He cleared his throat once more before starting his sentence. “Your mother asked about Baekhyun”, he kindly informed Ji Eun. He saw how her expression changed, although it was only slight changes, but he could see there was a little sadness in hearing Baekhyun’s name. “you didn’t tell him everything, didn’t you?” he pestered for more information. She kept quiet for a while as she pursed her lips into a thin line. “I did tell him that my father was in the hospital but I couldn’t say much cause my father’s heartrate changed rapidly. So, I hung up on him and he never call me ever since that day.”

They remained quiet as both of them didn’t know what to say or respond to each other. “Do you want to see your parents?” Ha Neul asked. Ji Eun nodded her head as she quickly removed the blanket that was wrapped around her. Ha Neul held her iv drip carefully as she walked with another hand on her waist, steadying her steps. Ji Eun stated that there was no need for him to put his hand on her waist as she argued that she can walk but when he let go, her legs can’t seem to coordinate steps. He placed his hand back to her waist as he pulled her closer to him, closing up the spaces between them so that her body could lean on his body for support.

“Ma”, she called out with a hoarse voice, she definitely needed water. Her mother wasn’t crying, which she thought was quite strange because she was expecting her mother to continue crying considering her father’s circumstances. She was talking to someone, perhaps a nurse, Ji Eun wasn’t so sure as she was just approaching. When her mother noticed her and Ha Neul, she stood up smiling at both of them, it was a grateful smile, Ji Eun interpreted it. Her mother opened up the curtain wide, intended to show something to both of them. The curtain drew, revealing her father with eyes wide open. Ji Eun stopped walking causing Ha Neul to stop as well, they were only a few steps away from the bed. Ji Eun was already in a sprinting posture before the grip on the waist tighten signaling to her that she shouldn’t run. She stood properly and started walking normally, not as if she was sprinting, towards her parents.

She called her father as soon as Ha Neul released her waist. She slid her body towards her father, her hands roamed free on her father’s face, checking the reality. Her father smiled but they all knew he was too weak to do any big movements. Ji Eun cried gratefully as she lowered her head, meeting her forehead with her father’s. she hugged him as a pair of hand slowly fitted itself to her waist once again as she was shaky to continue standing, which was definitely not her father’s hand. “How’s Mr.Lee?”, Ha Neul asked Ji Eun’s mother politely. She took Ha Neul’s hand after he had released his grip on Ji Eun once he was sure she was not going to fall. “Ha Neul -ah”, she started. He felt warmth spread over his body with just one friendly touch. “He woke up last night, just after you left telling me about Ji Eun”, she elaborated more with thank you in between sentences as she was so grateful for his presence. She kept on thanking him, thanking him for taking care of their daughter, and for everything else.

“it’s almost dinner time, I’ll buy some food so we can eat together”, Ji Eun informed as she stood up slowly from the edge of the bed. Before, Ha Neul had tried to excuse himself but Ji Eun’s parents kept on insisting him to stay and eat with them. He had been introduced to her father, her father recognized him already, knew him from what his wife had told him. Ha Neul stood up as well, bow down his head lightly to show respect to Ji Eun’s parents as he excused himself to join her. He jogged slowly to catch up with her while his hands continued to its original place, on her waist as the other held onto the iv drip. She felt fine, as in healthy. She tried to get his hands off her but she decided she was too tired to argue so she let it slid.

“Mother usually like fish, so I’ll have to search for fish based food for her and I want-”, he fled off before Ji Eun could finish her sentence. She wanted to order, be the independent her, as usual but he had insisted to buy instead and had asked her to stay put on the other side. He bought three sets of food, bringing the plastic on his right