Welcome to Gaia! ::

Prologue

This is the story of the past. It’s also a story of what might be. It’s a test of a girl’s strength and love. She learns that memories are very precious and are often taken for granted. But what happens when memories are the only thing that can possibly save the one she loves the most? Will they even be enough?

awww great fanfic so far <3
i hope yunho oppa is going to be alright.
he cant leave yuri!
thanks for sharing.
can't wait for next chapter : D

haha tiffany the nurse ;D <3
aww, hope yunho wakes up soon, yuri is waiting for you ^^
thanks for sharing! can't wait for next chapter ;D

Chapter 4

Yuri opened up to the first page in the notebook. She made sure she had a bottle of water with her so her throat wouldn’t dry out as she read to him. She would read him 1 “story” per day and prayed he woke up by the time she finished. Luckily there were quite a few entries inside so she wouldn’t have to worry about it for a good long while.

“Okay…chapter 1...the meeting.” she started.

~4 years ago~

Yuri was starting high school today. She was so nervous she almost took up her parents’ offer to walk her to school but she knew how bad that would look. She gulped as she looked at the huge building in front of her.

“Okay Yuri…you can do this. Hwaiting~!” she cheered to herself as she went up the steps. She looked at her class schedule and it didn’t seem so bad. She had mathematics, speech, PE, music, home economics, and a study hall period.

Her first class was speech and there wasn’t too much to do on the first day except talk about yourselves. Then the teacher would tell them what the class was about and by the time that was over, it was time for the next class. She looked at her map to make sure she was going the right way to her second class, home economics. She’d be learning cooking, sewing, and basically how to make things. When she got there, there were no individual desks, but tables for groups of 3. She sighed as she found 1 table with just 1 empty seat. The 2 girls looked friendly enough. They even offered to have Yuri sit with them.

“Umm…hi…I’m Kwon Yuri.” she said smiling at them. They turned and smiled back at her.

“Hello~ I’m Kim TaeYeon and this is Choi SooYoung~” she introduced. Yuri already felt much better. TaeYeon was so warm and sweet she just felt at ease.

“So~ you don’t have a lot of friends here, huh?” Soo young asked her, making Yuri smile sheepishly.

“Yeah…all my friends went to other schools…” she said softly. SooYoung was really good at reading people it seemed.

“Well now you have 2 new friends~” TaeYeon said proudly. “What’s your class schedule?” she asked smiling. Yuri handed it to her. She then smiled widley.

“What? What is it?” Yuri asked, unsure of the smile.

“You and me have music together next~” TaeYeon said beaming. Yuri felt even more better now. Soo young just pouted because she wouldn’t be able to join them.

“Why don’t you join us for lunch~?” Sooyoung offered smiling.

“Thanks~ I’d love to.”

Their first lesson was learning the basics of baking cookies. The next day’s class would be spent actually baking and eating them. This was SooYoung’s favorite part of the class: eating what you make. TaeYeon was just happy to learn how to bake and sew. Her mother was too busy to teach her so this class was perfect. Yuri didn’t care what the class was, she’d actually made friends. Once they were finished taking notes on the directions and the recipe, TaeYeon and Yuri were off to the music class. Yuri was trying to hold on to all of her papers but it wasn’t really working and she didn’t want to make TaeYeon help her because it just made her feel more stupid.

As she was trying to organize her stuff, she ran into someone, falling and her papers going everywhere. She felt so embarrassed. TaeYeon was already helping her. Yuri quickly bowed in apology and ran to the room, TaeYeon following close to her.

The person she’d run into was Jung Yunho. He noticed she’d dropped her notebook and picked it up, looking at it. He decided to hang on to it since he couldn’t find the girl who ran into him. Heck, he didn’t even get a good look at her face because she was going so fast. He couldn’t help but think it was pretty cute…and he hoped the girl was cute too. TaeYeon giggled slightly.

“You don’t know who that was huh?” she said smiling. Yuri shook her head, now trying to find her notebook.

“That was Jung Yunho…he’s only a second year, but he’s already a jjang at this school and I heard he’s an amazing dancer.” she explained. Yuri felt even more embarrassed as they entered the music room. “He’s also REALLY handsome~” she said beaming.

“Are you talking about my brother?” another girl asked. Yuri looked at her. She was very beautiful and looked like she belonged in some sort of celebrity school. Yuri nodded, a bit unsure.

“Hi Jessica-sshi~” TaeYeon said cordially, nodding her head to her. Jessica…an English name… Yuri thought nodding. “This is Yuri~” she introduced, bringing Yuri out of her little trance.

“Hi~ yeah…don’t worry about my brother’s reputation…in reality, he’s a huge dork.” she said smiling, making Yuri feel better. She was having the best first day so far.

“It’s nice to meet you Jessica-sshi~” she said smiling at her. The music teacher walked in and got everyone to sit down.

“Okay people…today I’m just gonna see where you are vocally. It’d be nice people would volunteer~” she said hopefully. TaeYeon’s hand went up smiling.

“The faster I go, the faster I get it over with.” she whispered chuckling as she went up to sing.

“Thank you~ now…sing any song you’d like.” she said, giving the floor to TaeYeon. Yuri smiled watching her. She started to sing I’m Your Girl by SES. Yuri was blown away by how good she was…no….how amazing she was. Everyone clapped loudly and she smiled shyly before scurrying back up to the seats.

“Why didn’t you say you were such a great singer~?” Yuri asked still in awe. TaeYeon just shrugged and scratched her head.

“Because I’m not that great…” Jessica and Yuri were both super shocked by that answer. They kept tryign to convince her she was amazing as other students went. Some were good, some were not so good. Jessica decided to go towards the middle of the class. She smiled as she started singing Because I Am a Girl by KISS. Yuri was just as blown away. She and TaeYeon clapped loudly as Jessica sat back down.

