“Ae Ra?”

Ae Ra woke up groggily, opened her eyes to see a worried Mrs. Kwon hovering above her head. Quickly gaining her composure, Ae Ra sat up from her sleeping form - head laying on the spot next to Jiyong’s body on his bed, silently winced because the wrong position hurt her neck a bit.

“O-oma….” Ae Ra wasn’t used with calling Mrs. Kwon as mom. “You’re here so early?” She tried to stiff her yawn.

“You’re here all night?” Mrs. Kwon patted Ae Ra’s head with a smile. “You must be tired.”

“It’s….alright.” Ae Ra could not help and yawned for real. “Ah, oma, I saw Jiyong last night again.” She said quickly as if feared that she would forget that important thing again.

“Really? Is he here now?” Mrs. Kwon beamed. “How is my boy? You scared me yesterday.”

Ae Ra smiled, looking at Jiyong’s body. “He didn’t know what happened too.” She thought about what Jiyong told her last night. “It was like he was really unconscious when that happened too, and next think he knew, he found himself standing next to his body in the room.” Ae Ra glanced at the empty space opposite her, where Jiyong was standing and smiling at her.

Ae Ra blushed and turned back to Mrs. Kwon.

Mrs. Kwon took Jiyong’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “Take care of yourself alright? And come back soon to us. We’ve missed you so much.” She said with an emotional sob.

Ae Ra tentatively rubbed her palm against Jiyong’s back to calm her down, glancing at Jiyong helplessly. “Mom will be fine, she’s just emotional.” Jiyong assured.

Suddenly Mrs. Kwon snapped her head up. “Jiyong?” She looked back to where she was holding him. “I think he just moved his fingers?” She snapped her head to Ae Ra.

“Yeah I am trying.” Jiyong said while beaming. “I started to feel a bit, even it’s very tiny, I start to feel something when people took my hands.”

Ae Ra quickly repeated that to Mrs. Kwon, which made her nearly bursted into tears. “My boy is getting better.” She said once again being so emotional. “I need to get Dr. Jung to check him up.” And with that, she left the room hurriedly.

Without thinking, Ae Ra grabbed Jiyong’s hand and squeezed it. “Jiyong?” She asked, looking from his body to the Jiyong standing opposite to her.

There was a sound, and his heart rate got moving up a little. “Wow…..” Jiyong said amusedly, looking intently at the machine showing numbers of his health. “You made my heart flutter.” He turned back and grinned bashfully at her.

“How are you feeling?” Ae Ra asked worriedly, ignored the tease Jiyong was playing. His improvement was more important than anything else in this world at that moment. “Do you feel like…..wake up anytime soon?”

“I don’t know.” Jiyong shrugged. “I feel normal as usual. Nothing special, aside that maybe I can feel when someone touches my body now.”

“That’s a good improvement!” Ae Ra exclaimed, smiled broadly and turned to look at his body. She tentatively glanced at Jiyong, which amused he, and then she touched her palm to his face.

“I can feel that.” Jiyong smiled. “If there is any difference, somehow your feel is stronger than mom’s.” He winked making Ae Ra blush.

The shy moment of Ae Ra was saved when the door was opened again, and Jiyong’s mom reappeared along-side with Dr. Jung. He smiled briefly at her before going on checking Jiyong’s condition.

“Yeah I can see there are some movement now.” Dr. Jung announced with a big smile. “It seems Jiyong is really coming back to us.”

“Weird….” Ae Ra heard Jiyong’s mumble. “Why your feel is still the strongest?”

-----

Ae Ra felt something.

It was hard to believe, but she really felt something when...Jiyong leaned in and kissed her, well, he literally did. The moment she realized Jiyong’s face was a bit too close to hers, and the way he closed his eyes while leaning in, Ae Ra’s heart skipped a beat. Then, when he really kissed her, she felt it. The feeling. It was such a light touch, but she could feel every single movement in it.

Ae Ra was still in her daze when Jiyong pulled back. He chuckled seeing her shocking face. “Yah…..is it really that surprising to you?” He cocked his head to the side, observing her with a smirk.

“What….just happened?” Ae Ra slowly returned to herself and looked at Jiyong with a confusing face.

“I kissed you, silly.” Jiyong laughed softly, pinched Ae Ra’s nose with his fingers.

Ae Ra felt that, again. It. The feeling. Jiyong’s touch. It left some tingling feeling on her nose.

“Of course you cannot feel it, nevertheless, I kissed….”

“I can feel it.” Ae Ra’s whisper cut in Jiyong’s words. Almost hesitantly, she slowly run her hand to his face. She could not touch it for real, but she shaped it in her palm, then she closed her eyes. “I can feel it when you touch me.”

Ae Ra’s eyes were widely opened when she felt Jiyong’s embrace.

“Ji…..Jiyong.” She stuttered, awkwardly and hesitantly hugged him back.

“At least there is you….” She felt Jiyong nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck and tightened his hold on her. “....at least I haven’t been left all alone yet….”

