http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE08uj8SgVE

Jaejoong- Living Like a Dream

-----

Song Jaehyuk continued to be absent from school. A reason wasn’t given for his nonattendance either.

Sohee knew she could not just stand by as his homeroom teacher. She found his address in the student handbook and went there one Friday evening after school.

Sohee walked all the way up to the rooftop home. She stopped midway to catch her breath. *This just shows how much I lack exercise. I envy the young ones.* With another sigh, she continued her climb upstairs. Finally, Sohee landed on the rooftop. The space was rather large, but the home was just one-fourth of it. She rapped on the door. “Excuse me? Is anyone home? Jaehyuk-ah. Hello?”

There was no reply. Tentatively, she knocked on the door once again. “Song Jaehyuk.”

She heard a weak cough inside and froze.

*Jaehyuk? Is that you?* Sohee pressed her ear to the door and listened carefully.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” A voice yelled. Sohee spun around to find a shocked Jaehyuk. “Jaehyuk-ah-“

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?! HOW CAN YOU BARGE INTO MY TERRITORY LIKE THIS?!” He went on a rampage. She frowned. “I wouldn’t be ‘barging in’, as you put it, if you hadn’t been missing school. It’s been two weeks already. Why haven’t you come out lately?”

“I don’t have to answer you!” Jaehyuk grabbed the bag of groceries and stomped towards her. “Go away! Leave!”

“Is someone inside?” Sohee asked. Jaehyuk froze.

She glanced at the house. “I heard someone coughing, but I thought it was you-“

“It’s just the television.” He gruffly replied. “Now can you please leave, ssem?”

There was another round of raspy cough inside the house. Sohee’s eyes rounded. *That is not the TV. Someone inside is really sick.* Without thinking about her, Jaehyuk flew inside the house. His eyes widened. “Jaehwa! Jaehwa!”

“O…ppa…” A voice whispered.

Curious, Sohee peeked inside. Jaehyuk darted over to a black-haired girl lying down on three layers of blankets. She was so pale and sickly-looking. Panicking, he took her hand. “Jaehwa, oppa is here.” Tears fell down her face. Sohee glanced between the two figures. The resemblance was striking. Jaehyuk and Jaehwa were siblings. She was his younger sister.

“Oppa…” She shivered. “, , .” He cursed as he crawled over to the corner and pulled out a bottle of medication. Jaehyuk rushed back to Jaehwa’s side. He helped her up and took a bottle of water nearby. “Eat this, Jaehwa.” Jaehyuk helped her swallow the medicine.

Concerned, Sohee came inside. “Jaehyuk, what’s wrong? Is everything okay with her?”

Jaehyuk squeezed his eyes shut tightly as tears spilled down his face. “No, it’s not. Nothing is okay. Are you happy now?!”

Sohee ignored his sneer. She felt the little girl’s forehead and frowned. “She’s burning. We should get her fever down first.”

Before Jaehyuk could protest, Sohee went into the small kitchen. She pulled up her sleeves and pulled out a bowl. Sohee filled it with water and ice then came back to Jaehwa’s side. “Can you get me a clean towel?” Jaehyuk didn’t move for several seconds. He was stuck between telling her to leave and doing as she had requested.

“Oppa, I’m cold.” Jaehwa whispered. Jaehyuk moved then. He ran into the bathroom, pulled out a clean towel, and came back with it. “Here.”

Sohee took the towel and dipped it into the ice water. She wrung the water out and set it on top of the girl’s boiling forehead. Jaehwa shook like a leaf at the icy contact. A tear slipped down the corner of her eye. Jaehyuk bit his bottom lip so hard that it began to bleed. He hated seeing his sister in pain.

“It’ll be okay, Jaehwa. That is her name, right?” Sohee looked to him for confirmation. He nodded.

Sohee wiped away her tears and turned the already-warm towel over to the cool side. Jaehwa sighed in both reprieve and pain. After fifteen minutes, her forehead seemed to finally cool down. “We should put cold towels on her arms and legs, too, to make sure the fever goes completely down.” Sohee pulled the blanket away and gently grasped Jaehwa’s skinny arm. Sohee pulled up her sleeve and froze. Her eyes widened in horror. Ugly blue, black, and purple bruises of every size and shape covered her arm.

Sohee jerked her head around and stared at Jaehyuk for an answer. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“W-what happened?” Sohee whispered.

“Jaehwa is sick…” Jaehyuk finally croaked. His tears hit the floor. “She has leukemia.”

“Oh my…” Sohee was stunned. “So is that why you haven’t been coming out…?”

Jaehyuk nodded. Before Sohee could question him more, Jaehwa shuddered.

“We’ll talk later.” Sohee focused first on getting the girl’s fever down first. Nearly an hour later, Jaehwa was fast asleep. Sohee placed the warm towel back into the basin. “There. Your sister should be fine for now…” She turned around. “Did you eat lunch?” Jaehyuk looked up at her and slowly shook his head. “Did Jaehwa eat today?” Sohee asked. Jaehyuk averted his gaze to the floor shamefully.

“I’ll make both of you something. We can save her portion for later.” Sohee whispered. She went into the kitchen and made fried rice. Half an hour, Jaehyuk and Sohee were sitting across the table from each other. He glanced at his sister. His tummy growled, but he couldn’t e