~ One Year Later ~

Chang-min met Victoria in the hospital waiting room. She must have been there for at least three hours and she looked as if she hadn't slept for days. In fact she looked like someone who would probably never sleep again. It was a difficult sight to bear. Her pretty face looked both wild and tired.

"I'm glad you're here," she said quietly, and her eyes flitted from him to the ground.

"How long have you been here?" he asked. "Have you been sitting out here by yourself?"

She nodded. He didn't ask her why, but she started to answer anyway. "I'd rather not go in. The family are here now..."

Chang-min breathed deeply. It was hard for him too, but he pushed all his personal worries and sadness to the back of his mind. There was no use in showing weakness now. He had not quite learned how to accept Victoria yet, but that was now a trivial detail in the great scheme of things.

"I can wait here with you if you like," he said, and sat down next to her.

She didn't say anything; it was as if she hadn't heard him at all. After a moment of silence, she replied, "Yes, you and I should stick together."

Chang-min didn't really know what else to say. He didn't want to mention anything about what had happened, the accident, what the doctors had been saying. Avoiding the topic altogether seemed like the best option, but nothing else could be appropriate to talk about at a time like this. If only they weren't so awkward with each other!

"Can we go outside for a bit?" Victoria bit her lip as she looked sideways at him. He nodded quickly.

"Okay, fresh air sounds good."

They stood up together and made their way to the exit. Victoria pulled her thin cardigan tighter around her chest. They walked slowly, side by side, but not touching. Outside on the pavement, it was dark save for the light of the crescent moon which hung low in the sky. Some people were smoking quietly by the gate.

"It's cowardly, isn't it?" Victoria said suddenly. "I'm avoiding my in-laws even at time like this."

"What else can you do?" Chang-min said. He stared helplessly at the moon. "There's nothing much you can do to help anyway."

"Yes, but I'm his wife! Shouldn't that mean something? Even if he stays unconscious he should have his wife by his side. But then again... we've only been married for a year. Perhaps you should be the one by his side, you've known him longer than I have. The family likes you well, too." She bit her lip and then quickly added, "I'm sorry I don't mean to sound bitter. That came out wrong."

Chang-min felt his heart soften a little. "Who knows what's right or wrong? It's not like this has ever happened before."

They fell silent for a bit and Victoria rocked back and forth on her heels. "You know I've only just come to realise how much I've given up. My old friends, my old home, my old life... I started everything again and up until now I had no regrets and I've never been happier. Chang-min, what if he dies?"

"Don't mention it," Chang-min said. "Right now we have to be optimistic. The doctors say chance of survival is about 50 per cent."

"The toss of a coin..."

"But it's still early. We'll know more tomorrow and the longer he pulls through, the better his chances get."

Victoria nodded. "I guess when you put it like that..." She held onto her arms tightly and looked up at the black sky. She was trembling.

They returned to the waiting room and sat side by side on the bench. There was no conversation and Chang-min occupied himself by staring at the carpet. As his eyes traced the diagonal patterns his mind went to Kyu-hyun and seemed to follow through every moment they had ever spent together, like a video playing back old footage in fast forward. As Victoria would be lost without Kyu-hyun, so would he. They had been best friends for so long that Chang-min couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. Not only could he not imagine it, he refused to imagine it. No, Kyu-hyun must pull through! He was a plucky fellow, and he managed to get himself out of trouble in the past. Surely a car accident would not be the end of him.

"He's going to be alright, I can feel it."

Victoria turned to look at him and she smiled. "I'm glad you're here, it makes a great difference." She titled her head to rest on his shoulder and she sighed, both with exhaustion and relief. They stayed that way for a long time, until at last the weight of her head suggested that she had fallen asleep.

Chang-min himself did not sleep. He waited until dawn with Victoria resting by his side.
 

~ One month later ~

It was a pleasant day in the middle of spring and Chang-min shielded his eyes from the sun. He was waiting in the driver's seat of his car, parked on the side of the road, and he could see Victoria close the front door and skip down the front steps of the property. She climbed into the passenger's side with a big smile on her face.

