the bell chimes indicating the big ceremony is finally starting. the crowd gathers, seated on comfy chairs as they wait patiently. some even have their phones on their hands, recording every moment of the important event. white petals scattered on the red carpet compliments the theme of the wedding well, giving touch of purity and warmth of the love that the newlyweds shares.
as a song that was familiar to many of the audience ears played, younghoon walks slowly towards the altar. white suit hugs his body perfectly, small rose were tuck in his suit's pocket, giving sweet touch on his appearance. the crowd cheers as they welcomed him, clapping and whistling when he smiles beautifully.
he stands on the altar, feeling surreal as he looks around the hall. getting married was once never in his book, not until he met the love of his life who changed his whole trajectory of life. marriage was never the option in his record, it was only medicine. the oath that he took, to cure and protect; becoming a healer and a person whom a lot of person put trust on a life onto.
"will you, kim younghoon, take rania lee as your wife and promise to love and cherish her forever ?"
the paths were never easy. there's always cracks in between, which made the journey a lot more memorable than he anticipated. being a doctor, a surgeon as he is right now was truly his passion, and now he's about to make another oath that young him would never picture making. an oath that will cost him all his life to pledge his loyalty onto, just like the one he did before. only this time, there's another person whom he will share this journey with.
a genuine smile curves on his face, "i do."
the marriage officiant turns to the person infront of him, asking the very same question.
"will you, rania lee, take kim younghoon as your husband and promise to love and cherish him forever ?"
rania blushes, "i do."
their eyes collides for a moment, reading each other's faces as their feelings caught up with them.
"from this moment, i officially pronounce you as husband and wife. you may kiss the bride !"
younghoon take a deep breath, before he leans forward, kissing his bride passionately as the crowds went crazy, cheering and whistling. his arms sneaks around her waist, holding it firmly as he pulls her closer to him.
as he pulls away from the kiss, he looks into her eyes deeply as his heart beats loudly.
"my wife"
rania smiles brightly, failing to hide her own excitement when that two words came out from him. everything seems to slow down as she pulls him down again and went for another kiss, leaving a sweet aftertaste when she's done.
on the other hand, the front row seats of the audience seems to be making different kind of excited noises as the newlyweds shares their kisses. sunwoo flaps his hand up and down as he jumps around, giving in to his impulsive thoughts. almost all of younghoon's staffs and friends are there, showing up to the chief wedding. hyunjae wiggles excitedly on his wheelchair as the song went off for the afterparty.
sara giggles at the side of hyunjae, which make him quickly brush off his act, suddenly fixing his tie. they burst out laughing at each other, not caring about others.
"i wonder what younghoon feels like the moment he realised he became a husband to someone," hyunjae starts, already find himself calming down instead of wiggling around. "man probably have the time of his life, that's rania lee for him to call her his wife." sunwoo utters, gulping down a glass full of chamomile tea. "wow this tastes better than i expected,"
the two finally took their places beside hyunjae, squishing him into the middle. "are you planning to get married, sunwoo ?" hyunjae asks out of sudden.
nearly choking on the drink that leaves quite strong taste to him, he glances at hyunjae weirdly. "why ask me ?"
"i just wonder when can i go to any of you guys weddings again," he blinks nonchalantly. if i ever have the chance to do so anyway. "i mean, weddings afterparty offers great wine choices for free plus scrumptious looking food too ! it's too good to not be excited about," hyunjae states, making a point to scrunch his eyebrows to show how serious he was.
"well, as for now i don't really enjoy relationships as much as i did back then in highschool-"
"as if you were serious with any of those girls," sara interjects, earning a deadly glare from sunwoo. "says the one who's such a loner all her life. at least i learned to at least enjoyed my life before getting stuck in the hospital which feels like a forever deal to me ?" he shoots. the latter only rolls her eyes away, sipping on her drinks while sunwoo cusses her out.
