Winfred helped Dolly put on the other one of the high heels, and then he said at leisure, "One day I saw you stare at them for more than 10 seconds when you were reading a magazine."

"It's natural for a woman to stare at bags and shoes." Dolly said, "Maybe I was just studying the style of this pair of shoes."

Winfred shook his head. "I don't think so."

Dolly asked with curiosity, "Why?"

"Because-" Winfred said with a smile, "Your eyes were saying 'I love you' when you were staring at the shoes. You looked the same as when you first met me."

"..." Dolly didn't know what to say.

She couldn't deny that Winfred was right. She did like the pair of shoes, and she could afford them. However, she didn't dare to buy them because of Winfred's disease.

She wanted to save the money so that she could pay for better treatment when Winfred was sent to the hospital.

She had never expected that Winfred would see through her and buy her the shoes.

Dolly had to admit that she felt extremely satisfied and happy at that moment.

Winfred put Dolly's old shoes into the box and he reached out his hand to her. "Get up, let's go home."

Dolly held Winfred's hand and stood up. She took two careful steps with the new shoes on her feet. She looked up at him and asked, "They're not cheap, are they?"

Winfred said at leisure, "The most important thing is that you look good in them."

Dolly held Winfred's hand with her other hand and turned around to face him. "How do I look?" she asked as she stepped backward.

She was born with beautiful feet, and she had taken good care of them from a young age. She had alabaster insteps, and her toes were as round and smooth as pearls. Her toenails that were painted with bright red nail polish poked through the peep-toe heels, looking exquisite and sexy.

Winfred said, "You look perfect."

Dolly raised her chin with pride. She turned around gracefully and returned to Winfred, shoulder to shoulder with him. "You said it because I'm wearing them! The shoes are a little expensive for us, but we'll make more money in the future!"

Winfred gave a smile and left the mall with Dolly while holding her around the waist.

The two worked more than 11 hours and spent the rest of the day together from then on. Sometimes they went jogging together; other times they cleaned up the house and cooked dinner together. They would always cuddle up to each other watching an old movie after dinner and kiss while the movie was still on.

Winfred felt dizzy occasionally, but he never told Dolly about it to save her from worrying.

However, Dolly had kept his disease in her mind. She would ask Winfred how he was feeling frequently.

Winfred didn't lie to Dolly because he knew that she was smart enough to see through him. He simply told her, "Sometimes I felt dizzy, but I get better soon. It's no big deal."

The two lived as usual as if their lives had never been affected by Winfred's disease, apart from the time when Dolly was frightened into crying by his sudden dizziness.

June ended, which meant that half a year had passed. Dolly put away the pair of high heels that Winfred had bought her and took out her ankle boots from the shoe cabinet when the first chilly autumn wind came.

"If autumn comes, can winter be far behind?" Dolly said with a hopeful look, "I like snowing days. Winter, could you please come quickly? We want to make a tall snowman like last year and wrap a green scarf around its neck!"

"Let's wait for another three months." Winfred put on his suit jacket and touched Dolly's head. "Then you can see the snow and make a snowman."

Dolly nodded and held Winfred's arm. "Let's go to work."

Winfred suddenly felt dizzy before he could utter a word. He lost consciousness without warning and passed out at the door of their house.

"Winfred!" Dolly thought that Winfred had lost his footing before she realized what had happened. Seeing him lying on the ground, she screamed and kept patting his face while calling, "Winfred!"

"..."

Winfred didn't answer at all. It seemed that he couldn't hear her. Dolly wondered whether she could wake him up again.

Dolly had once dreamed of the same scene. She had never expected that the nightmare would suddenly become a reality on a peaceful morning.

Dolly knew that she should stay calm. She managed to calm herself down and called an ambulance; she also called Winfred's doctor.

The doctor said, "Don't worry. Bring Winfred to the hospital. Let's see what's going on first."

It was the second time Winfred had received a thorough examination. However, the results this time weren't optimistic.

The doctor told Dolly that Winfred was in the third stage of his disease. It wouldn't be long before the disease would reach the fourth stage. Winfred would have to stay in the hospital soon.

Dolly looked at the doctor, frightened. "Will he wake up?"