“Jessica~ That was amazing~!” Yuri exclaimed a bit loudly, making everyone nod in agreement. The teacher smiled at her as she beckoned her to sing now. Yuri gulped as she went down for her turn. She knew she wasn’t that great of a singer. She sang Dreams Come True by SES rather painlessly and she got a polite amount of applauses. She was red in the face as she sat down.

“That was so not bad~” Jessica reassured. The bell rang as they got through everyone. Yuri told the 2 girls her last class before lunch was PE. Jessica smiled because they would have that class together. Taeyeon pouted cutely as she get off to a different class. Yuri was putting her things away and she noticed one of her notebooks was missing. She gasped as she kept looking for it.

“Oh my god, where is it, where is it?” she asked in a panic. Jessica tilted her head at Yuri.

“What’re you looking for?” she asked, wondering what was wrong.

“I can’t find the my notebook!” she said flustered as she went through her bag again.

“Where did you last have it?”

“When I came out of class with TaeYeon…I ran into that guy!” she said remembering. “Oh! It was your brother!” she said remembering.

“He probably picked it up and has it…I can get it back for you by lunch time~” she said smiling. Yuri smiled gratefully to her.
“Thank you so much!” she said, hugging her suddenly. Jessica was really surprised by this. They had only met about an hour ago. She tentatively hugged her back.

“Umm…Yuri? We have to get back to class…” Jessica said softly. Yuri laughed sheepishly as they quickly went to PE and changed their clothes. They were stretching until a guy came over to them. Yuri blinked at him. Man he’s tall…and…really hot! Where has he been my whole life?

“Yuri~ this is my brother Yunho~” she introduced so Yuri could stop staring and almost drooling. “Oppa…I think you have her notebook. She said she ran into you.”

“Ah! Yes…she did. I have it in my locker. You can get it at lunch, okay?” he said nicely. Yuri nodded smiling shyly at him. She bowed in greeting to him and he just smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you Yunho-sshi…” she said softly. He saw his friends wave him over so he gave his sister a quick hug before running over there.

“Conveniently my brother has PE the same period ^^” Jessica said smiling. Yuri smiled back. She continued to watch him throughout the whole class. The older group was playing basketball. Yunho looked like some kind of god on the court. He was so graceful and swift and strong. Jessica noticed her gawking and giggled and that snapped Yuri out of her trance.

“What’s so funny, Jessica?” she asked pouting. They were playing Badminton and the 2 of them were just hitting the birdie back and forth.

“You’ve been staring at my brother all class…” she said chuckling. Yuri blushed.

“I’m sorry…he probably has a girlfriend and I look really stupid huh?” she said sighing. Jessica shook her head.

“Nope~ he’s single~” she reassured.

~Meanwhile~

Yunho was playing basketball with his friends and he couldn’t help but continue to glance over to his sister’s new friend. She was really pretty and the way she acted was just adorable. He just shhok his head. “Someone that cute can’t not have a boyfriend…” he mumbled chuckling. His friends noticed he was distracted and went to talk to him.

“Yunho~~~ what’s up with you today?” his friend Jaejoong asked.

“Ah…it’s nothing…just first day of school stuff, ya know?” he said chuckling. They just rolled their eyes. If he told them it was about a girl, they’d start to pry and it’d turn into a giant gossip thing. He was sure as hell looking forward to lunch today though.

After the PE class ended, the girls followed Yunho to his locker and he handed Yuri her notebook. She hugged it smiling widley. “Thank you so much Yunho-sunbaenim~” she said bowing. He found this too cute.

“Hey…instead of sunbae…call me oppa, okay?” he said smiling sweetly to her, making her feel like melting.

The rest of her day seemed to fly by as she went to the rest of her classes, mainly because she had something, well someone on her mind. She was on Cloud 9 even as she was leaving school for home. She started heading home and as she was exiting the grounds, she heard someone approach her. She turned and it was Yunho. She tried to hide her excitement in case he wasn’t really approaching her….but he was.

“Hey Yuri~” he said smiling. She looked for Jessica.

“Hi~ where’s Jessica?” she asked curiously.

“She had to go to a friend’s house to do a group thing.” he said shrugging. “Are you walking home alone?” he asked arching an eyebrow. She nodded.

“Yeah…why?”

“That won’t do. I’m walking you home.” he said nodding like his word was law. She was in shock to say the least.

“Wait! Do you even live in my direction?” she asked scratching her head, not that she was complaining. The little voice in her head was telling her to shut up and enjoy his company.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not safe for a girl to walk home alone.” he said seriously. She blushed slightly.

“O-o-okay…” she said softly, walking with him. She didn’t live too far from school so that wasn’t too bad. There was a slight silence between them and it was rather awkward. Yuri decided to break the silence. “So~ I noticed you were good at basketball~” she said brightly. He smiled.

“Thanks…it’s my favorite sport, next to dancing.” he said smiling. Yuri beamed.

“You like to dance? Me too!” she exclaimed but then calmed down. She had a tendency to get overexcited about things. He just laughed.

“I’ll have to see it sometime.” he said softly. She blushed and nodded. They reached her home and she smiled to him.

“Well this is my stop~” she said smiling brightly. “Thank you for the walk home.” she said bowing slightly.

“Get used to it. This is going to be an everyday thing.” he reassured. She blushed again. “I don’t feel right you walking home by yourself.” he said nodding.

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m positive~ and soon, I’m gonna be getting a motorcycle, so it won’t take long at all.” he said smiling. He waved as he headed back towards the school so he could go home. Yuri’s heart seemed to flutter as she walked inside and laid on her bed.

