TWENTY

The building’s towering high. White, the softest color that dominating it didn’t hold down people’s fear even from a brief glance at it. Its yard was earsplitting with sounds from every single car, carrying injured human there.

Excruciating sights weren’t that rare. There were only two possibilities for them who went to this building, leaving in joy and ecstasy or a lifeless body.

A woman stepped toward the main entrance, then a glass door opened automatically, showing a busy crowd there. On her left, Emergency Room was written and bunch of people just kept running around unstoppably.

Looks like there’s an accident.

She murmured to herself.

She went forward without wanting to stop. Nonetheless, her gorgeous face was a reason for people to halt and took their time admiring the gift. Not only men, women also got swayed by her beauty. Her charming smile never died out to anyone she passed by. Even when they were just gawking or nodding their heads, that smile of hers never failed to flatter.

She trailed down the building looking for an elevator that’s already familiar to her, which would take her to a floor of the person she last saw still lying on bed in one of the rooms here. Her slender finger pressed a button.

In the last ding the beautiful woman had arrived. Just a slight turn to her right, the room she was looking for came to view.

903.

She gave three knocks on its door before turning the handle and stepping inside.

That room wasn’t entirely quiet. Flowers the owner of this room liked dominating all space. No wonder the fragrance of roses was more distinct than the smell of drugs itself. A machine kept beeping, informing everything that happened to a body lying stiffly in the center there.

The beautiful woman caught a figure of girl much younger than her, sleeping next to the bed while holding one hand of that sleeping girl’s. Her lips were stretched into a smile. Even with just one look, anyone could tell the young girl’s eyes were dripping honeys for that motionless girl whose hand she held.

Then that woman silently laid bucket of roses she bought on a table. Nonetheless her movement wasn’t as smooth as she thought would be as that young girl shifted slightly and fluttered her eyes open.

Drowsiness which clearly engraved on her face’s quickly gone as she saw who’s the intruder.

“Irene!”

Yeri greeted her kindly, nearly jumped out from her seat and picked up the flower Irene brought.

“Hi.” Irene greeted her back friendly.

She saw Yeri busy un-bucketing the roses one by one and putting them together with other flowers in one vase. Once satisfied, she blew on and caressed those flowers, for them to give that motionless girl luck of strength.

“If people who come visit you keep bringing these roses, when you wake up you can already start your own florist.” Yeri joked at the sleeping girl, “...I mean, look at this room!” with that, she burst into laugh.

Irene who heard that also laugh.

As the laughter subsided, Irene asked Yeri about her condition, like what she always did.

“How is she today?”

Yeri glanced at her before turning back to Joy who’s still staying weakly there.

“Same old thing, but her hands are getting responsive. It's just that she still can’t open her eyes yet.” Yeri sighed. “Doctor said it’s still considerably normal to think that she was in critical state for the loss of blood. So all we can do is to wait.”

Irene noticed how every word that came out of buried a pinch of grief. Though Irene knew the younger didn’t want to show it, but what kind of person could forever hide the feelings hidden inside?

That’s why she tried to give Yeri strength. That’s why she touched the young girl's shoulder, it gently while encouraging her,

“She is one if not the strongest and most courageous girl I’ve ever met, she could past through everything. We just need to be patient. So please, be patient.”

Irene's gentle voice was able to reach and seep into her heart.

So Yeri squeezed the hand on her shoulder, to let Irene know that she understood. Just like what Irene said, she just need to be patient.

Irene looked at all over the room. It felt a bit peaceful this time without the other two who usually took care of Joy,

“Where's her Da-da?”

Irene asked. Amuse clearly visible on her face as she uttered that word. And it seemed that Yeri also found it funny as she miserably failed to hold back her laughter and went hysteric after that.

Joy's nickname for her father got exposed when a fierce-looking Mr. Park trying to baby-talking her daughter like what he did when Joy’s still a child. Irene sometimes couldn’t comprehend what’s inside that middle-aged man's mind. When people would usually buy a basket of fruits to visit the sick, that uncle bought his daughter a sack of candies and ice cream instead.

His reason was Joy who had sweet tooth, so his weird mind thought it could stimulate her hunger then she’d eventually wake up.

Even the nurses had tried to stop him. But turned out Mr. Park wasn’t alone as Wendy also cheered on his irrational theory and helped him sneak food to stimulate Joy's appetite.

“They're out for bread.” Yeri told her.

