---- Chapter 2 When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital room. Levi was there, clutching my hand tightly. His eyes stared at me with the kind of intensity one might reserve for the rarest treasure in the world. In that moment, a montage of beautiful memories flickered across my mind, each one stabbing a little deeper into my heart. Before I could stop myself, tears welled up, threatening to spill over. Levi... he had been my junior back at university. At the freshman orientation party, he had fallen for me at first sight and launched the kind of passionate pursuit that would make even the boldest suitor blush. I, mindful of the age gap between us and the wide chasm between our family backgrounds, had rejected him time and again. ---- But Levi had never once given up. The summer of my junior year, I interned in Reinstern City-and fell terribly ill. It was serious enough to land me in the hospital, and somehow, news of my condition traveled to him. He had been on the verge of boarding a plane for an overseas holiday when he heard. Without a second thought, he canceled his trip and came straight to Reinstern City. When I woke up in that hospital bed back then, the scene had looked exactly like this-him gripping my hand so tightly, his eyes rimmed red, looking every bit like a broken little puppy. When he saw me open my eyes, he choked out, " Nikki, don't ever scare me like that again. I swear, I'll die." At the time, I thought he was being melodramatic. How long had we even known each other? How ---- could things have gotten so life-and-death so quickly? But then, he pressed his forehead to the back of my hand-and a moment later, a single, searingly warm tear fell onto my skin. It didn't burn, and yet somehow, it left a scar. There is nothing more powerful than the tear of a boy of eighteen or nineteen. It's the purest love confession there is. After I was discharged, I finally said yes to him. He was so ecstatic, he bought an entire truckload of roses and handed them out to everyone on the street, just to collect a thousand blessings of " forever and always." He believed those blessings would make our love sweeter and everlasting. After graduation, he couldn't wait for another second. He proposed, and we were married in the blink of an eye.