“Let’s go to the carnival! PLEASE Oppa!”

She only calls me Oppa when she wants something. We have been friends since birth and I am only 2 days older than her. Usually she is being an annoying little brat and calling me names and poking me in the ribs. If she wasn’t my best friend I would never play with her. Girls are annoying!

My dad says I will find them less annoying as I get older but I think he is going senile. He has been alive since dinosaurs walked the earth. He has to be losing his marbles by now. I mean I am 10 years old! That’s double digits and girls are STILL icky and annoying. I don’t think that is ever going to change.

“I’ll go with you to the carnival if you promise not to be a big baby and ride the rides with me this time”

“I promise Ji. I won’t cry or anything!”

“You gotta pinky swear MinYung. This is too important for any regular old promise!”

“Okay! I Kang MinYung pinky promise not to cry. I will ride all the rides Kwon Jiyong wants to get on and I won’t complain. I won’t even make him win me a teddy bear.”

“I’ll get you the stupid bear. Only after we ride all the rides. Now let’s go!”

She kept her promise. We rode all the rides I wanted to ride that day. I wish I never made her promise. If I didn’t make her promise she would be here annoying me right now.  I miss her laugh when we played together. I miss the squeaky quality of her voice. I miss the pout she used to make when I would . I miss the times we would do our homework together. She was always so much smarter than me. It is my fault. I will never forgive myself.

That one trip to the carnival ruined MinYung’s life. A Ferris wheel accident left her comatose. She is not brain dead. She breathes on her own. She will not wake. She has been in a coma ever since that ride collapsed. Her mother died of grief. Her father drank himself to death. In any other circumstance, they would have pulled the plug on her long ago. I won’t let that happen.  My father is a doctor. I am going to follow in his footsteps and become a neurosurgeon because of Kang MinYung. I will continue working until I find a way to wake her. She is and will forever be my best friend.

I talk to her every night… in my dreams. This first happened 2 days after her accident when my father told me she will most likely remain in a coma for a long time if she ever does wake. I cried myself to sleep. The grief was unbearable for my 10 year old soul. All I could think was; why did I make her get on that Ferris wheel knowing she was afraid of heights? Why didn’t I just win her the stupid bear like I promised and play carnival games with her all night? I dreamed of watching her fall on a repeated circuit.

Suddenly I heard a voice I never thought I would hear again:

“Don’t cry Ji. I’m not dead you know.”

“MinYung?”

“Yes. It’s me Jiyong Oppa don’t be sad.”

“How are you up and talking to me? Dad says you are in a coma and you won’t wake up for a long time.”

“You are sleeping Ji. I can talk to you when you sleep. I’m still in a coma. I wanna wake up but I can’t. It hurts too much to be in my body now.”

“Do you hate me MinYung?”

“NO! I had fun at the carnival with you. I even liked getting on the rides. You were right. They aren’t as scary as I thought. It’s not your fault the door on the Ferris wheel broke and I fell out.”

“Yes it is! You wouldn’t have gotten on if I didn’t make you swear! I made you PINKY SWEAR!”

“If you went by yourself YOU would be in a coma instead of me. I like the fact that I saved you.”

“I will become a brain doctor like my Appa. I will find a way to wake you up Kang MinYung. I promise with everything that I have.”

And so began our nightly conversations. I would go over school stuff with her so she wouldn’t be behind when she woke up. I would tell her about the things going on with our classmates. I told her about the time I kissed a girl. I even told her what it felt like to lose my ity. It has been 7 years and Kang MinYung still sleeps. I see her at the hospital every day after school. She ages in my dream just as she ages lying in her hospital bed. I am going on prom tonight. Part of me wishes she would wake up so I could take her. She deserves a prom.

I’m a rather popular guy so I didn’t have trouble finding a date or anything. She is a really nice girl and all. She puts out which is a definite bonus. She still doesn’t compare to the one girl I wish I could spend my time with. Maybe I should take a short nap before getting ready. I think I will. Without bothering to change out of my school uniform or get under the covers I lay flat on my back and succumb to dreamland.

“Ji what are you doing? You have prom tonight! Wake up!”

“I wanted to see you before I got ready. You are and always will be my best girl Kang MinYung. I wish you would try and wake up.”

“If I asked you to give up on me would you?”

“NO! WHAT THE MINYUNG!”

“I feel like I am holding you back from leading a normal life. You don’t have a steady girlfriend. You avoid going out with your friends if it will cut into your sleeping hours. You were never a good student before I got hurt. Now you are on the Dean’s list.”

“So you are blaming yourself because I decided to apply myself in school and not sneak out at night with the guys? I don’t have a steady girlfriend because I don’t WANT a girlfriend. If I have one I have to be faithful to just her. You know how many girls just wanna fool around? Chill out MinYung. I am perfectly happy with my life as things are.”

“Are you sure Jiyong?”

“Yes I am sure. I will never leave you. If you give up on me I will never forgive you. I promised you I will one day be a neurosurgeon. I will fix you.”

“I believe you Jiyong. Just don’t sacrifice your life for mine. I will know. I am always watching out for you.”

“I know. My childhood best friend is now my guardian angel.”

“You are sleeping too long. Wake up and get ready for prom.”

“I’ll tell you everything when I get home tonight!”

“Ji, skip the details this time okay?”

“Okay sure.”

Prom was great and like I said my date puts out so that was even better. I need to take the Range Rover in for cleaning before my mom takes it to do grocery shopping or something. She usually drives the Lexus but she likes using a truck on shopping days. I can’t wait to go to sleep and tell MinYung all about prom. I wonder if she would like dancing. We usually spend our time together talking. I have never tried to move around or anything.

“Hello again Ji”

“Minnie you would have loved it! There were strobe lights and the decorations were cool. The DJ played all the best dancing songs and even threw in a few slow ones so you could cop a feel on your date every once in a while. Someone spiked the punch but principal Yang caught it before any of us got to drink any.”

“It sounds like you had a great time. I am so proud of you Ji. You are going to be Valedictorian and you got accepted to Oxford for Pre-med!”

“I got in! How do you know? No one told me I got accepted!”

“Your dad was talking about it when he came to check on me today.”

“Wait Minnie you heard their conversation in your HOSPITAL ROOM!”

“Yes, why?”

“How long have you been able to hear what goes on in your room?”

“Just recently. You know I have a hard time telling time like this.”

“Minnie, you are getting better! Little by little you are coming back! This is the best graduation present you could have ever given me. Well short of waking up that is.”