_________________

The news about Jiyong’s improvement quickly spread among close acquaintances, soon many people visited him that day, to cheer him, to congratulate him, to encourage him to come back to life soon with them. It was like they found new founded hope for him, and suddenly they realized how much he missed him in their life.

Ae Ra wanted to go home. No, she wanted to respect Jiyong’s private life, since many people Ae Ra didn’t know relevant to Jiyong’s personal life appeared today, and she didn’t wanna be an intruder to whatever moment they had with Jiyong. But Jiyong kept insisting on staying next to his body today, and refused to let Ae Ra out of his sight, too. So Ae Ra ended up wandering around the hospital whenever someone appeared outside Jiyong’s door.

Of course, that didn’t hide the fact that they felt weird when the former in the accident was staying devotedly beside the other driver’s bed.

But Ae Ra just shrugged that off, saying that she cared and wanna take care of him, that’s all. Jiyong’s close acquaintances were either celebrities or classy people, so, they just subtly observed her and nodded, leaving Ae Ra to wonder what they really thought about this.

“Looking for some air?”

Ae Ra turned around from the path she was walking in the hospital’s park, surprised to see who just greeted her. She still remembered this girl. The Japanese girl with a wedding band on her finger, looked like she’s very close to Jiyong, but Jiyong always got so emotional whenever she was around.

“Hello.” Ae Ra greeted back hesitantly. “We met again.” She bit her lips when she realized she forgot the girl’s name.

“Kiko.” The girl smiled, as if she knew Ae Ra forgot her name. “And yes, we met again. I believe I don’t know your name yet, Miss?” The girl walked towards Ae Ra’s direction.

That Kiko girl wore a more casual suit today, only dark pants and a cozy sweater for autumn. Her short hair was blowing softly by the breeze, and she looked….fragile, yet breathtakingly pretty. She had this charm, not so outshone, but definitely shining.

“Ae Ra, Shin Ae Ra.” Ae Ra smiled, waited for the girl to catch up with her. “You visit Jiyong?” She turned her head to where she knew Jiyong’s room might be.

“Yeah….” Kiko replied. “But the boys are in there with him, and I thought it would not be wise if I interrupt their moment, so I just walked around and saw you.” She smiled. “I thought it would be nice if I tried to make some talk with you, if you don’t mind.”

Since his brothers was visiting him when Ae Ra was back from her late lunch, Ae Ra also decided to leave them alone. She knew Jiyong was still in the room, and she didn’t really wanna face Seungri and Youngbae now. She still felt uncomfortable around them since yesterday’s event, when they found her inside Jiyong’s apartment.

“Not really.” Ae Ra shrugged, resuming to her slow walk, and Kiko fell into steps with her.

“I heard he got some improvement today?” Kiko asked her, the voice was having something, like, a shy effort to try to make friend with some stranger. “How is he?”

“He could response now.” Ae Ra smiled, thinking about Jiyong. “He moved his fingers this morning.”

“That’s very good to hear.” Ae Ra heard Kiko let out a relieved breath. “It’s been so long and there was no improvement. We really start losing hope already.”

Ae Ra didn’t say anything next, kept walking small steps around the park. She closed herself tighter with her jacket when a soft wind blew over. Autumn was almost over.

“Ae Ra-ssi.” Ae Ra looked up when she heard Kiko’s timid voice. “May I ask you this?”

“Sure.” Ae Ra smiled encouragingly. She was never good at socializing, but at least she could try. “What’s that?”

“Why are you still here?” Ae Ra stopped walking, turning to face Kiko. The girl instantly said. “No, don’t misunderstanding! I am just curious. There are many theories as why you are still here with him, but most of them sound ridiculous, I just think maybe I should ask you directly.”

So people did talk about her.

“Then why are you here, Kiko-ssi?” Ae Ra asked back calmly, sitting down on the nearby bench. When she noticed how Kiko fell silent, she continued. “You have my reason, I have mine too, see?” She looked up at Kiko with another smile.

Kiko shrugged and sat down next to her. “I’m his friend. So….”

“Friends.” Ae Ra cut in, uncrossed her legs. “That word alone has many definitions you know, depends on how you view it. To me, it’s a word giving out just a vague conception about a kind of relationship in this world.” She turned to see Kiko looking at her with a poker face. “You and I, can we call ourselves as friends?” She winked. “No, right? Since we’re practical just strangers.” Ae Ra turned to look at the scenery before her. “But who knows, maybe in some weird circumstances, we will, or have to, introduce ourselves to someone else as “friends.”

“He’s one of my close friends.” Kiko said. “But I’m afraid he sees me more than that.”

This caught Ae Ra’s attention. So she was right. They really had something more than just ‘friends’.

“I see you’re married?” Ae Ra looked at Kiko’s finger. “Or engaged? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Married.” Kiko smiled, playing with her ring. It was a simple, yet definitely charming wedding ring. “About 6 months ago.”

