Chapter 8

Kris comes closer to the table to see how his friend doing. He sees some dried squid and twelve cans of beer lying around. Her face is as red as tomato. She cannot open her tiny eyes because of her drunkenness. She whispers something that he cannot hear.

Then, she just pass away  and she is resting her head on the table. It is his job again to take her to the bed. She is heavier than he can remember, but luckily he only has to carry her for short distance. He tucks her in with her blanket. She is sleeping peaceful with a soft and happy face. She may be happy because she makes him to carry her again.

Kris gets back to the living room. He cleans up the mess that his friend left behind. He wonders why he always is the one that clean up her mess. He is seating quiet in the dark. It is a cold night, and cold night makes people think about their sad past. Yuri remembers his first time meeting Shin Young.

In fifth grade, Kris had to get to the hospital because he injured his leg. The pain of the injured leg was nothing for him, but the pain of not be able to play soccer anymore stabbed his heart every moment. He loved soccer the best. He wanted to become a national soccer player and got the World Cup for Korea. However, his dream had to end too early. His family really worried about his condition. He stopped talking to anyone, his face was motionless, and his spirit was out. His condition made the doctor worry and make him to stay in the hospital longer.

When he was at the hospital, his nurse took him out to the garden for one hour a day. He was just seating there doing nothing.  He met Yuri there. She was cute girl with happily smile like sunshine in the summer. Her smile was brighter than the sunflower that she stood nearby. She did not do anything like him. She was just seating there and smiled. While he was watching other parents dotting their sick children with empty mind, the thought of a girl seating alone and still smiling happily bugged him. He got irritated just seeing her smile. He moved the wheelchair closer to her. He took some leaves on the ground and threw them to her face. He said,

“ Stop that stupid smile. There is nothing in this world for an airhead and stupid girl like you to smile like that. You will find someday that this world is just stupid darkness with fake hope. You will cry sadly if you just keep that stupid smile right now when horrible thing comes and gets your hope away.”

The girl did not get revolt by his action. She took away the leaves from her head. She said softly to him,

“ I know that this world is not a happy place, but you can have some fault hope. It will keep the world easier to live in. You only get your leg injured and you sound like the world come to the end. It was unfair for the world , don’t you agree?”

The boy fought back with spiteful words.

“ what do you know about me? My dream to become a soccer player was broken because of this stupid leg. No dream, no hope, do you know how it feel like? A stupid girl like you just seating here and try to teach me a life. This is just hateful and irritated.”

The girls said with strong and determined voice,

“ At least you still be alive. Your family can still see you every day. If you lose one dream, it is the chance for you to find many other more wonderful dreams. If you are dead, it will be the end for everything. You think I smile because I am happy. No, I smile because I hate to let other people know that I am unhappy. I do not want my parents to worry about me. Do you know how much time and effort to put on the smile like this? Do you know how painful it is to see your mom dying in this hospital? My mom gets cancer and there is nothing we can do to save her. Putting a fake smile and having fake hope is not wrong. It is just you who is consumed by hate and selfish thought wrong to face with your problem.”

The boy did not understand reason at the time. He felt much lighter now because he knew that someone suffered more than him. He calmed down and got away from her. The next day, he came to her first and said,

“You can put away your fake smile because your parents are not here. Do you have to come here every day to see your mother?”

Then, the girl told him everything about her mother, and they became chatting friend for this one hour. The doctor saw that his condition was better, so Kris had to say farewell with his friend. He even invited her to visit him sometime. However, time passed, but she did not come for a visit at all.

Later, kris learned that her parents died in a car accident few days after he left the hospital. Then, Yuri had to be sent to an orphan house because she did not have any relatives left. Her life was hard, and it is not strange that she was totally changed when he saw her after long period of separating. It might be that he pities her, so he tries to help her as much as possible.