noble love

One time, I happened to hear a doctor recount a tragic love story. I couldn't help but wonder if there is truly a love this noble and devoted in this world.

There once was a young man and a young woman who had known each other for a very, very long time.

"My, tomorrow is our wedding day! Make sure you get ready. Tonight, I won't be able to sleep at all because I'll probably be thinking of you the whole night through."

"Leon, my love, tomorrow we will finally be happy. I will love you forever and ever."

However, on the night before the wedding, Leon's attending doctor came to his house and said, "I am terribly sorry, but you need to be hospitalized. The test results show that you have terminal cancer."

The news hit Leon's family like a bolt from the blue, especially Leon himself, completely shattering him.

"Aaaaaaa!"

Leon let out a scream, and his family nearly fainted.

My came to visit Leon at the hospital.

"Leon, do you know how much I've cried? Why did this have to happen to you? If you're gone, who will I have left?"

"My, I am so sorry. Now all I am doing is waiting for death. Please don't be sad. Find yourself a new husband and don't wait for me."

The young woman wept, and they cried together endlessly, but what could they do? Every evening, they would lie side by side and talk about the future—their future family, children, and so on.

As the days passed, the doctor gave Leon only one month left to live. During those days, My cried constantly.

"My, these remaining days, I want you to look your absolute best. I want your image to remain vividly in my mind so that in the next life, I can recognize you among the vast crowds of this world."

And so, day after day, My applied heavy makeup and dressed up magnificently, hoping to bring a smile to Leon's face.

Leon's doctor was very surprised to see My putting on such makeup. He thought My was a vain, frivolous girl who didn't deserve the love Leon had for her. Throughout the days he treated Leon, he always looked down on her.

A month passed, and the day Leon passed away finally arrived.

When the doctor saw My again, he couldn't help but be shocked: the flashy, heavily made-up girl was now completely lifeless and frail, with a hollow, sunken face.

"Doctor," My said, "when Leon was still alive, he wanted me to always look pretty in front of him so my image would stay engraved in his mind. But you have no idea—every single day I had to put on makeup to look beautiful, applying powder and lipstick felt like a thousand stabs to my heart. Only because I wanted him to pass away in peace did I endure it all. But now that he is gone, I only yearn for an afterlife, hoping to meet him again. If there is a next life, no matter what form he takes, I will love him with all my heart."

Hearing this, the doctor realized how wrong he had been, and he was deeply moved by the girl's love.

"IF THERE IS AN AFTERLIFE, I HOPE TO FOREVER BE BY THE SIDE OF THE ONE I LOVE."