Chapter 17

"Hey, what are you listening to?" So Eun turned towards the voice that was cheerful and full of enthusiasm.

Hye Kyo, her cousin of the same age, entered her room and immediately lay down on the bed. Before So Eun answered, Hye Kyo had reached for the box the CD that is being held by So eun.

"Very cute guy," she commented when she saw the CD's front cover which is a picture of Junho. "Why, how come there are all of these signatures? This is really the singer's signature? Have you ever met him? " So eun laughs and takes the CD box.

"Yes. That time I went to the fan meeting. " She saw Hye Kyo just grimacing and shrugging her shoulders. There are times when she wants to be like her cousin.

Hye Kyo is a cheerful, relaxed and talented girl. We will see, despite spending almost all of her life in Paris with her father and only occasionally visit her mother in Jakarta if she is on vacation like now, Hye Kyo's Indonesian language is fluent. She had no trouble following the development of Indonesian slang. Not like So eun who is Indonesian it still sounds rather official.

"What are the plans for today?" Asked So Eun.

"How come we planning this early in the morning?" 

"I'm bored just to be at home," her cousin answered lightly. She sat on the edge of the bed of So eun's bed and tidy up the curls of her hair. "By the way, how come you suddenly came back in Jakarta. Just make it shocked. Why? Why?" 

"What?"

"Have you got a boyfriend already?" Hye Kyo changed the question. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Hye Kyo's eyes widened. "Yee ... he's not Indonesian, right?" She said while chuckling. "I mean you, you already have a guy? Already have a boyfriend? "

So eun's smile widened. "Yes," she said, pointing to the cover picture of the front of Junho's CD. "This is him."

Hye Kyo grimaced. "Aye, I also have an affair with Brad Pitt," she said quickly. "How did it happened anyway? "

So eun had also predicted Hye Kyo would not believe it. She looked at Junho's face on the cover of the CD. It's been a week since she's been in Jakarta, and for that week she could not see Junho's photos and articles in the tabloids and television. But there are still Hye Kyowho often send SMS to tell her the latest news. Junho also occasionally sends SMS to preach the situation.

"Hye Kyo, can I borrow your phone for a while?"

"Pourquoi? Why? "Hye Kyo asked as she pulled the phone out of her bag.

"My load for international text is gone. I want to send an SMS to my friend in Korea. I want to say the day after tomorrow I'm going back to Korea, "So eun explained.

Hye Kyo shook her head and sighed. "I don't speak Korean so I don't have any Hangul letters through my phone."

So eun just laughed. Hye Kyo helps her send an SMS to Hye Kyo by writing everything in the English alphabet because Hye Kyo's phone does not have the hangeul letters and because So eun herself is not very good with the English language. Writing Korean without hangeul feels too weird.

"Here, already sent," Hye Kyo said, and she got out of So eun's bed. "Now Let's yank it out! "

"What? Where are we going?"

Hye Kyo looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall, turned left, turned to the right, then leaned closer to the mirror, as if to check if there's a speck of dust on the tip of her nose. "We going to Bandung. You don't want to? "Hye Kyo suggested while keeping her face away from the mirror. "I won't be able to see you again. Not that we are not going to see each other again but it might take some time. I'm also here again since it's been a while. Today we should have fun. Come on! Let's not be sad. Go change your clothes now!"

* * *

"So you will back tomorrow?" Hye Sun asked with the phone taped in her right ear. She thanked the shopkeeper who handed her over the things she got from the store and went back to focus on So eun whom she speaking on the other end.

"Mmm," So eun said. Her voice is less clear because of the international connection.

"Now I'm on my way home. In two hours I'm leaving again at the airport. My plane will be leaving at midnight, so according to the schedule I'll be there by tomorrow morning."

Hye Sun pushes the store's glass door and gets out. "Okay. I will pick you up at the airport later. "

"No need to. I can take a taxi by myself. Don't you have to help your mother? "

"Usually no customers are coming on those hours," Hye Sun said,  "Junho is in the United States, so he cannot go pick you up."

"I know. He is coming home today, but he probably going to Seoul a bit late tomorrow."

Hye Sun grimaces. "You're still in touch with him. Is your mother still mad? "

Hye Sun hears her friend chuckle on the other side, then So eun says, "No, actually my mother is not upset. My mother just sad because she remembered Min Jung. My mother was also upset that her two daughters had become material talks in Korea. But now the gossip has subsided, hasn't it? "

Hye Sun nods, though she knows Soeun cannot see she's nodding her head. "Yes, Junho's done it. Somehow. At least now he is very busy. "

"Oh, -AHH!"

Hye Sn stops walking. She frowned. "Hello? Hello? So eun? " there was no answer. The phone line has been disconnected. Hye Sun stares her phone, then phoned So eun's cell phone. It was cannot be reached. Hye Sun tries again. Still cannot.

