sequel
If OnlyA/N: I initially did not plan on doing a sequel, but upon receiving a suggestion that i should do a little add-on and change the ending to a happier one, i decided to give a try and... Here you go. I really hope it'll be enjoyed and... Upvotes and comments would be much, much appreciated. ^^ (And Happy New Year, everyone!)
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"Come on, you can do this. Hang in there, Wendy. Hang in there, i'm begging you."
The room was immersed in darkness, but somehow, Seulgi was able to see everything and grasp the full situation in the overwhelming blackness. Wendy was dying.
Silence lay like a down-filled duvet in the room. The quietness was almost tangible, no rustle of clothing, breathing slow and barely audible. Seulgi eyed the screen of the machine which displayed Wendy's inconsistent heartbeat.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Wendy's life depended on the machine, while Seulgi's depended on her bestfriend.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Please, please open your eyes, Wendy, open them." Seulgi held her hands together. Her heart was palpitating with fear; with anxiety, while Wendy's, Seulgi could only wish that it would never stop beating.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Seulgi bit her lip, her eyes glued onto the screen. Please...
Beeeeeeeeeep.
Seulgi's eyes widened when she saw a straight line being displayed on the screen, and turned to face Wendy, who was lifeless on the hospital bed.
"Wendy? You're just sleeping, aren't you? Wake up, please..."
Seulgi clutched her dead friend's hands, which were already icy cold, and allowed her tears to flow continuously from eyes, soaking the sheets until she could squeeze no more tears from her eyes.
-
"WENDY!" Seulgi screamed as she sat up straight on her bed. She flung her head to the left, to the right, to the left again, and to the right again.
"Stupid nightmare..." Seulgi muttered as she allowed herself to fall back on her bed. "Again."
Cold sweet trickled down her forehead as Seulgi lay on her bed, her chest heaving up and down as if she has just run a marathon. Ever since Wendy got into the car accident which resulted in her concussion, nightmares as such had begun to constantly haunt Seulgi.
Sometimes, Seulgi would even find herself running to the hospital, barging into Wendy's ward to make sure she was alright, while coming up with excuses such as, "Oh, i thought i left something here." Seulgi's life had also been very simple, robot-like. Wake up, go to vocal classes, visit Wendy, go to dance classes, and visit Wendy again. Her life was never the same as before.
-
Seulgi could hear the sirens of the ambulance as they arrived at the scene. 'It came faster than expected,' Seulgi thought, though every second then felt like an eternity to her.
Wendy's body remained still at her arms, and Seulgi would've thought she was dead if it weren't for the short intakes of breaths entering Wendy's mouth every now and then. Seulgi couldn't bring herself to look at her bestfriend's face, neither can she look at the pool of blood surrounding Wendy, surrounding Seulgi herself.
With little effort, Wendy was hoised into the ambulance, and Seulgi herself crawled into it, immediately finding a space inside the cramped vehicle which she allowed herself to squat, to be beside Wendy. With a few blood stains on her blouse, Seulgi clutched onto Wendy's hands desperately as the ambulance made its way to the hospital. She never let go of Wendy's hands, not for even a second.
-
The minute the class had ended, Seulgi rushed to pack her bag, not wanting to waste a minute so she could spend as much time as possible with Wendy.
"Hey."
Seulgi felt a tap on her shoulder, and swiveled her head around. "Irene unnie."
"Seems like you're in a rush," Irene chuckled, "I was hoping you could accompany me for some shopping."
"Ahh..." Seulgi scratched her head, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but i have somewhere important to go right now."
"It's fine, another day then!" Irene waved as she strolled off, and Seulgi wasted no time in rushing to the hospital.
-
Carrying a plastic bag filled with apples and oranges, Seulgi made her way down the alley to Wendy's ward. It was both a torture and a joy for Seulgi as she walked down the alley of the quiet hospital.
A torture; for the Wendy she would be visiting was not the Wendy whom she could call her bestfriend. A joy; for the fact that Wendy was not yet dead, that Seulgi could at least, at least see her face; hear her voice. It wasn't as bad as the first time, though. Seulgi remembered sitting outside the ward, waiting for her turn to visit Wendy; getting herself ready, except she was never ready.