"anyway, i don't think im ready for any relationship let alone a marriage. what's the point on building something that was bound to be destroyed sooner or later ? i rather spend my free time off hospitals drowning in my tears for kdramas or just being dead asleep on my bed without having the need to worry about another human being." he explains.
hyunjae nods at him with slight amusement in his face, while his eyes hinting a bit of sadness. he's right, why bother trying when you knew well enough everything will go down as far as it can be.
their paths may have crossed for a reason, so called destiny that brings them to find themselves complete in each others presence. two souls were bound to meet, and that's the catch; destiny never promised a happy ending for each encounters. leaving the souls wandering what had happened if they were never meant to be what they hoped it would.
desperate enough to dream the impossible, unknowingly closing their eyes to finally feel all of the what ifs that they had prayed for. a closure; one solution to cure their broken hearts as their loved ones being taken away, separating two souls that once were full of hope. he will never understand why, but he secretly wishes that she will, one day, take in whatever life has to offer to finally let her feel nothing but happiness.
he takes in a deep breath, tingling sensation spreads out through his nervous system. as if his heart is telling him something, telling him to stop trying.
he watches as sara clings her drink with sunwoo's, leaving them in their world as he feels like his soul would detach from his body any seconds now. his head feels light as it swings from side to side, following the rhythm of the piano that plays in his mind which somewhat fills in the void in his heart. his mind flew over a classical piece that he had learned before things go south, picturing his fingers dancing delicately on the keys.
oh the things i'd do just to have a little more time.
but he knew it too well that hope is something that he can barely hold onto now.
the night passes like wind; with him watching the person he once imagined a future with, getting under influence of alcohol. her cheeks are pink, hiccups overtaking her as she babbles nonsense. she turns to him, drowning herself in his eyes.
"i love your eyes so much they made me think about the stars-" she says and hiccup, "how shiny and glittery they are in the night sky but i don't need to look up when your eyes have everything."
his mind always putting a banter between him and the person on his side who's shamelessly flirting with him. but for once, he feels like his heart will betray his mind, and he doesn't held himself back. he throws himself to her, embracing her body with his arms. she only manage to chuckle as her hand find its way to his back, patting him slowly.
every second feels like hell, because he knew damn well they were never meant to last.
he let go of her, finally surrending to his fate.
on the other side, sara smiles at hyunjae and blinks slowly as she looks at him. "let's go. i need to bring you back to the hospital."
the journey back to the hospital filled with silence, with eric volunteering himself to be the driver of the night seeing how drunk the owner of the red convertible to even know how to walk herself to the car without tripping countless times. the other brown haired man was long passed out way before others even feeling slightly tipsy, proving his own point that he could not handle that much of alcohol since his tolerance is very low.
eric focuses on the road, which seems lacking with vehicles as the clock already approaching two in the morning. he shakes his head slowly, thinking on how much time they've spent out of the hospital that he feels a bit anxious. taking his turn to the left, he gets startled by hyunjae's sudden voice.
"why you don't drink today ?"
"if i did, i don't think any of us will reach the hospital." he snorts, earning giggles from hyunjae. the latter nods his head, "you got your point."
"are you feeling better nowadays ?" eric asks as the car enters the highway.
"just the same. i don't know, maybe i think too much."
eric sighs, himself doesn't know what to reply and the atmosphere fell silent again. hyunjae takes a glance on his side, looking at the passing trees on the side of the broad highway that he can barely even see with his limited eyesight. getting a spectacle was the least of his worries even before the accident. blurry images infront intrigued him more, saying that it's weird if everything is too clear for him.
the car slowly enters the hospital driveway, leading them to the lobby. eric then press on brake and pulled the handbrake. the car stops, slightly shaking, waking both of the passed out drunks. eric helps hyunjae with his wheelchair, while the latter mouthing his gratitude to him.
sunwoo and sara made their ways out from the car, with sunwoo almost stumbling over a rock infront of him. he kicks the rock almost immediately, cussing the poor thing for blocking his way. sara trails behind him, looking like she's about to pass out any second but tries her best to appear not as drunk.
she walks over to hyunjae's wheelchair and pushes him away into the entrance as sunwoo follows them suit, leaving the blonde haired behind. eric sighs, "this woman can never live alone is it ? she walks away like her car never exist," he complains, "it's a relief that i am a well raised man, if that isn't the case i'd probably drive away and never come back."
sara catches his words too late and when she turns back to claim her car, her convertible disappeared from their sight. "he better not be stealing my car or i'll burn his department down." she hisses.
they continue to walk into the hospital, with the receptionist greeting them fairly. she expected sunwoo to follow them up to hyunjae's room, but her eyes watch the doctor made his way to the lounge and heaves himself on the couch. he then mumbles something incoherent before completely passed out.
"i can't believe this asshole is one of us," she walks off, embarrassed. hyunjae only laughs when they enter the elevator, resulting for the woman to roll her eyes hard to the back of her skull. the silence in the elevator interrupted by sara's hiccup, that seems to worsen when she woke up from her short nap in the car.
