I was in the living room reading the letter from her when someone entered. That person approached me and sat beside me. She leaned her head on my left arm and stared directly at my left hand.

 

“Is this for me?”

“This…”

“I’ll give it to you if you promise me that you’ll be responsible for it. That means, you can’t lose it or give it away.”

“Why?”

“It is from my best friend. It is her precious treasure.”

 

She looked clueless. Based on her facial expression, I bet that she had a lot of questions to ask. It was not something new. I smiled as I waited for her questions.

 

“Why did your best friend give you her precious treasure?”

“She wanted me to keep it. It was the last gift from her before she went to somewhere far. My best friend passed away when she was 18 due to a stomach cancer. It has been 12 years now…”

“The same place as Eomma?”

“Yes my dear.”

“Do you think that Eomma and your best friend will meet there?”

“I am not sure about it. Your Eomma has not met my best friend before but she heard stories of her a lot of times.”

 

My daughter was interested to know more about my best friend. I began to share stories about my best friend to my daughter. I told her how I met my best friend, how great and amazing she was and how I found out about her illness. I even told my daughter that I got the chance to say goodbye to her before she passed away in her sleep.

 

“I promise that I’ll be responsible for this keychain. But… Why did she give you a four-leaf clover keychain?”

“This is actually a gift from me. When I saw this keychain, it suddenly reminded me of her.”

“Why is it a four-leaf clover?”

“She is a friend that is hard to find but lucky to have. She is like you. You are difficult to get but lucky to keep.”

 

She was too young to understand what I meant. My wife had to go through a lot of difficulties to let my daughter out. It was either my wife die or my daughter die. It was the second cruel reality that I had to face after so many years. I wanted her to live and give up on the baby. However, my late wife told me that it would be easier for me to take care of a healthy baby than a sick wife. I had no choice but to watch her fighting for her life while giving birth to my newborn daughter.

 

“Appa… Are you there?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You shared with me stories about your best friend but you didn’t tell me her name?”

“It’s Kim JooHyun.”

“Oh! She shares the same name as me.”

“My sweet daughter, you got your name from her. That’s why Appa let you have the four-leaf clover keychain because it has ‘Kim JooHyun’ on one side of it. You’ll become the new owner of this.”

 

Kim JooHyun… She used to be my amazing best friend. Now, she is my wonderful daughter.