The air was beyond freezing, and their breaths could be seen clear as day in the moonlight, however the two girls didn’t mind. They were content, walking in serene silence to the patch of flowers near the park. The day was long and tiring, but they were full of energy. They were both sad in their own ways, from their own struggles and life, but they felt safe. They felt better being in each other's presence and felt happy knowing that. 

Dahyun breathed out, watching how the white cloud floated around her. Sana glanced at her, catching herself staring at Dahyun. She never really noticed before, seeing how preoccupied her mind was with her grandmother and everything going on, but now that she let her mind rest, she could finally allow her mind to wander to unimportant things. Things such as Kim Dahyun’s beauty. 

Sana noticed her mono-lid eyes. Dark brown, but full of everything good in this world, but still with their fair share of grief. Raven black hair, silky and soft looking. Pale, shining skin. Was it just her, or was her face too red, even in the cold? Sana decided it’d be best to look away, especially since they were nearing the flower patches and since she thought Dahyun could probably start feeling her gaze burning into her.  

Meanwhile, Dahyun was in her own world, in her own thoughts. She was lost in them, drowning almost. She was thinking about what flowers she should pick, and which ones Sakura would enjoy the most. She was really worried for her, since she looked so weak and frail the last time she’d seen her with Sana. She could practically feel Sana’s sadness wash over her. She hated feeling like that, and she hated how Sana had to feel like that. She hated how Sakura had to feel like that. 

She glanced at the girl next to her. Her mind was a mess, and she couldn’t stop overthinking about her. She was so worried about her, and about her life, not even her own life. It was weird, considering this girl was barely a friend since they met not long ago, but she couldn’t help but feel like she had to protect her. Sana was innocent and pure, and definitely didn’t deserve this world.  

Dahyun felt down at this thought. Her hand subconsciously reached out for Sana’s, but Dahyun didn’t notice the older girl’s cheeks flush slightly, since her mind was just starting to calm down at the sight of the flower patches ahead of them. She couldn’t see very well in the dark, but she could clearly make out the bright, pretty flowers. Sana let go of her hand, since she noticed the lack of warmth, and ran to the flowers. Dahyun couldn’t tell which one was the flower, though, since she was in the dark, of course. 

Dahyun just watched as Sana gazed and bounced flower to flower, admiring them each one by one, taking in the details in curiosity. Dahyun doesn’t think she’d see anything like this again in her life, so she just enjoyed the sight while it lasted, occasionally speaking back to Sana when she’d ask her opinion on a certain flower.  

--- * --- 

Dahyun and Sana were looking around for a batch of perfect flowers, when Sana spoke, startling a focused Dahyun who was focused on a pink flower they were previously looking into. “Dahyunnie, I really like spending time with you.” 

The sudden ‘compliment’ made Dahyun blush, and she quickly looked anywhere but Sana, before finally letting her gaze fall on the pink haired girl. “Oh, um, thank you? I really enjoy spending time with you, too, I mean. It’s really nice, you’re really cool to hang with,” Dahyun trailed, awkwardly, since she was shy from what Sana suddenly said. But she decided she felt the same way. 

“I wanna spend more time with you, but I hope Nana will be okay, so we can all spend time together. I’m glad I met you, Dahyunnie, really, I am. I don’t know what it is, but you make me feel better. Brighter. I really hope things turn out okay, after all of this worrying, and after all of this bad stuff. I mean, at the end of a rainy day there’s a rainbow, isn’t there?” 

Sana’s mind decided to leave out the days where the rainbow never showed up. 

“Yeah, of course! I feel the same with you, Sana-unnie. I... I’ve gone through a lot in my life, honestly, and I don’t speak about it much since it’s kind of... something I don’t like bringing up. It’s like it haunts me; whenever I tell it to someone, it always comes back and won’t leave my mind. But recently, it hasn’t done that as much. My mind has space to breathe, finally, and I guess I can thank you for that, can’t I? I just hope your mind can have the same space soon. But you know, if it doesn’t, we can share. I’ll let you in my mind, and we’ll share the space together, yeah? It’ll be okay, Sana-unnie, I promise, we’ll do this together,” Dahyun said sincerely. And she really did mean every word. She felt certain in what she said, and she felt certain that things would be okay, even if they weren’t at the moment or wouldn’t be in the near future. But they would eventually be, and that’s what mattered. That it would be okay. They would be okay. 

