I saw Hyejin slowly smiling wide at me when she heard what I said. She then pressed a button, unlocking the doors in her car, removed her seatbelt and climbed out as she said, “Let’s get you to Wheein then”

I released a huge sigh before unfastening my seatbelt and went out of the car, bringing my purse and Wheein’s pillow with me. My heart suddenly beat faster and my hands started to shake as the thought of meeting Wheein, her Mom and Nabi occupied my mind. Everything was so sudden. Just this morning I was still at the hospital, then I went to meet my parents, I went back to our penthouse and now I’m here in Jeonju. Everything went by so fast that my determination earlier was easily replaced with nervousness.

I immediately went to Hyejin who just got my suitcase and toiletries bag out of the car and grabbed her arm, shaking it a little. “Hyej” I called out to her, my voice panicking and making her startled. “What am I supposed to do?”

Hyejin furrowed her eyebrows at me as she asked, “What do you mean? Are you backing out now?” 

I shook my head and said, “No, I’m not backing. I’m never backing out. It’s just that things are so sudden and I didn’t even tell Wheein and her Mom that I’m coming at this hour. Are they even awake?”

Hyejin grabbed my arm to steady me from panicking. “Relax” she said softly. “I texted Wheein’s Mom that we’re coming. She’s expecting you. Now, calm down. Are you still going after my best friend or not?”

I gulped, pushing my nervousness away, nodded my head at her and said, “I am.” I breathed in and out and whispered, “I’m nervous”

Hyejin chuckled beside me and said, “You should be. Come on”

She rolled my suitcase beside her, walking towards the front door, while I followed behind her. I pouted from behind her while I hugged Wheein’s pillow and surveyed their front porch. I stopped on my track as I saw something familiar. I went towards it, wanted to get a closer look, and bent down in front of them. I lifted a finger and ran my fingers on its stem and its leaves. I went to the other pots and did the same.

These were the plants that Wheein always had and always took care of in her penthouse. When we started living together, I offered to water them and take care of them everytime Wheein was busy. She transferred them all here in Jeonju. But I remembered that these were in a healthy shade of green. Now, some of the leaves were wilting.

She completely changed the living room after my accident. The huge aquarium was replaced with a flatscreen TV that we rarely use. Probably didn’t use it at all. The plants, her telescopes and even the framed pictures all over the walls were all gone. I sighed and closed my eyes, thinking that she did all of those things because she doesn’t want to trigger my memories.

“Yong!”

I instantly opened my eyes and stood up when I heard Hyejin calling me. I turned around and rushed towards her, Wheein’s mother now standing beside her. My steps faltered, slowing down on its pace, when I saw her and my nervousness resurfaced again.

When our eyes met, she smiled and nodded her head at me, encouraging me to move forward towards her. I moved closer to her and when I was in front of her, we opened our arms at the same time. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, still holding onto Wheein’s pillow, while she held me tight closer to her.

I buried my face on her shoulders and whispered, “I’m sorry I’ve forgotten about you, Ma”, feeling her hand rubbing on my back.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she whispered back to me.

“I even called you Mrs. Jung the other day” I whispered to her, making her laugh out loud while we pulled back from the hug.

She covered while laughing at me and I just smiled shyly at her, feeling ashamed of myself. After recovering from her laugh, she smiled so wide at me while she ran her hand on my hair and patted my shoulder before she cupped my cheeks. I held her wrists, missing the motherly warmth I could always get from her.

“I missed you so much, sweetie” she whispered to me, looking at me with her eyes pooling with tears.

“I missed you too, Ma” I whispered to her, feeling myself about to tear up.

She gave my cheeks a gentle squeeze before removing them, making me drop my hold on her wrists. “Come in. You’re probably tired” she said to me before turning to Hyejin. “How about you, dear? Don’t you want to rest for a little bit before going back to the city?” she asked.

