The first love illness

Jiho wished he could voice out the truth that you are actually his first love and that infatuation sprouted in his heart after the unfortunate accident fifteen years ago.

Jiho was the one struck by lightning but you were the one who fell into a coma. He felt guilty, since he pushed you out of the way to save you, he is partly responsible for your condition.

One evening, he snuck out of his hospital room and tiptoed to the ICU, which was a block above his own. He took the elevator and luckily for him, no nurses were on parole.

After peeking into three rooms, he finally reached yours and quietly slips in, slowly closing the door behind him.

There you were, tucked in and sleeping quietly.

He struts further into the room and inched closer to your bed. His big eyes fell on your angelic face.

She is pretty. He thought to himself as his heartbeat slowly increases.

"My name is Gong Jiho, I am the one who saved you or should I say I am the reason you are in a coma. I hope when you wake up you will be able to forgive me. I didn't push you intentionally. To wish you a quick recovery, I will give you a gift. When I was younger, my mo…"

He paused a moment, remembering the beautiful memories he shared with his mother and then in just one day, the woman he cherished more than anything didn't think twice before abandoning him in front of the Gong family mansion and left, didn't look back once and never returned ever since.

Jiho is just thirteen years old, carrying such a scar in his heart will affect him till death. Still, he tries to be optimistic, "My mother gave this to me. She said this is my lucky charm ring, it means a lot to me. It is the only thing of my mother that I have left, so I am putting all my faith in it, I hope it makes you better."

He slid the ring out of his finger and placed it into your warm palm and wrapped your fingers around it. He gave you a final look and quickly rushed out when he heard footsteps approaching.

Now that Jiho thinks of it, he didn't realize he had lost his sense of touch right away because when you were in a coma and he placed the ring in your hand, you felt warm.

Now it all makes sense. He snapped out of his thoughts, meeting your gaze, "Yoon Hana is not my first love and I don't intend to tell you who my first love is."

Disappointed, you gave an exaggerated sigh, "Seriously? What was the need for the suspense then?"

He chuckled, "Suspense is goo…" he was talking but abruptly stopped, left the door hanging as he sharply hopped out of the car and sprinted forward. He bends as if he was picking something and then he was suddenly rammed by a speeding car.

You gasp, eyes snapping open as you quickly get out of the car.

What the hell? Is Gong Jiho really crazy? Why would he run into the road like that?

At the blink of an eye, people gathered and made a circle around him. You squeezed yourself into the puzzled crowd and finally reached the center, Jiho is still on the ground and he is holding something tightly.

"Jiho?" You whispered his name, heart pounding in your throat.

Hearing your familiar voice made him look up and then he finally sits, and tucked in his arms is a small boy.

When everyone thought Jiho ran into a speeding car, he was actually trying to save the boy.

"Minho!!" A woman screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she falls to her knees, took the boy from Jiho's hands and embraced him tightly.

Jiho has a smile on his face watching the mother and son reunite.

The public applauded his courage and the woman thanked him severally before she left. You stood there and watched everything unfolding as if it were a movie. You later returned to the car and slammed the door. Why are you upset? Why is your heart racing? Why do you feel like crying?

Jiho returns into the car, "Sorry about that, I must have frightened you."

"Frightened me?" You barked, forcing him to sharply look at you. You ignore his baffled expression and continue, "You could have literally died right there and you are asking me if I was frightened? No, I wasn't. Instead, I was so happy that I felt like dancing."

She is being dramatic. The voice in his head notified, but Jiho understood that beneath that rage is a wave of overwhelming worrisome emotions. You must be deeply concerned about him.

He sighed, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that but that boy was almost hit by that car, I had to do something. And besides, even though I was hit by that car, I didn't feel anything, so I am fine."

"You are fine?" His reassuring approach backfired as it only triggers your rage, "Just because you don't feel anything, it doesn't make you a superhero. You are just a human who can die with or without experiencing any pain and besides, who says you are okay?"

Upon asking him, you grip his hand and he immediately winced as the pain instantly enveloped his body.

"It hurts." He exclaimed, "I guess I was hit pretty badly."

"You think?" You growled, jerking your hand away "How can you be so reckless? This is one of the reasons why your family believes that you are actually crazy because a sane man would never do anything like that."

"Maybe I am crazy then. The crazy billionaire." He joked, attempting to lighten the gloomy mood.

His joke vexes you, "Gong Jiho, for once can you think about yourself? You are a human too, you have people that appreciate and lov…"

Why am I overreacting?

You had to stop yourself from saying anything further. Jiho understood that much, your restraint meant a lot to him, "Sorry, I didn't think that deep."

You look outside the window, hiding your glazed eyes, "You need to see the doctor, to make sure you are completely alright. Who knows if you have broken a rib or something since you can't feel anything anyway."

"So hold me till I am sure I am completely fine" he said as he takes your hand in his. "Ungh!" He groaned softly, "I think I grazed my knees and uh… I must have fell pretty hard on my back as I rolled over because it feels like my waist is about to break in half, also… my head stings. I must have cut my forehead."

You watch him pitifully as he speaks about his physical pain with overflowing emotion.

You thought Jiho's condition was a gift but now that you are witnessing how life for him actually is, you sympathize and pity him.

And so, without thinking clearly, you lifted your hand and touched Jiho's cheek.

Taken aback by your sudden move, Jiho froze, watching you in shock.

You caress his cheek, "It must have been hard. I am sorry."

Your sudden apology left Jiho completely bereft of words. What is wrong with her? What is she apologizing for? Did she perhaps remember the accident? Does she know that I am the one who saved her that day?

So many thoughts flooded into Jiho's head as he tries to find the perfect words.

You sighed, taking your hand away from his face, "I wish… I wish you were my first love, Jiho."

He sharply raised his head, looking at you as you simultaneously faces him.

"Truth is, I don't know if you already know this but …actually, fifteen years ago, I was almost struck by lightning."

Jiho's face held no reaction which somehow reduced the nerves building around you.

You let out a bitter chuckle, "And, I am alive only because someone was brave enough to save me. Apparently, I was in a coma for days and when I woke up, I found something he left for me. I had cherished his gift all my life but when I showed it to him, he didn't even remember it. I was a bit disappointed because it held so much value to me so I figured it'd hold an even bigger value to him."

Sliding your finger under your dress, you pull out a necklace you had kept hidden. Jiho's gaze followed your movement and his eyes landed on something familiar.

My ring? His eyes widened. He sharply looks at you.

His reaction makes you chuckle, "Wow, if I didn't know any better I would have believed this was yours. But this is the exact reaction I expected from Gong Joon when I showed him I had kept this safe all my life."

Gong Joon? Why would she show this to my brother?

"You see, the brave boy who saved me was none other than Gong Joon, and that is why he became my first love." You confessed.

Jiho couldn't believe his ears. How is this possible? How can you even give credit for his hard work to someone else? He felt betrayed, stabbed with a sharp arrow in his chest. But most importantly, what makes you think Gong Joon is the one who saved you? He was curious but has no idea how to ask without sounding offended.

You continue, "I don't remember much from that day but I will never forget Joon's face. He was a cute little boy and though it happened quickly, I still remember how he looked. He was wearing a blue shirt with white pants." You paused a moment,

"I think, it was in that moment that I fell in love with him."