Ever since Yerin was a small kid, she hated going to the hospital.

Now, even when she’s a full grown 23 year old woman, she still despises it.

 

Because of that, Yerin decided to always take full care of herself and never ever get sick (although that last bit is pretty impossible). Whenever she falls sick, the first thing she would do is go to the nearest pharmacy and buy paracetamol pills or something similar to ease the pain. Luckily for her, it works every single time and she’s more than happy with that.

 

Somehow at this moment, her feet have taken her to the entrance of the nearest hospital to her home. She sighs. Does she really have to do this? Is it too late to back out now? She closes her eyes and is about to turn away from the entrance when she hears a man’s voice calling for her.

 

“Yerin! Is that you? Hey! Get in here!” she hears from a distance. She opens her eyes and realizes that it is indeed her father calling for her. She gives an apologetic look to her father before finally stepping in the hospital.

 

Yerin wishes she could punch her older brother straight in his face for getting into an accident, thus bringing her here. But alas, she still considers herself a really good, considerate sister.

 

“Next time, please for the love of God be more careful on the road!” she yells at her brother who is seen lying on the hospital bed, his playful smirk never leaving his face. She just wants to wipe that expression off his face just so she would feel better about here in the first place.

 

“Relax, kiddo,” her brother replies, “at least now you can overcome your trauma of this place.”

 

Yerin wants to kill someone. And that someone is no other than her older brother.

 

“I’m gonna go get some air.” Yerin says to her parents and brother before leaving the ward. It’s true, she needs some air. She felt suffocated being trapped in there for 2 hours straight. It was taking a toll on her.

 

She decides to sit on one of the seats provided just outside the ward, when she hears an unfamiliar voice from a distance not far from her position.

 

“You look lifeless, is that why you’re here?” the voice speaks out.

 

Yerin swears the voice is talking about her, so she looks up. In front of her, stands a girl with long black hair, her face a bit tired and wearing a patient uniform.

 

“Were you.. talking to me?” Yerin says, holding up a finger towards her own torso.

 

The girl simply smiles (although Yerin swears it looks pretty fake) and points her hand towards the wall behind Yerin, “nah, I was talking to the wall here.” She then proceeds to wave at the wall.

 

They both realize how ridiculous the whole situation is and laugh at each other.

 

“I’m here because my stupid brother got into trouble,”

 

“Oh, I see..” The girl says, slowly nodding her head, “is he okay?”

 

Yerin shrugs it off, “oh yeah he’s fine. Broke a leg.”

 

“That must’ve not felt good,” the girl says before walking towards Yerin and eventually sitting beside her. Yerin notices and shifts to the side a bit, giving the girl more than enough space.

 

They sit in silence for a good minute before the girl speaks again, “you don’t like it here?”

 

Yerin is surprised, is she that easy to read? “Actually, I really don’t. How did you know that?”

 

“I saw you sitting here looking like you’re ready to jump off a cliff, so yeah. I figured it out by myself,” the girl explains and lets out a soft giggle, hoping her joke comes across just fine.

 

Yerin laughs, “should I be worried that you were watching me and now you’re talking to me?”

 

The girl merely smiles, “no, I think you should be glad.”

 

Over the last few days, they grew closer.

 

Yerin learns that the girl’s real name is Eunbi, but prefers to go by SinB. The latter never stated her reasons why, but the former chooses to respect that. She now knows that SinB is only two years younger than she is and thinks that their age difference is just right.

 

Sometimes she does think that SinB acts way older than she actually is and chooses to tell her that. SinB simply lifts her shoulders at the remark and says “trust me, I get that a lot.”

 

Yerin visits her brother every day during her lunch break because she’s the greatest little sister in the world. Also because she’s bored and her friends are all pretty busy to hang out with her. But scratch that, it’s really because she’s the greatest little sister in the world.

 

After spending time with her brother for an hour, Yerin would take herself to the ward she’s grown accustomed to. She finds it funny how SinB’s ward is located just around the corner of the floor of the ward her brother was taken into. Really, she’s just thankful that she doesn’t have to walk so much just to meet the younger girl.

 

Yerin knows her manners, so she curls up two of her fingers before bringing them up to knock on the door. Her head peaks through the door frame and she sees SinB in her natural habitat, which is basically just her bed. The older girl grins before entering the room, “what are you up to?”

 

SinB senses the presence of her new friend and puts down the magazine she was flipping through, “I was having my own productive moment before someone decides to ruin it by coming in here,” she says, her expression dead-panned.

 

Yerin narrows her eyes, “you’re telling me reading a magazine about Hollywood celebrities is productive?”

 

SinB picks up the magazine and observes the front page, “ugh, you got me,” she replies as a smirk is seen slowly creeping up her face. “Were you visiting your brother?” she asks seriously this time while putting the magazine on the bedside table.

 

Yerin nods, “yes but I’m done now. He told me he’s gonna be discharged soon, though.”

 

SinB quickly turns her head at the mention of the word ‘discharged’ and Yerin swears she can see a tiny look of disappointed on the younger girl’s face.

 

“Discharged? How soon?”

 

“I’m not sure yet.”

 

“I see..”

 

“Hey,” Yerin reaches out to hold one of SinB’s arms, “I’m still gonna come here every day to see you. You know that, right?”

 

SinB beams at the contact and the sudden cute announcement, all at the same time.

 

“Now I do.”

 

“So? How is it?” SinB asks as she watches the older girl sitting in front of her eating a sandwich they just bought at the hospital cafeteria. She was pretty shocked to know that Yerin has never eaten any of the cafeteria food before, so there they are now.

 

Yerin munches on the sandwich, her expression changing after every bite. It’s not too bad but it’s not too good either, she believes, and she doesn’t quite know how to explain it to the younger girl.

