It starts to get warm inside the tent when I wake up, and my eyes still feel heavy. I get up to sit down on the portable bed and struggle to let my upper body out from the sleeping bag, and look at my left. Jongin is still sleeping, nothing is seen except his face. He looks like a huge green caterpillar.

     I decide not to wake him up, and go outside to clean up the rest of the cooking mess we created yesterday night. I spent at least half an hour, but there’s no sign of Jongin waking up. It’s 9 AM already. Well, he’s probably originally a heavy sleeper.

     I finish cleaning, and go back inside the tent. I wonder why Jongin could sleep inside that sleeping bag, the sun is so hot right now.

     “Jongin, wake up.”

     He stays still, with his mouth open a bit. I pat his back lightly.

     “Jongin~”

     He doesn’t move. I sigh, and shake his body.

     “Hey. It’s so bright outside already.”

     Jongin lets out a whimper, and he curls up to a fetal position. I sit on my own bed, and look at him. I plan to just wait, but then I notice his heavy breaths. I immediately stand up, and take a close look at him. He’s starting to shiver, and I touch his forehead. It’s burning hot.

     “Oh no.”

     I make him drink some water, and I contemplate on what to do. Should I bring him to the hospital immediately? Or wait for now in case he might be better quickly? But I know nothing of his medical record, so I think I should get professionals handle him. I clear up the things inside the tent, and put them inside Jongin’s car’s trunk. I call the camping ground manager to take care of the tent, and I drag Jongin’s half-awake body to the passenger’s seat.

     “You’re freaking lucky I can drive.” I say as I start the car. “We would make a commotion by calling an ambulance.”

     Jongin no longer shivers but he’s still breathing heavily. He lets out a silent laugh from his nose. “Thankfully I’m with a person with many talents.”

     Jongin shows no strange change, but his body temperature is still high. I drop him off in the ER, and park the car. I should be fast, but handling a car that might cost more than my entire university life surely needs extra care.

     I come inside the ER and find him on one of the beds. A nurse is giving him an injection, and Jongin doesn’t even look half-awake anymore, he’s in the verge of falling asleep.

     “His temperature is still high, so we’ll just wait until the medicine takes effect. I will check after half an hour.”

     I thank the nurse, and sit on the chair beside the bed. I touch his neck, and the heat hasn’t changed. Jongin has fallen into a sleep again. I take a deep breath, and stretch my back. What a morning.

     I should inform his family… Who should I call? I carefully open his bag that I’m carrying around, and find his phone. No password, fortunately. I enter his contact list, and blink twice.

     I only scroll once, and it’s stopped already. What? The names can fit almost one single page. 1, 2, 3… I only find seven contacts. I check whether I’m really viewing the entire contact list or I’m possibly only seeing a separated group, but there are really only seven.

                                                                                Ahra

                                                                                Dad

                                                                                Grandma’s house

                                                                                Hyein noona

                                                                                Mom

                                                                                Park Joohwan class president

                                                                                Tempo Car Center

     I check his call log, and it’s filled with my name. He actually called me a lot since he knew my number, but I didn’t expect that I’m the only one he calls. Among my own names, I find ‘Hyein noona’ that he called a few days ago. Is it his sister?

     I gather up my courage, and call the number.

     “Jongin-ah, I told you I can’t come home this week. I have work to do.”

     “H-hello.” I fail at not stuttering. “Hyein-ssi, I’m Im Ahra, Jongin’s friend.”

     “Friend?” out of anything, she’s most surprised at the mention of the word ‘friend’. “Yes? What’s wrong? Why are you using his number?”

     “Are you perhaps his sister?”

     “Yes, I’m his older sister.”

     I explain what happened, and Hyein sounds panicked, but thankfully not freaking out. She’s working in Incheon, and she promises me to come there in an hour.

     “Thank you, Ahra-ssi. Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m glad Jongin was with you.”

     The shower of thank yous makes me a bit uncomfortable. I hang up, and put his phone back into his bag. Jongin is sound asleep, but his body starts to cool down. He still isn’t awake until Hyein comes.

     “Oh my, this kid—hello, I’m Kim Hyein.” she bows to me, and I can see the siblings’ resemblance on their smiles. “Thank you for your help. Are you his classmate?”

     “Um… I’m his college friend. And I also used to be in the same high school as him.”

     “High school?” Hyein looks puzzled. “High—oh, on his first year?”

     I nod. Hyein moves to check on Jongin, and she shakes her head. “He rarely gets sick, though…”

     I nervously swallow. Am I going to be viewed as a bad influence? The two of us have been doing what is known only by the two of us, and it’s not easy to explain it to other people.

     “Were you his classmate in high school? He said that he didn’t have any friends, because he only went there for a very short time.”

     “No… We happened to know each other, and only met again not long ago in college.”

     “And you’ve been together since? I mean, hanging out and stuff.”

     I stare at the floor. “Yes.”

     Hyein has a thin smile on her face. “You must be special. Jongin doesn’t like talking to people. He’s also afraid of strangers.”

     I blush, and turn to see Jongin. He’s facing the other side, still deep asleep. “He’s talking to me just fine.”

     “I’m thankful.” Hyein caresses my arm. “I’m not living near here, so it’s good to know someone takes care of my little brother.”