~back to present day~

Yuri looked up from her notebook. She smiled at Yunho as she closed her book and took the last sips of water from the water bottle she brought. She texted Jessica to come get her at the hospital and she packed her things.

“See oppa? This is how it’s gonna be until you wake up…tomorrow is the next chapter~” she said as she left a kiss to her hand and put it to his lips before heading out of the hospital to wait for Jessica.

Chapter 5

As Yuri was waiting for Jessica to come get her, the wind started to pick up. She rubbed her arms and debated going back inside but she knew if she did she wouldn’t be able to see Jessica pull up. As she was inwardly debating, she all of a sudden felt a warmth over her. She looked up and saw a handsome boy smiling at her. She looked around and held the coat. She walked over to him and blinked.

“Excuse me…is this yours?” she asked the smiling boy.

“Oh yeah…but you need it more than I do.” he said smiling sweetly. She smiled back.

“Thank you…but I don’t know when I’ll see you again so I should give it back to you.”

“Give it back to me when your ride gets here.” he suggested. She smiled.

“Oh~ okay~ Thanks so much again.” she said sincerely. He smiled at her back.

“I’m Kyujong by the way.” he said extending his hand.

“I’m Yuri.” she said, shaking his hand.

“So what are you in for?” he asked, pointing back to the hospital.

“Oh…I’m just visiting…you?”

“Oh…same.” he said softly. She nodded.

“This is a really warm jacket. You must be a really warm person.” she said sweetly. He blushed slightly.

“Thanks but it’s just a good jacket.” he said chuckling. Yuri chuckled before seeing Jessica’s car pull up. She handed the jacket back to him.

“Is your ride coming?” she asked, looking around.

“Yeah…they’re on their way.” he said smiling. She smiled sweetly, waving to him before getting in the car. Jessica tilted her head, ready to ask questions. Kyujong just smiled watching her go, thinking he just saw an angel. As he watched her leave, a nurse came outside.

“Kyujong! What are you doing out of bed?! Get back inside. Your session of chemotherapy is starting up in 5 minutes.” she said sternly. The truth was, Kyujong was a patient at this hospital for cancer. They were trying to help him fight. He hated being in the hospital so he constantly went outside. He’d seen Yuri before but he’d never seen her smile before. He thought she was breathtaking and now maybe being in the hospital would more worthwhile. The nurse was blathering on about how he was out of his hospital clothes and started to guide him inside more.

“Okay, okay…let’s go.” he said softly as he went inside for his treatment.

Kyuhyun was only 18 years old and he had to fight for his life already. He’d been diagnosed with leukemia about 6 months ago and so far, the treatment had not been successful so they were starting now with the chemotherapy. He trudged inside to get ready for that painful time for medication.

~Meanwhile~

Jessica wanted to tell Yuri about her time with Changmin but now she wanted to know about the guy she’d seen Yuri with outside the hospital. She was a lot more curious now but she was also a bit concerned, mainly for her brother.

“So what was that about?” she asked arching her eyebrow.

“Oh~ I just met him. I was cold so he let me wear his jacket.” she said simply.

“Cheating on my brother?”

“What?”

“That guy you were with…” she said implying that they looked a bit more than friendly.

“Oh my gosh Sica…no way. I love Yunho oppa and I’m going to stay by his side until he wakes up and we can be together again.” she said determined. Jessica just smiled.

“So are you gonna ask how my day went?” she asked smiling. It was always conversations like this that meant they were no longer arguing or talking about something that wasn’t really a pleasant topic.

“Oh of course. So how was the ice cream date~?” Yuri asked excitedly.

“He is so cute and sweet~~~” Jessica squealed, making Yuri laugh.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“We got to learn about each other. He wants to be a doctor like his dad because he wants to save lives. He wants to work in the emergency room in particular. I told him about what I like and about how you were my best friend and the relationship you and my brother have…normal conversation. Oh my gosh he was such a gentleman too!” she gushed.

“I’m so happy for you Sica~~~ what did he do that was gentlemanly?”

“He opened the doors for me, paid for my ice cream, and he pulled my seat out for me. You don’t meet guys like this anymore.” Yuri nodded.

“It’s true…Yunho oppa doesn’t even do stuff like that. I say you snag him while you have the chance.” Yuri said laughing. Jessica laughed with her.

“Oh…Soo Young called me today. She’s invited us to her radio show so we could watch on Saturday.” she said smiling.

“Ooooo sounds fun~ a radio show~ and we’ll get to see her at work.” she said excitedly. Jessica nodded.

“All of us were invited so Shiwon, Yoona, and TaeYeon will be there too. They’re gonna meet us there about 10 minutes before it starts.” she said nodding.

Jessica dropped Yuri off at her house and waved her off as Yuri went inside. She was pretty tired. Having to go to the hospital everyday was actually rather tiring. She went up to her room and clutched her pillow to her. Yunho didn’t seem like he was going to wake up soon, but she wouldn’t let herself lose hope. She was knocked out of her thoughts when her phone went off. She saw it was Taeyeon. She smiled as she picked up.

“Hey Taeyeon~”

“Hi Yuri…I’m really sorry I haven’t had a chance to visit Yunho oppa yet…is he mad at me?” she asked obviously worried. Yuri just chuckled.

“He’ll let it slide since summer is busy time…but you better come visit him soon before he does get mad~” she teased.

“Yuri…I can tell when you’re being funny just to cover for how you’re feeling. Whenever anything is really hard or tiring…I say this. I CAN DO IT~! If you can, go to a bridge or somewhere that has wide open space.” she said encouragingly.

“I’ll remember that. How can you tell though?”

“Because I’m umma…I can just tell when one of my kids needs me.” she said wisely.