 

Right at that moment, she becomes aware of how hard SinB is staring at her and she bursts into a small fit of laughter.

 

“What? What’s so funny?!” SinB retorts, she’s getting kind of impatient and not to mention, annoyed at the slow response about the taste of the food.

 

Yerin shakes her head and yes is still lowkey full with food, “nothing, I just thought you looked funny,” she proceeds to wipe the corners of .

 

“Me? I look funny? It feels like I’ve been waiting on you eating your food for ages!”

 

“I’m sorry! I just don’t know how to describe it.”

 

“Well, focus harder!”

 

“Fine, fine..” Yerin readies herself before taking another mouthful of the sandwich. Her eyes never leaving SinB’s. She has to admit she enjoys watching how attentive SinB is being right now.

 

As she looks at SinB, she notices the younger girl’s eyes slowly travelling from her eyes to her nose and eventually her lips. Upon realizing this, Yerin gives a mischievous smirk.

 

“Are you staring at my lips, young lady?”

 

SinB quickly darts her eyes away from the previous position and clears , “n-no I wasn’t! You’re just imagining things,” she then lifts her hands off the table and crosses her arms over her torso, her back now leaning against the chair, “are you done yet?” she asks a question to avoid feeling awkward.

 

Yerin nods, taking her last bite and wiping her hands off. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s pretty okay.”

 

SinB lifts herself from leaning against the chair, “just okay?”

 

“Yes. Are you not satisfied with my answer?”

 

SinB makes a face that Yerin knows all too well. A face that has ‘meh’ written all over it. “Not really but I’ll take it I guess.”

 

Yerin lets out a small laugh, “why does it matter to you that much? How long have you been eating the food here anyway?”

 

“Pretty long, I guess,” SinB answers, “three years to be exact.”

 

Yerin does not expect that answer at all, “three whole years? That’s a lifetime for me, SinB-yah.”

 

“Well, I guess if you were in my place instead, you’d already be dead.”

 

“Yah!”

 

Whenever Yerin visits SinB, they would either hang out and eat something at the cafeteria together or they would just stay in SinB’s room watching TV. Earlier this day, Yerin asked SinB if she wanted to go for lunch but the latter refused. Yerin wanted to pry and ask why but the younger girl solely told her that she wasn’t feeling hungry.

 

Yerin is sitting on the chair provided in SinB’s room, scrolling through the messages on her phone. SinB notices that they have been silent for a while now so she decides to search for the remote control and turn on the TV. It takes SinB a few clicks until she’s finally satisfied with a programme on one of the many cable channels.

 

After a few minutes of scrolling, Yerin looks up from her phone and locks the device. She finds herself staring at SinB. A lot of questions come storming through her head. How long has the younger girl been sick? What is her sickness? How come she’s never seen anyone else visiting her? And most importantly, what’s her story?

 

“You’re staring at me so hard, I’m starting to feel there’s going to be a hole on the side of my head,” SinB says, her eyes not leaving the TV screen.

 

Yerin suddenly becomes aware that she was staring, “h-huh? You said something?”

 

SinB laughs, “is there something you want to ask me?” she turns her head from the TV screen to lock eyes with the older girl.

 

Yerin composes herself, “I.. uh.. I mean.. was I being that obvious?” her expression turns apologetic.

 

“Unnie, we’ve known each other for five months now.”

 

And then it hits Yerin. Five months. Yerin has been visiting SinB for that long. They’ve known each other for five months, yet Yerin feels like she doesn’t know anything about SinB at all. It’s beginning to drive her mad. How is this possible?

 

“You’re right. But somehow I feel like I know nothing about you.” Yerin wishes the words didn’t sound too bitter. But it did and there’s nothing she can do about it.

 

“Oh..” SinB breaks the eye contact and looks down to her bed, “I just.. I don’t think there’s much to tell,” she’s a bit nervous so she’s fiddling with her own fingers.

 

Yerin notices the change in SinB’s voice so it kind of brings her back to reality. Why is she doing this to someone who’s sick? Maybe the younger girl doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment from her for now. “It’s okay, though. I get it.” she utters matter-of-factly.

 

“Really? You do?”

 

Yerin nods and smiles, “yeah.”

 

SinB flashes a lopsided smile, “cool. Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome,” the older girl leans into her chair, “I do feel like telling you something that’s quite personal about me, though.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I have this weird birth mark on my neck. Wanna see it?”

 

SinB laughs at how ridiculous and random the statement was, “sure I guess?”

 

Yerin adjusts and puts her hair to the side a bit just so she could reveal her weird birth mark, “can you see it?” she asks for clarification.

 

SinB squints her eyes, “I honestly don’t think I do,” she giggles, “my eyesight isn’t the best.”

 

“Wait, I’ll come closer,” Yerin resolves before shifting her chair and dragging it closer to the bed. She makes herself comfortable before putting her hair aside again to show SinB her birth mark. “There. See it?”

 

SinB sees it alright. It’s very clear to her now, Yerin’s birth mark. What’s also clear to her is the distance between her and Yerin. They are situated pretty close together right now. All she sees in front of her is the sight of Yerin’s neck. Not to mention, her heart is kind of racing. Kind of. SinB wants to make that clear too. Her heart is kind of racing.

 

“Yah!” Yerin is growing impatient plus her back is feeling a bit sore, “do you see it or not?”

 

SinB snaps out of her trance and clears , “uh yes. Yes, I see it.”

 

Yerin huffs as she brings herself back to her previous position, “you weren’t kidding when you said you have bad eyesight. I should’ve taken your words seriously.” She shakes her head.

 

SinB gulps and doesn’t say anything.

 

She’s panicking inside.

 

 

---

 

a/n: so what do you think? should I continue? please let me know!