Chapter 04

Everyone in the hospital room was stunned by Jessica’s words, even the doctor himself, and especially Yuri. She stood there looking at Jessica’s eyes while her own eyes began to fill up with tears. She had been worried since she heard of the accident news, and this was the last thing she had in mind. She was lost, confused as to why Jessica would say such a thing about her. Unknowingly she began walking towards the bed.

“But…Jessica, Yuri is your best friend.” Jessica’s mother said, oblivious to their true relationship.

However, as Yuri stepped closer, Jessica began to rile up. She scooted back towards the edge of her bed, trying to stay as far away from the girl who had been gazing at her the whole time. She did not know entirely why she hated the girl, but that was the first immediate thought that came to her mind upon seeing Yuri’s face.

“Please stay away from me!” she yelped and closed her eyes, acting almost frightened by the approach.

Yuri stopped immediately. She had never seen Jessica like that before. Her girlfriend was always, for a lack of a better word, a biatch, and not helpless and scared like how she was then. Yuri could see that the girl in front of her right then was not the girlfriend she knew and loved. She backed away and eventually made her way out of the hospital room. Then down the same empty hallway, she collapsed on a bench.

She did not know what to make of the current situation. When the doctor announced that Jessica was going to be fine, Yuri was relieved. She was delighted by the fact that she did not have to keep watching Jessica being unconscious on her bed anymore. That day, Yuri went into the hospital room filled with excitement to be able to talk to her girlfriend again after the traumatic incident occurred. However, she left the room that day with a broken heart.

She was at lost as to why Jessica would say such a thing to her. She understood that her girlfriend might have had amnesia but did not know why she was deemed as someone Jessica hated. Is it because of the misunderstanding with Hara? Yuri asked herself then buried her face into her hands.

Just then, the door of the hospital room began to open. Jessica’s parents, Krystal, Jasmine were seen exciting the room; their faces did not look entirely happy. As they walked down the hallway towards the elevator of the hospital, Yuri stood up and waited for them to approach her.

“Omoni. Ahjushi,” Yuri greeted.

Jessica’s mother looked up to Yuri’s face; her face showed much guilt. “Yuri-ah,” she called. “The doctor said there might be a section of her brain where blood is clogging up and it’s affecting her memory for the time being.”

“Will she be okay?”

“He said her physical health is not to be worried about. She just needs time for the blood to dissipate in her brain, if it ever...”

“I understand...”

“And I’m sorry to have to say this to you, but we would like you to...to let her be for the time being.” The woman placed her hand on Yuri’s shoulder, hoping the girl could see their reason. “You saw how she reacted in there. We believe it’s best for her and for you if you can give her some time to adjust.”

Yuri was out of words. She did not expect such a request from the family of her girlfriend, but she understood. She remembered the frightened, scared expression on Jessica’s face as she approached her last time, and it pained her knowing that she had caused it.

“Yes omoni. I understand.” She nodded, affirming her agreement to the request.

“Thank you, Yuri-ah.”

*****

When Yuri came home that night, she was surprised as to how bright her apartment was. She had not been back so “early” to her apartment for weeks since Jessica was in the coma, she usually only came back to shower for work. Yuri approached the apartment with caution, her right hand firmly gripped on the umbrella she was carrying, in case if she needed to use it against someone, while her other hand opened the door.

When the inside of her home can be seen, she saw a figure of a small, skinny female in the kitchen. Even with just the sight of her back, Yuri knew who the female was and began to question the female’s purpose in her apartment.

“Hara?”

The girl turned around and met the sight of the owner of the apartment at the door. She, too, was surprised that Yuri was there at the time. Regardless, a bright smile appeared across her face, and she quickly ran towards the older, taller girl.

“Yuri unnie!” Hara yelled in excitement. Just when she was about to hug the unnie she had missed for weeks, she refrained herself as she stared at her hands. They were drenched wet. “Ah…sorry, my hands.”