     “Oh right—I’m sorry.” I grab Jongin’s bag. “I called you because you were probably the last relative he called… I should’ve called your parents first.”

     “No, you made the right choice.” Hyein stands up, and pulls aside the curtain around the bed. “I’m going to tell the people in the house first, I’m going to be back soon. Is that okay if I ask you to stay? Do you need to go somewhere?”

     “It’s fine.” I instantly answer. “I will be here.”

     A few moments after Hyein went, Jongin wakes up. He looks at me weakly, and I smile. “How do you feel?”

     Jongin doesn’t answer.

     “Your sister was here.”

     His eyes widen significantly. “What? How?”

     “I… I called her.”

     Jongin looks at the ceiling above, his expression is tense. “Who else did you call?”

     “Nobody. Only her.”

     He rubs his eyes. “Not like I have other people to call, though.”

     I stay silent. He knows I’ve seen his phone already. The nurse comes to inform us that Jongin needs to spend the night here since he might have caught a virus, and some tests need to be run. I fill the registration form, and we’re sent to a single room on the second floor.

     Jongin doesn’t say anything during his lunch, and he falls asleep again after the meal. I’m adjusting the IV drip when the door opens. I expected Hyein to come with their parents since she said she was going to tell the others, but she comes alone again.

     “Looking at you, I feel like I’m the guest, not a family.” Hyein brings in a big bag and puts it near the sofa. “It’s Jongin’s clothes.”

     “Have you… Told your parents?” I carefully ask. Hyein nods, but I sense an unsure feeling. She glances at her sleeping brother, and signals me to sit down with her.

     “Are you close with Jongin?” she asks. I take a long time to answer.

     “He said I’m his only friend. But I didn’t believe him.”

     Hyein sighs slowly. “It might be true. So what has he told you about himself?”

     “Uh…” I recall every single detail. “He only went to Yasaenghwa for the first three months… Then he played for awhile… And he was homeschooled for the rest of his high school years.”

     Hyein nods. “Anything else?”

     “To be honest, it hasn’t even been a month since we became friends.”

     “But you being his friend is magical enough.” Hyein smiles. “Did you talk to him first?”

     “No, he did.”

     Hyein looks even more amazed. “This is a wonderful change.”

     “But why…” I grab the fabric on my knee. “Why doesn’t he have any friend? Is it because he was homeschooled?”

     Jongin moves a bit at his sleep, and we both look at him cautiously. “He got a bit rebellious when he entered high school, so he spent most of the first year by playing games, participating in illegal drag races, and things like that. He was even involved in a car crash because of that.”

     I expected this, not exactly but well he might have done something similar.

     “Our parents were angry because of his behavior, and tried to send him back to school to no avail. So we sent tutors to our house. But a few months after it started…” Hyein takes a deep breath. “Our mother left.”

     Something thumped at my chest loudly from the inside. “She… Passed away?”

     “No, she…” Hyein inhales another round of air. “She left with one of Jongin’s tutors.”

     I have my mouth slightly open.

     “Jongin felt betrayed. He was always told to study hard, to live his life correctly, to make his parents proud, but his own mother betrayed him. He fell into another downfall… Our father changed after Mom left… He barely talks to Jongin, until now. I feel guilty because I’m working outside the city, and leaving the two men of my life live alone here. I should be able to ask to move back to Seoul next year.”

     My eyes slowly feel hot. Hyein looks out of the window as she continues telling me the story.

     “And that time, when Jongin started to run away many times from home, I was the one who did all the effort. I begged Jongin to continue studying. He did, after seeing me finishing university and starting work. He wants to live his life as soon as possible.”

     I get teary, and I quickly grab a sheet of tissue to wipe my tears before they could fall. Okay, by meeting me Jongin got a friend, but he couldn’t help but get reminded of his life after he abandoned school, which is, after listening to Hyein’s story, considerably a memory he wanted to never experience.

     I keep thinking. So Jongin wants to turn back time not just because he wants to live a normal high school life, but also it may prevent what happened to his family.

     But alas, nothing can be changed.

     “And… Your father?”

     “Earlier, I called him, but no answer. So I went to our home, but he wasn’t there. The housemaid said he’s going outside the city since a few days ago.” Hyein exhales, looking tired. “I will try calling him again.”

     Hyein walks out of the room to grab something to eat, and I take Jongin’s phone. I saw that he still has ‘Mom’ on his contacts list, so they might still be talking after all? I dial the numbers and wait with a thumping heart.

     “The number you are calling is incorrect…”

     I try calling again, still with the same operator response. I put down the phone, and look at the screen.

Mom

0000000000000

     It isn’t an actual phone number…

     I sit beside the bed, and watch Jongin sleeping. I take his thin hand and intertwine our fingers warily.

     Now I know.

     Jongin’s legs move, and he slowly opens his eyes. I smile at him.

     “Have you been better?”

     Jongin blinks repeatedly, and gives me a short nod. “Did noona come back here?”

     “Yes, she’s outside.”

     Silence. I’m still holding Jongin’s hand, and he doesn’t complain about this. He even squeezes my hand tighter.

     “Thank you, Ahra.”

     I nod.

     “Don’t go.”

     Those two words somehow make my chest ache. I bite the insides of my lips to prevent myself from crying, and I just nod continuously.

     “It’s okay, I’m here.”