Irene POV

Laundry had never been sassier.

Irene clutched the basket of clothes to her side with her right hand and freed her hair from the ponytail holder with her left.

Giving her curly hair an effective shake so it fell in haphazard waves down her back, she proceeded to dance down the hallway of her 2-bedroom apartment for all she was worth.

It was mid morning, she had the place to herself, and damn if she wasn’t going to work it for the length of the song.

She sashayed aggressively on the downbeat of the chorus to “Brick House” and shimmied forward then backward through the second verse, adding her own Satoori flair.

She full-on rocked out the remaining distance before jumping onto the couch, discarding the laundry basket, and falling to her knees, finishing the number like the champ she knew she was.

She internally applauded herself, not necessarily for skill, but for serious commitment.

Finally, she picked up the laundry basket and calmly completed her walk to the washing machine.

It was a good day, and Irene was enjoying the leisurely pace she’d established for completing the mundane chores on her to-do list.

Just outside her petite laundry room, she straightened Yuri’s 1st grade school picture on the wall and smiled as the image of her daughter, a years younger then, grinned back at her.

Irene made a mental checklist of all the things she needed to accomplish before the day was out and groaned inwardly when she recognized the tap-tap-tap of small raindrops on the laundry room window.

Okay, she’d have to make a few adjustments to her day.

Luckily, there were still several more around-the-house chores she could knock off the list, followed by a short trip to the grocery store.

She sighed deeply, deciding that in order to be practical, she should probably pick up the pace a tad.

Less dancing, more working.

She hit the start button on the washer, mamboed her way into the kitchen, and poured her second cup of tea that morning.

There could never be too much Tea.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that the phone was ringing.

She turned absently in its direction, interrupting her enjoyment of the warm, caffeine free pick-me-up.

“Hello,” she answered cheerfully.

She was always a morning person.

“Yes. Hello. May I speak with Bae Irene please?”

“This is Irene.” She glanced at the caller ID readout.

It was Yuri’s school calling, which gave her minor pause.

She’d dropped her off at school nearly 2 hours ago. “Is everything okay with Yuri?”

The calm female voice hesitated. “That’s what I’m calling about, Ms. Bae. Yuri had an incident in her classroom this morning and lost consciousness for several minutes.”

Irene stood up straight, her hand fluttering to her heart, her stomach dropping as if on cue. “What happened?”

“We’re not exactly sure. Her teacher mentioned she’d been quieter than usual most of the morning, but she assumed Yuri was just tired. Just as the students were beginning work on their science assignment, Yuri got up to sharpen her pencil and collapsed in front of the sharpener. She didn’t strike anything as she fell, but it took a couple of minutes to revive her and EMS was called. She’s alert now and communicative but still somewhat confused about what happened. The paramedics have expressed concern and would like to transport her to Mercy General for further evaluation. Can you meet them there?”

“Of course.” Irene looked around the room wildly for her purse. “I’m leaving now. Thank you.”

She hung up the phone just as her once-stable world seemed to tilt on its axis.

She gripped the countertop tightly to steady herself against the onslaught, her heart ready to jump from her chest.

After a few purposeful deep breaths, her vision once again cleared and the room righted itself.

As she made her way through the door of her apartment, she thought back to earlier in the day, scrutinizing Yuri’s every move with new perspective.

She’d been just fine a few hours before in the car on the way to school.

They’d talked about their plans for the summer and the possibility of Yuri attending the YMCA’s day camp now that she would be in the 2nd grade and showing signs of responsibility.

She’d been so excited.

The image of Yuri’s face lighting up at the news played like a movie in Irene’s mind.

So what had gone wrong?

Her rational side understood that Yuri could have fainted from something as simple as not having eaten a decent breakfast.

They had been in a hurry and she hadn’t examined whether Yuri had actually eaten the cereal and juice she’d set out for her.

But the mother in Irene feared the worst, conjuring up all sorts of terrifying scenarios.

She put her key in the ignition and gunned the engine, doing 85 easy on the freeway.

***

Seulgi POV

It was raining outside.

Hard.

Kang Seulgi could hear it mercilessly pelt the roof and see the thick drops as they raced past the somewhat smudged window she stared out.

It was the kind of rain that made her want to stay inside, snuggled up under the comfort of her favorite chenille blanket, a cup of hot mint tea in her hand.

Instead, she sat amidst uncomfortable blue plastic chairs, harsh fluorescent lighting, and year-old magazines in the waiting room of Mercy General.

“Miss Kang?” A pause. “Excuse me, Miss Kang; did you hear what I said?”

She did and she didn’t.

Seulgi turned fully to the older woman in the w