“Okay umma…your child is sleepy and tired.” she said yawning. Taeyeon just chuckled.

“Okay dear, get a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you Saturday at the radio show.” she said hanging up. Yuri smiled as she hung up and went to bed.

~The next day~

Yuri woke up as usual and got dressed and took the bus to the hospital. She made sure she had her special notebook and bottles of water and even a blanket. She never realized how cold hospitals got especially when she stayed for hours. She smiled to receptionists and nurses as she made her way to Yunho’s room. She pulled up her seat next to him and smiled when she saw a new ribbon around the vase of flowers. Tiffany seemed to find a bunch of new ways to make the room brighter.

“Hi oppa…I’ve come ready with a new chapter of our story. Are you ready?” she asked as she opened to the next chapter.

“Chapter 2...” she started.

~ 4 years ago~

Yuri was on cloud nine even the next morning as she got ready for school. She now had a handsome escort home from school everyday. She wore her hair down today in hopes Yunho would like it. She walked to school with a bit more of a skip in her step. Once she got to school and went inside, she noticed a lot of people flocking to one of the bulletin boards. She went to see what was going on and she heard a bunch of stuff about a school play. Yuri had always wanted to try her hand at acting and why not try out for the school play?

Once the crowd had somewhat dissipated, she went to sign up. As she reached for the pen, another hand came and took it. She looked and saw it was this gorgeous girl with huge eyes. She reminded Yuri of a deer. She noticed Yuri was trying to get the pen and put it back.

“I’m sorry…I was in a rush and I wasn’t thinking.” she said smiling sheepishly but it still looked really pretty.
“It’s okay.” Yuri replied smiling. “Go ahead and sign up first~” she insisted.

“I’m Yoona.” she said extending her hand.

“I’m Yuri, nice to meet you.” she said shaking her hand.

While the 2 of them were introducing themselves, another person came to sign up. He was really tall and by far the most handsome man Yuri had seen. But he was a bit too handsome for her. She preferred Yunho because she at least didn’t feel inferior in looks. He smiled politely to them. He had dimples and perfect teeth too. Was there any flaws to this guy? Yuri looked at him trying to find one but she couldn’t. Yoona smiled nervously around him until he had to go to class.

“Who was that?” Yuri asked, hoping Yoona knew.

“Oh…that’s Choi Shiwon…” she said dreamily. Yuri couldn’t help but giggle.

“You like him?” she said, imagining it. Yoona was beyond gorgeous and Shiwon was too. They’d look so cute together. She just blushed.

“We’ve known each other for years…he’d never think of me that way.” she said shrugging. It was obvious she was trying not to like him. Yuri signed her name before she forgot. Yoona did the same.

“Well I hope we both make it in the play~ Yuri and Yoona-sshi hwaiting~” Yuri said encouragingly. Yoona nodded as she went to class. Yuri seemed to be making friends left and right.

Her classes went on without any excitement. She got to know her new friends better and she was happy with who she’d met since she got to this school. Her friends were all really sweet and fun to be around. She found out Soo Young was going to audition as well and Tae Yeon just shook her head.

“The best of luck to both of you…me and acting are a big no no…I don’t do well with memorizing lines and stuff.” she said laughing.

“That’s okay~ you make up for it with your beautiful singing voice~” Yuri reassured because well…it was true. Soo Young nodded in agreement.

“And if I don’t make it into the play, I’m gonna try to be the school’s DJ for like announcements and stuff. I’ve always wanted to be a DJ.” she said excitedly. Yuri smiled. It was time for choir and Yuri and Tae Yeon waved goodbye to Soo Young. They met up with Jessica and they sat together of course.

“So Jessica, are you going to audition?” Yuri asked smiling. Jessica shook her head.

“No…because the rehearsals go into the night which means I’ll get less sleep. I don’t sacrifice my sleep for anything.” she said as-a-matter-of-factly. Yuri and Tae Yeon couldn’t help but laugh. Choir was fun as always and before they knew it, Jessica and Yuri had to go to PE class. They changed and got outside to stretch.

“So…are you okay with your brother walking me home from school?” Yuri asked in case Jessica had to walk home alone or something. She nodded.

“It’s fine~ I usually spend an hour here after school to get my work done so I can sleep as soon as I get home or I go to a friend’s house.” she said smiling. Yuri nodded. She saw Yunho and waved at him, smiling goofily. Jessica just rolled her eyes.

“What? Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Stop being so goofy~” she said chuckling. Yuri tried to stop smiling so much as Yunho came over.

“Hey ladies~” he said smiling widely.

“Hi~” they both said together.

“Oh Yunho-ssh- I mean…Yunho oppa…you don’t need to walk me home tomorrow. I’m staying after school for the school play auditions.” Yuri said smiling.

“Oh you’re trying out? Cool. I’ll go watch you so when you get done, I can walk you home~” Yuri blushed in embarrassment.

“You don’t have to…really.” she said, hoping he’d change his mind. Before he could answer his teacher called him over to resume the class. He ran back before he could get in trouble.

The whole rest of the day Yuri prayed Yunho would decide to go home instead of watch the auditions. Sure enough, Yunho was at the gate waiting for her. He smiled his gorgeous smile at her and she felt giddy all over again. She picked up the pace to meet up with him. They then started for her house.

“The audition’s in the theatre, right?” he asked smiling. She pouted since he remembered and still wanted to go.

“Yes…” she said sighing. He arched his eyebrow.

“Something wrong?”

“Well…I feel like I’m being a burden to you…” she said softly. It wasn’t a lie but it was mainly because she didn’t want to watch her because she’d get nervous.

“Nonsense~ I think it’s super cool you wanna audition and now I have an excuse to check those out.” he said smiling. She smiled for him as they reached her house. He smiled as he headed for his house. She cursed herself as she went to find a monologue to perform.