“Don’t tell me they're plotting another stupid thing again.”

“Yeah, say that to the marines.” Yeri chuckled. Since it’s obvious once Wendy and Mr. Park were back, snacks and jellies for sure would fill the whole room. “We’ll just leave it to the nurses to scold them later.”

Shortly after Yeri said that, without cue or even a knock on door, it flew open revealing a cute hamster-like girl carrying a sack of snacks followed closed by an old man who also brought candies and ice cream.

“We're back!” In her loud voice the hamster girl greeted her best friend cheerfully, “Sooyoung-ah, look what we bought you~” she placed the snacks on a bedside table near Joy and ripped off one of them before eating it herself.

“Are you sure that those are for Joy?” Yeri asked in surprise,

“Yeah, but she doesn’t like this one. So I can have it.” Wendy answered it nonchalantly. “And I’m eating this to help stimulating her too.”

“How is that helping her?” Yeri shook her head for a strange reasoning this duo in front of her always had.

“It’s stimulating her anger, she hated my loud chew. Take it easy, it’ll work.” She replied casually.

Yeri had opened and closed several times to refute it but she knew it’d be pointless to have a debate with Wendy’s kinds as her opponents. It’d take a year worth of energy to guess what was on Wendy's mind and it’d only cause her migraine.

On the other hand, Mr. Park headed straight to his daughter, to talk and tell Joy his story of the day, “How's Dada's girl? Did you miss me?” While waving them candies he said Joy’d love

Irene who witnessed that could not hold her laughter. She laughed out loud making Wendy realized that there was someone else other than Yeri and Joy in this room.

The Canadian's face turned cold for seeing Irene's presence there.

At first, right after that day, everything went well. But upon learning that Irene was Seulgi's best friend, Wendy's rage rose up high and she immediately turned her back on Irene. And from that moment on she couldn’t stand being on the same place as the –well, she had to admit- beautiful girl.

Wendy did sympathize for Seulgi when that girl was beaten back then, but that did not mean she could easily forget Seulgi's mistake and forgive her. Not that easy when the victim itself still lying unresponsively there.

Opposite to Mr. Park who welcomed Irene's company warmly, Wendy distanced herself to a couch near the door, as far as possible from Irene whose by her presence alone was able to make that stitched wounds cut open again. And Wendy didn’t want the same unpleasant thing repeated for a second time. So when she couldn’t grant Mr. Park’s wish to be civil to Irene every time that girl visited Joy, Wendy would rather avoid direct confrontation with her.

If Wendy was being unfriendly and distancing herself, it wasn’t the case for Irene who’s amused by the hamster girl’s antics. It was funny to her every time Wendy ignored her like she was some kind of disease but a moment later was acting stupid to wake her best friend up. And sometimes her annoyed face made Irene need to hold back a chuckle as Mr. Park would often ask her to accompany Irene out and the girl didn’t dare to refuse.

Like that one time when they walked together in silence and Wendy refused to look at her but then accidentally bumped onto another patient's IV pole, causing that patient and her family to yell at the Canadian in public so right after that, the hamster girl visited their room and gave out all snacks she bought for Joy as kept repeating her sorry’s.

Just like today, when Wendy chose to sit the furthest away from her, she’s already curious of what kind of reactions she’d get from the girl later.

Then again, Irene had to put away her desire for a while as she glanced at the clock and it was time for her to go somewhere else. To visit someone else.

So she bowed to Mr. Park and Yeri, excusing herself.

“But you haven’t been here that long.” Yeri checked her wrist-watch. There hadn’t even been an hour since Irene arrived.

“I’ll stay longer next time, really need to go somewhere else today.”

“To where?” Yeri unconsciously asked

Irene stared at her for a brief moment, hesitant to answer that. She didn’t want to add up the burden after what had happened around them all. But when Irene looked into Yeri's curious eyes, she decided to tell the truth,

“To prison.”

A short answer from Irene made Yeri's breath stuck in throat. Over and over she’d told herself that what she did was right, but Irene's presence made her guilty back to the surface. With that Yeri lowered down her head, apologizing for the umpteenth time.

“I'm really sorry.” She sincerely said.

Irene could see regrets encircling the girl. But not for the sheer lip service, Irene never thought Yeri was guilty. She just wanted to save her closest ones,

“It's okay.” Irene replied, before she continued, in hope to calm the younger girl down, “...I would definitely do the same if I were you.”

With that, Irene smiled. She gave Ye