"What's your name?" Even though it was a simple three-word question, the lack of recognition on Wendy's face was too much for Seulgi to handle. She felt the pain clawing at the heart, the fact that Wendy could not recognise her anymore was scarier than any nightmare Seulgi could've ever imagined.
"I'm Seulgi," Seulgi had managed to croak, but never had she found it so hard to introduce herself. It was the worst, not one of the worst, but the worst kind of pain she had ever felt in her life.
Seulgi shook her head, brushing off the memory. Instead, she faked a smile, as usual, lightly knocked on the door of Wendy's ward before entering.
-
Wendy sat folded like a paper crane at the edge of the hospital bed, clutching her head, as if the force exerted on her head by her hands alone were enough to stop the headache. But nothing; she knew that clearly, nothing would stop the terrible headaches she experienced from time to time.
Wendy closed her eyes, thinking that it would help her remember something, anything, but laced through her mind was the dark feeling of utter hopelessness. It felt as if everything had been wiped from her memory and was replaced with something awful.
A storm of emotions wrenched her gut, twisted and pulled; she wanted to scream, cry, throw up. Wendy dived her head into a pillow and tried to scream, but no sound was produced from , and was instead replaced with sobs.
She closed her eyes once again, witnessing nothing but absolute darkness, until she felt a lightbulb lit up at the back of her head. Wendy clutched and clawed at the bedsheets, forming a word, a name to be more specific.
"Seulgi..." she whispered, still catching her breath, her tears already drying up. Slowly and gradually, her eyelids began to droop, as she felt her consciousness ebbing away, and then all thoughts ended as she plunged into a world of darkness.
-
"Doctor Kim."
"Miss Wendy Son."
Wendy beamed as Doctor Kim entered the room, knowing that she would most definitely receive good news this time.
"How are you feeling these days?" Doctor Kim asked.
"Good. I'm able to collect bits of memories, like places i've been to before, although the awful headaches never ceased to occur."
"Great!" Wendy laughed as Doctor Kim's eyes and smile widened. "The headaches should go away soon after you've recalled most of the things, and the memories will come back one by one, so you do not have to worry at all."
"Okay." Wendy chuckled. "So what good news do you have for me?"
"So you knew..." Doctor Kim chuckled in return. "Miss Wendy Son, you can be discharged."
-
Wendy had thought of spending the day at home, resting, but instead, she found herself being dragged out of the house by an urgent-looking Seulgi, who had rung the doorbell of her house ten times.
"Impatient," Wendy giggled as she opened the door, but before she even realised, she was already a few kilometers away from her home.
"Where are you taking me?" Wendy questioned as she eyed her surroundings, but nothing seemed familiar to her.
"Somewhere interesting, just wait and see." Seulgi had said.
After 30 minutes of what Wendy had deemed as 'mindless walking', the pair had arrived at a cafe, and Wendy propped her chin with one hand on the table as she flipped through the menu, deciding what she wanted to order.
"Oh you don't have to keep looking, i already know what to order for you, for us." Seulgi said as she pulled the menu out of Wendy's hands.
"Two red velvet cakes, please." Seulgi said politely to a waitress nearby.
"Red velvet cakes?" Wendy raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yeah, our favourite..." Seulgi's voice trailed off and she came to a pause, remembering the fact that Wendy was no longer the Wendy she knew, allowing the cruel truth to sink in, before continuing, "I mean my favourite, and i thought you should try it too."
"Of course." Wendy simply replied, and when the cakes had arrived, Seulgi squinted her eyes as she observed Wendy. Perhaps, just maybe, maybe she'd recall something; maybe she'd remember that the cafe used to be one of the Seulgi and Wendy's favourite places, that they would always find a day in a week to satisfy their cravings for Red Velvet cakes. But there was nothing, no reaction coming from Wendy at all. Seulgi could only sigh and force out an assuring smile, swallowing the lump in for the umpteenth time.
-
It has been days, weeks, months, since Wendy was discharged from the hospital; since Seulgi had been taking Wendy to different, old places, yet Wendy have never shown any signs of recognition to those places, signs that she knew who Seulgi actually was to her. Not until one day, when Wendy had abruptly called Seulgi to meet her at a park.
