Smile For Me? (1a)

First Story: Yoseob (B2ST) and Nicole.

 

The streets of Namdaemun of Seoul Korea were busy as always. Vendors selling street food scattered the floor outside. Inside the buildings, people we’re buzzing around looking for the best bargains. A lot of people from different nationalities were there. American’s, English men and women, as well as many different foreigners walked the streets. After all it was a tourist spot. Though with limited English most of them had native translators. Most tourists were warned not to make ties with the black market that was there.

 

Among the busy streets of Namdaemun a girl with black hair that just went below her shoulders and her hair neatly placed in front of it, causing a V shape that was upside down when you look from behind. This girl had a pretty smile, as her boyfriend had described to her so many times but right now her pink lips were formed into a straight line. Her eyes were a dark brown that became black in the sun. But it seemed like right now if anyone saw her eyes, it would be darker colour then black and her thick eyebrows were crossed over. Her nose was just above her lips, her nostrils weren’t big but they weren’t small either, it was just the right size for her oval sized face. And no, her chin was not a bum chin.

 

She wore a knee length dress. The upper part had pink flowers with green leaves scattered all around a white background. Her sleeves were flow ruffles and also continued this pattern. The lower part was just plain black. She wore black flats with silver glitter running all around the flats. She also had a rectangular clutch that had a pop up small white flower on the top left hand corner. Which was naturally the front. On the top stretching from side to side was metal painted gold and shaped so that it could be the support, the frame. On top of that the clutch had two antennae looking ‘lock’s’ which closed the bag.

 

Nicole was frustrated because her boyfriend of 1 year today, forgot their anniversary. ‘Stupid Yoseob – Oppa. Forgetting anniversary. So annoying. I know he has work but couldn’t he have at least made the effort to call me. I HATE HIM!’ She walked down the street muttering under her breath. She was definitely pissed off at his behavior. It was highly unusual that he would forget. He had never forgotten any special occasion before. Which made her stop and think. Did he really forget? It was a mind-boggling question for her. Which made her more confused.

 

Her clutch bag vibrated, a text. She took out her cell phone and looked at the text. New Text. From: Yang Yoseob. She flinched, does she want to see the text message. Yes, she did her heart wanted it, but what kept going in her mind was the opposite. No. In the end her heart won her over she opened the text message.

 

From: *Yoseob*

 

Hey, where are you? I thought you were going to see us at our concert before we started. Why aren’t you here yet? I love you. <3

 

That was when she remembered. She saw the ticket and the pass for backstage in her clutch bag. To tell the truth she won’t be able to get there on time. To the concert, it was at the Olympic Park at Seoul. She had to walk to the bus station at Bukchang, it would take her about four minutes. Then she had to take the 9301 Bus to Henan 00 Depots – Station Transit Center that would take twenty-three minutes or more, it had eighteen stops. Then she had to take the 70 Bus to Sagimakgol – Jungjang 00 Depots that would take thirteen minutes more or less, it had eight stops. Then walk to the Olympic Park that would take twelve minutes, give or take how fast she would walk. Which; in total would take an average of fifty – eight minutes.

 

Since the concert would be in thirty minutes she didn’t have enough time to get there and not be late. She momentarily closed her eyes. She needed to clear her head. The next thing she heard was shouts from people around her. Her eyes immediately snapped open. A motorcycle was coming her way. Which was rare enough in Korea more so in Namdaemun. It was out of control, it looked like the driver did not have any control over the vehicle. It was going at 35km/h and because she was traumatized she couldn’t get her feet to move out of her spot. It was too late to move and soon enough it had crashed into her.

 

Nicole felt pain anywhere from the bottom of the pelvis bone and down. Anyone could see that the lower part of her body was immobile. Blood was streaming down on one of her legs. She was crying; the pain was unbearable. A girl, Amanda, a foreigner had seen all of this and her native translator. Being fairly reasonable she had called the ambulance and the police right away. People were starting to crowd. Among those was a couple. They seemed truly troubled. Whether it would be for Nicole or themselves, they seemed troubled. From Nicole’s point of view, she could only see them because she couldn’t move to scan the crowd.

 

Her body was paralyzed. She couldn’t help but admire how perfect they looked together. The boy was pretty almost looking like a girl; she had to double take for him until she realized that he was in fact a boy. The girl though slightly chubbier then the guy and slightly shorter, still looked beautiful. ‘A wonderful match’ was what kept going on in her head. Unlike the feeling she was getting from her and Yoseob. She felt confident about him but sometimes she felt a little self – concerned. Was she good enough for him? Is this why he forgot about their anniversary?

 

The ambulance came ten minutes after Amanda called. Thankfully there was a hospital near Namdaemun Market. The people working the ambulance immediately came and got the stretcher and brought her inside the ambulance. It seemed like she had at least fractured both her legs. But they wouldn’t be sure until they got an x-ray. They made sure to steady her legs and as much as possible take any infection out from the wound that was opened on her leg. They did a couple of tests on her when she got into the ambulance. They also asked her if she was pregnant or if she was having other pains. They also asked if she was allergic or if she was taking medication. She answered the questions all with a no.

 

The ambulance got to the hospital in a sooner time then it had arrived at the scene of the crash. Nicole was immediately put on a mobile hospital bed and prepped for the x-ray. It went on so fast that she herself did not know what was happening. Everything around her seemed to sway from side to side. Nurses were pushing her around. The women helped her change into a hospital gown. She then was brought to the x-ray section of the hospital. She was then put on the table and the x-ray started.

