A skinny, fragile-looking girl wearing an all-white loose uniform lied limp on the bed covered in white sheets. Every wall was painted white and the floor was the cold white cement. She moved in her sleep, but the strong bonds on both her wrists as well as her ankles stopped her. Her slender fingers wrapped into tiny fists as she pulled on the , but to no avail.

She moaned, hoping for someone to hear her and help her, but nobody responded. She was all alone in the cold room.

Where was she? Why was she there? Why was she tied to the bed?

So many questions filled her mind but they were all left unanswered.

She was all alone.

“Let me go…” she moaned.

Unknowingly, warm tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Her soft, careful sobs filled the quiet room as her hands and legs continued to pull on the .

“Help me… Please,” she whispered under her breath, begging.

But no one came. She was all alone.

And her heart was broken.

---

Six months came and left. The girl sat quietly on her chair, staring at the blank table before her eyes. The room was quiet and the sun’s rays were shining into her room.

There was at least some light in her life, she thought to herself.

Her eyes were dead. It used to be so filled with so much happiness and innocence. Soon, it started getting duller and now, there was just nothing in her eyes. It was all dead.

Her body got skinnier and her hair grew longer, but her appearance was never fixed. She was just pale and dead. Her posture had deteriorated overtime and now she had a bad hunch. There were heavy dark circles under her once cheerful eyes. Her once pink and healthy lips were now the same color as her skin and very dry. Her once warm and normal temperature was now a sickening cold surface to every touch.

She was down and broken. There were no hopes and dreams. There was no spirit.

A soft knock was heard on her door but she didn’t react. A nurse poked her head in and looked at her.

“Han Areum-ssi? You have a visitor. Can I bring her in?” the nurse asked softly.

Areum never responded. Her eyes remained on the table of nothing.

“I’ll just bring him in. He’s someone who has something to tell you,” the nurse said and went away, closing the door.

The silence was back and Areum was alone again. But, the situation was shortlived.

The door opened again and a male about the age of 20 and above entered. He closed the door behind him and stood next to Areum, staring down at her.

“Can I sit?” he politely asked, but Areum didn’t respond at all.

Taking it that she didn’t have any violent objections against it, he carefully took a seat on the seat opposite of Areum.

He fidgeted in his seat as he played with his fingers nervously. He snuck a peek at her face only to find it still staring at the table. He cleared his throat awkwardly but there was still no response.

He took a deep breath and assured himself before starting.

“Han Areum-ssi. My name is… Byun Baekhyun. Do you…” he paused, suddenly contemplating his choice to come here.

It occurred to him that she might not react according to how he expected but he didn’t think what he could actually do about that. Deciding that it will all be okay, he chose to continue with his sentence.

“Do you remember my friend, Lu Han?” Baekhyun asked, nervously trying to get eye contact with Areum.

At the mention of the name Lu Han, Areum’s eyes seemed to gain some life again. She slowly moved her eyes to look up into his questioningly.

The name rang a bell in her mind. She knew that male. But, she couldn’t seem to remember who he was or how he looked like.

“L-Lu…” Areum whispered, “Lu… Han…?”

Her voice barely came out but Baekhyun heard it clearly.

Saying his name, though, felt very familiar to Areum’s lips.

“Yes. You met him at some tree one time during mid-summer around a year or two ago?” Baekhyun tried to remind her.

The memory was gradually coming back. Yet, Areum still didn’t seem to be able to remember it that well. Unknowingly, her head started pounding with the sudden rush of thoughts.

“I have a picture of him if you’d like to see,” Baekhyun quickly added, burying his hand in his bag as he ruffled for the precious piece of paper he’d brought.

A smile played on his lips when his fingers felt it. He pulled it out and straightened the crinkled ends. Baekhyun placed the picture on the table and pushed it to Areum.

It was a photo of a boy about 18 years of age with a soft smile on his face. Next to him, on the boy’s right, with an arm wrapped around the boy, was another boy that resembled a younger-looking Baekhyun with a huge smile plastered on his face. Sitting on the floor on the boy’s left, was another boy cheekily grinning at the camera.

Baekhyun pointed at the sitting boy, “This is Kai.”

His fingers traced its way to his face, “This is me.”

Finally, his fingers came to the middle boy’s face, “This one… is Lu Han.”

Areum’s throat tightened as memories finally started flooding into her mind at the sight of the boy. Tears made its way to her eyes and they softly fell.

I saw you for the first time. I said hi. You did too. It made me smile a little. You suddenly offered me a random hug. I was dumbfounded but accepted it anyway. I asked you why you suddenly hugged me. You told me these exact words, “You looked like you needed it.” I was stumped. I didn’t understand how you came up with such an assumption but I just nodded. It made me feel good in a way, knowing someone cared to do something about a sad person, even if I wasn’t at all at that time.

“L-Lu.. H-an…” her voice cracked as she sobbed softly, her skinny hands pressed against her lips to stop anymore sounds from leaving her lips.

Baekhyun couldn’t stand the sight of her crying but he didn’t want to spoil the moment. He just couldn’t stop a person from crying out their sorrows.

Minutes passed and the sobs gradually died down.

“Do you remember him now?” Baekhyun calmly asked.

Areum nodded slowly, “L-Lu Han was… a r-really, really good friend of mine. He was so, so nice.”

“He was, wasn’t he?” Baekhyun bitterly smiled.

With some courage, Areum shifted her eyes to look at him curiously.

“Lu Han… he…” Baekhyun trailed off.

For a moment, there was fear flashing in Areum’s eyes.

Baekhyun took a huge breath in to calm himself.

He started, “A few months after your meeting, Lu Han committed suicide. He overdosed himself on sleeping pills, swallowed toothpaste and cut a vein on his wrist. The doctors weren’t able to save him and he had unfortunately passed away.”

And just like that, the girl passed out, her body falling onto the cold, hard cemented floor and her tears wetting it.