Initially, Hye Sun is not so worried about the disconnected phone line, but when she could not find So eun at the airport when she picked up the next day, she began to worry. She tried again to call So eun's phone, but it was still disconnected.

Hye Sun is confused. She doesn't know So eun's home phone number in Jakarta. She began to think of whom she could contact. Suddenly she remembered the SMS she received from So eun yesterday.

Using her cousin's phone. Hye Sun checks her phone. Hoping the SMS from So eun's cousin's phone number is still there. Ah, it has not been removed yet. Thank God.

Hye Sun quickly dials the number and waits impatiently.

"Hello?" Came the answer from the other side. A female voice. Cousin of So eun or not? It seems to be true.

Hye Sun tries to compose words in English in a flash. "Hello,"

She hesitated. "Is this So eun's cousin? "

"Yes," the woman replied. Her voice sounds strange. "This is Hye Kyo. Who am I speaking to? "

Fortunately, So eun's cousin speaks English fluently. "My name is Kang Hye Sun. So eun's friend from Korea," Hye Sun introduces herself. "I need to ask you something. So eun told me that she would arrive in Korea today, but I couldn't find her at the airport. She couldn't make it?"

Upon hearing of So eun's cousin's answer, Hye Sun's eyes widen. "What?! I'm sorry ... what was that? Can you say that again, please? "

Hye Sun feels her body limp all at once. So severe that she directly contact Junho via Goong Min's mobile phone as she does not get Junho's phone number. Not connected. Maybe Goong Min and Junho are on a plane that will take them back to Korea from the United States.

Hye Sun hangs up her phone after trying to reach the two men. She ruffled her hair with feelings of despair. She should immediately tell Junho what happened on So eun.

* * *

"I'm exhausted," Goong Min mumbles as he walks into the waiting car they are at the airport front door.

Junho rests his head on a chair. So eun should be back in Korea today. Had it been nearly a month since the last time I saw her?

Today he would be able to see her. Junho feels his spirits are recovering by thinking he could see So eun again. He had wondered to himself since when had she become the reason to go through the days of him when he got busy all stressed out. For wanting to see and be with the girl, then he persisted, stay awake in the morning, keeps breathing. Now Junho can understand what it means if someone wants to survive for the sake of others.

He often watches dramas whose main character suffered from a severe illness, but want to survive for the sake of the person they love. Before this, Junho does not understand such feelings but now, though, without the illness or whatsoever, he wants to stay alive. Because in this life, there is someone precious to him. Because in this life, he wants to always be able to see and be with that person.

"Strange. So eun's friend named Hye Kyohas called me a dozen times. "

Junho's reverie was interrupted by his manager's voice. He turned and saw Park Goong Min is frowning staring at his cell phone.

"Hye Sun?" Junho asks.

Goong Min nods. "I also just found out after I activated my phone when we got back."

Junho takes out his cell phone and activates it.

Suddenly Goong Min's phone rang.

"From Hye Sun," Goong Min said and immediately answered her phone.

Junho watches his manager talking to So eun's friend.

"Hye Kyossi, speak slowly. I don't understand what you are trying to say, "Goong Min said. "Junho? ... Yes, he is here ... Want to talk to him? ... Okay, please. "

Junho frowns. Suddenly he felt bad. Is it about So eun?

He receives the phone from Goong Min. "Yes?"

"Junho ssi, I want to tell you sooner, but Uncle Park's phone is off and I do not know your mobile number." Junho hears So eun's friend's voice was a bit nervous and chaotic.

"Goong Min Hyong and I just got off the plane, so our phone was inactive, " Junho explained. His feelings were getting worse. "Is there something you wanna talk about with me? "

"So eun ..."

Why did he suddenly find it hard to breathe?

"What's wrong with So eun?" He asked. His hands began to feel cold. He started to panic. "Where is she?"

"So eun is still in Jakarta."

"She didn't come home today? Why?"

Hye Kyodoes not speak for a moment. Junho will just call him when the girl spoke again. "She had an accident."

"What?"

This time Hye Sun's explanation flows smoothly. "I did call her cousin in Jakarta because So eun's phone cannot be contacted. She told me So eun had a car accident. The taxi she was traveling in was involved in a car crash on the highway. "

Junho feels his chest is very heavy, hard to breathe, his blood as if just froze. "How is her condition now?"

"Not yet aware." Hye Sun's voice starts to break. Looks like the girl started crying.

Unconscious ... Oh, God ...

Junho tries hard to catch his breath. "At which hospital? ...  I understand ... Thank you. "

So eun is lying unconscious ...