Sana just smiled and nodded. She grabbed the pink flower they were looking at before. She noticed Dahyun staring at her confusedly, waiting for her to explain her choice, so she said, “It’s a lotus. It can mean a lot of things, actually, but to me, it means strength. I want to give her as much strength as I can, because I know that she’ll need it. She’ll need all the strength she can get, and I’ll get even more strength knowing that I gave her some of mine. I just hope it’s enough,” Sana added at the end, looking down at the flower in her hands before gently wiping the dirt off its pink petals. She looked back up at Dahyun, meeting her gaze, before saying, “Let’s head to the hospital and drop this off. Ready?”  

Dahyun nodded at her, and didn’t hesitate to grab her hand, leading her down the pathway towards the street. Of course, it’s because it’s cold outside, right? I mean, she doesn’t normally grab peoples’ hands, but it just felt right for Dahyun. So, she finally acted on instinct, yet again- something she never thought she’d do –and let her heart speak for her, instead of her mind. She enjoyed it, and it made her happy. Screw you, mind, she thought. Sorry mind, I didn’t mean it, she thought. 

--- * --- 

When they both arrived at the hospital, it was already quite dark, and the lady at the desk was barely awake, her eyes closed and head resting on the palm of her hand. Her eyes shot open when the doors opened, though, and she greeted them tiredly. When she finally registered who the two girls were, she smiled at them and let them go ahead. What a nice couple, they seem happy together, she thought. 

Dahyun and Sana walked down the quiet, vaguely lit hallway in silence. Their footsteps echoed, however, and their hands were still tightly clasped together. Both of them hated hospitals, that’s something they shared in common. They both have spent a fair amount of time in hospitals, whether it be with someone or without- either way they didn’t want to spend any more time in these eerie, deadly halls than they had to. Dahyun didn’t have to be here anymore, but she chose to this time. She chose to be here with Sana- for Sana. Because now, Sana was a friend. And she cared about Sana, a lot more than she planned to, she’d admit, but she cared. And that care screamed louder than everything else in her body yelling at her to leave the hospital and run away. She wouldn't run away this time, though, because she had a reason to stay, and that reason was of course Sana. 

Sana felt the same, though not in the same way. She hated hospitals, and she has ever since she was a child, even though she wasn’t there nearly as often. From her month checkups, to more serious issues and injuries, she’d never liked the dark atmosphere, and the bright, blinding white hallways and fake smiles of the nurses and doctors. When her nana was first put into the hospital, she couldn’t stand being there, but she had to. Her parents didn’t have time to visit Sakura often, so that would leave Sana to be the only one who showed up half the time, and the only one who would keep Sakura company. This was the encouragement and motivation Sana needed to keep her going, and to keep her dedicated to seeing Sakura every day, and bring her flowers every week, because she hated the thought of leaving Sakura in this horrid place all alone, head full of thoughts, and thoughts only. She knew she’d hate it if she were in Sakura’s position, too. I mean, who wouldn’t? But ever since she met Dahyun, her mind wasn’t full of worry, and it wasn’t full of fear and dread and pain. There was a space, though tiny, where Dahyun was. Where Dahyun’s friends were. Where her plans for tomorrow were. She stopped fearing the present and started looking forward to the future. She stopped dreading the past and started happily sleeping on Dahyun’s shoulder. She stopped worrying about her life and started hanging out with her new friends. She started being happier. She started being alive again. 

They both shook their mind off when they reached room 208. Sana looked at Dahyun, who was already looking at her, and let go of her hand. Her hand instead reached for the door knob, slowly turning it, the pink lotus still calmy resting softly in her hand. When the door opened, they could see Sakura looking out the window, eyes resting unfocused, but calmy on the kids running around in the small playground outside. There was a small smile resting on her face, and her eyes were soft and dim.  