"i think you need to drink some plain water miss chae," hyunjae starts, pointing to the water dispenser ahead of them when the door of the elevator opens. she replies with pushing his wheelchair straight to the water dispenser, taking a paper cup beside the machine and she opts for the cold water. bringing the cup close to her lips, she gulp down the drink with one of her eyes slightly closed due to the sudden sensation of cold water, almost sending her to shiver.
they continue walking on which feels like forever before they arrived infront of his ward. entering the room, their noses greets familiar scent of something similar to green tea. hyunjae has always love the specific scent, explains well on why his ward smells like one.
sara helps him to get on his bed before she moves to the side of the bed, crouching down. she pulls the cupboard open, taking one set of fresh patient clothes out. she rips the plastic open and set down the clothes on the bed.
"do you want me to help or you want to change by yourself ?" she asks, with eyes half opened.
he giggles, "i can do it myself, seeing on how you are right now i don't think you're suit to even help a patient put on their clothes."
"okay then, i'll turn around. take your time." she responds. he only giggles more, seeing how innocent she turns to be if she's under influence. quickly changing his clothes, he calls sara to sit on the chair beside his bed. sara take her seat, letting her arm rest on the armrest. taking a deep breath, she lets out a small cough and her hands quickly covers her mouth.
"sorry. i shouldn't have that much of alcohol." she sighs, "can't help myself when they serve champagne off my favourite brand."
"whatever makes you happy miss chae," he laughs softly, his eyes fixed on her. sudden wave of sadness hits him, as his eyes trails all over her tired face. he hold himself back, refuse to let her see him in this state; where every part of him feels immense pain. he stables his shaky breath, trying to fight off the pain that he endures the whole night. his eyes swells, as he tries all his might to not slip any tears out and suddenly he hears her calling.
he might have been too caught up to himself that he doesn't even realised she was no longer infront of him. he turns to his side, seeing the woman standing infront of the only window in the ward; staring at the night sky with amusement. she bounces excitedly, with her finger pointing outside.
"hyunjae, there are so many stars tonight !" she exclaims, looking as excited as she can be. his eyes quickly looks up along with her, not sure himself if he's just admiring the stars like he always did or he's using it as distractions to ignore the pain he's suffering.
he smiles, "they're so beautiful.. but it's sad." she turns to him, "why ?"
"because they only lasted for the night, then disappears when the new day arrives." he shifts his gaze to her, "but it was good while it lasted, right? they shine the most when it's dark and gloomy, like lights that shine bright before a new beginning."
she looks at him carefully, trying to read him through, finding meaning behind what's hidden behind sweet smile that he wears but couldn't seem come to any conclusion since her head is still throbbing due to the alcohol. when she walks over to him and sit back at her place, he reaches out for her hand, holding it gently as she keeps the eye contact.
"is that why you love stars ?" she asks, nonchalantly.
he hums as response. "sara," he calls. she blinks,"yes?"
"thank you for always being there for me, when i needed someone. thanks for being such a good friend that i can count on, thank you for being such an amazing person." he lets out with one breath. "thank you for being you, being a person that lights up those dark days."
he held back his tears, fighting the urge to look away as he starts to feel that he can no longer hold it back. sara blinks as he struggles to finish up his words, tears roll down his cheek.
"you don't need to say those, jae." she looks at him in confusion with her eyelids barely open, "you'll always be my favourite one."
he pulls her into a hug, embracing the woman that means the whole world to him. the woman that always pretends everything was fine when it was not, the woman that always put him first in everything, and also the little girl that saves him from his own nightmares.
also the woman that he loves with his life.
as he struggles with his breath, he tried to open his mouth to say something but sara already reached her limit, slamming her head down onto his shoulder. he stops abruptly, before smiling again when he hears small snores coming out from her.
he slowly put her head down on the mattress, feeling hopeless as he can't even get her to sleep properly. muttering sorry, he spreads out his blanket on her body, the very least than he can do.
he fixed his head on his bed before finally laying down comfortably. his eyes never leaving her figure as she sleeps soundly, with her head on the side of the bed. he sighs, somewhat feeling rush of mixed emotions when his eyelids starts to feel heavy.
he takes one last look at her before closing his eyes, surrendering his tomorrows with uncertainty that he ever get to see another; but one thing for sure, at least he made sure he does not have any regret left in his heart.