Hyejin smiled and shook her head. “I’m good, auntie. Don’t worry. I’m just here to deliver Kim Yongsun” she said, laughing softly as she winked at me. “I’ll go now. Thanks for the offer though” she whispered as she moved to hug Wheein’s mother.

When they pulled back from each other, Hyejin moved to me and I met her halfway to hug her goodbye. “Thank you so much, Hyejin” I whispered to her.

“No problem” she whispered as we pulled away from the hug. “Take care of yourself. Mind your head and take care of Wheein too. Call me anytime if there’s anything you need” she whispered, squeezing my shoulders.

“I will,” I promised to her before we completely pulled away from each other. Then she went to her car, waving goodbye at us, before she went back to the city.

Wheein’s mother rolled my suitcase beside her as we entered the house. The first thing that I noticed was the huge fish tank, the same fish tank that Wheein had in her penthouse, sitting in the living room. It was placed on top of a table and was pushed back to lean on the wall beside the couches in the living room. The handful of fishes were still there and were still happily swimming in the water. Ma told me that Nabi had been taking care of them and was always feeding them regularly. I smiled at the thought of my daughter starting to get responsible.

The next thing I noticed were the stack of boxes across the couches. About eight rectangular cardboard containers stacked by twos while what seemed to be frames wrapped all in brown paper were leaning on them. Wheein’s mother told me that the boxes contained all of Wheein’s telescopes and had been sitting there unopened for more than a year. The brown papers were picture frames, which I inferred were the ones that were supposed to be in the penthouse living room.

Wheein’s Mom wheeled my suitcase to what I remembered as Wheein’s room while I followed her from behind. I was expecting Wheein or Nabi inside the room but the room was empty when I got inside. I placed my purse by the bedside table and Wheein’s pillow on the bed. I scanned my eyes all over the room and found out that the room was still the same as I remembered.

“Where’s Wheein and Nabi?” I asked Ma after she placed my suitcase inside Wheein’s closet.

“Nabi’s already asleep in my room and Wheein’s in the garage” she responded, motioning for me to follow her. “I prepared you coffee when I received Hyejin’s text earlier”

“Can I see Nabi first?” I asked her while she smiled and nodded her head at me.

I left Wheein’s room and went to her mother’s room. I slowly opened the door, trying not to create a noise, and went inside the room. I saw a huge pink crib beside the bed, which was probably the one Hyejin described to me earlier, and walked towards it, tip-toeing so as not to wake up Nabi sleeping inside it.

I smiled when I saw her curled up inside the crib, sleeping and hugging a brown stuffed puppy. She was wearing a baby blue one-piece pajama with black puppy paw prints all over it. I crouched down and saw her lips were a little bit pouted just like Wheein when she sleeps. Her cheeks were pressed by hugging the stuffed puppy so much. I sat there for a few minutes just watching my daughter’s adorable face sleeping.

I sneaked a finger to touch her hands and whispered so softly, “I love you, Nabi. Mommy loves you so much.” I reluctantly sat up and walked slowly out of the room before closing the door carefully.

I saw Ma sitting at the dining table with two mugs of steaming coffee. I walked towards her and sat across her before grabbing and blowing on my coffee.

“How was she?” Ma asked after I took a sip of my coffee.

I nodded my head, smiled at her, and said, “Sleeping like an angel”

I took another sip of my coffee and leaned back on my chair. “Where’s Wheein?” I asked her.

“She’s still in the garage” her Mom responded.

“Does she always stay there?” I asked curiously.

“Every night when she comes here on the weekends” her Mom said before taking a sip from her coffee. “It has become her routine since you woke up from being in a coma” she continued, putting down her mug while I sat straighter on my seat. “She always locks herself there at night and would come out when it’s really late at night. When she gets back to the city, she would bring some white magnolias for your parents”

She really does visit my parents regularly.

“What’s inside the garage?” I asked her, leaning my elbows on the table to listen intently.

“Had she told you what happened?” her Mom asked instead of answering me.

“No” I answered, shaking my head. “Had she told