PART I

+ + + N i n e  y e a r s  a g o ; 2 0 0 3

Jeonju Hospital

Jeonju, South Korea

(Autumn- October)

          Jeonju Hospital stood between its city, making ways for emergencies and operations that were less incessant as autumn breaks through. At the heart of the ward was where Kim Taeyeon has lived for most of her life. She was cared by her nurse, Stephanie Hwang. However, unlike most days, it was the first time Taeyeon was introduced to an outsider since being protected from the society.

“A patient is joining you today in your ward since the others are full. He had just faced a tragedy, so we hope as his roommate, you could ease him in his needs.” She nodded and heard the clinking of the doorknob before a wheelchair was pushed into the room. Nurse Hwang smiled lightly at the fourteen-year-old girl and ruffled her hair at the look of confusion in the latter girl’s face.

It was a man groaning. His voice almost muffled by something. She had heard the way he was placed on the bed next to hers and she tried to follow through his movements but the man stayed silent. Only his deep breathings were heard inside their containment as the nurses left the room.

“Hello?”

The man didn’t respond. Taeyeon immediately cleared and neared the other bed. “Kim Taeyeon,” she started. “My name is Kim Taeyeon.”

The man had heard her the first time. His face was bandaged and his vision limited due to the cloth surrounding his eyes. He heard her gentle voice call for him the second time yet he could not grasp a proper sight of the fellow roommate. The fabric and the painful feeling each time he moved a face muscle only led him to groan even more. She was about to touch his face until his bandages started to sting. Startled, Taeyeon moved away and heard the nurse come back in.

“Oh, listen you have to rest okay?” the nurse cooed the patient. She felt Nurse Hwang hold her hands and told her, “Let him rest for now.” She merely nodded and shuffled back to her bed.

♦♦♦

         In the night she heard him ache back and forth and it troubles her. Restless, Taeyeon slowly made her way to his side and sat there facing him. He was still awake and notices how she searched for his hands. Her grip was soft and warm. Now that she was near, he only caught a glimpse of her face from the moonlight that shone through their ward window. Was it something about her eyes?

“Urgh,“ he urged. Oh, that man is still awake. She touched the tip of his eyes and felt the bandage surrounding his face. They were damp, was he crying all along? Taeyeon began to sympathise and slowly unwrapped the piece around his lips, feeling his grip tighter on her hands.

“Lee.. Teuk..” he murmured, voice muffled.

She smiled at his first words to her.

“Goodnight Leeteuk-shi.” She placed her hands on his chest and lulled him to sleep. The latter led out a slight smile towards the girl and eventually, peacefully fell asleep.

          The morning after, Leeteuk was standing by the door aided by the nurse and watched Kim Taeyeon running her hands across his bed. She turned towards them finally noticing their entrance. Leeteuk just stood bowing repeatedly by the door. However, she never replied his gesture.

Leeteuk turned over to Nurse Hwang and watched her chuckle at him. Taeyeon was heading her way to theirs and accidentally tripped on her stool as if she never noticed it. Immediately he wheeled over to her, once again catching a true sight of her face. Frowning, she went to shrug him off which made him look at her getting herself up helplessly.

“Look I’m not-“ he started.

“Just leave me alone, I can handle myself,” her voice getting defensive.

And then he knew. As she took out a white stick and unfolded it he finally caught on. It was not a stick but a cane; a mobility tool.

Kim Taeyeon was visually impaired.

 Ward 4, Jeonju Hospital

Jeonju, South Korea

          Leeteuk sat in front of the mirror and touched his face. The white cloth surrounding it was removed but his bandages stayed on his cheek and forehead. His eyes grew watery at his sight and gently traced along his scars. Only a few days ago, he remembered the feeling of being alive. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard the movement of someone, immediately wiping away his tears.

Taeyeon ended her daily duties as Nurse Hwang’s assistant and sat on her bed, sighing at the tiring day. Suddenly she turned her head feeling the man beside her. He grew shock at how they stood in close proximity and stepped back, seeing her stiff expression. She took off her black shades and opened to speak.

“Leeteuk-shi? It is you, right?” He mumbled to speak seeing the way she held her gaze strongly on his way. He was about to point out that that was not his name until she spoke.

“I can tell from your deep breathing,” she giggled. He smiled and went over to sit next to her, taking a close look at her face.

“Taeyeon-shi, it has never occurred to me that you’re...” he started.

“Blind?” She smiled and he played with his fingers, “Your eyes, they don’t seem...”

“I know. I was not born blind, Leeteuk-shi.” It was that inflection in the way she called him with that name, but he didn’t mind it.

“I’m sorry, whatever may have happened, I’m sorry,” he kept his head down. She reached for his hands, accidentally touching his knees and thighs.

      They left the conversation in an awkward silence and he felt her hands caressed his calluses, long fingers before breaking the silence, “And you? I don’t need eyes to know of your scars.” He widened his eyes and watches her continue, her expression growing solemn.

“Those nights, where you were sobbing silently. I heard you.”

“Please don’t symphatise for me, Taeyeon-shi,” he gripped her hand tighter.

“Taeyeon, just Taeyeon.” She smiled, scooting over to give him more space to sit with.

Leeteuk stared blankly at her, how expectant she seemed, curving the tip of her eyebrows. For some reason, he didn’t mind speaking to her, “I was trying to save someone from a fire-”

She shook her head and felt his hands move, or shake against hers. It must be such a painful memory, and indeed Leeteuk could feel his heart shaking at the mere thought.

“No, please know that I’ll listen, Leeteuk-shi. That person, did they survive?” Knowing this, she placed another hand on top and moved closer to his face. His breath was caught and his words came out at a whisper to restrain his tears.

“It was my sister. She didn’t. No.”

Taeyeon’s heart quivered remembering her past.

“I’m sorry. I know,” she revealed. “I know what it is like to lose.” She placed her head on his shoulders and bit her lips. He suddenly realized how there had been a frame of what he assumed to be Taeyeon’s parents on her bedside, and seeing her livelong caretaker and how she stayed in the ward made clear on his sentiments.

He gasped and cupped his mouth. “You’re all alone.”

She laughed slightly, “I have you. You understand me so well,” holding her face closer to his chest. He suddenly felt the need to protect and take care of her. They had accustomed to one another in a single night noting how she yearned for affection and attention that she had missed.

Her young appearance made his heart thumped seeing how she held back the hurt and loneliness with a bubbly upfront. Taeyeon must be a brave girl and he unexpectedly grew an admiration for the former. However what he didn’t want to acknowledge was the need to protect and care might have come from the way she reminded him of his late sister. That it had in fact been a week since she had died.