"I have a good feeling about today," she said to him, her voice gentle like she was telling him a secret. It was just the two of them there, and it felt like they had a little conspiracy. In a way, they did. They were planning a surprise for Kyu-hyun, a get-well present of sorts.

"He's been miserable lately," she explained.

"I think I would be too if I was in his state."

"I know, I know, but I have to keep thinking of ways to try and cheer him up. I suggested that he should try to get some air, but he's so reluctant to leave his room. He just stays inside all day long..."

"Well, to be fair, Kyu-hyun's never been fond of the great outdoors."

Victoria laughed. "That's true. But it's different now. You can tell it's affected him, and not just physically. He's sad about the fact that he can't do things easily anymore, he feels useless. It hurts me to watch him like this, I wish I could do more about it." She sighed and looked out of the passenger window. "I think we should get him a pet. Something small and not too difficult to look after, but something that would cheer him up."

Chang-min clicked his tongue. "I don't know, Kyu-hyun's never been a big animal person. But I guess it's worth a shot, as long as you know that you'll probably be the one who ends up looking after it."

Victoria laughed and clapped her hands. "I don't mind! Taking care of a small animal would be no trouble compared to taking care of a sick husband."

They drove into the city centre and looked for the pet shop. The shop was small and quaint, with little on display to see. Chang-min looked down at a pair of hamsters crawling around in an enclosure and felt indifferent to them.

"They're quite cute," Victoria said.

"But boring. These guys just run around in circles all day, it would get tiring to look at."

"But what else is there? There's not much to choose from. How should we do it?"

"Eotteoke!" A sudden shriek took them both by surprise. They turned to see a scarlet parrot in a tall cage, cocking its head to one side. The parrot whistled and cried "Eotteoke!" Victoria and Chang-min turned each other with matching facial expressions and burst into laughter.

"Well, you, you are quite the character, aren't you? What's your name?" Victoria cooed at the parrot. She turned to Chang-min. "He'll like this, won't he?"

"Yes, most likely. He'll teach it bad words."

The shopkeeper came over and tapped on the cage. Victoria asked him: "How much is it? Is it a good parrot, does it talk a lot?"

The shopkeeper shrugged. "All it seems to say is eotteoke. He's a little noisy at times. How about I give you a special discount just for today? Ten per cent off."

Victoria was pleased and they took the parrot. The shopkeeper smiled fondly on them. "I suppose you will look after it well," he said to Chang-min. "Your wife seems very fond of it." Chang-min was slightly embarrassed by the shopkeeper's mistake, but since Victoria was out of earshot he didn't bother correcting it.

They carried the bird out in a small cage put it down on a bench where they could both sit and talk to it.

"Hello, little parrot, what should we call you?"

"How old are you, what do you like to eat?"

"Do you have any interesting stories to tell?"

They continued to throw little pieces of conversation at the parrot, but it never replied with more than a curious tilt of the head.

"He's a funny little guy," Chang-min mused. "Let's see what Kyu-hyun thinks of him. We should let him choose a name for it."

They walked back to the car, bird in tow. "I was right about today," Victoria said. "Things turned out well."

Chang-min wanted to add that he was regretful that they had found the parrot so easily, and that he wished they could have spent more time in town looking for something, but he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. Besides, it probably wouldn't sound right and there was no reason to ruin their good day.

"I guess I better take you home now."

Victoria's eyes lit up with excitement. "I can't wait until he sees it. Just imagine what he'll say."

Chang-min imagined that Kyu-hyun would probably say something sarcastic. He hoped that Victoria wouldn't be too injured by this; Kyu-hyun was never very good at outright showing his feelings. But even if Kyu-hyun didn't like the gift, he fancied that the parrot could at least be something to commemorate their day together. He inwardly frowned. This thought disturbed him and he tried to shake it out of his head on the way home.