Six

Joohyun needs to step up her game. Last week, she spent ample distance from Seulgi in their project meetings and even missed two days of it. Being the heir for BL Partners LLC isn’t exactly helping her in winning Seulgi back. 

It has only been a month since the results of the bar exams were out. Of course, her father is proud of her. She might have taken the exam a year later because of Seulgi’s accident, but at least she passed on her first try. 

That mouse incident last week, she still cannot forget it. How Seulgi’s delicate hand felt on top of her hand was all she longed for these past two years. 

It wasn’t exactly true when she said that she never visited Seulgi in the hospital. In fact, she almost lived in the hospital, taking care of Seulgi in her comatose state. Talking to her sleeping girlfriend, pleading her everyday to open her eyes. Those first six months she felt fear weighing down on her. She is scared her Seulgi would never wake up again. If she only said yes to Seulgi’s proposal, things wouldn’t turn out this way. 

The other six months she felt guilt seeping through her insides. Seulgi woke up but she never thought the aftermath would be her next problem. She arrived later than Yerim when they got the news that Seulgi woke up. She thought everything was fine and well.

“Unnie, you should go inside.” Yerim tells Joohyun who is sitting by one of the benches outside Seulgi’s room.

“You know, this is all my fault.” Joohyun replies before the pooling tears in her eyes drop like a waterfall. She cannot hide it anymore. 

“Come on, unnie. It wasn’t your fault Seulgi-unnie stormed off like that. You told her to wait until you pass the bar.” Yerim sits beside Joohyun and pats the older lady’s back, hoping it would make the pain lighter.

“She wouldn’t have drunk and gone driving that night if I just said yes.”  Joohyun could only cry at this moment. She wanted to drown the pain inside her chest. She waited six months for this moment. For her Seulgi to wake up and tell her how sorry she was.

——

Seulgi agrees she looks better now that she has gained weight in her face. She tries smiling in front of the mirror. She looks better now. Her bloodshot eyes are no more. She continues her morning routine and goes on her way.

She purposely wakes up earlier than usual so she can grab some bread and yogurt from the convenience store near the office. But today, there’s a road construction she wasn’t aware of, and because of that she had to take a detour. She has no choice but to skip breakfast or she’s going to be late. 

She sits at her workstation with a grumbling stomach. Her appetite has grown more in a week. She guesses that it is a good thing considering what she saw in the mirror today.

She proceeds with her usual programming sets.