~the next day~

It was the day of the audition. The day seemed to go by in a blur as she kept rehearsing her monologue whenever she could. TaeYeon and Jessica helped by having her read to them. Sooyoung would have helped too but she was working on her own. Soon enough, they had to go to the theatre to wait for their turn. The director was there and he smiled at everyone.

“Welcome all of you who wish to audition. The play we will be performing is called “The Importance of Being Earnest”. He said smiling. “It seems we do not have a lot of people auditioning so the cast list will be posted at the end of the day, so if you’d like to wait about an hour afterwards, you will be able to find out if you are cast.” he announced. Yuri saw Yoona in another row and they smiled to each other.

The audition process was nervewracking, especially since she went after Yoona. Yoona was so confident and looked as if she’d done this 100 times or more. Shiwon was obviously made for this type of thing. His audition was flawless. Soo Young’s audition was very funny. She chose a monolgue that was obviously comedic and a bit over the top but it suited her and she was very funny. Yuri somewhat fumbled through her monologue but overall it was really good, but she felt like she failed miserably. She slumped back in her seat and Yunho smiled at her.

“What? Are you gonna laugh at me?” she asked pouting. He smiled.

“You were really good. Why would I laugh?” he said seriously. She couldn’t help but feel a little better. Yuri decided to stay and seal her fate that day instead of wracking her brain over it the next day. It seemed everyone did too. The director smiled as he stood up after that grueling hour.

“We have the cast list. I will read it off. As our leading men: Choi Shiwon as Jack Worthing, Kim Heechul as Algernon, and Cho Kyuhyun as Reverend Dr. Chausible. Our leading ladies are Im Yoona as Gwendolen Fairfax, Kwon Yuri as Cecily, Choi Sooyoung as Lady Bracknell, and Seo Juhyun as Miss Prism. Congratulations to those of you who got roles and for those of that did not, better luck next time. There will be other shows.” he reassured.

Yuri couldn’t believe her ears. She got a part…a lead too. She caught up to the director to question him about it. She wasn’t sure if this was some joke. Yunho couldn’t help but laugh as he followed her.

“Excuse me…but why did you cast me? I felt like I didn’t do that good of a job…”

“You had an innocence and maturity about you that was perfect for the role and you brought that to your monologue.” he said simply. Yuri was so excited she just jumped and hugged Yunho tightly. The director took that as his cue to leave. Yunho was shocked of course but he hugged her back.

“See? I told you, you did great.” he said smiling. She felt really good in his arms. She realized they’d been hugging for a while and she reluctantly pulled away from his warm, strong hug.

“I’m just really self conscious.” she said as they started back for her house. The whole way they talked about the play and auditions and how them going home would work.

“I’ll just pick you up from rehearsals. There’s no way I’m letting you walk home after dark.”

“Okay appa.” she teased. He scowled like a dad and they laughed as they reached her house.

“Thanks for being there for me…the support meant a lot to me.” she said sincerely and smiling to him.

“Of course…I’ll see later Yuri.” he said as he started for his own home.

~back to present day~

Yuri took a swig from her water bottle. “Wuah…that was a long chapter, huh oppa?” she said chuckling. “The next chapter should be a fun one, so be ready to hear a really good one~” she said as she got her things together. As she was getting ready to leave, someone came in. It was Tiffany and…a guy.

“Hi Yureee.” she said with an American accent. “This is my boyfriend Hyunjoong~ I wanted to check up on my best patient before we hit another room.” she said with her cute eye smile. Yuri looked at her boyfriend and he was very handsome indeed. Tiffany fixed the flowers a bit.

“So…who’re you visitng?” Yuri asked, tilting her head.

“Oh one of my best friends…he’s a cancer patient.” Hyunjoong replied sadly. Tiffany returned to his side and took his hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

“I have to get going, but I hope your friend is okay.” Yuri said as she went to meet Jessica.

“Come on…Kyujong’s probably really tired from treatment, we’d better hurry.” Tiffany said softly as they started for their friend’s room.

Chapter 7

Yuri approached Kyujong with a smile as well as curiosity bouncing in her eyes as she noticed the IV and pajamas. That soon turned to worry as she looked at him.
“Kyujong-sshi…what happened? Why do you need an IV?” she asked worriedly.

“Oh this? It’s no big deal…I’m big on working out and I pushed myself too hard. I sort of collapsed from dehydration.” he said smiling sheepishly.

“Oh…aigoo…you need to be more careful~! Now go back and get some rest, okay?” she said sternly. He just smiled nodded.

“Okay I will…what are you doing here?”

“Oh I’m visiting again.” she said smiling a bit.

“Oh cool.” he said smiling. She smiled back at him before going to visit Yunho. She arrived in his room and went to his seat. Kyujong had actually followed her and looked into the room. He was curious when he saw Yunho lying there and wondered who he was to her.

“Oppa…guess what? I got to meet Big Bang today~ they are so nice and you wouldn’t guess they were celebrities…and they gave us their autographs and we took pictures with them and everything~” she said excitedly. “I had so much fun today…I wish you could’ve been there…you would have been able to have a dance battle with TaeYang-sshi.” she said smiling at him.

She felt herself tear up again and she wiped them away. Kyujong was trying to get a better view but he really couldn’t. He was wondering who he was to her….was a brother, a cousin, a friend, or even…a boyfriend. He hoped it wasn’t the last option…because that means he wouldn’t be allowed to really like her…or there’d be no point. He decided to leave her to her business and went back to his room. Yuri smiled down again at her boyfriend’s form.

“I’ll be back with a chapter for you tomorrow oppa, I promise.” she said, remembering she didn’t bring her notebook with her.

