I don’t know how long I stayed there, but I did not listen to my grandmother. I was supposed to go back soon, but how could I?

My mother hasn’t moved, and I had volunteered to take care of her every needs whenever I got the chance.

I haven’t slept for a while, and when I did try to sleep, it was never enough. I ignored my phone, well, simply turned it off, not even bothering to see the missed calls and text messages I have received from the boys and my grandmother.

I did not know how long I stayed there, but it must have been a couple of days. The hospital staff were becoming familiar to me, and vice versa.

I was huddled up in a blanket on a chair next to my mother, my eyes slowly starting to close. I was holding onto her hand when sleep was going to consume me. A source of tightness brought me back from losing consciousness. I blinked myself awake once I felt my mother’s grasp in my hands.

Tears started to swell, while I held my mother’s hand more tightly.

“Mom, can you hear me?” I said, my eyes darting all over her face. “Mom, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being there with you. I’m sorry that the person who did this to you isn’t in jail yet. I’m sorry for being like this. I’m sorry for being born with this curse. I know you don’t blame me for what happened to dad, but I still feel like it’s my fault. I’m sorry mom, I’m just so sorry.”

I let go of her hand and decided to cover my eyes instead. After a while, I decided to put my head down and cried for everything that has happened. The room was filled with my sobs, and the sounds my mother’s machine.

Then, I felt a hand on top of my head. I instantly lifted my head and what I saw made my heart stop. My mother was awake, and she was looking at me with half-lidded eyes. I looked up and saw that the hand I had let go was now on my head.

Seeing her, I jumped up and went out to call a doctor or nurse, or whoever I could call. The hospital staff came in, and then motioned me out. I was going to protest, but then I looked at my mom and she nodded her head slowly, signaling it was okay.

With a heavy heart, I left the room, and waited outside. I was pacing back and forth, and did not know how long I waited there for. It felt like forever, but I knew it was not that long when the doctor came out.

I looked at him expectantly, wanting to know of my mother’s condition.

“How is she?” I asked.

“I checked her vitals, and they are stable. From what I can tell, she’ll be recovering soon.” With that, he left me there with a pat on my shoulder. I went inside, and watched with a small smile on my face as my mother looked around the room.

I sat next to her, and held her hand. I returned the grip she gave to my hand. She looked up at me with a small smile, and shakenly raised her arm towards me.

“Mom, it’s okay,” I said, grabbing her arm. I let her caress my face, and more tears started to prick my eyes.

I looked at her face and saw her smile. Then she dropped her hand from my face and her eyes slowly started to droop. My heart started to palpitate rapidly, and I looked at the machine wondering if something was going on. To my relief, nothing was wrong. I walked closer to my mother and noticed her breath normally and calmly.

She must have fallen asleep.

I gently brushed the hair out of my mother’s face, and just stared at her.

I was so close to losing you. Never again…

And with that thought, I had to force myself away from her, and I decided to finally check my phone. It took a while for my cell phone to load, but once it did, I saw I had a lot of missed calls from my grandmother and from the boys.

I looked at the messages. My heart went up to my throat. I clicked on the most recent text I have received from Taehyung, and it had made me almost freeze.

“We are on our way now~ <3”

What does this mean?

Going to the not so recent texts he had sent, I saw another text to which I did not know how to respond to, it said:

“Me and the guys decided to come visit you since you haven’t been answering our calls or texts. The principal gave us permission after we ‘convinced’ her. Well, I don’t know if you have seen this text or not, but we’ll text ya when we’re close! See you soon, my lady~”

Going over the other guy’s text, there were similar messages.

I ran my fingers through my unkempt hair.

I haven’t even showered for a while. How do I look like? Do I smell? Maybe I need to shower. Wait, it’s not like they’re coming now. Wait, I haven’t even looked what time they sent that text. Wait another minute, Taehyung did say he and the guys were on his way. But what does on his way even mean?

My questions were answered when a knock on the door got my attention.

“C-Come in!” I nervously asked.

Who entered the room were the seven guys I have left behind in Korea to take care for my sick mother.

I stared at them an