“Hello?”

As Bomi opened her eyes, she saw a woman in white uniform in front of her. It was a nurse on duty. “Ah? Hello….” Bomi greeted her in a half-asleep voice.

“You guys are the family of last night’s victims, right?”

“Yes. We are. Why? Is something happened to our maknae?” Bomi asked and stood up instantly. She was completely wide awake.

“No. That’s not it. I came by to switch off the lamps and saw you guys sleeping, so I thought I should wake you guys up. It’s 7.00 in the morning.”

“Oh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Bomi said repeatedly and bowed.

After the nurse left, Bomi sat down and exhaled heavily. She felt relieved that nothing bad happened to Hayoung. She looked at her sisters. Namjoo and Naeun slept on the bench in front of her. Their bodies were on the bench while their legs were hanging down. Eunji was sleeping on the floor with her thin jacket acting as a mattress and backpack as a pillow. Chorong curled her short body and slept soundly as a result of tiredness on the bench. Bomi had no idea how she was able to sleep last night considering how uncomfortable it was. She did not remember when or how she fell asleep. She took out her wallet and head to the vending machines near them and bought some coffees and energy bars. Then, she woke her sisters up and gave each of them a cup of warm coffee and the chocolate.

“Let’s all go home and wash ourselves quickly.” Chorong said as she threw away her empty cup. “We come back here in one hour, is that okay?”

Her dongsaengs nodded and hurriedly finished their light breakfasts.

…………………………………

(BACK AT THE HOSPITAL)

Their uncles and aunties were already at the lobby when they arrived. They greeted one another and had a talk regarding their family members’ funeral and what not.

Uncle Gak tapped on Chorong’s shoulder. “I’ve met with Hayoung’s doctor. He told me about your sister’s condition and I guess you already about it too, right?” He looked deep into her niece’s eyes.

“I know.” Chorong looked away.  “I went to see him last night after I ran from you.”

“So you still think that you can take of her?”

“Uncle, please. Let’s not talk about this again. I’m still on my stance.” The girl looked annoyed.

The rest of her dongsaengs and their relatives could not understand the content of their conversation.

Bomi, Eunji, Naeun, and Namjoo knew there was something that Chorong did not tell them yet.

Namjoo became too curious about the matter and could not help herself from interrupting the elders. “What happened with our Hayoungie?”

Chorong stayed silent.

“You didn’t tell them?” Uncle Gak asked.

Chorong shook her head, looking guilty.

“Unnie… What is it?” Eunji spoke.

Chorong sighed and asked permission from her eldest uncle to excuse her and her sisters to have a private talk.

The girls followed their unnie to the hospital’s garden. When they arrived at a big shady tree, Chorong asked them to sit down. The oldest girl took a deep breath before resting her back against the tree. Her sisters looked scared, anxious, and worried as they began to speculate variety of possible reasons regarding Hayoung’s condition.

“Unnie, whatever it is, just tell us.” Eunji said as she became impatient to hear it from Chorong.

Chorong rubbed her face. “Sorry.” Once again, she took a deep breath. “Okay… so…” she paused each time she tried to mutter a word.

Bomi held her unnie’s hand to give the older girl some strength.

Chorong looked at her dongsaeng and thanked the kid with her eyes. She looked into a distance and began to talk again. “Hayoung might not be able to walk normally after this. The impact from the car crashed took a toll on her lower body. The doctor said that her legs can’t function properly. She might need to use wheelchair.” Her eyes started to leak tears.

The girls gasped and looked at each other. Naeun cried, she hugged Eunji who was also bawled her eyes out. Namjoo hid her wet face in Chorong’s lap. Bomi looked up to the sky to hold her tears from falling out, although she failed eventually.

“Is it……………. per... manent….ly?” Eunji asked in a strangled voice.

Chorong wiped her tears and patted on Namjoo’s back. “The doctor said, they need to wait for her to wake up first in order to conduct a further diagnosis.”

At that moment, Naeun’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and showed it to Chorong. “Unnie, it’s Uncle Gak.”

Chorong grabbed the phone and answered it. “I get it. We’ll be there now.” She hung up and gave it back to Naeun. “Kids, Hayoung’s awake. Let’s go!”

…………………………………

The four sisters were allowed to enter Hayoung’s ward in the ICU. Upon entering, they could not help themselves but to shed tears when they saw tubes and bandages all over Hayoung’s body. Their maknae looked unrecognizable at the first sight with her swollen cheeks and blue-black bruises on her face. On top of that, she was wearing an oxygen mask to support her respiratory system.

Eunji quickly went over to her side and held her maknae’s hand carefully. Her heart dropped deep down looking at the poor girl lying tiredly on the bed. Chorong went to the other side and caressed Hayoung’s head real soft not to hurt the girl. Bomi tailed behind her twin, Eunji and stared at Hayoung, her eyes still filled with liquids. Naeun stand at the edge of the bed, she wanted to get closer but afraid that Hayoung might felt stuffy.