Yuri had called her mom and she was picked up to go home. Once she got home, she immediately went to put her pictures on her computer and keep her autographs safe. Of course, she raved to her mom about getting to hang out with Big Bang and her mom was also glad to see her so happy again. With Yuri being so melancholy lately, it hurt her that she couldn’t do anything to help her daughter especially when she was her mother. Yuri soon snuggled under her covers and yawned away to a peaceful sleep. Yuri’s mother looked in on her as she slept and smiled softly. This was one of the better nights for Yuri, considering she’d been crying in her sleep lately. Tonight…no tears. Yuri’s mom breathed a sigh of relief as she left the room.

~The next day~

Yuri woke bright and bubbly as she gathered her things for Yunho and herself at the hospital. She made sure to get her notebook. Her mom had gone to work so she took the bus to the hospital. Once she got there, she went straight to her boyfriend’s room, as always. Once she got there, Tiffany was replacing flowers again. She smiled as she approached her.
“Hi Tiffany-sshi~”

“Oh Yuri-sshi~ hello ^^” she said with her usual eye smile.

“While you’re here, I had a question.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll do what I can~”

“You visit a lot of rooms right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Do you know someone named Kim Kyujong? He’s visiting someone here but then he collapsed from exercise so he had to stay here.” she asked, making Tiffany slightly tense up.

“K-kluging? Kyujong…hmm…sorry, name doesn’t ring a bell~ I only help out with the critical care patients and coma patients…if he was only here for one night, then he’d be in another part of the hospital~” she lied, with her usual smile and nod. Yuri nodded, believing her.

“Oh…okay~ thanks anyway.” she said softly. Tiffany nodded.

“Well I need to make my rounds, so I’ll see you around Yuree~” she said before skipping off to the other rooms.

Yuri sat down at her usual spot next to the bed and opened up her notebook. She turned to the proper page and smiled. She then got out her bottle of water and took a sip before she started to read.

“Okay…chapter 3.…”

~4 years ago~

It had been months now since Yunho and Yuri started to hang out I guess you could say. Like clockwork, he would be back at school after play rehearsals to pick her up. In that time, their feelings for each other only grew. There were kissing scenes in the play that Yuri had to do, but she felt nothing for Heechul, who played her romantic interest. She thought of Yunho the whole time, hoping that one day she could kiss him. Yunho was not aware of the kissing scenes and he decided to watching part of her dress rehearsal. He snuck into the back of the theatre and watched her dress rehearsal. She looked so cute to him. Then…it happened. He watched her kiss Kim Heechul on stage. Once he saw that, he walked out of the theater, huffing.

“They kiss? When was she gonna tell me this?” he kept asking himself as he paced around. He didn’t realize he was pacing so much until Yuri came out where they usually met up.

“Hi oppa~ were you waiting long?” she asked smiling.

“Huh? No…let’s go.” he said quickly. She pouted a bit to herself as he didn’t even smile or anything.

“Oh oppa~ I’m gonna get you and Jessica tickets…that’s enough right? Or do your parents want to come too?” she asked so she knew how many tickets to get aside the ones for her parents.

“Oh…sorry Yuri but…I can’t go to your play.” he said not looking at her.

“What? Why not?” she asked, now frowning.

“Because…because I read the play and I just don’t like it.” he lied. He had no idea what the play was actually about…he only knew what he saw in the dress rehearsal.

“But…you told me you’d come support me. Couldn’t you just come for me? It’s gonna be a free ticket.” she said hopefully.

“Sorry Yuri…maybe next time.” he said still not looking at her.

“Well maybe there won’t be a next time. I can’t believe how selfish you’re being. Just stop, I’m walking home by myself from now on.” she said, brushing past him quickly to go home. She had hid the fact that tears were starting to form in her eyes and Yunho could see her wiping at them and he felt horrible.

He turned around and walked home. Once he got home, Jessica was in her room reading a book on the bed. She looked up at him curiously considering she knew what time he’d be home these days.

“Oppa, you’re home earlier than usual. Did Yuri get out of rehearsal early? Oh and she only needs to get a ticket for you and me…umma and appa are busy that night.” she said letting him know.

“I’m not going.”

“What? Why?”

“Because…” was all he said to her. She merely gave him her well known icy stare. “Yah…stop that…Ice princess…stop it~~~” he whined, trying not to get shivers from it.

“Then tell me why you’re gonna hurt her so bad. I mean you like her a lot…this would win major points with her.” she said chuckling. Yes, she knew they liked each other but she wouldn’t dare say anything without their permission.

“But she’s kissing a guy in the play~” he finally confessed.

“So you’re jealous of a stage kiss?!” she asked shocked. He nodded shyly.

“So you’re gonna drive her away over a fake kiss?”

“Stop making me feel worse…I already made her cry…”

“YOU MADE HER CRY?! OPPA HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID, YOU INSENSITIVE JERK?!” she yelled, grabbing her pillow and hitting him repeatedly. Over these months, Jessica and Yuri had become as close as sisters so they always had each others’ backs.

“Ow! Stop it! I didn’t mean to! Stop hitting me!” he yelled, trying to cover his head.

“No! I won’t stop!” she said even kicking at him to get him off her bed.

“Yah! You’re my sister…you’re supposed to be on my side~!”

“Not when it’s something stupid on your side. Word of the wise oppa…if you know what’s best, you’ll go to the show next week.” she said before officially kicking him out so she could sleep.

Over the next week, Yuri and SooYoung had been very busy with final dress rehearsals as well as school. Sooyoung had started eating even more than usual, which was a lot but you’d never know it with how skinny she was. They went to pick up the tickets for their family members and Yuri snuck in a ticket for Yunho anyway, just in case he decided to show up. She left it at the box office for reserve in case he came that night. She gave Jessica and her parents the tickets and soon enough, it was time to perform. Yuri had to go early to get dressed and get her makeup on.

