I tried to push myself forwards but was hastily pulled back. The movement was too fast for my legs to find its balance and I ended up stumbling onto the floor.

I shut my eyes, waiting for the pain of meeting the ground to hit me, but I landed on something quite soft. When I opened my eyes, my face was leaning on someone's chest and their arms were tightly wrapped around my body.

Their hot heavy breath skated down the back of my neck. My heart began painfully thumping again after realising what had just happened.

I tried to push myself away, but their embrace only tightened. My arms that were trapped between our chests tried to push them forwards, but they wouldn't budge.

"Let go of me," I whimpered, my voice so weak it only came out as an inaudible whisper.

My breathing become quicker and heavier. My skin crawled with the heat that was beginning to overpower me due to the intense turmoil of emotions inside myself.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed with more power, my desperate cries echoing away and engulfing itself into the sky.

I used whatever force I could gather to break free. I punched their chest, twisted my body, screamed but I was still locked between their arms. My screams only became more desperate and hysterical as I covered the person with my punches.

"I can't do this anymore. Just- Just let me go.," I helplessly pleaded, leaning my head on their chest and clutching onto their shirt.

"Please, you can't do this. I won't allow you to do something like that," whispered the person, their voice just as shaky as mine.

We were both still on the floor, my body between his legs. The side of my head was resting on his chest and for the first time, I began noticing how his fast heart pounded, simultaneously with my own.

"Don't let your inner demons win. You have to fight back, and what you were about to do was the opposite. I know that things might be tough for you right now and at times it might be unbearable but just remember one thing. Time is temporary, which means it will pass and with that so will your pain. So please, please try to stay strong, don't let your thoughts win."

I tried to stifle my sob but the moment it escaped my lips, I couldn't stop it. The tears were dangerously hanging for dear life at the edge of my eyes. But soon, they tumbled down my cheeks, weighted down with pain and sorrow. It was as if each tear carried grief, heavily pulling itself down my cheeks, darkening his shirt with my pains.

I gasped for air after every scream that was loud enough to shatter my heart. How could I possibly have wanted to stop my breathing when here I was desperately opening my lungs to take in more air?

We stayed in each other's embrace for a little longer. I had to wait for all of my emotions to empty out. It was like when you throw away a garbage bin that is too full. Well for me my heart was the bin. And it was my first time emptying it.

I looked up to try and see the person but my eyes were blinded by my tears and overwhelming emotions. I blinked a couple of times, sniffling and hiccuping.

After wiping my wet cheeks and eyes, I finally recognised the person before me. It was that same boy.

Despite me refusing, he guided me down the stairs to my room. He refused to leave until I was in my bed and so I had no choice but to let him lead the way. We walked side by side through the hallways, now darker and quieter due to less people.

"Even at night those doctors and nurses work tirelessly," he began, "All of the patients are fighting to be able to see the next morning and to be able to breathe. And they aren't fighting this battle alone because their families too are soldiers of this cruel battle."

As he looked around the hallway, I carefully observed him. His eyes glistened and his mouth slightly twitched. Had I not seen his expression, I would have never guessed the pain he was trying to mask behind his strong words.

He turned his head to look at me, for a second slightly taken aback when meeting my gaze.

"What I'm trying to say is that, life is precious. These people do whatever it takes to fight for something you wanted to let go off. Don't give up when the battle has only begun."

That night, as I laid in my small hospital bed, I said his words in my mind. I repeated them like it was my prayer.

Don't give up when the battle has only begun.

The Next Morning

"When are they going to come? Gosh, my stomach is going to rot!" complained Haneul, once again.

I actually slept well last night for the first time ever since I began getting insomnia. And so I felt very different. I felt a sort of energy that I hadn't experienced in a long time and I felt lighter.

Me pouring out my emotions had helped me a lot, I guess.

I suddenly stopped combing my hair, when I began thinking back to last night. I cringed and let out a groan after remembering how I was yesterday. No one had ever seen that side of me, not even myself. I had let a complete stranger see me cry so hysterically and the thought of that only made me cringe more.

I quickly snapped my head around when the door slid open. Noisily, the boy and an older woman walked in with bags. Before he could meet my eye, I quickly turned back to the mirror on the wall to focus on combing my hair.

"Finally! What took you guys so long?" asked Haneul, rushing to them to take one of the bags.

"Well this idiot over here," the older woman pinched the boy's arm, "He was trying to find something and I had to wait for him."

"Ouch, mum! Are those fingers or crab claws, jeez" he exclaimed, pointing at his mother's hand, which earned him another pinch from her.

I still continued staring at the mirror, simply watching them through the reflection. They were taking lunch boxes out of the bag and handed one each to the two older female patients.

Feeling suffocated from the awkwardness that only I seemed to be going through, I tried to sneak out of the room. I quietly tiptoed around the edge of the room, not glancing their way at all.

Suddenly I felt a hand touch my arm, and for a split second I flinched. I regained my posture, straightening my back and cleared my throat.

The boy looked at me, a huge smile plastered across his face. I stared back at him, blankly and making sure not to make my emotions obvious. Luckily, maintaining a blank expression was one of my talents.

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope."

"You should join- "

"No, I'm going somewhere," I quickly interrupted.

He squinted his eyes and carefully searched my face, as if he was trying to find his way through my blankness and read my face.

Before he could say anymore, I turned around and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me. I walked further down the hallway and turned a corner. A huge sigh escaped my lip as I leaned back on the wall, placing my hand against my beating chest.

"Well done. That was natural. Very natural," I praised and at the same time tried to convince myself.