A few days had passed by; all the villagers continued to lead their days as they normally would – harvesting ripe crops and gathering them into batches to be sold and shared, collecting tea leaves from the hills and creating extracts and powders, crushing herbs and flowers to produce natural medicinal drinks, coating houses with another layer of wet mud for stability, and playing with rocks and pebbles.

“Seungkwan-oppa…”, Heejin cried out with a whimper.

“Oh! Heejin-ah, oh dear, show me your hand!” Seungkwan carefully inspected the little girl’s hand, before carrying her into his house. He let her sit by his grandmother.

“Hello, halmeoni.” Heejin whispered and stared innocently at the weakened lady. Hearing no response from the woman, she turned to look at Seungkwan instead.

“Alright, there you go.” Seungkwan wrapped a piece of clean fabric around the wound on Heejin’s finger. “Go home, get some rest, and don’t play for the rest of today, okay? My lovely little sister needs to grow up strong and healthy! Now, go back home to your mom, okay?”

He watched as the little girl waved him goodbye and skipped all the way to the house a few metres away from his. Then he slowly turned towards his grandmother: “Halmeoni, a-are you awake? Shall I make you some tea?”

He waited, seeing his grandmother gradually stir awake. However, he panicked as the other let out a painful cough. “Halmeoni!” He approached her and patted her back, his other hand ready with some water.

His grandmother forced a smile. “Ah, Kwan-ah, you worry too much… I am fine, I am very fine. Now, go make me some t-tea and I’ll sing you a-” She coughed again, her hands pressing tightly against her chest, her face contorting in pain.

“H-Halmeoni, I really think we should take you to a doctor, or at least call a doctor here to help you… Please…”, Seungkwan said with high hopes as he prepared the tea, but he knew his grandmother wouldn’t want a doctor around her.

His grandmother, after what seemed like an eternity, rose from the fragile mattress; she quietly leaned against the wall, her breaths uneven and slow. She didn’t want her grandson to see her standing – she knew she had to be in bed.

“Kwan! The boy’s here again!” Mingyu appeared by the door, a heavy basket in his arms as usual. “Seungkwan, are you listening? A-And, halmeoni, please do not stand up!”

At that, Seungkwan was alarmed; he turned around and quickly sat his grandmother down on the mattress, holding her hands and not letting go. “Halmeoni! You s-shouldn’t stand up, please!”

Mingyu watched closely and couldn’t help but lean against the wall, the weight of the basket far too much to handle, but he didn’t want to keep the basket down either. “Seungkwan, I’ll take this basket to the store and return in twenty minutes or so. Go and see what the boy wants, and I’ll take care of halmeoni, okay?”

Seungkwan nodded and poured some hot tea for his grandmother, handing over the clay mug. “Halmeoni, it’s still very hot. Wait for a few minutes, okay? I will be back, okay?” He kept an eye on her, before leaving the house.

Quickly rushing towards the entrance of the village, he saw the boy – Hansol – leaning against the shiny body of his car after turning off the engine. Approaching him, he lifted his hand to