I never did get to tell Ririn who that man was.

She spent two whole days in that dreaded hospital room, which she had voiced out many times in the past of how much she hated it. Although, during the two days she was in the hospital, it seemed as if she didn’t mind being enclosed in those dull white walls.

The doctor asked her if she wanted an operation to have the hole in her heart closed. Yet, she refused.

Then they asked her if she was willing to go through chemotherapy. That, she also refused.

“Do you wanna know why I didn’t want to go through the operation, or the chemo?” The girl asked me as soon as we arrived in the apartment.

My face expressed a sullen emotion at the thought of what her reason might have been. Without waiting for my response, she quietly said: “I’m going to die anyway.”

She then removed the rucksack full of her clothes from my hand and made her way to the staircase. I couldn’t move a muscle; it was as if something was stopping me from going after her and telling her that what she said was stupid. Do you want to know what that something was?

Reality.

The reality was, Ririn was going to die either way, whether they successfully remove her cancer or close that hole in her heart. She was going to die mentally first, though bit by bit. Fragments of her memories would disappear one by one, until she would eventually forget everyone around her, including herself. She wouldn’t be able to do things herself like tying her own shoelaces or even going to the bathroom.

In my opinion, that fate is far harsher than death.

No wonder her uncle; her original guardian selfishly threw her in the orphanage. Her uncle was the one that told me about Dae Hyun’s fate, and wanting to avoid the burden of taking care of his brother’s daughter, he asked me to adopt Ririn instead, knowing about Dae Hyun’s request. But recently, he had been trying to contact me in hopes of taking Ririn back.

Why? To steal her inherited money from her father, of course.

The moment Ririn dies while in his care, he would be the one to take over her inheritance.

I admit, taking care of someone like Ririn had been a heavy burden. None could imagine the suffering I had to go through knowing that this girl I’d learnt to love would one day vanish from my life in a blink of an eye.

From the couple of months I spent with Ririn, I learnt a very valuable lesson: learn to live life in the best quality as possible, because who knows? God might just take it away from you without notice.

“Seung Hyun?” Tae Yang’s soft voice disrupted me from my thoughts.

He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder as a sign that he was there to listen. “You know, it’s not good to keep heavy burdens hidden. I just want you to know that you’re not going to face this alone.”

His words released a heavy weight in my chest.

“Thank you.”

x x x

                It had been a week since Ririn was checked out from the hospital and things were slowly going back to normal, although there was always a tensed atmosphere whenever the girl fell or tripped, which she always laughed off. At that moment, Ririn and I were sat on the sofa, watching a 1980s horror movie the channel always played at 9PM, whilst the other guys had other priorities.

“You know, I don’t understand cannibals.” Ririn started, and I noticed once I looked at her that her brows were furrowed in confusion. “Why do they eat people? Are they too poor to buy ordinary meat? Oh! And do you think they season human skin first before eating it?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her strange questions. Same old Ririn.

“They soak the skin in blood first to add extra flavour.” I responded.

“Then if they like the taste of blood why don’t they just drink blood instead of eating people?”

‘AHHHH!’

VROOOOM!

“Man, this movie is brutal!” Ririn’s face turned into disgust as the sight of the TV screen. “Whose idea was it to watch ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’?”

“Yours,” I replied. “I don’t understand why you’re into these horror gore films.”

“It gives the viewer a creative way on how to kill people.” She responded in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, which earned her a surprised look from me.

Before I could give a sarcastic comment, the sound of my ringtone disrupted us. “Two seconds,” I said as I stood up from the couch and reached for my pockets.

“One... Two... That’s two seconds!” Ririn giggled. “Just kidding!”

I gave her a small grin before proceeding my way to the dining area.

Unknown Number

Who was this? I was never the one to answer unknown numbers but I slid my finger across the answer arrow anyway, and then placed the phone up to my left ear. “Hello?”

‘Choi Seung Hyun, how are you? It’s been three months, huh?’

That familiar voice made my blood boil. “What do you want?”

‘You know perfectly well what I want, my niece of course. I’m just calling to inform you that I’ll be there in a week to pick her up, so get her belongings ready.’

My eyes twitched at his response and I found myself glaring at the dinner table. “What gave you the idea that you could just barge into our place and take Ririn away? Did you forget that you were the one that abandoned her, and that her adoption papers are on my name?”

‘But, did you forget that I’m not only her uncle, but her god father also?’

I felt the heat rush to my face as I clenched my knuckles tight, so tight that the colour changed to a shade of white. In anger, I pressed the end call button and threw the phone on the table. No way in hell was that man ever going to take Ririn away from me, knowing that his intentions are only for his self-absorbed desires. I refused to run away from the situation. I would rather face it and fight back for what was right.

                After a few minutes of silence, I grabbed my phone from the table, slowly made my way back to the living room and sat down next to the girl whose focus still remained on the TV. Without her noticing, I analysed the changes in her appearance. She looked more fragile than the first time I saw her; her skin was paler than usual and she lost a significant amount of weight. Yet, her mental state remained bright and active.

It was then, I thought – I should make every day of her life special from now on. Yeah, that’s a great idea. I quickly fished out my pockets for my phone and began texting he four people I knew would help me with the set task.

Instead of worrying about the future, why not enjoy living the present. That’s what I learnt from Ririn; though she was fully aware of her inevitable fate, she would rather smile and greet the day just moments ahead of her than mope about her weakening state.

Seize the day, or die regretting the time you lost.