Chp.40| ~Collide~

I’ve fallen undera state of depression.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating a little, but being depressed does no good to your health. Just yesterday, I was listening to Na-Na’s voice and came to some sort of realization that perhaps it was time to let go. I mean---this was what I wanted. I wanted a story for myself. I wanted to make my life a little more exciting and I expected some kind of happy ending. Nevertheless, I have no idea where this was all leading.

Sick and exhausted in my bed, I had called up Jung Sang, informing him that we needed to talk. I had no idea what we were going to discuss, but I figured that we call Na-Na up and confess the truth to her.

“I’ll be there. How are you feeling?”

“Not good. How soon will you be here?”

“Sooner than you think.”

“Okay.”

“Wait a moment---don’t hang up! What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“I thought so.”

“Why?”

“Just asking.”

“You’re being weird, Jung Sang.”

“Am I?”

When I wanted to hang up, he shouted again. “Yah! Lee Ji Won. Don’t hang up on me yet!”

I was rolling my eyes at this point. “What is it this time?”

“Today you’ll un-slave me, Ji Won.”

I smiled. “How can you be so sure?”

“I have a good feeling about this.”

An hour passed by, but there was no Jung Sang.

---


It was Kim Tae Woo who showed up first and I hadn’t even called him. The truth was, I was happy that someone showed up. The more I spend time alone, the more depressed I got. Why? Because no one likes to be alone on their birthday.

Tae Woo placed something down on the table next to my bed. “I brought you seaweed soup.”

“Seaweed soup?”

“It’s your birthday. You should be eating seaweed soup.”

He went to pull up a chair, placing it close to my bed. He was still in his school uniform. He was looking much happier than I last seen him. “How are you feeling?” he asked before sitting down.

“Sad,” I answered, looking down at my hands.

“What makes you sad?”

I still refuse to look up at him. “Everything about my life.”

“What makes your life so sad?”

Tae Woo always asked strange questions. “Are you some kind of therapist?” I asked sarcastically.

He smiled. “I can be. Do you want me to be?”

“No.”

“Then what am I to you, Ji Won?”

“A friend.”

He repeated after me, as if he wasn’t sure he heard me right. “A friend.”

“You should be glad, we were never friends to begin with.” I thought about the time at the subway station and when we were inside the bar together. Kim Tae Woo had been there both times. “I wanna thank you for being there for me.”

“You don’t have to thank me if we’re friends.”

I said nothing.

“And Jung Sang, what is he to you?”

I rubbed at my face and then answered, “I don’t know.”

Slave! He’s your slave, Ji Won! Not your boyfriend anymore!

Tae Woo slid his chair closer and leaned forward. “What’s really going on between you two?”

I looked at him like I was a lost child being interrogated by some stranger. “What?”

“You two back together?”

“No.”

“But you hang out together?”

We hung out because I was still uncertain of my relationship with Jung Sang. “I just want---I want to see whether the connection is still there.”

“You don’t know what you want, Ji Won?”

My head started to spin. I touched my temple and said, “I don’t need to answer that.”

“Park Jung Sang doesn’t see it that way. To him, you’re still his girlfriend. He told me that himself.”

My eyes widened. “He told you that?”

Tae Woo nodded wistfully.

Park Jung Sang you always makes things harder on me!

Speaking of Park Jung Sang. “Where is he? It’s been an hour since I last heard his voice. And it’s not like him to be this late.”

Tae Woo looked at his watch.

I couldn’t avoid that heavy feeling that had settled on the pit of my stomach.

“I’ll call him,” Tae Woo said, reaching for his phone and when he did, it started to ring.

He looked at the number before looking at me. “It’s Jung Sang.”

That got me curious. Why was Jung Sang calling Tae Woo when he should be on his way?

“Hello?” Tae Woo answered.

I watched as Tae Woo’s face fell. He said yes before he hung up to fix his attention onto me again. “Bad news.”

I braced myself for the bad news. I could sense the nervousness rising within me. “What is it?”

“That was Hye Min. Jung Sang has been hospitalized. He’s going through surgery.”

“What for?”

“He got jumped by fifty guys.”

---

Hye Min cried endlessly as she tried to explain the situation to Tae Woo and myself. “He came out of the bakery, holding onto your cake when they all approached him and surrounded him. He asked if he could take them on another day because today was your birthday.”

Hye Min buried her face deeper into Tae Woo’s shoulder. “It all happened so fast. I-I-I was there because I followed him and I watched it happened. And now, now we don’t know when Jung Sang will wake up again.”

I pictured Jung Sang being knocked down, having the cake to slip out of his hands. I pictured him fighting back with all he got, but in the end he eventually lost.

Even the best fall down sometimes.

My legs felt like water and I could feel them giving up on me. I collapse to the floor and cried. I felt hands lifting me up to stand. Yoon Tae had showed up unexpectedly beside me. He drew me into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of my head. “It’s okay, Ji Won. He’ll wake up.”

I buried my face in his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him, seeking comfort. “This is real, right? This time we don’t know for sure when he’ll wake up.”

Yoon Tae had no response to that.

