03- Effulgence

The days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months and it was all a blur to her. She has her friends helping her find her childhood friend and even going back to the hospital she has called her home back when she was eight. And it’s like nostalgia hit her like a truck. She can suddenly feel everything from back then, how the needle would prick her skin and the wait for the pain to envelop her whole and the whimpers she made for it to stop. But she can also remember the light, the warmness that would slowly seep its way among the nothingness that she feels and suddenly, the pain doesn’t matter anymore. The pain is just a physical thing compared to the glow she’s feeling from inside her.

“Are you sure you don’t remember a girl going in this room before?” Joy, Seulgi’s friend asked. Yuri was with her sister and her friends. Apparently, her precious baby bear had told them about her little adventures in finding this mystery friend of hers and the three kids found it exciting and sweet that they wanted to help. So she had promised Seulgi that they could come on her next one and here they are.

“Like I said, I don’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have patients to attend to.” The nurse answered as she glared at Joy. Yuri sighed and someone had tapped her on the shoulder.

“Here unnie.” A drink was given to her, “Don’t worry about it too much. I think the nurse was new so we better ask someone older, yes?”

“That’s a good idea, Wendy~” she smiled at the younger one who also radiates a certain light and warmness into her. It never escaped her attention on how Seulgi had been very attentive to this particular friend and she smirked before shaking her head at the cuteness.

“Yul?” Someone called out and she had turned to look at the familiar voice, “Yul! Is that really you?! You’ve grown so much! What are you doing here?” An older nurse had hugged her tight and she can’t help but hug back, the familiar scent of vanilla mixed with lavender soothing her nostrils.

“It’s nice to see you again, Narsha unnie!” She greeted back with glee.

“My, my. Now what are you doing here now? And bringing-- is that Seulgi? Aigoooo~ your sweet sweet adorable sister that never wanted to leave your side had grown into such a pretty young lady! And you’ve brought friends!” Narsha gave Seulgi a quick hug before looking back at Yuri with serious eyes. Asking the question she doesn’t want to say aloud.

“Don’t worry, unnie. It’s not that. We’re here because we wanted to know something.” Yuri visibly saw Narsha relax as she uttered the first words.

“Okay, what is it? I’ll try to help as much as I could.”

“It’s about this girl.”

“Yes?”

“This girl that kept on visiting me while I was in this hospital.”

“Hmm…”

“I remember her wearing blue and purple layers.” That seems to light something up from Narsha’s eyes.

“That girl! Yes, I remember her!”

“And?”

“She has long brown hair. A very radiant smile. I see her go into your room often.”

“Yes! That’s her!” She was getting really excited. She can finally have some sort of knowledge of this girl.

“Isn’t she one of your friends? From school or something?” And all the excitement washed away from her.

“N-no, unnie, she wasn’t.”

“Oh, really? I thought she was. She would always traipse on these halls wearing that pretty dress of hers and would just enter your room like she knows it like the back of her hand.”

“........” And Narsha finally saw the sadness wash through Yuri’s face and she smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Yul, that’s all I know of your friend.”

“It’s okay, unnie. Thanks for the info though.”

“No problem. I’m glad to see you well and happy, Yul. I have to go now, a lot of patients to care for~” and with that, Narsha waved goodbye to the girls. Seulgi had immediately given Yuri a back hug.

“It’s okay, unnie~You’ll find her~”

“Why don’t we get some ice cream to cheer unnie up?” Wendy asked.

“Yes! Irene unnie will pay!” Joy exclaimed.

“YAH! Joy, you little-” Irene was about to say something mean when Wendy cut her off.

“I-I’ll pay unnie! Don’t worry about it!” Wendy’s face was a bit red.

“Oh, you don't have to do that Wendy~” Irene looked worriedly.

“N-no! I insist!” Wendy exclaimed, eyes set with determination, and cheeks getting redder from the eye contact.  Yuri had noticed how Seulgi’s mood suddenly slumped, even though the bear still wore a smile out front. She smiled at her sister knowingly.