Namjoo on the contrary was not allowed to enter the room as she was still underage. She and some of her uncles and aunts were watching from behind a big glass window next to Hayoung’s bed. Namjoo felt very sad and angry that she was not permitted to be there with her sisters.

Back in the room, Chorong and the girls were staring silently at Hayoung. They had no idea what to say. Thus, they just waited for Hayoung to break the ice.

Hayoung’s eyes were opened but it did not shine like it usually does. It seemed so dark and filled with fears. Hayoung moved her eyeballs slowly and met Chorong’s eyes. Chorong returned her maknae’s favour. “Unnie…” Hayoung began to talk. Her voice sounded hoarse and muffled too due to the oxygen mask on her face. “Yes?” Chorong moved her ears closer to the kid’s mouth to listen to her better. “Omma… Appa… Yookyung Unnie…” The little girl uttered softly.

Chorong froze in her bending position. “This is the moment,” she thought. Chorong already knew that sooner or later Hayoung would eventually ask about their parents and Yookyung. But she never thought that the moment will come this fast. She had a mental breakdown for a few seconds before raising back her head and turned towards the glass window. She looked at her oldest aunt. The woman, however avoid her eye contact as if she knew what Chorong was trying to tell her. Yet, she seemed like she did not want to be responsible to what might come afterwards. Chorong gulped, nervously. She stared at her sisters one by one, and each one of them nodded, giving approval to Chorong to reveal it to Hayoung because in the end of the day Hayoung would have to know it anyway.

Bomi, Eunji, and Naeun fixed their gaze on the floor. Namjoo focused her view towards Hayoung and Chorong, she could hear her unnies’ voice but not Hayoung. Everyone from behind the glass window stayed silent to respect them.

“Unnie. Where did they place them?” Hayoung asked again. This time she felt uncomfortable. Somewhere in her head, she had a hunch of what had happened to her parents and unnie. She prayed that she was wrong and nothing bad happened. “Unnie… I want Mom,” she said. Her demand made the girls in the ward started to leak tears.

How they hoped that they could grant their maknae’s wish.

“Hayoung-ah…” Chorong moved some strand of Hayoung’s hair from her face while trying to be braved for everyone.  “They’re,” she exhaled in between her words, “in good place now.” Chorong looked up. It was not easy for her to muster up courage to deliver the painful news to her sick maknae. She thought by revealing the news, a weight will be off of her shoulder but it remained.

The youngest girl went speechless. She had expected it and prepared for it. Nevertheless, it was easier to be said than done, or in this case, thought than done. Ultimately, Hayoung’s tears flowed out.

Chorong touched her lips against Hayoung’s forehead as she had nothing to say. She wanted to hug the girl tightly but Hayoung’s condition did not allow her to do so. She wiped Hayoung’s tears with her fingers while her own tears were rolling non-stop.

Bomi hugged Eunji and cried on her shoulder. They both kept on each other’s back. Eunji pulled Naeun in and did the same thing to her dongsaeng.

Namjoo and their relatives outside were crying as well. Namjoo could not take it any longer. Her legs gave in. Her aunts calmed her down.

“Why am I still alive?” Hayoung asked herself out loud, enough for her sisters in the room to hear it.

“Hey, what are you talking about? Don’t be like this…” Chorong tried to reason with her. She knew that Hayoung did not intend to say so. Hayoung was probably still trying to comprehend everything; she thought.

Hayoung continued to cry until her doctor came in and injected her with sedative drug. The maknae fell asleep. Chorong and the girls were asked to step outside so that Hayoung can rest.

………………………………………

In the evening, their uncles and aunts brought them to the hospital’s garden to eat together. The elders knew that their nieces were worn out and probably hungry too. As far as they concerned, the girls have not had a proper meal since last night. They packed a lot of homemade foods for the girls. The five sisters ate silently. Chorong and her sisters were thankful towards their elders despite having disagreement about their maknaes’ custody issue.

After the girls finished eating, the elders excused themselves as their presences were not needed at the time being. Chorong quickly went back to watch over Hayoung. Bomi and Eunji followed her.

Meanwhile, Namjoo and Naeun were told to stay and rest in car by their sisters as Namjoo could not enter the ward, anyway and they did not want her to be alone, so Naeun volunteered to take care of Namjoo. The two girls took one row each and slept. Luckily their car was big enough to be a comfort to them.

Back in the ICU’s ward, there were only two chairs provided. Bomi and Chorong sat on the chairs. Eunji sat on the floor, leaning her back against the wall. She did not mind about the seat, all she wanted was for everything to pass speedily like an arrow released from a bow. She believed that they will be able to overcome this situation and time will heal everything as long as they have each other.

Half an hour passed by. Hayoung slowly began to move her fingers, meaning that the sedative had gradually lost its effect. She had no longer worn the oxygen mask as she can breathe normally on her own. The older girls waited patiently for her to regain consciousness. Hayoung blinked a few times and asked for water. Chorong poured some water into a cup. S