Jessica was going to go with Yuri’s parents so they could sit together. She went to tell Yunho she was leaving and he was already gone. She was confused because she didn’t know where he could be. She left the house and went to Yuri’s house. They had all gotten her flowers for her debut performance. They came early enough and got great seats in the middle about the 3rd row. Jessica saw Taeyeon near them and she moved to sit with them. Yuri took a deep breath as the curtain went up.

When her first scene came on, she concentrated on doing a good job, but when he looked to the audience, all other thoughts went away when she looked and Jung Yunho was sitting in the front row with a teddy bear and a bouquet of roses for her. The other people on stage signaled her for her line and she resumed with her performance. When the play ended, they all got standing ovations. They got out of costume and they all hugged and took pictures before going to meet with their families and friends. Yuri ran to her parents and Jessica.

“Wuah~ you guys~~~~ you didn’t have to get me flowers~!” she exclaimed smelling them.

“Of course we did~ sorry mine‘s not huge…not a lot of money…” Jessica said, handing her a small bunch.

“Just the fact you came and bought these for me means the world to me, Sica~” she said hugging her. Taeyeon hugged her as well. Instead of flowers, Taeyeon handed her a small cellophane wrapped package of cookies.

“I didn’t have money for flowers, so I made cookies shaped like stars because tonight you were a star~” she said brightly.

“Thank you Taeyeon~~~ these look so yummy~!!!” she said eat one right then and there.

“I have to go give Sooyoung her cookies too so I’ll see you guys later~” she said waving before running over to Sooyoung.

“We’ll see you at home, okay Yuri?” her mother said smiling proudly at her as she and Yuri’s father left. Jessica could see Yunho behind Yuri and smiled.

“Um, I need to go to the bathroom, so I’ll be right back~” she said as she skipped the bathroom. Yuri stood around that area waiting for her best friend to come out.

“Ahem…” When Yuri looked up, she saw Yunho again. She couldn’t hide her smile.

“Oppa…I thought…you said you didn’t wanna come.”

“I couldn’t do that to you…this play meant a lot to you and you worked so hard. You id amazing Yuri…congratulations.” he said as he gave her the bouquet of white roses and a teddy bear.

“Thank you so much oppa…this means so much to me.” she said sincerely, feeling herself tear up in happiness.

“I know it did, which is why I came.” he said he leaned over to wipe her tears away. Conveniently, that’s when Jessica came back from the bathroom.

“Wuah~ oppa~ you came~” she said “surprised”.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…let’s go…I’ll buy you guys ice cream.” Yunho said chuckling. Yuri and Jessica cheered as they left the school.

~back to present day~

Yuri closed the notebook and smiled. The night of the play was still so vivid in her mind. She took a sip from her water bottle before putting her things away. When she reached in her bag, she pulled out a teddy bear. It was the bear Yunho had given her that night.

“Oppa…look…it’s the bear you gave me.” she said as she set it down on the bedside table next to the flowers in the vase.

“I want you to hold on to it for a while.” she said softly before leaving a note saying not to touch the bear. She left her usual kiss to Yunho’s lips before leaving his room to go home.

Chapter 9

It was the next day and Yuri was headed back in to the hospital to read the rest of the chapter and a new one as well. She was very happy with how things were progressing, despite Yunho not waking up.

Kyujong had been in the bathroom in his room for the past few hours. He was already losing his hair so now chunks of it were missing. He finally bravely put on a beanie and so it looked pretty normal and for a while he could wear a baseball cap as well. He also put on some other clothes aside from his hospital attire. He wandered about the hospital again and saw Yuri. He froze. She saw him and waved as she walked over.

“Hi Kyujong-sshi~” she said brightly as she approached him.

“Hi Yuri-sshi.” he said softly, smiling back.

“What’s with the beanie?”

“Oh…bad hair day…” he said chuckling a bit.

“Kyujong-sshi…are you okay? You look like you’ve lost a lot of weight and you look really tired…” she said going to feel his forehead to see if he had a fever or something. He felt himself blush as he felt her hand on him.

“I’m fine Yuri-sshi…I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.” he said softly. It wasn’t a total lie because he hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep, but he’d never tell her why. It was because of the medication, not because of something else.

“Okay…but if you need anything let me know…” she said sincerely.
“I will. Thank you…” he said as she went to Yunho’s room.

“Hi oppa~ sorry for leaving you in suspense~~~” she said giggling before grabbing her notebook.

~back to the story~

Yuri got up immediately once she realized they had actually kissed. She was blushing like mad and tried to stop it as she didn’t look at Yunho. He was surprised as well before getting up as well. He dusted himself of, trying to play it cool.

“Um…wanna…go home?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even. She nodded.

“Y-y-yeah…I think that’d be best.” she said softly, trying not to look at him.

The ride home was a little awkward because neither of them were talking so it seemed to take forever to get to Yuri’s house. Once they got there, Yuri was in a bit of a rush to get out. Yunho grabbed her hand. She was still blushing like mad.

“Yuri…umm…about that kiss…”

“Oh I’m really sorry oppa, I didn’t mean to-” she started but was cut off when he leaned in and kissed for real this time. She closed her eyes and allowed him to kiss her. After what felt like a blissful eternity, he pulled away and she got out of the car in a daze. She was officially the happiest she’d ever been in her life.

~back to present day~

Yuri took her water bottle and took a sip. She also flipped to the next page of her notebook after doing a slight stretch. She smiled, thinking back to that night and she sighed happily thinking back to that real first kiss between them. She took a deep breath as she started to read the next chapter.

“Okay…chapter 5.”