 

Lights flashed before Nicole’s eyes due to the x-ray. It was a full-scale x-ray. Considering that they don’t know the extent of the crash. When the doctors from the other room asked her to do something, she did, without any complaints and also without any emotion. She was like a robot in some sense. She did everything they said but she didn’t care because her mind was somewhere else, more specifically on a certain someone. ‘Yoseob – Oppa.’

 

Thoughts were swimming in her head. ‘Was he doing okay? Did he notice I wasn’t there? But more importantly, will he come to see me?’ She doubted him again. She shook her head. ‘No. He loves me. Why am I even thinking such preposterous things?’ Her explanation for doubting him was because she got into an accident. But one thing kept repeating in her head and it still boggled her mind even after what had happened. ‘Did he really forget?’

 

She was finally released from the x-ray room. The nurses helped her back on the mobile bed and brought her to a room. Luckily she was the only one there. She fiddled with her fingers for a while, than she heard a knock on the door. “Come in.” Nicole said loud enough for anyone to hear from the other side of the door. A dark skinned girl with black hair that also went just under the shoulders, walked in. Nicole assumed she was a foreigner. An Indian. Next to her was a Korean, she knew because she was a regular translator for most Korean tourists as well as Korean pop artists.

 

Nicole wondered what she was doing with the foreigner. They knew each other because she was a regular translator for B2ST. She was on leave now though, if Nicole wasn’t mistaken. “This is my friend Amanda.” Justine said to her. She understood now. That was why she had taken the leave, so that she could be with her friend.

 

“Hi.” Nicole said with a smile on her face.

 

“Hi.” Amanda said to her.

 

Nicole was confused. Did Justine’s friend not know how to speak Hangul only English? “She doesn’t know how to speak Hangul. I’m her translator.” Justine said. I nodded.

 

“Does she only speak English?” Nicole asked out of curiosity and Justine just nodded to her in return. “It’s okay I can speak English Justine. You won’t have to translate.” Nicole said with a smiling face.

 

“Oh really. I didn’t know. Okay then.” Justine said stunned. Barely anyone knew that Nicole could speak English. She always just kept everything to herself. Actually with her level of English she could easily be a translator.

 

“What are you guys talking about?” Amanda asked.

 

“She just told me that she could speak English.” Justine said and Amanda just nodded.

 

“That would be easier than. Hi, I’m Amanda. The one who called for an ambulance,” Nicole smiled and thanked Amanda. “Actually I came here to ask you if you’re okay. I just wanted to make sure that the person I brought here was all right. Are you okay?”

 

“I don’t know. They haven’t come in with the results yet. I hope I am, I don’t feel anything wrong with me except my legs.” Nicole said.

 

“Actually there is another reason why I’m here. I wanted to give this back to you. You left it at the scene.” Amanda said handing Nicole’s clutch bag back to her. Nicole smiled at the nice girl.

 

“Thank you.” Nicole said out of gratitude.

 

“Actually, your phone rang several times. I didn’t mean to pry but it was Yoseob. He must be really worried. Give him a call, I didn’t tell him anything.” Justine said to her. “We’ll be leaving now. Sort yourself out.”

 

“Bye.” Amanda said and Nicole just waved at her.

 

Amanda and Justine exited the room. Nicole nervously looked at her clutch bag and shook once she heard her cell phone ring. She took out her cell phone to see that, their concert hasn’t ended yet but they were half way through it. Why was he calling her now? He had a concert to do. So with that in mind she just ignored his call and put the cell phone back into the clutch bag and put the clutch bag aside.

 

Nicole heard the sound of the door opening. A young looking woman went inside, with a clipboard, which probably held Nicole’s report on it. The young woman smiled at her and Nicole noticed the badge on her coat. Dr. Dayao. “Hi. I’m Doctor Dayao.” She said with a smile on her face.

 

“Hi. I’m Nicole. So how’s my condition.” Nicole asked curious but at the same time scared of the results.

 

Dr. Dayao pulled out an x-ray of her legs. “Well, good news is that you don’t have too much damage on the upper part of your body, just a few bruises, no brain damage.” Nicole let out a sigh. At least not she knew that at least she would be saved from having major injuries to the head. She watched Dr. Dayao take out an x-ray sheet and held it up to the light. “Bad news is that your tibia, the front part of your lower leg and your knee cap has major damages. Your tibia seems to be broken on the lower half and then also at the upper half. It’s broken into thirds, reason because of how the motorcycle drove on you.” Nicole sighed. From her experiences she knew there was more bad news coming.

 

“The lower crack of your tibia does not need to be snapped back but the upper part needs to. Because of the way you reacted to the motorcycle coming on top of you, it needs to be snapped back. Your kneecap on the other hand has experienced full impact and will need surgical correction. It would be better for you to do the surgical correction as soon as possible.” Dr. Dayao said.

 

Nicole thought about it for a while and realized it would be better to just get it over. “I will do the correctional surgery. When can it be done?” Nicole asked curiously.

 

“I can do it now. Don’t worry you will be in good care.” Nicole just nodded. “Okay then let me get the documents.”

 

Dr. Dayao went out to get the surgery documents that a patient needed to sign to do it and if ever the patient was unconscious someone who is the guardian or the wife/husband can sign it for them. Nicole took the opportunity to text Yoseob.

 

From: *Nicole*

 

I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your concert, something came up that I had to deal with. Don’t worry, if you are. I love you. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. I know how much you wanted me there. <3

 

Nicole pressed the send button and put her phone back into her clutch bag. Dr. Dayao soon came in and handed her the documents and a pen. She signed it and was now being peppered for the surgery. The nurses brought her to the surgery room and had the anesthetic ready to use. The doctor reassured Nicole and told her that there was no harm in doing this. Nicole believed in her and used the anesthetic. In a matter of minutes she fell asleep.