Tuesday, March 10^th, 2001

Today, I met that child again.

He was bright and kind, so I think it’s really unfair for him that he didn’t have a long future ahead him.

Today, he made hundreds of paper crane for me, saying that I should get well soon in order to make my daughter happy.

I’d pray sincerely so that he could live a long future.

Suzy closed her mom’s old diary and hugged it until she fall asleep.

<:>

Suzy was going to see Myungsoo again that day. She heard the news that Myungsoo was not feeling well, and she planned to pay a visit to his house.

“Are you sure that you don’t need to go to hospital?,” she asked with a solemn voice.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just a cold,” he answered with a hoarse voice, and then he coughed.

“I’ll go there after I go to the publishing office,” she hung.

Suzy had been finishing her script full night. She was assigned by her company to work with Kim Sunggyu, a writer who wrote a lot of best-seller series.  She was really honoured to be able to work with such a famous writer.

Suddenly, her phone rang, and it was Writer Kim calling.

“Oh, writer Kim? I’ve finished it. I’m going to the office now,” Suzy prepared her bag and her coat, and walked out from her apartment.

<:>

“You’ve finished it quiet fast, editor Bae,” writer Kim applauded and smiled to her.

It was Suzy’s first time to meet writer Kim. She usually talked with him by phone, and he had a soothing and comforting voice. He has slanted eyes, but it seems friendly and warm.

“As you had known before, this novel is a different one with the ones before,” he explained. “I wrote sorceries and adventures before, but for this time, I’m trying to write a different one, a fusion of mystery and romance,”

“The main story of this novel is about a girl who lives in solitary, and is traumatic to people because of her mom’s unacceptable death. Nonetheless, it has a gloomy setting,”

Suzy listened to his explanation carefully, and nodded her head.

“As the novel was scheduled to be published next month, I need to find the suitable cover for the story” he continued, “So, editor Bae, I’ve received some recommendations for the cover. I’d like you to help me to choose which one is the best.”

Writer Kim showed her several photographs to her, and Suzy studied about them one by one.

Suzy flipped the photos one by one, and she stopped at one photo.

It was black and white. There was a woman’s backside in focused and other crowd of people in her surroundings blurred in the photo. The woman has long black hair, and her head was slightly turned left. It seemed like the woman was confused in the middle of the crowd, and was really lonely in the world.

“I was thinking to make that photo as the cover,” writer Kim observed Suzy. “What do you think?”

Suzy looked at writer Kim with determined eyes, and said, “Let’s make it as the cover,”

<:>

“How’s your cold?”

“How’s your work?”

Myungsoo asked Suzy back. He was lying in his bed while Suzy was preparing his porridge.

“I asked how your cold is but you asked me back,” she pouted.

“The writer asked me to choose his book’s cover, and I found one good photo,” she answered. “Because I like it, the writer gave me one copy of the photo. Look.”

Suzy searched her bag, and showed him the photo before.

Myungsoo was quiet for awhile looking at the photo, and he finally said, “Don’t you curious about who’s in the photo?”

“Who?”

“It maybe someone you know,”

“There are many women with long black hair,”

“Yes, I think you are right,” he replied, and continued, “You didn’t add salt to my porridge, did you? You did know that I can’t eat salts and sweets, right?”

“Of course, I know, patient Kim Myungsoo,” she stared at him.

She gave the porridge to him, and while Myungsoo was eating his porridge, she confided, “I kept on dreaming about my Mom these days,”

Myungsoo gulped his porridge, and said, “You never told me about your mom,”

“My mom died because of leukaemia, when I was seven” she continued, “And tomorrow is her death anniversary.”

Myungsoo was quiet.

“Tomorrow’s her death anniversary,” he echoed.

“But I was curious about one thing,” Suzy continued, “I read her diary, and she wrote about a boy she met in the hospital. She said that the boy didn’t have a long future ahead him, and it seemed like they were getting along well, when I was not around.”

“Did the boy suffer a deathly disease?” he asked.

“I don’t know for sure.” She said. “But I do want to send my gratitude to him for getting along well with my mom back then.”

Suzy was hesitated to say. “But, I don’t know whether he’s still alive or not, regarding he didn’t have a long future.”

Myungsoo was quiet, Suzy was too.

“Whether he’s still alive or not, I bet he cared about your mom a lot,” Myungsoo broke the silence. He put the empty bowl on the tray, and pulled his blanket up.

Suzy was looking at Myungsoo sleeping, and began to tidy up the bowl.