Bomi made her way home after making sure that Chorong was already sound asleep at the hospital. She couldn’t shake the fact that a complete stranger brought a drop of light back into her life, and she did so quite easily too. However, Chorong’s words reverberated in her head once again. “You can call me unnie.” It’s been a long time since she used that word. She didn’t have anyone to call ‘unnie’ anyway, not since that day.

After what felt like hours of driving aimlessly, she found herself back at her place. Exhausted from all the emotions she had to ride throughout today, she went straight to her room and plopped on her bed. Park Chorong. She thought to herself. She couldn’t get her mind off her; for some reason, the warmth of the atmosphere around her seemed familiar. Bomi didn’t bother to wash up as she was quite tired already so she decided to look Chorong’s name up the internet.

NO RESULTS FOUND

That’s weird. She looked through social media, news articles, and even scholastic works but she didn’t find anything. Who are you? With her eyes almost completely shut, the thought of the shy stranger popped in her mind again, making her drift off with a hint of peace. This was the first time in years that she slept with a light heart.

“Eunji-yah!” Bomi called out as she saw her best friend coming out of Chorong’s room. “How is she? Will she be able to go home today?”

“Oh. Ne. She’s doing a lot better. I’m on my way to drop off her papers.” She rubbed her eyes as she let out a long yawn.

“Aish. You’re overworked again. Why don’t you go home for now? I’m sure someone can cover for you.” Bomi was more than concerned about her friend’s bloodshot eyes.

“I’m fine Bomi-yah. Don’t worry too much.” She smiled heartily with a tinge of weariness. “I have my patients to attend to.”

Bomi took a moment, debating with herself as to whether or not she should speak her mind. She sighed and took Eunji’s hand. “Eunji-yah… I understand your passion on your field. I understand how much compassion you have for your patients.” She made sure Eunji was listening and looked straight into her eyes, locking them onto hers. “But Naeun needs you too.” Realizing how she couldn’t do this with Eunji staring back at her, she dropped her head and heaved a heavy sigh. “I just hope you know how incredibly blessed you are with what you have.” She finally said, almost a whisper.

Knowing how much her friend has been hurting for the past five years, she just smiled and brought her into a hug. “I know. I’ll just finish my rounds then I’ll go straight home. I promise.” She released Bomi and beamed a smile for her.

Bomi knew her friend too well to believe that.That’s also how she knows that Eunji will stand her ground if she continues to protest so she just nodded and smiled, albeit reluctantly.

“By the way, I couldn’t find records of her on our database nor on other hospitals, but I just made a way around it so she could go home.” Eunji said as she walked away.

Strange. She remembered about her quick search the night before. Shrugging her shoulders, she brushed it off thinking that Chorong must have given a false name since she has been brought here without any memory of it.

“Hey, good morning… Unnie.” It still feels weird saying it out loud after such a long time. “H-how are you feeling?” She approached the bed cautiously as Chorong was already looking brighter than yesterday.

“Good morning Bomi-yah.” Smiling brightly which made her small eyes squint up even smaller. “I’m feeling so much better now. I hope I could get out by lunch.”

The air inside the room was lighter compared to the day before. Chorong was also in an upbeat mood today, causing a smile to crawl its way onto Bomi’s lips. They went off chatting while they wait for their permission to leave. This time though, Chorong did most of the talking, and Bomi was again engulfed by the stranger’s warm aura.

“I can’t wait to have chicken feet when I get out of here!” Chorong exclaimed eagerly. She immediately dropped her head and turned red as she didn’t mean to sound so excited.

A light chuckle escaped from Bomi. She still couldn’t believe that this woman is actually older than her. She grinned and shook her head. “Alright, we’ll do that as soon as we step outside.” Not realizing what she said until it was too late, she’s now furiously blushing too.

“A-aniyo. You’ve done enough Bomi-yah. I-I can pay for myself.” Regret filled her as soon as the words escaped her lips. She forgot one crucial thing: she didn’t have any money on her. Her excitement was brutally crushed as she thought she’d have to come hom