My smart girl 3. Rewriting our stars

Time flew by incredibly fast, but over the next two weeks leading up to my birthday, we never spoke about that again. Jay simply acted as if that conversation had never happened, and I didn’t want to bring it up anymore either. Hearing his constant refusals was quite disheartening. I suppose this was exactly how he felt every time I turned him down before. I could only smile bitterly now, amazed at how precisely and quickly karma had worked, swapping our roles. Injections, IV drips, pills, long cold nights in his warm embrace, and the relentless ticking of invisible clocks bringing me closer to death — all of it had merged into one endless cycle. The days had become indistinguishable from one another. If it weren’t for Jay and his constant presence and support, I would have broken down long ago. I didn’t often tell him this, but I really hoped he knew — that he could feel just how deeply I appreciated everything he was doing for me. He always acted solely in my best interest, even when those interests didn’t align with his own. “We can’t, baby. We can’t…” — his quiet, gentle, yet merciless words kept echoing in my head, shattering any hope that this principled handsome man would eventually give in and finally make me his. But… He became my first, just as I had wanted… just as he had once promised me long ago — what felt like an entire eternity ago. And he gave me the best gift possible by simply stealing me away from the hospital on the evening of my twentieth birthday. *** And so, the long-awaited day had arrived. Well, “long-awaited”… It would have come anyway, so I had simply resigned myself to the fact that I most likely wouldn’t receive the gift I truly wanted, and just went with the flow. In truth, I had no desire or energy to celebrate anything in my current condition, but after lunch, Lina and Tae still threw me a small party right in the ward, complete with balloons and a cake. Jay, of course, was the first to congratulate me. As usual, he had spent the entire night in my room, shamelessly neglecting his own duties. I only smiled sleepily in response to his soft kiss and his hoarse, tender whisper: “Happy Birthday, my love…” — murmured against my lips. I thought that would be it, or at most I’d get a bouquet of flowers and maybe a plush teddy bear. But when I returned to the ward after my morning shower, my jaw nearly hit the floor. It seemed like every horizontal surface in the room was covered with huge bouquets of roses in every color of the rainbow. And right in the middle of this floral chaos… or rather, this floral magnificence, stood the cheeky brunette, clearly enjoying the shock that was written all over my face. “Did you… rob every flower shop in Gangnam?” I croaked, looking around in bewilderment. Jay chuckled cheerfully and strolled over to me with a lazy gait, pulling me into his strong, reliable embrace. He kissed my lips and whispered: “Of course not, bunny. That’s what courier services are for.” I rolled my eyes, letting out a quiet snort, and gave him a reproachful look. “Why all this, you silly? You didn’t have to spend so much…” But he just smiled softly, shook his head, and pressed a finger to my lips, whispering tenderly: “Shh… These are just flowers, little one… But the most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful girl…” My heart trembled and clenched from the overwhelming tenderness I felt for this incredible guy, who never stopped surprising me every single day. He probably would have gotten the moon from the sky for me if I had asked. I hugged him tightly, pressing my whole body against him, rested my head on his chest, closed my eyes, and whispered with a smile: “Flatterer. And a complete madman, too.” He smiled and shook his head, lifting my chin and leaving another tender kiss on my lips, purring into them: “No flattery, baby. Only the pure truth. And as for my madness — you’re the only one to blame for that, so take responsibility.” Hearing that, I laughed quietly and shook my head. “Oh no, Jae. You were completely out of control long before we met, so don’t even think about pinning this on me.” Jay smirked and possessively gripped my waist with his warm hands. Then he carefully brushed the hair off my shoulder, kissed my neck, and whispered with a smile: “Alright, fine. But our love is our shared madness, Bambi…” I snorted softly, but his gentle lips slowly trailed up my neck to my chin and confidently captured mine. After dozens of kisses, I finally stopped being stunned by his extravagance and surrendered completely. I let him pull me onto his lap, where he kissed me for another half hour, until Tae walked in and started scolding me, saying it was long past time for my IV drip and that I was lounging around with this pervert instead. To his credit, Jay had the decency to take all the blame. He stayed with me for another two hours while the medicine supporting my heart slowly dripped into my bloodstream. But after lunch, when Lina came to visit, he disappeared somewhere. To all my questions, he only smiled mysteriously and said he had to take care of something. *** It was already around seven in the evening when Jay entered my ward. This time, for some reason, he wasn’t wearing his usual white coat. My heart skipped a beat at how devastatingly handsome he looked — dressed entirely in black from head to toe, and already wearing his (and my) favorite leather jacket, which he refused to give up even though it was almost winter. Jay looked irresistible. The moment I saw him, I froze like a deer in front of a predator, watching as he approached me with confident, wide strides. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” Jay smiled, sitting down on the bed beside me and gently kissing my forehead. “Ready for what?” I frowned, looking at him in confusion. “For your kidnapping, baby,” he replied calmly, looking so composed that I almost believed he was serious. A moment later, I realized the cheeky brunette was clearly up to something, and I relaxed a little. “You’re… kidnapping me?” I asked with a smile, immediately playing along with this still unclear game. “Exactly, Bambi. So hurry up and get dressed. It’s time,” he purred in my ear, smiling like the devil himself. My heart skipped a beat and fluttered with joyful anticipation. I already had a pretty good idea of what this meant, but I was still afraid to believe it. I got dressed in record time — just two minutes — shedding the hospital pajamas and pulling on pants and a blouse under the tender gaze of my Romeo. He took my hand and led me toward the exit. At the door, he draped a warm coat over my shoulders and carefully buttoned it up. “Where are we going?” I asked quietly, looking at him enchanted from under my lashes. But he only shook his head, stroked my cheek, and whispered with a mysterious smile: “You’ll see, Bambi.” *** We snuck past the duty nurse’s station like two seasoned spies, the cheeky brunette and I. I couldn’t stop smiling, feeling long-forgotten excitement and joyful anticipation bubbling in my veins. Once we reached the first floor and stepped outside, the cold winter air immediately hit my face. I shivered, but didn’t have time to freeze — Jay was already confidently leading me toward his black Jeep. When we reached it, he gallantly opened the door for me, waited until I settled into the passenger seat, then got in himself and started the engine. *** The entire ride was quiet, broken only by soft music playing from the speakers. He held my hand, resting it on his thigh and lightly stroking my knuckles with his thumb. I watched his handsome, refined profile against the backdrop of the sparkling night city lights flashing by and couldn’t tear my enchanted gaze away from this beautiful sight. I was certain that this birthday would become… the best day of my life.