POV: Male Lead (Ahn Min-jae)
Min-jae felt weightless.
Like he was floating in an abyss—drifting between life and death.
Then, a distant warmth touched his fingers.
A voice.
Soft. Familiar. Ha-neul.
"Please, Min-jae… wake up."
His eyes fluttered open, and the world slowly came into focus. White ceilings. The smell of antiseptic. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.
He was alive.
His chest felt… strange. Not painful, but different. As if something foreign was inside him, beating in rhythm with his own breath.
His gaze shifted, and there she was. Ha-neul.
Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, "Min-jae…"
He tried to speak, but his throat was dry.
Instead, he lifted a trembling hand. She took it instantly, pressing it against her cheek.
"You scared me," she choked out.
His fingers brushed against her skin. "I'm still here." His voice was hoarse. "Because of you."
A flicker of hesitation crossed her face. Min-jae's chest tightened.
She was hiding something.
Before he could ask, the door opened, and the doctor entered. "You're awake. That's a good sign."
Min-jae turned to him. "The transplant… It worked?"
The doctor nodded. "Yes. Your new heart is strong."
Min-jae exhaled slowly, but something gnawed at him. A strange weight settled in his chest—an unfamiliar sensation.
Like he was carrying something that wasn't his.
His heart.
Whose was it?
He turned to Ha-neul. Her expression was unreadable, but her fingers tightened around his.
Why wasn't she saying anything?
"Ha-neul," he murmured. "Who…?"
Her eyes glistened. And in that moment, he knew.
This wasn't just any heart.
It was someone he knew.
Someone important.
A lump formed in his throat. "Tell me."
Ha-neul's lips trembled as she whispered—"It was my father."
---
A Heart He Couldn't Reject
Silence.
Min-jae stared at her, unable to process the words.
Her father?
The man who had hated him. The man who had tried to keep them apart. The man who had called him unworthy.
Min-jae clenched his fists. And now, his heart was inside Min-jae's body.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Fate is cruel, isn't it?"
Ha-neul's face twisted in pain. "He… he wanted to make things right."
Min-jae shook his head. "I spent years proving myself to him. He never accepted me. And now…" He let out a sharp breath. "Now I'm alive because of him."
Ha-neul swallowed hard. "Do you… hate this?"
Min-jae looked away. Did he?
His fingers curled over his chest, feeling the heartbeat beneath his skin. A heart that wasn't his, but was now a part of him.
No matter how much he resented Ha-neul's father, the truth was undeniable.
This heart was keeping him alive.
And rejecting it would mean rejecting her sacrifice.
He closed his eyes.
"I don't hate it," he finally admitted. "I just… don't know how to live with it yet."
Ha-neul nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Then I'll help you."
Min-jae exhaled, gripping her hand. "Promise?"
She smiled softly, pressing their foreheads together. "Always."
---