“I’ll buy the ice cream as a thanks for helping me out.” She announced and started walking with the girls gushing excitedly behind her.

Days passed. There was something in that moment as she was walking, shoes covered in the snow that fell down quietly as they slept last night, that made her remember a ripple of gleam cascading down the night sky and stopping by her hospital window. A face that felt so familiar but unexplored. She remembered going down her hospital bed, pushing the stand where her IV fluids are hanging, and stopping in front of the window, hands reaching out but stopping at the glass that separates her and this floating stranger wearing a dress that carry the colors of the night. The stranger, a little girl about her age, smiled at her, hands pressing on the glass window where her own hands are placed.

“I found you.” the girl whispered.

I found you.

I found you, Yuri.

Yuri.

“Yuri?” that brought her out of her thoughts. Warm brown eyes met with hers and a flicker of blue and purple caught her eye. “I found you.”

“Jessica?” the girl giggled and Yuri can hear the twinkle of it all.

“I found you~ I’ve been looking for you.”

“Why?”

“Let’s go~” Jessica had pulled her hand and she found herself walking towards the playground just outside their university. Her best friend grinned at her, starting to twirl around the swings, laughing as she grabbed Yuri’s hands to make her join her happy skipping. Yuri was laughing too, hands intertwined with Jessica’s. It was thrilling in a way that makes that something from inside her ignite and this time she had almost grasped it, she was so close to holding it. It was a familiar feeling for her, and it’s like she’s reliving something from her past. The pirouette of the layers of the night sky dancing across her eyes in the form of cloth, the smile that illuminates like the stars above, and suddenly it’s like she had touched the feelings dwelling from inside her.

“Are you having fun, Yul?” Jessica asked, placing a stray hair behind Yuri’s ears.

“Yes, most definitely.” She answered, staring into the deep brown abyss where she can see a massive explosion of supernova. And she thinks that maybe, just maybe, this is the cause of the similar paroxysm from within her too.

She enjoyed spending the day and even weeks with Jessica. The latter would always do something that reminds her so much of her magical childhood friend and saviour and she’s beginning to think and hope that it’s Jessica  herself.

“Maybe it is her.” she mumbled as she was handing Sooyoung a cute pig bakpao they had ordered. The two were eating out in a restaurant while trying to write their paper. Tiffany was out doing God knows what….Most probably shopping.

“Okay wait, I need to take a picture of this amazing food...” Sooyoung declared, phone already in hand and snapping pictures of the bun and clicking some more things.

“Why would-”

“Look.” A phone was shoved to her face, the instagram logo on top of the picture of the pig bakpao that Sooyoung just posted with the description “Hey @xoloveTiff ~ Look! It’s you!~” followed by a heart and kiss emoji. Yuri laughed and shook her head at the craziness of her friend.  “Okay, what were you saying?”

“I think it’s her.”

“Who’s her?”

“Jessica.”

“What about her?” Yuri sighed. She knows her friend is smart, really, but sometimes she can be so stupid.

“I think Jessica is my childhood friend.” She hasn’t told anyone about the flying and the magic. It might just be her hallucinations anyway. Sooyoung stopped chewing her bakpao and stared at Yuri seriously.

“A-are you sure?”

“I’m not but I really think she is.”

“What if she’s really not?” Sooyoung asked, food already forgotten. Yuri was quiet for a while, thinking, before looking at her friend straight in the eyes.

“It’s okay.” and it means a different thing entirely. It means that it’s okay because she doesn’t care anymore. It means that it’s okay because maybe she had embraced the explosion of flowers, stars, and magic from within her. It means it’s okay because even if Jessica is not her childhood friend, Jessica is still Jessica. No matter what happens, Jessica is still the one that made her see the different effulgence of the stars and the different layers of the night sky she had never seen before. And it’s like Sooyoung understood her for no words were needed to be said between two friends.

A/N: I would just like to announce that I'm planning on making this story a trilogy~
Tell me what you think? ^^
And See you next week~~