Yunjae sat in her brother’s quiet room for a while until she fell asleep. She was only awakened by rpaid knocking on the other door, hers. For a moment she thought Hyukjae was back.

She hurriedly got to the door and threw it open.

“Oppa?”

Instead she saw Sergeant Choi. Her face fell and her shoulders slumped.

“Yunjae-yah, what are you doing there?” he asked.

“I-I just…I fell asleep,” she said almost sadly.

“Oh well, ok,” said Choi. “Come on, fix yourself up. We’re going to your oppa.”

It only took a bus ride to the hospital. Yunjae and Mr. Choi were asked to wait for a while. Yunjae hated hospitals. Suddenly she was pulled back into the time when their parents were admitted there because their car tipped over and caught fire. It was only unfortunate that they both stopped breathing even before the ambulance could arrive. It was nasty, and Yunjae remembered Hyuk not letting her see their parents.

--flashback—

“Oppa, I want to see umma!” whined Yunjae.

“N-No, Yunjae-yah, p-please,” said Hyukjae with his head bowed. “L-Let’s g-go home.”

Yunjae never really understood why her brother was acting that way then, and why he didn’t even take a glance at her all the way home.

In actuality, after tucking Yunjae in and making sure she was asleep, Hyuk locked himself in his room and sobbed quietly. He didn’t know how to tell her about their parents. He didn’t know how he himself could handle it. Yesterday his dad just promised him that they will go to the country next week. In a flash that promise was gone, and so were they.

--end of flashback—

“Mr. Choi?”

Yunjae looked up from her daze and saw a doctor come out of the ER. Almost immediately, she sprung up from her seat.

“I’m the sister of the patient. Is he ok?” she asked rapidly.

The doctor was at a loss for words. He looked at Mr. Choi imploringly. Mr. Choi came towards Yunjae.

“Yunjae-yah, please sit down and let me talk to the doctor,” he said quietly.

“Stop treating me like I’m a child! I’m not 12 anymore! I’m frickin’ 17 years old!” yelled yunjae.

If Choi was surprised at Yunjae’s outburst he didn’t let it show. “Alright, but don’t do anything rash.”

They re-approached the doctor and asked for his findings.

“Mr. Lee seems to have fallen into comatose,” said the doctor. “The way he hit his head on the ground hit some nerve and he fell brain-dead.”

There was silence, and then Yunjae spoke. “Will he…wake up?”

“The blow and hit he took weren’t serious, so in time he will wake up, but we can’t be certain of how long.”

“May we see him?” asked Mr. Choi.

The doctor nodded and left them to see Hyukjae.

In the room, he was covered in a white blanket and his left elbow was in a cast. His right leg was hanging on cables from the ceiling. He has broken bought limbs from the accident. Yunjae gazed at her brother’s face. Her mother always remarked how their eyes are so alike, yet their lips are of different shapes.

“Yunjae-yah, I have to leave for an appointment. I’ve asked the nurses here to take care of you and I’ve told that you’ll want to spend the night,” said Mr. Choi.

Yunjae nodded and watched their friend leave. Then she looked at Hyuk again.

Oppa… Oppa…