14: Reunion

“They really really really had their newlywed life to the fullest, until when Yoona reached her 4th month of pregnancy, he had to leave for a conflict country in Middle East.” Taeyeon stopped her story—and I gulped, again. By that time, I already lost count how many times I had gulped since Taeyeon start her story. “He promised her that he would be back in 2-3 weeks and they would wait for their child to be born together.” Taeyeon emphasized ‘together’ as she spoke.

“Yoona waited patiently as she counted the days with happiness. She couldn’t wait for him to be back. But days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, but he never came back.” I gasped in shock. Their story seemed so cliché, but hey! It did happen to Yoona, the love of my life. “3 months of impatience and eagerness to meet him was finally paid. He did come back.

“He did come back to her? Then, why Yoona is single right now? If they love each other that much, Yoona and her ex-husband wouldn’t be divorcing, right?” I asked spontaneously. Taeyeon seemed okay with all my spontaneous questions since the beginning, so I kept asking more question.

“He did come back to her side, but only in a form of ashes.”

And with that, my heart was broken.

“He was in a car accident with fellow journalists. Their jeep fell over from a hill and it exploded instantly.” Taeyeon shook her head in sadness. That showed me how sad she was when Yoona’s (deceased) husband passed away—and it also showed me that Taeyeon and Yoona’s deceased husband had a great friendship.

“So, Yoona’s husband passed away in the middle of his trip? Then, what happened with her and their baby?”

Taeyeon looked sadder this time. I wondered how close Yoona and Taeyeon are. Because as I heard Taeyeon’s story about Yoona’s past, I also could see Taeyeon’s (genuine and honest) sadness. She didn’t look faking it at all.

“As a mere woman, she was crumbled into pieces—if it wasn’t for their baby, I'm really sure Yoona would definitely try for suicide. That could tell how much she loved him.”

“Then, what happened next?”

“In the last 2 months of her pregnancy, everyone took turn to accompany her, to cheer her up, to make her smile, to make her eat. We knew if we didn’t do that, Yoona wouldn’t bother to eat. She was that broken, to the point where she didn’t care about anyone and anything—not even their baby.”

“But… their baby made it, right?”

Taeyeon nodded her head. “Yeah, their baby was born into this world. Their baby was a carbon copy of him except for his nose and lips which look like hers.” Taeyeon smiled at the thought of Yoona’s son. She must thought about Yoona’s son.

“Where is her son right now? I’m ing sure that Yoona won't abandon her child. She’s too loving and caring to do that.”

“Have you ever heard about SIDS, Seunghyun?"

“SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” Taeyeon explained slowly. She said each words in sadness, with a momentarily pause for every word said. “Their son passed away due to SIDS when he was 3 months old. It was such tragic and sad phase for Im Yoona.”

 “I… I…” I was literally speechless and I immediately started thinking—about Yoona, about her past, about how she had feel at the past, about how cruel God was to give her such tragic fate for her, “How could it happen to her and her baby?”

“Until today, no one knows why Yoona’s son—she named him Yoogeun, by the way—passed away. SIDS is a strange, yet scaring and dangerous syndrome. That time, I even couldn’t hold back my tears—there were a lot of people who couldn’t too. We had never seen her that sad, that crushed, that broken. She already lost her husband in a car accident—she even couldn’t even hold a proper funeral for him!—and when she had her deceased’s husband remain on earth in form of her son, their son had to passed away because of SIDS. It was too… sad.”

Tears prickled on Taeyeon’s eyes. Uh oh. This was getting emotional for both of us.

Yes, despite my (somehow tend to be) flat reaction, I know I was getting sad over the story of Yoona and her deceased husband and son. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I stand on Yoona’s shoes and I didn’t like it at all.

It ing hurts to stand in her shoes.

“I hope you understand why she reacts this way about you and your unborn kid, also with your ex-fiancée. She has bad memories about pregnancy and death. She didn’t want another innocent child to be born into this world without a father. She also didn’t want another woman to stand in her shoes back then—pregnant with no husband or partner to support you during the pregnancy.”

“But she decided this by herself, Taeyeon…” I said. I tried to think about Taeyeon’s words, but I couldn’t admit the fact that Yoona thought about Bom and my unborn child more than she thought of me. If she thought about me, at least she would discuss it with me! “She left me with no explanation. How I should treat her? What I should say to her? What should I do?”

“That’s yours to be figured out. You need to approach her and talk to her.”

“How can I do that, Taeyeon? She refused to see me and when I approached her, she simply ran away. She ignored my text and my call. I tried to give her a message through another nurse, but she didn’t respond. What should I do to at least meet her? I want our relationship working out, somehow, despite this ty situation around us.”

Taeyeon’s lips formed a smile. “Let me help you with that.”

xxx

“What are we going to do there, unnies? I know you finished your shift already and I also finished mine.” Yoona walked through an aisle with Taeyeon and Yuri next to her. They finished their respective shifts already and they should heading home, not heading toward rehabilitation room with her.

For Yoona, though, she always stays at the rehabilitation room after her shift, either for accompanying Seunghyun with his therapy or just to sit and think.

“I need to take something I left in the rehabilitation room.” Yuri tried to say the rehearsed sentence plainly. Taeyeon had told her about her plan about set Yoona and Seunghyun to meet up and she would support Taeyeon’s idea by all means. She was tired of seeing Yoona and Seunghyun so broken.

“I need to prepare something for Joowon-ssi for his early morning rehab session.” Taeyeon said as she walked next to Yoona. They three walked to the rehabilitation room and Yoona pushed the door open. She stepped in while Yuri and Taeyeon didn’t.

“Why you guys aren't stepping in? You said you need to do something here.”

“It’s because I asked them to do so, Yoona-ah.”

There, Yoona could hear the deep baritone voice she loves, which she avoided for days already.  

“Seunghyun!” Yoona turned her body and saw Seunghyun came into the room in his wheelchair. Taeyeon and Yuri closed the door and only God knows what would they do outside the room (they might lock them in the rehabilitation room or they might eavesdropping their conversation! It really