~back to the story~

Yuri had just gotten home from church with her parents and she was still on Cloud 9...no she was beyond Cloud 9. She was on Cloud 10. Her parents took notice as she floated up in her room. She was barely thinking about her weekend load of homework as she started on it. She sighed as she decided to fully get to work on it. She put her hair into comfortable pig tails and got changed into some comfortable clothes for the house.

It must have been about midnight when she finally got done with her homework. She knew school would be hell for her since she’d be so sleepy. She begrudgingly let school be her final thoughts before going to sleep.

She woke up tiredly and trudged out of bed and got ready robotically. If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew her morning routine by heart, she probably would have been late to school. When she got to school, her friends took notice and they were worried about her.

“Yuri…what time did you go to sleep?” Taeyeon asked reproachfully.

“Like 12 or 1 this morning…” she grumbled.

“Why did you go to bed so late? You knew we had school today.”

“I sort of didn’t get started on my homework until like late…” she said guiltily.

“Why didn’t you do it before your date that you didn’t tell me about, thank you very much~” she said obviously pouting.

“I’m sorry~~~ I’ll tell you about it right now if you promise to not be mad at me anymore~” she said hopefully.

“Mmm….okay~” she said easily forgiving the other. Yuri went on and on about her date with Yunho, especially about the kiss. It still made her blush thinking about it.

“I really hope we go out again soon~” Yuri gushed.

“Awww sounds so awesome~~~ oh Yuri~ I got into my church choir ^^ I passed my audition~” she said happily. Yuri hugged her.

“Yay Taeyeon~~~~ see? You’re awesome~ why did you think you wouldn’t be able to get into the choir?”

“I don’t know…I mean I’m not that great.”

“LIES!” she exclaimed, making everyone look at her. Yuri smiled sheepishly as she sunk down into her seat.

Luckily the rest of her classes went by uneventfully. It gave her time to think about Yunho some more. Her heart was truly all a flutter, and her friends took notice of it. She was in a drama class with Shiwon and Yoona and all she could think about was her date. They laughed at her as she was called on to do her monologue, and she accidentally inserted Yunho’s name in it.

Luckily, Yunho was going through the same thing. His friends were rolling their eyes around him because they’d never seen him like this before. He was smiling all goofily and he couldn’t seem to be concentrating like he usually did. Like when they were playing basketball, the ball was thrown to him and he wasn’t paying attention so he managed to get hit in the head with the ball.

Luckily for both of them, the day was finally over. They smiled to each other as they met up as usual at the front of the school, though this time, they were a bit more shy around each other than usual. As good as it was that they kissed, it made things a little awkward for them, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. As they walked together, he shyly reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers. Yuri felt butterflies in her stomach as they held hands. Did this mean they were a couple? Or was she jumping the gun? Maybe she should wait until it’s official.

He walked her home as usual and smiled at her as he squeezed her hand. He reluctantly let go of her hand as they stopped in front of her house. He then shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t be fidgety.

“Well…I’ll see you tomorrow…” he said nodding. She nodded as well as she started inside the house.

She rubbed over her hand that was held as she walked up into her room. It could not have been more than 10 minutes before she heard a knock at the door. She went to answer it as she was in her comfortable clothes. When she opened the door it was Yunho. She gasped as she wasn’t dressed in a cute outfit and she had no makeup on. She immediately hid her body behind the door.

“Oppa? What’s up? What are you doing here?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice that she didn’t look her best. He noticed she was hiding herself and he tilted his head.

“Were you just in the shower? Or were you changing clothes or something?” he asked pointing to her hidden body.

“Oh…no…but it’s my comfy PJs and they look silly. So what did you need?” she admitted shyly. He just chuckled.

“Oh…I wanted to ask you something…”

“What’s up?” she asked, hoping it was another date.

“Will you…willyoubemygirlfriend?” he blurted out all in one breath. Yuri furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn’t catch any of that.

“What did you say? I couldn’t understand you…”

“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked looking at the floor and somewhat mumbling it. Yuri gasped softly.

“Yes oppa~ of course I will~” she exclaimed, jumping out of the way of the door to hug him.

He caught her smiling as he held her tightly. He slightly pulled away and kissed her again, like he did in the car, but it was a bit more sure of himself. There was nothing shy about it, yet it was still soft, sweet, and slow. He pulled away and kissed her forehead before having to leave.

“I’ll see you at school, okay?” he said as he left. She just nodded as she waved at him. Once he was out of sight, she floated up the stairs to giggle on her bed holding her stuffed animals.

~back to present day~

Yuri smiled more to herself as she closed the notebook. She held it close to her heart smiling. She gazed down at the body of her unconscious boyfriend. She caressed at his features. She missed how he’d light up for a smile and how he looked when he was serious. His expression was now blank, dead, hollow. She prayed that he would wake up so she could see that loving gaze again soon.

“Oppa…do you remember that day? How cute you were when you asked me out and when you asked me to be your girlfriend? I still can’t believe you did, but I couldn’t be happier. I love you oppa…and I always will. I will forever be by your side, waiting for you to wake up. And even when you do and if you don’t remember…I’ll read to you again until you do remember me. I love you too much to let you lose to this.” she said before getting up.

As she was leaving, she didn’t see Kyujong on the other side of the door. He had heard the whole thing. She was his girlfriend. He had no chance with her. He fought back a few tears because he didn’t have the drive to try and steal her away from her boyfriend. He would never make her unhappy like that…but she would never know how he felt about her. And he would never tell her his condition…ever. He would just let her assume that he left the hospital and won’t ever come back even when he checked out or…died. Unfortunately, that second option was still a big one for him. He walked slowly back to his room, letting a few tears fall before wiping them clean and keeping his head held high.