~ Author’s POV ~

            The sun started rising, showering windows with its light, telling everyone that it was the start of yet another day. Alarms rang different houses, doors opened as the fathers picked up newspapers on their doorstep. To everyone else, it was a new beginning, a new page of their life. To Haeri, it was one step closer to the end of hers.

            She sat on the corner of her white single bed, looking out the window, the circles under her eyes darker yet. Like the previous days, she hasn’t been able to get proper sleep. She’s been having nightmares yet again. Nightmares even when she’s not asleep. She sees supernatural creatures at the foot of her bed as she tried to sleep, she hears creepy sounds from places she doesn’t know. It scares her and keeps her awake even if she knows those are just hallucinations. Her case of hallucinations has been getting worse now that it had been a few weeks after she was diagnosed with the disease.

            “I’m sorry, but she has the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,” the doctor said.

            “What is that? Is it serious? We can put her into treatment, right? We can get her cured,” her mother quickly said.

            The doctor sighed and shook his head with a frown on his lips. “I’m sorry Mrs. Nam, but this disease is incurable, and it is fatal. We may lose her in weeks or months. The most she can live now is two years.”

            The first time they got the news about her disease, they tried to keep her normal. She still went to school, attended fansigning events, and went out with friends, but just on the second week, she started losing control of herself. She started getting forgetful, she sees things that are not even there, she became bipolar and more. The school has asked her parents to bring her home and have her treated before letting her attend classes again.

            “They don’t even know her disease! They don’t even know she can’t be treated anymore!” her mom had exclaimed when they got home from her school.

            As they argued, she was locked up in her room, hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried on her knees as she cried hard. They tried to call Woohyun and tell him to go home so they can tell him the news, but he was too busy with promotions that he did not even receive their call.

            She cried and cried. Boohyun was knocking on her door, trying to get her to open it so he can comfort her, but she was Woohyun’s little girl. She needed Woohyun. Her phone was in her hand as she dialed his number again and again, but the rings were endless.

            As the line went dead for nth time, Haeri sighed and whispered, “Oppa… I’m dying.”

             There was a knock on her door, followed by her mother’s voice. “Haeri-ah. Come on. Breakfast is ready.” The door was unlocked, but Haeri’s mother knew she did not like it when other people enter her room without her letting them in, anyone besides her brothers. “Haeri-ah, come on. You must eat even just a little, okay?”

            Haeri crawled to the foot of her bed, slipped her feet into her slippers, wrapped herself in her white robe, reached for her cane beside her bed, and opened the door. “I’m not hungry, eomma.”

            Her mom shook her head and pulled her daughter gently out of the room and down the stairs. “You are not hungry because you’re thinking too much. You didn’t eat last night too. You must eat so you can take your meds afterwards.” She sat her down on a chair and gave her a plate of toast and strawberry jam. “Eat even just one piece. You don’t want your brother lecturing you for not eating when he gets home with your dad.”

            “Why would Boohyun oppa lecture me. He lets me do anything anyway.” Haeri said as she spread a heaping spoon of jam on one toast. When her mother didn’t answer, she realized, “Oh. You meant Woohyun.”

            “Oppa,” her mother corrected. “Woohyun is your oppa, Haeri. He’s an idol and he’s busy, please don’t be mad at him anymore.”

            “An oppa who doesn’t care about his dying sister,” Haeri snapped, kicking her cane away in the process. It rolled away and stopped against the foot of the refrigerator.

            Her mother breathed deeply. She knew she had to be patient. This was one of the effects of Haeri’s disease, having personality changes and temper issues. “He has visited you a number of times now. You’re the one who locks yourself in your room until he leaves.”

            In truth, Haeri barely remembered if Woohyun really did visit her. She rarely remembers anything anymore.

            “You can’t be like this. You’re killing yourself. There’s no need to stop what you used to do before we found out about your disease. Be the Inspirit you once were, be Woohyun’s little Riri, be our Haeri who was all smile and laughter. You can still be as normal as you can!”

            “Normal?” Haeri scoffed. “Eomma, I’m nowhere as near as normal anymore. And if you don’t like me anymore, I can leave anytime.”

            Her mother was about to say something back to assure her daughter, but their front door shot open followed by three voices: Haeri’s father, Boohyun, and Woohyun.

            “Riri-ah?” Woohyun’s voice called out from the living room, before he actually stepped into the kitchen. Their mother hugged Woohyun quickly before leaving to meet her husband and son who were still in the living room.

            “Riri-ah,” Woohyun called out again, but Haeri did not look back at him. She quickly stuffed the last bit of toast into , stood up, and started walking away. She staggered with every step, trying hard to balance herself.

            Woohyun was immediately by her side, holding her waist firmly as he let her lean on him. “Where’s your cane? Did you leave it in your room? You can’t walk around without your cane, Riri. You never know when you’ll need it.”

            Instead of answering, Haeri pushed him away and started walking again. As she passed by the refrigerator, she kicked her cane once and muttered, “I don’t need help.”

            Woohyun just stared at her sister, her legs shaking and wobbling, her hands gripping her robes tightly around her. His heart was breaking. He loved his sister so much, and she was dying.