It came as a surprise. I woke in the middle of the night to the irritating sound of the phone ringing. A few minutes later, Sunggyu burst into the room and told me to wake up. He threw a jacket at me and carried me out to his car. We were driving to the hospital minutes later. “He’s getting worse. The doctor said he doesn’t have much time left. They’re doing surgery right now.”

I couldn’t see anything, but I really didn’t want to. I didn’t want to see him lying there, breathing, possibly, his last breath. Sunggyu couldn’t watch either. He sat outside in head in his hands, his hair a tangled mess. My mother was pacing in front of us, mumbling incoherent words to herself. The scene itself was scary enough. I don’t know what would have happened if I was able to see my father.

“I’m going to get some coffee. You want anything, Mikyung?” I heard Sunggyu’s quiet voice ask me. I shook my head. He let out a small sigh and stood up. I watched him, seeing how he would blink multiple times in a row, most likely to blink away the tears that were welling up. Sunggyu started to walk away, my mother’s gaze tearing from the ground to watch him turn the corner. Then she sat down next to me.

“Where is he going, Mikyung?”

“Coffee,” I replied. The moment felt like déjà vu for me. There was one particular big argument between my parents. I didn’t hear much, but I heard the words, “divorce,” and “custody of Mikyung,” and I steered clear. Afterwards, my