Chapter 5: The Bucket List
Chae-won found him sitting up in bed, sunlight streaming through the blinds, casting faint shadows over his gaunt cheeks. He looked… different.
Not stronger. Not weaker.
Quieter.
As if the night had carved something into him that would never fully heal.
He held a notebook in his lap — aged, creased, and full of handwritten lines. She paused when he looked up at her.
"I thought about dying last night," Jonghyun said softly, without fear.
She didn't speak. She didn't have to.
"But then I thought… maybe I could still live."
He looked down at the notebook. "Not forever. Just enough."
He handed it to her, fingers trembling slightly.
She opened the cover. Inside, the first page was titled, in shaky black ink:
*"Things I Must Do Before the Curtain Falls – 100 Moments That Matter."*
Her breath caught.
She turned the pages slowly — her fingers brushing the raw edges of his heart, now bound in paper.
> 1. Sing without a mic, just once.
> 2. Eat instant noodles on a rainy rooftop.
> 3. Ride a bicycle at night with no destination.
> 4. Watch the stars from a place where no one recognizes me.
> 5. Write a lullaby and never release it.
> 6. Hear someone say, 'You made my life better.'
> 7. Hug a stranger who cries at my song.
> 8. Apologize to my mother without crying.
> 9. Kiss someone I trust at the top of the Eiffel tower
> 10. Watch the sunrise without wanting anything else.
> 11–100: *Still blank.*
She looked up, eyes glassy.
"Only ten?"
"Only ten I could admit out loud," he said, smiling faintly. "The rest… I thought maybe I'd figure them out if I had someone to do them with."
Her throat tightened.
"You want me to help?"she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
He nodded.
"You said you were due for a vacation."
A pause. Then: "Come with me, Doctor."
She looked at the notebook again. At the ten fragile dreams of a man whose days were numbered… but who still dared to hope.
And then she surprised herself — she smiled.
"Fine," she said. "But I get to write one too."
Jonghyun laughed softly — the first real laugh in days.
> Outside, the world moved on without them.
> Inside, time slowed — and for the first time since his diagnosis, Jonghyun wasn't dying.
>
> He was finally beginning to live.
But as they smiled at each other, neither noticed the nurse outside the room…