Chapter 3: Shadows in the Pulse
The hospital room was quiet, save for the slow drip… drip… drip… of the IV line, like water counting down to the end of a dream.
Kim Jonghyun lay pale beneath the soft glow of the ceiling light, his once-vivid aura dulled like a dying star. Outside the room, Dr. Yoon Chae-won stood silently, eyes fixed on the CT scan. Her long fingers tightened around the file, the paper crinkling like dry leaves in autumn.
> ("Muscle tremors, arrhythmia, delayed nerve responses…")
No combination made sense. Nothing added up.
She entered the room quietly, her white coat trailing behind her like a cold breeze. Jonghyun turned his head slightly, lips curled in a half-smile.
"Back again, Doctor-nim?" he murmured, voice rough like gravel. "You missed me already?"
She didn't smile. Not today.
"You're not healing," she said, placing his chart on the bedside tray. "You're getting worse."
He chuckled, eyes fluttering closed.
"That's dramatic, even for me."
Chae-won's voice was calm, but it held a sharp edge — like a blade wrapped in silk.
"You think this is a drama?" she asked quietly.
"No," he whispered. "I think it's the ending."
Silence fell between them — thick, suffocating, real.
She noticed it then — a small tremble in his fingers, fleeting, but unmistakable. Her heart sank.
"I need to run more tests," she said.
"Will it make a difference?"he asked.
"If we're lucky."
"I ran out of luck the day I was born into a spotlight."
Her eyes softened. For a moment, she saw through him — past the fame, the arrogance, the charm. He was just a boy who didn't want to die.
> He hides behind laughter, she thought, but his silence screams the truth.
She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.
"If I don't make it, Doctor…"
"…Don't say it,"* she interrupted, not turning back. "We don't speak death into existence."
Outside the room, she leaned against the cold wall, eyes closed, breath shallow.
She opened her recorder, voice trembling for the first time in years.
> "Patient shows signs of systemic neurological deterioration. Suspected rare disorder. Outcome… uncertain."
>"…Urgency: critical."
"Doctor, I'm sorry. I faked having the mentality of a child to reduce the worries of my bandmates."
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Absolutely. Here's an updated *Chapter 3: Shadows in the Pulse (病中疑云)* — now with a *tender moment* woven in, and ending on a *cliffhanger*.
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The silence in the room was unnerving. Machines blinked softly beside Jonghyun's bed, recording every beat of a heart that once made millions scream.
Dr. Yoon Chae-won stood beside him like a marble statue — composed, unreadable.
He turned his head slowly, studying her face.
"Do you ever smile, Doctor-nim?" he asked, his voice quiet but laced with mischief.
She didn't look at him. "Not when I'm treating a time bomb."
He let out a dry chuckle, then coughed — hard. She immediately moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder as he reached for his chest.
For a moment, his head leaned against her wrist — warm, trembling. Their eyes met. Her fingers twitched but did not pull away.
"Your hand,"he whispered. "It's warm. That's nice."
She blinked, caught off guard by the softness in his voice.
"Should I be cold instead?"
"No," he said faintly. "Just... stay like this. Just for a second."
The world outside paused.
It wasn't romance. Not yet. It was something more fragile — the beginning of trust.
Her heart fluttered unexpectedly, like a petal stirred by wind. She let her hand rest on his, just for a beat longer than necessary.
Then—
BEEP.
The heart monitor spiked.
Suddenly, Jonghyun's body jerked — just slightly — and the tremor in his hand intensified.
"Jonghyun-ssi?"
No response.
The monitor began to flash erratically. His eyes glazed for a breathless moment — distant, unseeing.
"Nurse! Get in here!" Chae-won shouted.
The warmth vanished from his hand.
He collapsed backward against the pillows, lips slightly parted.
"Kim Jonghyun!"she called again, louder this time, her voice cracking.
The door burst open as the monitor blared louder.
And then—
Flatline.
*To be continued...*
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