"Junho, what's up? So eun's in the hospital? "

Junho hears Goong Min's voice, but he has no energy to reply. His mind is frantic.

"Hey, Junho!"

"I have to go," he said quickly, without looking at his manager. "I have to go to Jakarta."

* * *

Hye Kyo hugged a bushel with one hand while her other hand- fixing the strap of the bag. It contains the food she's gonna give to So eun's parents who had been waiting for So eun at the hospital for 24 hrs now. Hye Kyo's mother told her to bring food for them.

She stepped into the front door of the big hospital and walked to the elevator. This afternoon she had no schedule at all. Hye Kyo is planning to ask So eun's parents to take some rest while she she can wait for So eun to wake up. She feels bad for them. 

Yesterday So eun's mother cried a lot and So eun's father also had time to cry after he saw the girl lying in the hospital room with full wounds all over her whole body.

Ting!

Hye Kyo gasped at the sound of a bell that signaled the opening of the elevator door. She breathed in hard and out of the elevator. When she was about to turn to So eun's room, she paused. In front of So eun's door, she saw two unknown men, who was standing face-to-face with So eun's parents.

Hye Kyo narrowed her eyes. She seemed to have seen one of the two men before. The man who is not wearing eyeglasses stood by his friend with his head bowed. The look on his face when So eun's parents told them about what happened.

"Wait ... that man is..." 

The same as the man whose picture is on the front cover of the CD that So eun showed her? Hye Kyo watched more closely. "Right ... that's the guy!"

"What's his name... again?" Then Hye Kyo noticed So eun's parents walking alongside the man who is wearing eyeglasses. The artist bowed his head to So eun's parents, but he did not go away. He remains standing in front of the bedroom door where So eun was being treated.

The man held the door handle for a moment. Not moving. Then, slowly he opened the door and entered.

Junho feels his body is tired. He had never felt like this before. His strength seemed to have been absorbed. His chest felt so heavy. He boarded the plane first thing when he heard about what happened to So eun. He then went directly to the hospital where So eun is being treated. Everything feels like a dream. When he meets both So eun's parents for the first time, he asked them if he could see her. 

He went into So eun's room and his heart seemed to be squeezed so strongly when he saw the girl laying with her eyes closed. Junho goes to bed and watches So eun's bruised face. Her head was bandaged, so were her elbows and one of her feet.

Junho pulls up a chair and sits down on the side of the bed. He smiled weakly.

"It's me," he whispered.

The girl remained motionless.

Junho reaches out and touches So eun's hand. "It's been a long time since the last time we saw each other. You know, I almost forgot about your face. If I forget about your face, I will not be able to do anything anymore. You know why? Because I would be too busy trying to remember your face to the point I won't be able to think of anything else. It's bad, isn't?"

He her cheek with his fingertips. "Now after seeing you, I just remember. Ah, right ... Your eyes are like this ... your nose is like this ... your lips... Your forehead ... and your hair. "

He grasped the girl's hand gently. "How can I forget your face? "Junho sighs. "My memory is bad, I know. What do you think I should do? I think I have to see you every day so I won't forget about your face. That means you should always be by my side, with me."

Hye Kyo walked over to So eun's bedroom door and hesitated. She had no thoughts Or any purpose. She just wanted to know what the man was doing in the room. Therefore she steadied her heart and opened the door slowly.

He saw the man sitting on the side of the bed. The man did not notice her presence behind the door. Hye Kyo saw him grasping So eun's hand with one of his hands. Hye Kyo was amazed at the way he looked at her cousin. No one ever looked at her that way. Hye Kyo is not a romantic type of person, but she felt that the look Junho is giving her cousin is so sincere. You might melt if he looks at you that way.

The man is talking. Vaguely Hye Kyo could hear his voice, she knew the man is speaking in Korean but did not understand what he was saying. As he spoke, the man touched So eun's face with the tip of his fingers. Only with the tips of the fingers, and slowly, as if afraid he would hurt the girl who is lying on that bed. Without realizing it, Hye Kyo held her breath, amazed to see the man and So eun. The voice of the man was slow and deep. Although Hye Kyo did not understand what he was saying, she was surprised to feel the feelings that flow through the man's words.

The man sighed heavily. He looked at So eun's face and then Hye Kyo heard the man whisper, "Sarang hae ..."

Hye Kyo's throat tightened and somehow her tears rolled down. That getting Hye Kyo touched was the way the man said it: with all of it. Feelings, as if they no longer have the energy to say other words. Hye Kyo cannot speak Korean, but she knows the meaning of the sentence just now.

I love you...

A/N: Here's a late Valentine's treat for you guys. This chapter is just awesome! It gave me chills. Let me know your thoughts about this chapter in the comment section. I love hearing what you guys have to say. Thank you :)