“What are you doing here at such time?”

“Um,” she paused and glanced at her hands. “Dishes?”

“What the…why?”

“Babo unnie-ya,” Hara said. “Who do you think cleaned your house for the past few weeks?”

That was when it hit Yuri. She never questioned the fact that her house remained clean even without her being home to clean it. For weeks, she never washed the dishes that she ate at breakfast time, never did her laundry, and never took out the trash. She’d been too occupied with her work and Jessica that she did not even pay attention to details like such.

“Awwww. Such a cute little dongsaeng I have!” She threw her hand around the smaller girl and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Unnie my hands!” The little girl cried and tried to push Yuri out, but she failed. Eventually she simply just enjoyed the warmth that she was receiving from the girl she had been madly in love with for years.

When Yuri finally let go of the hug, she noticed the bottom of her shirt was wet. She stared down at it then back to Hara’s guilty face.

“I told you my hands were wet from washing dishes!” The young girl quickly defended herself and put forward her most innocent face by pouting.

“Oh yeah?” Yuri smirked as an idea came to her mind. She quickly dragged Hara back into the kitchen, then towards the sink.

“Oh…no no no. Don’t!” pleaded the young girl as she tried to break free from Yuri’s grip.

Yuri grinned evilly then within seconds, Hara’s entire shirt was drenched. The playful unnie had splashed a decent amount of water from a bowl in the sink that Hara was tending to earlier. Seeing as Hara was getting frustrated, she quickly dashed away.

“UNNIE! I’m going to get you back!”

“Oh wow, Hara! I never noticed you have such a nice body!” the unnie continued to tease as she was being chased around the apartment.

“Unnie!”

“It’s late! Stop chasing me and go home!”

“Okay fine,” Hara gave in and stopped chasing the taller girl. “You finish doing the dishes then.”

“I will, I will. Don’t worry about it.” Yuri began to walk her dongsaeng to the door. “Goodnight little Hara,”

“Goodnight unnie,” responded the young girl as she stepped outside of the apartment. But just when she was about to march back to her own apartment down the hall, Yuri’s voice caught her attention again.

“Hara,” Yuri called. She became emotional again after being reminded of Jessica in her mind, and her face showed it. She looked at Hara, and her eyes sparkled as water started to form inside them. “Thank you, for everything.”

Although the girl did not know of the exact details of why Yuri suddenly became like that, she had an idea that it must have been Jessica. Her heart ached just seeing Yuri like that and knowing that she couldn’t do anything to help. She immediately ran back and hugged the person she cared most about. She buried herself in Yuri’s arms hoping that she could offer some sort of comfort somehow.

She wanted to tell her unnie then…that she loved her, not as simple as an unnie but as something else, something even more intimate. But she couldn’t. She knew how much the older girl loved the other girl and that was not the appropriate time to express her feelings. So instead, she held back her feelings and lied.

“I love you, unnie. You are like the older sister I never had. So if you need anything, just let me know. Okay?”

Yuri chuckled, oblivious to Hara’s true love for her, because in her eyes Hara was always the little dongsaeng that was completely innocent and untainted by the miseries that love could bring. “I know. And thank you for that.”

As they slowly released the hug, the older girl once again noticed her drenched shirt. She squinted her eyes and glared at the younger girl.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

Hara smiled, stuck her tongue out, and then ran back to her apartment in one breath. Yuri stood and watched as she shook her head at the sight of her adorable dongsaeng. After standing there for a while, she walked back into the apartment and closed the door.

Finally, the wave of fatigue hit her and directed her into her bedroom, the place she had been spending only an hour every day for the mere purpose of getting ready for the past few weeks. She chuckled at her drenched shirt before she took it off to change into more comfortable clothes.

Before jumping into bed, she promised herself not to think of Jessica anymore that night so she could finally rest without worries. But as soon as she settled in, images of her girlfriend’s terrified face from earlier in the day filled her mind and haunted her. She never thought of scaring Jessica or even hurting her for that matter, but when Yuri witnessed those frightened eyes, it left needle in her heart.