Dolly was afraid that Winfred would sleep forever.

"We can still monitor his vital signs. He'll wake up. Take it easy." The doctor patted Dolly on the shoulder. "But no one can guarantee that he will wake up if it happens again."

The doctor meant that it was likely that he wouldn't wake up as Winfred's condition worsened.

What Dolly had been worried about the most finally happened.

After leaving the doctor's office, Dolly returned to the ward. She sat beside Winfred's sickbed while holding his hand tightly as if she were holding on to her last hope.

She was frightened into tears the first time Winfred passed out in his sleep. After that, he had been comforting her. It had been more than half a year since then, and she had almost forgotten about it. However, his sudden dizziness for the second time arose panic in her and overwhelmed her again.

Winfred was sick, and his health was becoming worse. It was the fact that they had to face no matter how they had comforted themselves, no matter how optimistic they had been those days.

Reality had never allowed them to be too optimistic ever since Winfred fell sick.

Dolly held Winfred's hand tighter. She gazed at him without blinking; she was afraid that she would miss anything.

Winfred was in a coma throughout the morning. He felt that his hand was clutched by something as soon as he regained consciousness at noon.

He opened his eyes and looked over. Just as he had expected, Dolly was sitting in the chair wondering, with her chin rested on her hand.

Winfred stirred and called, "Yunjin?"

Dolly, who had been lost in her thoughts, grabbed Winfred's hand in surprise as if she had woken up from a dream. "You're awake!"

Winfred touched Dolly's face. "Um, were you crying?"

Dolly's eyes immediately turned red. She turned her face and said, "No!"

"I'm sorry." Winfred held Dolly's hand and said apologetically, "I scared you again."

Dolly couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks and stared at Winfred. "You said it. Never do that again!"

Winfred forced a smile. "Okay, I'll try my best."

He knew that he was getting worse. He could no longer promise Dolly that nothing would happen to him in a short time like before.

Otherwise, he would be lying, and it was quite irresponsible of him to do it at that time.

Dolly also knew that what she didn't want to face the most was getting closer to them. She could only grit her teeth, hold back her tears, and face it with bare hands.

Winfred's doctor went to see him and talked with him after work in the afternoon.

"Winfred, I think that you may consider hospital care now." The doctor said in a serious voice, "It's out of our expectations this time. It's no longer as optimistic as it was at the beginning. Of course, it's up to you whether to stay in the hospital or not. You may discuss it with your girlfriend."

Dolly stopped him when Winfred was about to talk about it with her after the doctor left.

Dolly suddenly stood up with a determined look. "There's no need to discuss it. I'm going home to pack up for you. You just stay here!"

"Yunjin." Winfred took Dolly's hand. "I didn't say that I wasn't going to stay in the hospital. Give me a few more days to think about it, will you?"

Dolly looked at Winfred in suspicion. "What are you going to do?"

Winfred shrugged helplessly. "I may lose consciousness at any time. What else can I do? I have to resign and hand over my work to the person who will take over my position. Yunjin, I'm responsible for that. Anyway, I'm not on the edge of death, right?"

Dolly couldn't refute his words. She was afraid that Winfred would break his promise, so she said, "You must come back to the hospital as soon as you get it done!"

"Okay, I'll do as you wish." Winfred touched Dolly's head. "Yunjin, I want to live."

Winfred was as afraid as Dolly that he would sleep forever.

He knew that she was different from other girls when he had first met her in the bar. He had made up his mind to take care of her for the rest of his life when they were in love.

Dolly had been used to living with him in the past two years. He couldn't imagine how she would live in a big city if he left her alone in this world.

He couldn't imagine how sad Dolly would be if she lost him.

Therefore, for Dolly's sake, he had to stay in the hospital as he was getting worse even if he didn't want to.

After all, he was more likely to survive there.

However, Winfred's words made Dolly burst into tears. He said in a teasing tone, "I didn't think you liked crying before. If I had known that..."

Dolly jumped into his arms and held him tightly around his waist before Winfred could finish his words. "Come on, Winfred."

It was her dearest wish all her life.

Winfred hesitated for a moment and gave a determined nod of agreement.