“Maybe it’s late, but, congratulation.” Ae Ra said.

“Thanks.” Kiko accepted the greeting politely. “I was sad Jiyong could not attend my wedding though. It was one month after his accident.”

“I think he was sad too.” Ae Ra said unsurely. Sometimes she noticed Jiyong was spacing off to somewhere on his own, there was this sad expression on his face. She always thought he missed some girlfriend of his. “As fas as I know, if you’re guys are that close, he would be very upset if he could not attend your wedding.”

“He might be upset, but maybe it was because…..” Ae Ra could feel the unsureness in her voice. “....I rejected his marriage proposal several weeks before his accident.”

Ok this was a bit too much private for Ae Ra to take in. She gulped quietly, not sure if she should continue this conversation.

“I told you we’re close, but he seemed to be wanting something more from our friendship.” Kiko laughed softly, shaking her head. “The last time we talked, it might be just right before the accident happened, and we were having a fight.”

Ae Ra turned to look at Kiko, since she noticed a weird sound appearing. Hesitantly, Ae Ra put her hand on Kiko’s back and rubbed it. “It’s not your fault.” She said soothingly, knowing what might cause Kiko’s quiet sob. “What happened was destined to happen, don’t blame yourself over something unpredictable like car accident.”

“Maybe...if I didn’t call him that night, when he was driving….”

“Hey….” Ae Ra called out, now turned to her side fully to face the emotional Kiko. “Stop, okay? What’s done is done, now the future is more important.”

“I wonder if he’s still mad at me?” Kiko ignored Ae Ra, quietly wiped her eyes and sighed. “He said I gave him false hope for 7 years in our time of being friends. I must admit maybe he was right. I wasn’t be totally honest to him before.”

Ae Ra was unsure how to act around Kiko now, when her phone suddenly vibrated. Looking at the screen, Kiko sighed deeply. “Looks like my break time is over.” She stood up, extended her hand to Ae Ra. “Thanks for listening to my stupid rant, Ae Ra-ssi.” She smiled.

Ae Ra accepted the handshake in exchange with another smile. “You’re welcome, and no, it’s not stupid. When he wakes up, talk to him. You two need to sort this thing out.”

Ae Ra watched as Kiko walked off, her slim figure looked fragile against the crisp weather of autumn in Seoul. She sighed, turned to her right and raised her eyes.

“You’re not mad at her anymore, aren’t you?”

“Not really.” Jiyong shrugged, his eyes were also following Kiko. “I guess I’m being childish if I’m still upset huh?” He smiled sadly.

“When you wake up,” Ae Ra did that again, unconsciously touched Jiyong’s shoulders as if he was really sitting next to her. “You guys should talk, ok? Don’t hold things like this for too long, it’s unhealthy.” She patted him and smiled.

“I loved her.” Jiyong said absentmindedly, still lingering at Kiko’s retreating figure. “I and her clicked almost perfectly. That’s why I proposed.” He took his eyes away when Kiko really left the park. “But I guess the feeling was not mutual then.”

“Did you two date?” Ae Ra asked. “Because, if you proposed her for marriage, you two should have dated for a while, having some intimacy at least, I think.”

Jiyong turned to look at her with a frown. “I don’t know what I should call what we had.” He sighed. “We hung out, ate, had fun, deep talks and stuff.” He raked his hand through his hair. “But well we never kissed, let alone other “intimate moments” as you said. One day, I just realized I loved her all the time, and also realized that I wanted that forever with her.”

“Do you still want that now?” Ae Ra asked with a fake nonchalance in her voice, looking somewhere but not at Jiyong.

Ae Ra startled when she felt Jiyong laying down, his head rested on her lap. “If I did….” He looked up at her with a cute smile. “....then I would not kiss you last night, silly.”

Jiyong noticed how Ae Ra blushed and laughed out loud. Then he closed his eyes and didn’t say anything for a while, simply resting on her lap, in the park, in the late autumn of Seoul.

“I thought you didn’t sleep?” He heard Ae Ra asked after a moment of being silent.

“I don’t. But I like laying like this.” He replied with a content smile, still refused to open his eyes.

“I thought you preferred staying close to your body?”

“You aren’t there.” He opened his eyes and grinned up to her, Ae Ra was caressing his hair but stopped momentarily upon hearing his cheesy line.

She smiled. “But your brothers are there. You miss them, don’t you?”

“I do.” He nodded. “But, like with the others, I feel lonely when I’m with them, since no one can acknowledge my presence.” He turned to hide his face in her lap.

“I feel less lonely when I’m with you.”

_________

A/N

sorry for the wait T_____T i am so busy recently /sob

and i feel bad when this is just a short update /sob

but, can you guys please give me some comments? please <3 i need to know if i should change something :D 

i will try to update Shelter this week too ^^

p/s: "Ho-ong~ Ho-ong~" gosh i think i will forever be haunted by this song HAHAHAHAHA #GoingToTry

from author with love <3

Rosie