And so the prodigal son returned. The Matron had waited for him when she was back in her apartment. It did not surprise her that she was the first person he wanted to see.

    Hongbin dropped his suitcase outside. Matron almost felt the energy in the air; that waning bout of pain. This was the man that was destroyed by her own flesh. This was the man that her daughter loved and hated at the same time.

    “Matron,” he said, in a fading breath. He was crumbling from the inside out, like an earthquake that tore from underground.

Matron caught him in her arms, and she was almost constricted in his embrace. He howled into her shoulder, like a little baby. No one would have guessed his twenty-eight years.

    She ran her fingers through his hair, a gesture she often did when he was a little child. Oh those beautiful days! Would that there was a way to retrace time.

    “Hush my darling. Don’t cry.”

“Myungsoo and Suzy,” he said, still in that dwindling voice. “Myungsoo…”

    “It is up to God what will happen to them.”

He broke apart in front of her, like a beautiful ceramic piece. It took her awhile to bend and collect the pieces. In no time, she restored him into what he was.

    They sat across the table, both holding a mug of warm tea that neither had the appetite to drink. The time passed between them but they basked in the essence of one another: the potential mother and son. The evidence of time continued, until light stepped down from its vantage and allowed the darkness to embrace the earth.

    “I wanted her to marry you,” said Matron. There was no need for small talk. “But you know, Hongbin, there was often a time where I wish you could have been her brother.”

    “I wish you adopted me,” he admitted. Hongbin reached forward, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “At least it would’ve been different. I wouldn’t have…” He stared at her, and she caught a glimpse of his soul: that sensitive part of him that he often hid behind a barrier of happiness. “I’ve fallen in love with your daughter. And I don’t know how to forget her.”

    “Time will heal,” said Matron. Those were the same words she told Suzy. However, fate was cruel. Fate always pulled the four members of the orphanage together again, not allowing them to leave one another or forget one another.

“It’s hard,” he said, in barely a whisper.

    “Life is hard.” After all those years that passed, did she not still love her husband? It was hard to let go. Love could not simply be forgotten, and it was not a wound that time could simply heal.

She was grateful for the doorbell that rang. Hongbin went to answer, and returned with Jongin by his side, followed by Naeun. The latter was more daunting than the men. She knew the consequences of what could happen if Myungsoo did not wake again. Her hair was dishevelled, and it was one of those rare days when she wore no makeup. It made her look far younger, but also more tired.

    “Anything?”

Jongin shook his head. His usual cheerfulness had vanished. He collapsed into a chair, as if his knees no longer had the will to stand. “They’re not waking, either of them. The doctors are telling us to give more time.”

    “I don’t know if my parents can keep up with the bills,” said Naeun. Her high-pitched voice was so low, that Matron could not recognise that it belonged to her.

    “Don’t worry,” said Hongbin. He held her hand. “I can pay for the hospital bills.”

“I’m sorry you had to come here, Bean,” said Jongin. “You were so settled.”

    “And I’m planning to stay.”

The young people all gasped. Astonished. Matron had guessed it already. Hongbin had returned to set things right. How he would do that, she did not know, but that was his decision.

    He was here to break his heart once more.

Matron placed a blanket over Naeun who was now sleeping on the couch. She took away the food that was not eaten and threw it all in the bin. Hongbin and Jongin were on the balcony, catching up on old times again. How many years had it been since their visit to Boston? Five years.

    It was Myungsoo that reunited them back then, and it was Myungsoo that reunited them again.

They talked about their current jobs, what their aspirations were. Hongbin was surprised to hear that Jongin had not dated in a while, and to think that Soojung and he were back in the same town, it was surprising. Matron did not know whether to secretly tell Hongbin that Jongin was waiting for someone else in his life. That young woman had no idea, unfortunately.

    They did not bring up what could happen if Myungsoo and Suzy did not improve. They were afraid, but Matron was glad that the two found solace in one another.

“Boys, would you like some more tea?” she asked.