She stayed up that night rolling back and forth on her bed to rid of those heart wrenching pictures in her mind. Eventually, her worn out body took control and put her to sleep till the next morning.

*****

Since she was asked to leave Jessica alone for an undetermined amount of time, Yuri decided to spend time with Hara for the next couple of days, much to the young girl’s delight. However, while Yuri is giving Jessica time to adjust to having amnesia, a third party with hidden motives took advantage of the situation.

“Hi. How are you feeling today, Miss Jung?” asked a young man in white coats. He obtained Jessica’s information clipboard from a box next to the door and began to step closer towards the bed. He studied the pieces of paper attached to the board, then looked at the patient. “Your health seems to be recovering just fine, I see. How about your memory? Any flashes?”

“Um…I’m sorry but who are you?” the blond girl questioned. “I’m pretty sure my doctor is Doctor Lee.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot to formally introduce myself. My name is Kim Young-min. You can call me Doctor Kim or just Young-min since I’m technically not a real doctor yet. I am currently an intern here,” the man in the white coat presented. He looked very tall for an Asian male, and very young. “Since your health condition is stable enough, Doctor Lee has ordered me to look over you for the time being.”

“I see…” Jessica responded reluctantly, still not completely comfortable with the idea of having a new doctor all the sudden. There were already too many “new” things for her to adjust to already.

“So_”

Suddenly, the door to the hospital room opened and interrupted the intern. Both Jessica and the man looked towards the door to see who the incoming visitor was. As it turned out, it was no one other than the cousin, Jasmine.

“I see you have company, I will check in on you again in the evening. Please rest well.” The intern placed the information clipboard back into its original place then stepped out of the room after bidding his farewell to Jessica and the female entering the room.

“Hey…Jessica,” Jasmine greeted. “In case you have forgotten, I’m your cousin.”

“I remember…”

“Really?!” Her face seemed shocked.

“From yesterday’s visit, yes.”

“Oh…” She smiled hesitantly. “Well you have plenty of time to remember.”

“Where’s…mom…dad…and Krystal?” Jessica asked although it felt awkward for her to call the two people she had just met as her parents.

“They will come later,” Jasmine answered. She stepped closer to the bed and sat down in a chair. “I came early because I wanted to talk to you about something…someone.”

“What? Who?”

“Yuri.”

“The girl that I supposedly hate?”

“Don’t you want to know why you hate her?”

“I suppose…”

“She cheated on you.”

“What? What do you mean she cheated on me?” Jessica became even more curious. “You mean like stabbing me in the back as a friend?”

“No,” Jasmine paused. “You guys were…a couple. And she cheated on you with a girl that lives in the same apartment complex.”

“You mean…I’m gay?” Jessica jumped up from her lying position. She stared at Jasmine for more answers.

“You can put it that way,” the cousin answered. “You loved her dearly and you guys were supposedly a very happy couple. But,” she paused again, leaving Jessica at the tip of the bed, anxious to know more. “That day, when you found out that she had cheated on you, you drove recklessly and got into the car accident that left you in this state.”

Jessica was blown away. She woke up a couple of days ago not even knowing her own name, and now she had to face with the most dramatic thing she’d heard of as being part of the life that she apparently had. She could not believe what Jasmine said.

“You only remember that you hate her because that was the last thought on your mind before the accident!”

“Are you sure there was no misunderstanding? I mean if I loved her, there must be something about her character.” Jessica tried to reason the story logically, hoping that it was all just a horrible misfortunate turn of events, unknowing that the true story was in fact as she hoped.

“No. You were sure of it. You told me you witnessed them in bed together.”

“But how do you know this?”

“Jessica, I’m your best friend. I was the last person you called that day before the accident.”

“It can’t be…”

“But it is the truth.”