-
Wendy sat on a bench in the park, allowing the chirping of the birds and the crickets to provide music to her ears. She closed her eyes, wanting to enjoy the peacefulness of Mother Nature, the tranquility of the park filled with lustrous greenery, but was instead hit with a pain in her head.
'Not the headaches again,' Wendy thought as she bit down hard on her lip, digging her nails into her palms till her skin nearly turned herringbone. A sudden rush of images filled her mind, and it was as if a memory card had been inserted into her brain; she could remember things.
Wendy sat up straight and opened her eyes, muttering the same name she would call out every single time a headache occured.
"Seulgi."
Wendy tried for a long time to conjure an image of Seulgi before that, just a sliver of something, anything. It was slowly, then, Wendy realised that Seulgi was not just a mere friend whom she had befriended after being visited at the hospital.
-
Wendy lifted her head and watched as Seulgi jogged a few steps before planting herself on the bench, beside Wendy.
"You called me?"
Seulgi smiled as she turn to face Wendy, and Wendy only stared back at her, taking in every single detail on Seulgi's face, absorbing every single information of her bestfriend, her bestfriend whom she had not even recognise all this while.
When Seulgi realised Wendy's face devoid of expression, her smile started to fade away, and was instead replaced with a look full of concern.
"Hey, you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?" Seulgi frowned as she lightly placed a hand on Wendy's thigh.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Wendy asked, surprised at hearing her voice for the first time in her salvageable memory.
"Tell you wh-what?" Seulgi wasn't sure why her voice shook, but it did, still.
"Why didn't you tell me that we mean more to each other than just normal, hang-out friends? That you were, no, that you are my dear bestfriend? That... that you've been suffering silently by yourself all this time?"
Wendy's lips quivered as she talked, but she made sure to emphasise every single word, conveying her feelings with every word that spilled from .
The blank, emotionless expression swept over Seulgi's face as the realisation of the moment gradually seeped in. She felt the water creep out of her eyes, and gently whispered, "Wendy..."
Seulgi shook her head, gritting her teeth and creasing her eyebrows into a row, trying to suppress the emotions and the tears rising within her.
"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."
She hung her head low, trying to avoid Wendy's eyes. Soon, the dam of tears within her exploded and it flushed down her pair of red, puffy eyes.
"It's okay, i'm alright now."
Seulgi felt Wendy's pair of hands on her back, pulling her close. She allowed herself to remain wrapped in Wendy's arms, the tears flowing continuously from her already swollen eyes.
"Hey, why are you crying?"
Wendy leaned back to look into Seulgi's glossy and shining eyes which were filled with water.
"It's not your fault, i don't blame you at all Seulgi, and i don't need you to blame yourself either."
"But-"
"Shhh, no buts."
Wendy gently placed a finger on Seulgi's lips, silencing her.
"So, how about a movie to welcome me back? We loved, i mean, love watching movies, don't we?"
"Alright," Seulgi nodded as she chocked on her tears.
"Come on," Wendy stood up, pulling Seulgi along with her. "But first, let's clean up your face. Gosh, you look terrible."
Seulgi chuckled, causing Wendy to turn around.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing's funny, just glad. I'm just so happy right now."
"Silly." Wendy ruffled Seulgi's hair before setting off, their footsteps somehow lighter than before.
"Hey, look."
Wendy pointed at the sun, which poured out a sea of orange that blanketed the landscape. Seulgi's eyes followed the direction of Wendy's finger.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
Seulgi felt Wendy's hand on her shoulder, and then it slowly made its way down, her fingers tracing the inside of Seulgi's arm, before resting to interlace their fingers together. They stayed silent for a moment, taking in the view as the white, fluffy clouds made its way to envelope the orange round sun.
"Thank you, Seulgi." Wendy said, their fingers still intertwined.
"Thank you too, Wendy." Seulgi replied.
None of them wanted to let go, neither did they want to move from that spot, so they didn't. They watched, hand in hand, as the sun drowned in the horizon, its rays of light glimmering in the darkness of the clouds. Their smiles; their bright, radiant smiles, remained plastered in their faces, their fingers still entwined.
If Seulgi wasn't sure before, she was sure that now, or ever in the future, every single time she got hold of Wendy's hands, she would hold it tight and never let it go, just like now, and forever.
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