“So, Woohyun, what do your parents do for a living?” My mom asked him as I pretended to busy myself in the kitchen making bacon fried rice.

I ducked my head out and peered at him. He was sitting easily at the dining table with his fingers laced around a glass of orange juice my mom had gotten him.
“My mom is an engineer, and my dad is the manager of a gym, ma’am!”

My mom made an appreciative sound. “Wow! And what do you plan on doing after high school, Woohyun?”

“Ah, I hope to enter medicine or engineering! I heard that the engineering program at NYU is quite good, so I’m trying to apply there. Does Hana know what she wants to do after school, Mrs. Kim?”

“She’s thinking of either studying law at Harvard or attending university in Sydney. My sister lives there, you see. So she could stay with her! But she hasn’t heard back from the university yet; so we’re not sure." She paused.
Excuse me, for a minute, will you, Woohyunnie? Hana in the kitchen – you must understand.”

The two shared a laugh and I quickly pulled my head back into the kitchen as I realized my mom was coming in to check on me. To be completely truthful with you, I had rarely cooked anything in my life. Sure, ramen and two minute noodles, friend, scrambled and poached eggs, sweet potatoes, small snacks, but nothing…well, not a meal. Nothing to feed another person – I would always spare my mom the agony of trying my cooking by always buying takeout when she was unable to cook. But now I had Woohyun sitting in my house, sipping from my mug, expecting a bowl of fried rice. And I wasn’t really sure how to cook bacon. Did you fry it, or boil it? Did you leave it in the big slice, or mash it up with the meat pounder?

I stared at the thin, pink piece of meat Sure, I could tell you how the chemical processes occurred when it began cooking, but I wasn’t actually sure how to do it. Biting my lip, I guess I needed to swallow my pride and ask my mom for help. As she approached me in the kitchen, with knowing eyes, I knew. I knew that she knew that I had bluffed, and she moved her head to one side, signaling me to step aside, and took up the knife.

“Thanks, mom,” I whispered gratefully.

She gave me another knowing look. “Go keep him company. I’ll work on the rice when I’m done with your father’s soup.” She winked at me. “He seems nice! Where did you meet him?”

I glared at her before moving out to sit with Woohyun at the table.

“So,” he grinned cheesily at me. “How’s the cooking going?”

I frowned. “My mom said she’d rather not drive you to hospital with food poisoning. So she said she would cook it.”

Woohyun had a good laugh at this while I just sat there rather awkwardly and tried not to stare at his beautiful face when he cracked into a smile. When he caught me staring, I swallowed hard and cleared my throat.

“Are you hungry?” I asked him, just as his phone rang.

We both looked down at it. I chuckled at the ringtone, Hyuna’s Bubble Pop, but as soon as I saw his serous expression, it was wiped clean off my face.

“Woohyun? Is everything ok?” I asked quietly, moving to sit next to him and rub his arm. His whole demeanor had frozen; his eyes were wide and his face had gone pale.

“Who is it?”  I asked, looking down at the screen. “The hospital? Omo, Woohyun, I – “

I got up to leave to allow him to take the call but he gripped onto my wrist tightly.

“No. Stay,” he said, swiftly answering it.

“Mom? Yes, I’m free right now. I’m just with Hana.”

There was a long pause. I scanned his face urgently, trying to read his eyes or his expression but there was nothing. It just remained blank.

“Yes, yes, no, okay. Is he okay? Yes, I’ll come right away. See you....in, in fifteen minutes.”

He got up abruptly. “Woohyun?” I asked timidly.

He looked at me with deep eyes. “My brother. He’s awake.”

I was rendered speechless. “Your…?”

He nodded. “He woke from his coma an hour ago. The doctors were performing checkups on him, that’s why my mom called me so late.”
He spoke half to himself, half to me, as if he were also processing this.
“I knew there was a chance he would wake up,” he muttered. “But…the doctors told us it was slim. And I – I just…I can’t.”

He sat there just biting his lip. “My mom wants me there, but I’m not sure I can go. The guilt – the….” His eyes were watery.

“Is everything okay here?” My mom stepped out of the kitchen, apparently hearing the conversation from inside. “Woohyun-sshi?”

“Mom, Woohyun needs to go somewhere now. He’s been called away by his mom. It’s ….very important.” I said abruptly.

I looked at him, urging him to go to the hospital with my eyes. We just stood there, staring at each other for a few moments before he nodded slightly and moved forward to bow to my mom and shake her hand.

“Ma’am, I’m very sorry I can’t stay. It’s a family emergency and I must be going, but thank you for everything, you are very kind.” He said politely to her.

My mom was a bit confused. “Ahh…you’re welcome Woohyunnie. Are you sure everything is okay?” She looked at me, and I shook my head slightly to tell her not to question it further.

“Yes, ma’am. Everything is okay. Is it fine if Hana comes with me? I – I need her.” He looked at me pleadingly. How could I say no to those eyes so full of emotion? I nodded.

“Mom, I’ll call you, okay?” She nodded too. “Don’t be home too – aish, scratch that. Just make sure he is okay, alright?”

I grabbed my wallet, phone and keys and headed out to meet Woohyun outside my house. He was kicked a stone around aimlessly, and for once in his life, he didn’t have something witty or greasy to say to me. No cheesy comment about how he was hotter than the sun, or how you could fry an egg on his head because of his sizzling nature. Nothing. Just silence. We walked to the bus stop in silence. To be honest, it was the first awkward silence I had with him. Before this, we were comfortable in silence. We understood each other and that we were delved into our own thoughts, that we weren’t quiet because we had nothing to say to each other but because we knew that we didn’t need words.

But today? Now? I felt like he was shutting me out. I noticed his arm hanging but his side, and I took a deep breath, plucked my courage and grab held of it. He was shocked, as was I, but he relaxed after a bit and gripped on tighter. I gave it a squeeze, trying to tell him that everything was okay. I tried to tell him in that single squeeze that it was okay to be scared, that it was okay to be afraid of the consequences and that it was okay if he was scared of his brother’s health and wellbeing.

I think he understood. Because he gave me a small and tired smile, and started to swing our hands between us. And the silence was awkward no more.

The bus ride and walk up to his brother’s room was faster than I expected. We almost missed the stop, because both of us were so involved in our own thoughts that we weren’t paying attention to our surroundings and just zoned out.

“Ah! Wait please, ahjussi!” I cried as we scrambled to get our things and get off the bus before it sped off onto the freeway.
He grumbled and groaned but held the door open for us as we rushed off, making silent, laughing noises, gasping for air as we clutched our sides, finally snapping out of our zombie state.

“Hana, thank you so much for coming,” he whispered as we trekked up the path to the reception. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

I squeezed his hand again. “Woohyun, you don’t need to say anything. You don’t even need to thank me, okay?”

We reached the room. Doctors and nurses were bustling in and out, and his mother was sitting outside, her head in her hands. Woohyun took a deep breath and let go of my hand. Stepping forward, he walked and leaned down to match his mother’s head height.

“Omma? I’m here,” he whispered. He grabbed her and it gently. “Is everything okay?”