Sana cleared softly, gathering the attention of Dahyun and Sakura. Sakura slowly looked over at her, eyes resting on her granddaughter. Her small smile grew slightly, and her eyes crinkled with it. “Here, nana, I have a flower for you. It’s a lotus, you know what it means. I hope this gives you enough strength, please take all the strength you need,” Sana spoke quietly, just loud enough for everyone to hear her.  

Sakura carefully took the flower and placed it in a bright yellow vase beside her. “It’s beautiful, like always, Sana dear,” her attention then landed on Dahyun. Dahyun gulped, suddenly nervous, but she didn’t know why. “Could I, perhaps, talk to your friend, Sana-chan? You don’t mind, do you?” 

Sana smiled widely, and said, “Of course not, nana! Just don’t scare the poor girl, I know how you can get,” Sana giggled. This was one of the only times Sakura has seen her granddaughter like this in her time in the hospital, and it made her mood skyrocket. She missed these now rare moments and seeing them again made her remember everything good she’s had in this world. Everything she has worth living for. Everything that’s making her still go on. 

When Sana left the room, it left Sakura and Dahyun in a silence. The silence wasn’t tense; it wasn’t awkward, but it was just there. Existing. Sakura broke it. “Dahyun-ah. You know, Sana-chan... She’s such a wonderful girl,” Dahyun could only nod in agreement, urging Sakura to continue. When Sakura saw this, she smiled, and began again, “Ever since I was put into this god forsaken place, she was always by my side. The truth is, she hates hospitals. She’s terrified of them, actually, but I know she put on a brave face for me. The problem is, I know her brave face. I know all of her faces. But that means I know her true face, too. The real face, the one I haven’t seen in a long, long time. She used to show it, every single day back then, months and months ago. If only you could have seen her, oh, she was the happiest girl ever. Her eyes were shining with unfiltered life and love, and she was shining with curiosity and anything and everything good and beautiful you could ever imagine and think of. But now, I felt as though, that face was lost. It was lost in the sea of faces she’s made, just to appear as that face she lost. Her face of happiness. Of cheerfulness. Of hope, of strength, of wonder. They’re all individual faces now, but they’re not one face. That one face that held all of her emotions and let them all shine whenever she was genuinely feeling them. They weren’t forced, they just were there, and she couldn’t control them. But she learned to control them. She didn’t want to appear sad to me, and she didn’t want to bring me down with her, but I knew. I knew how much pain she must have been feeling, because I felt it too. Everyone around us felt it, and I think you felt it too, right, Dahyun-ah?” 

Dahyun decided it was finally time to speak, so, she spoke. “Actually, I completely understand that. The whole faces thing. I’m sorry, I really am, but I once overheard you two talking before. I didn’t even enter the room, but I could feel the tense, sad atmosphere around it. I could only imagine how sad Sana must have felt, if I only indirectly felt all of that sadness from her, and from hearing her speak to you. That’s why I have to help her, you know? I don’t want her to be sad, and I don’t want her to be hurt. It doesn’t make sense, does it? I don’t get it either. I just, I want to make her happier. I really want to-” 

“And you are, Dahyun-ah. Her face is back,” Sakura stated matter-of-factly. Dahyun gaped. She definitely didn’t expect that. Sakura just grinned even wider, before Sana cracked the door open.  

“Are you two done yet? Can I come back in? I don’t want to have to share both of you, you know?” Sana said jokingly, before walking into the room. Sakura smiled at her, and Sana smiled back. Sana’s gaze then landed on a still shocked Dahyun, and she glanced back at Sakura who just shook her head, before closing her eyes and resting a bit. Talking for that long wore her out, that’s for sure. 

Dahyun finally regained her composure and went by Sana’s side. Sana smiled at her and grabbed her hand out of habit. Dahyun didn’t mind, though, and instead chose to intwine their hands and hold on tighter. She feared that if she didn’t hold on tight enough, the nice moment would eventually slip away from them. They both noticed how Sakura seemed to be falling asleep, so they decided it’d be best if they’d leave then.  

Sakura saw Sana’s face. It was back.