“Mom, how long do I have to stay in hospital?”

A little boy asked to his mom while his mom was changing his clothes. “I’m bored,” he continued.

“Just a little bit more, Myungsoo-yah,” the woman smiled at him and pat his head. “Until you get healthier.”

The boy pulled his blanket up until it covered his face.

He never asked his mom about what he had seen before. He never asked anything about his illness.

Until he knew it by himself.

<:>

That supposedly beautiful morning was quiet messy for the Kim family. After they heard the news of their only son, they rushed to the hospital he was admitted to.

“I’m sorry,” the girl apologized with her hoarse voice. She bowed ninety-degree to the married couple in front of the ICU, with tears in her eyes.

“It’s my fault,” she continued.

“No, it’s not your fault, Miss,” the husband responded. “He did it by himself.”

“Please lift up your head,” the wife asked.

She slowly lifted her head, and everyone could see how much her face swell from crying too much. She felt really sorry for making a sick person relapsed just because he helped her.

She hated it when she hurt someone.

She hated herself.

“By the way, what’s your name, Miss?” the wife broke the silence among them.

“Suzy,” she answered. “Bae Suzy.”

Suddenly, the door behind them opened, and one doctor walked out from the ICU.

The married couple eagerly ran to him, and asked how their son was doing.

The girl, who was called as Suzy, slowly followed them

“Fortunately, his life is not in danger this time,” he stated.

“But, if he’s not careful, his life would be threatened,” he continued, “considering his twenty-third birthday is going nearer.”

The husband and wife thanked the doctor for his hard work, and were called by the nurse to fill in several forms, leaving Suzy behind in front of the cold ICU door.

That was the first time she was in front of the same door after her mother’s death.

“Kim Myungsoo’s guardian, you can now enter the room. He has regained consciousness,” the nurse called for Kim Myungsoo’s guardian, and she saw Suzy.

“Are you his guardian, Miss?,” the nurse asked to Suzy.

“Ye… Yes. I am” Suzy stuttered.

“Oh, great, please enter the room. I think he needs someone,” the nurse escorted Suzy.

She gathered her courage, and entered the door.

Suzy stood in the corner of the room. From there, she could see a young man lying on bed helplessly. He seemed really weak, with wires extending over his body.  His breathing was depended on ventilator.

She can’t believe her eyes because he looked really healthy before. Like a normal person.

The same person who caught the criminal was lying defencelessly on the bed.

His eyes were opened slightly, and he moved his hand weakly to tell her to get closer to him.

Suzy was there again. That room was terrifying for her. In that room, her mother died. In that room, her mother left her alone.  Honestly, she didn’t want to step her feet on this room again.

But seeing a young man was lying helplessly on the bed, she couldn’t help herself to not go from there.

She walked slowly to go nearer to him, and stood next to him.  From there, she could see how much he struggled with his pains. He reached for her hand, and moved his hand to do some gestures on her palm.

‘I’m sorry’

That was what he wrote.

“Myungsoo-yah, are you alright?”

Suddenly, Myungsoo’s mother and father had arrived to see their only son. Suzy stepped back for the couple to stand beside him.

“Myungsoo-yah, you can hear mom, right?” the wife held his hand.

It was faint, but Suzy was sure that he nodded.

“Tomorrow’s your birthday, why must you spend it here again?” the husband looked at his face.

After they got out from the ICU, the parents told Suzy everything about his illness, about his limited time to live in this world, and about the things he wanted to do before he left this world. They asked her whether she could stay by his side until the time.

She learned that he wanted to write story with the photos he took.

She learned that the next day, the thirteenth of March, was his twenty-third birthday, when the doctor had predicted him that he couldn’t live longer than that.

"Humans know that they would die one day,

but they don't know what will happen to them after they die.

That's why humans fear of death."