kind of logic it was!

It turned out that life was fair, so fair to the extent that it could be harsh sometimes. It did not pull its punches away from anybody, not healthy people like him, and not people with terminal diseases like her. He had never been aware of that fact, and then was shocked when her death came. He had always been worrying about losing her because of her illness, and then ended up losing her in another way, an even more agonising way.

But nobody could blame Yu Jin and Eun Chae. It was not his fault, not her fault, and not anybody's fault to have such a false impression about life. In fact, that was how life appeared to be. Everyone was trained to believe this wrong notion and expect certain outcomes for everything. If a drama was said to have twenty episodes, it would not stop until it reached the twentieth episode. If a film trailer was released, it would premiere. If a story was said to have ten chapters, it would run to the tenth chapter. However, her story, unfortunately, ended with the last pages still being left blank.

******

That evening, still reeling from the day, Yu Jin met up with Chae Won at a food store to talk to and drink with her. He really wanted to forget Eun Chae and to him, the most effective way to numb the pain could only be drinking alcohol.

"You know what, Chae Won? I was really broken. Out of millions of people out there, why must it be her?" Yu Jin grumbled and took a gulp of soju.

"Come on, don't be like this...you know...sometimes things just happen, right? People come and go, so don't think too much. I'm sure...your girlfriend is watching you, and she wouldn't want to see you like this," Chae Won softly consoled him by patting his shoulder.

"I've just confessed my love to her, we didn't even have a chance to go out for a real date," he collapsed onto the table, tears streaming.

"You gotta be happy, understand? Live a good life to honour her."

"But Chae Won...out of millions of people...Why must it be her? Why was my Eun Chae so unlucky?"

"Don't say that, OK? Dying is not bad luck, living is a privilege. So appreciate what you have now and be happy for her. At least...she is...in a better place now."

"Don't you think that she'd be mad at me? It was...my fault that made her die. If I had not...asked her to dine out with me...she would not have died in that way, right?" He slowly slurred out the words as inebriation started settling in.

"I understand how you feel. But it's not your fault, it's nobody's fault. It's just how it is, so don't blame it on yourself," she gently said.

Yu Jin was slightly drunk, but he still managed to get home. Tossing himself onto his bed, he realised that her Minnie Mouse bolster was somehow still in his room. Hugging it tight in his arms, he could feel as if her scent was still lingering inside the room, making his longing even worse.

The next day, he did not come to her funeral. Not because he did not want to, but because he was not brave enough. He knew that he would cry again, and he did not want everybody to see him sobbing, he did not want to appear weak in front of them.

Having another day off, he spent some time cleaning up her room and stumbled upon her journal. It was probably one of the most valuable mementos she left behind. Maybe there might be some revelations about her that he might want to know. Picking it up, he flipped the first pages.

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^^