Chapter 1: Yugyeom

I ran until my legs gave out. I collapsed onto the chairs outside the ER with my head buried in my hands as the light outside was still lit. Heavy footsteps were heard as people ran back and forth from the room; they were shouting at each other in distress. There were people whispering around as they watched the nurses and doctors scurrying around.

“We can’t be certain she’ll make it out alright,” a baritone voice said and I lifted my head. Mom collapsed into Dad’s arms and she started crying again. “For now she is doing fine.” However… “If you excuse me, I have to get back to the operation. Please don’t lose hope Mr. and Mrs. Kim.” The doctor ran off with nurses joining him. Mom was shaking so Dad led her to where I was sitting. As soon as her bottom was planted onto the seat, Mom hugged me and continued to bawl. I ran out of tears so the only thing I could do was rub her back and wait for the waterworks to stop. She eventually fell asleep but Dad and I continued to wait.

Forty-eight hours later, the light turned off and several doctors and nurses exited. Taking off her mask and gloves, a female doctor approached us and told us to follow her. I woke up Mom and we all went into a small office. The walls were painted a light orange while a small flower arrangement of daisies and irises sat on the desk. The atmosphere lightened up my mood a bit but based on the doctor’s expression, the happy spur of the moment was only temporary. 

“Please sit down,” she gestured towards the chairs and we sat down. Madly, she slammed the keyboard at a quick pace and sighed. “I have good news and bad news for you all… Which would you like to hear first?” We were all silent until Dad spoke up.

“The good please… I just want some hope to fill me up before everything comes crashing.” Dr. Yong gave us a small smile before taking out a notepad. 

“The good news is… You’re daughter is sleeping soundly in her room. The operation was a success.” We all shouted and rejoiced. My sister’s alive…! “However…” her voice lowered to a few octaves. “Although she is alive… Her brain isn’t functioning properly. Saehee is currently in a coma.” It became quiet again and all of our focus was directed towards the monitor. “You see, during the accident, Saehee hit her head on the dashboard which struck a nerve in her brain. Blood flow in the brain has slowed so it is harder for her body to perform its normal functions like respiration and circulation.” She pulled up two pictures. “For now, we put her on life support to see if anything has changed. We aren’t sure how long it will be until she wakes up but,” she stood up and opened the door, “please don’t lose hope. Your daughter is a strong girl.”

Mom sighed and leaned against the wall as we watched Dr. Yong walk away. Dad walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s all my fault.” We looked at her skeptically. Mom was never the type to blame herself. “If only I didn’t tell her anything about it…”

“What is it dear? What did you tell her?” Dad asked. She shook her head and tears started streaming down her face once again.

“I told her… that if someone precious was in danger, she could use her ability to save them.” She took a seat and sighed. Save them? How was that possible? “My mom was the one who taught me how.” Grandma? I looked at Dad and he too had a shocked expression. Mom must have kept this a secret from him. “The both of you haven’t met her before because she died when I was younger.” A sad smile crawled onto her face, “When I was around fifteen-years-old, I was a brat. I asked for things I didn’t need, expensive things to be exact. I was homeschooled, had the latest things and got whatever I wanted. When I turned seventeen, I was diagnosed with Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. It’s a disease where fat accumulates and causes scarring to the liver. It wasn’t very serious until a year later when I felt excruciating pain that kept reoccurring. My mom would cry every single day and I always thought it was because she sympathized with me.” She was silent and looked up to me, “It was actually because I was dying. I was supposed to die on Christmas Day but I found myself waking up on the 26th feeling healthy again.”

“What happened?” I felt a sudden rush of courage and excitement run through me.

“She gave me her number She gave me another chance to live.” Mom smiled, “I survived and she was put in a coma for twenty years.” I choked up. Twenty years?! Her eyes were flinching from the dryness while her bottom lip quivered. “We decided that she would never wake up again and so, my dad pulled the plug.”

“So…” I started, “what you're saying is that…”

“Your sister could end up like your grandma,” Dad finished with a grim look. 

We walked back to Mark's room and found him being sedated by nurses. Mr. and Mrs. Tuan were comforting each other while his siblings continued to stare at Mark, who struggled to keep the nurses away. 

“He must have seen them,” Mom said when the boy settled down. The dark haired boy was sleeping soundly but soft whimpers escaped once in awhile. 

“I'm going to see Sae…” I muttered and left the room. Walking towards the elevator, I pressed the up button and contemplated. How am I going to tell Mark all of this? I ran my hand through my short hair and sighed as the elevator moved up to the 15th level. When I entered room 1592, Sora was already there with her head on the bed. A white plastic bag sat beside her as the girl caressed my sister's hair. Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my head in her voluminous brown locks. 

“Gyeom… How could this happen?” she gasped and all I could do was hold her tighter. I was scared of losing her as well. “Is… Is she ever going to wake up?”

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. All I could really think of was the pain everyone was going through. Staring at my sister, I wondered what would happen next.  “Babe,” Sora looked up and I sighed, “I need to tell you something.” 

“What is it…?” she answered as I nuzzle my nose into the crook of her neck.

“Mark's awake.” I frowned, “However… something happened.”

“Oh no, don't tell me he has memory loss!”

“Actually… Mark can see numbers now. He can see the death clock. Saehee gave Mark her number.”

She was silent for a moment but her grip tightened and I could feel her tense up. “So what now?”

“We'll have to tell him the truth when he wakes up.”

“This is crazy…” she whispered. It is… I don't understand how I'll be able to cope with this situation. 

A knock was heard and the orange door opened. Two policemen walked inside followed by my parents. 

“Kim Yugyeom I presume?” the shorter of the pair asked and I nodded. “We'll be taking in your parents for questioning.”

“Why my parents?” my eyebrows furrowed.

“Dear, we'll be fine,” Mom gave me a half-reassuring smile. “They just found something that looked like ours.”

“You see Mr. Kim, we found a black Toyota truck abandoned a good ten blocks away from your sister's accident. The license plate was missing until we found it lying in a garbage can. The plate number matched the truck which was registered under your Dad's name.” the other policeman explained and my expression became stoic. My parents are innocent. 

“Don't worry kid, your parents won't be gone for long.” the short policeman said. His fake smile just screamed “bias nature”. They slowly made their way out of the room as they waited for my parents to bid goodbye to me. 

Mom and Dad are innocent. They'll come back… they always do. Right?

Their turning backs however made my heart drop thirty feet under and words were caught up in my throat. It was uneasy feeling that made me uncomfortable. The little voice inside of my head told me they weren't coming back…

And it was right.

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