“It’s okay, he will understand. You just have to give him a some time to calm down, then you can explain everything to him.” Taeyeon patted your back as you lay flat on your stomach on the bed with your face buried in your pillow. “He trusts you, he will believe you.”

“No he won’t, even I don’t believe me,” you cried.

“He isn’t you, it will be fine,” Taeyeon assured you. You lifted your head to look at her. She looked worried. You gave her a small smile.

“Thanks for trying,” you said and sat up. You decided to stop crying. You had been lying like this for two hours now and you didn’t feel any better, it was try to something else.

“How are things with Yoseob?” you asked and wiped your nose. A small frown appeared on Taeyeon’s forehead. “What’s the matter Taeyeon-ah?”

“Everything is perfect. Or, at least that’s how I feel.” Taeyeon looked at you.

“Then what’s with the frown? Has he said something?” you asked carefully.

“Not yet. I’m supposed to meet him soon. He said he had something to tell me.” Her frown deepened. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“It will be fine,” you said. Hopefully you knew what it was he was going to say…“He loves you.”

You sat up in your bed waiting for Taeyeon to return. She said she wouldn’t be home too late, but the time showed half past eleven already. The phone rang in the kitchen. The smallest one started crying and you ran up to answer.

“Yoboseyo?” All that was heard on the other side was the desperate cries from your sister.

“Taeyeon-ah? Taeyeon!?”

“… Yoseob… hospital…” were the only words you could make out from your sister’s sobbing.

“Calm down Taeyeon-ah, I’ll be right there.”

No, no, no, no, no. the word kept running through your mind as you ran up the stairs to the floor where Taeyeon and Yoseob were located. Yoseob, please don’t hurt Taeyeon, please don’t go away, please don’t leave. You pushed a door open and got out into a corridor. You turned a right and followed the numbers on the doors. You turned a left and almost collided with Gikwang. Both of you stopped abruptly in your step and looked at each other in silence. At the same time you both decided that this wasn’t the time or place to think about your problem and hurried on towards Yoseob’s room.

Taeyeon was sitting on the floor rocking herself back and forth. You ran straight up to her, kneeled down and embraced her. Taeyeon’s tears wetted your sweater as she cried uncontrollably against your shoulder. You patted her head, whispered calmingly into her ear and held her tight. Nothing helped. Nothing could calm her down. You pulled her to her feet and led her to a chair and sat her down. You looked at Gikwang.

“Where are his parents?”

“Out of town, they are on their way over here.” His voice was emotionless and he didn’t look at you as he spoke. You sighed. It was going to be along night. You put an arm around Taeyeon’s shaking shoulders.

“Do you know what Yoseob always does to cheer me up when I’m feeling down, Taeyeon-ah?” Gikwang suddenly asked. She looked up and shook her head. “I’ll show you then.” From a small whiteboard next to the door leading to Yoseob’s room he took its pen and came to sit on Taeyeon’s other side.

“Give me your hand.” Taeyeon hesitantly put her hand in his. Gikwang pulled her sleeve up and exposed her forearm. He took the cap of the pen and was about to put it to her arm. “May I?” Taeyeon gave a short nod while sobbing and Gikwang drew a line. The line soon developed to more and a drawing took form on Taeyeon’s arm.

“There.” Gikwang put the cap back onto the pen and studied his masterpiece. You and Taeyeon looked at it. Taeyeon hiccupped and tilted her head.

“It’s… it’s terrible,” she said between sobs. You elbowed her in the ribs. Gikwang gave a short laugh.

“I know, and still it’s better than Yoseob’s,” he said and pulled up his own sleeve. He exposed the blurry drawing on his own arm and smiled a little. Taeyeon reached out her hand and gently touched it. A nearly imperceptible smile was visible on her face.

“You’re right. This one is way worse.” She laughed while sobbing. “What is it supposed to be?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s a dog…”

“Why does he do it, if he’s so bad I mean,” Taeyeon asked and rubbed her eyes.

“Because I want him to, and he knows that it makes me feel better.”

“It’s a lovely tradition, how did it start?” Taeyeon asked curiously through her tears.

“That’s how we met…”

Gikwang was interrupted when a man and a woman came running around a corner.

“Gikwang!” the man called. Gikwang got up and bowed. “How is my boy?”

“We don’t know, there is no news yet,” Gikwang said regretfully. The woman, obviously Yoseob’s mother, sat down beside Taeyeon and looked at her. She gently wiped away a tear from Taeyeon’s cheek.

“It’s nice to see you again Taeyeon-ah,” she said with a small smile. “Now, all we can do is wait.”