---

His voice still echoed in my ears as I sat next to him, holding onto his cold hands and staring at his bruised face. His lip had been busted. There was bruising around his cheekbone area and a small stitch just below his left brow. He suffered from three broken ribs and violent blow to the back of his head. The doctor couldn’t determine whether or not Jung Sang was going to suffer from memory loss the moment he wakes up.

“I’ll be there. How are you feeling?”

“Not good. How soon will you be here?”

“Sooner than you think.”

“Okay.”

“Wait a moment---don’t hang up! What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“I thought so.”

“Why?”

“Just asking.”

“You’re being weird, Jung Sang.”

“Am I?”

I found out why he had asked me that. It was the color of the cake that he had gotten me.

Today you’ll un-slave me, Ji Won.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I have a good feeling about this.”

As I was wiping my tears, I heard the door open. I craned my head just enough to see Hye Min slipping in quietly. She lowered her head in acknowledgement before approaching me slowly. When she reached me, she looked at Jung Sang and said, “He sleeps like an angel, doesn’t he?”

She saw him in the same light as I did. For the past week, Shin Hye Min has been slowly opening up to me. We formed some kind of bond despite our past quarreling. It was all because of Park Jung Sang.

She pulled up a chair to sit next to me. “I heard from Kim Tae Woo that the fifty guys who had fought him were also injured---and some were even in worst condition than Jung Sang is.”

My jaws dropped incredulously as I turned to look at Hye Min. “All fifty of them?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she paused, fidgeting with her fingers before continuing, “He’s always been a fighter. He won’t give up until his body fails him first.” She lifted her hand to wipe away her tears. “He’ll wake up soon.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “He’s going to be okay.”

We both turned to stare at Jung Sang without saying anything more to each other.


Two weeks later…


“Yah! Lee Ji Won. Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing, holding onto my oppa’s hand?” Kim Soo Jin blurted.

I quickly released Lee Ji Hoon’s hand and pried my eyes away from him, turning away to hide my flushing.

Soo Jin approached us and looked from me to her boyfriend. “What is going on? I turn my back for one second and you’re hitting on my best friend? What’s wrong with you, oppa?”

Ji Hoon smiled while holding up his hands in a surrendering gesture. “It wasn’t what it looked like. I was just---“

I interrupted him before he could finish. Turning to face Soo Jin, I said, “Yeah. That’s right, Soo Jin. We were flirting behind your back!”

Soo Jin’s eyes blazed with fire. “You stupid b*tch!” she yelled.

I laughed in her face and lifted the script in my hand to slap smack the top of her head. “You , Soo Jin. That was a really slow reaction. It doesn’t take a person that long to get angry.”

Soo Jin pouted. “But, but---“

Ji Hoon crossed his arms and agreed. “Ji Won is right. That was slow.”

We were standing under a tree in a park for the past ten minutes, going over a script for drama class. Soo Jin played the antagonist and I was the protagonist. Lee Ji Hoon was just helping out and because Soo Jin demanded that of him.

Soo Jin shot him a look. “Like you’re any better, Mr. Expressionless. All you do is stand there and look pretty. That’s natural for you.” She flipped through the script and said, “Let’s go straight to the next scene then.”

I flipped over the page to find that the next scene was when the main guy kissed the main girl.

Ji Hoon smiled sheepishly when he looked it over.

I returned the smile to piss off Soo Jin.

Soo Jin shot him another venomous glare. “I’m hungry. Let’s end this for today.”

Ji Hoon argued. “But we just got started? What do you mean you’re hungry? I thought you’re on a diet?”

Soo Jin stomped her feet like a whining child. “But I’m hungry!”

I reached out to touch Ji Hoon’s arm. “You can go get something. I’ll work on the next scene with Ji Hoon oppa.”

Soo Jin jumped between us, breaking us apart. I’ve never seen her so possessive before. “No. Come, oppa. You’re coming with me.” With that, she dragged her reluctant oppa away.

I shook my head and looked down at my watch. I should get going soon. Jung Sang needs me.

Ten minutes later, I was seated against the tree trunk, sipping on warm soda, waiting for Soo Jin and Ji Hoon to return when a shadow slowly cast over me.

I lifted my head up to stare at the person in front of me.

Park Jung Sang stood there smiling at me. His hair had grown since the last time I had seen him awake, and there was a slight stubble growing along his jaw, making him appear older than he was.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I blinked twice to check if he was actually real. He was still standing there like some fictional character out of a book, waiting for some kind of response from me.

The only strange thing was, he was holding onto an umbrella under the sun. “Yah! Lee Ji Won! Come under here before you get burned by the sun!” he shouted.

I knew. I knew right away that Park Jung Sang wasn’t the same.

I got up slowly and walked up to him. He held out his hand and pulled me close. Just not close enough like it used to be. I was staring at him like a dumbfound idiot.

He noticed the tears in my eyes. “You’re crying?”

After all those times, you’re finally awake! Why wouldn’t I be crying? I wanted to say to him. “I’m happy. You’re awake.”

He rolled his eyes sideway to think about something. “Abeoji said that I would find you here. He said that I should treat you to ice cream. Let’s go!”

Squeezing my hand tighter, he began to drag me away before I could open my mouth to protest.

---

Park Jung Sang was stuffing his mouth full of ice cream. Not once did he spit it out like I expected. “This is good, Ji Won. I never had something this good before.”

He had finished three sundaes and I was still working on mine. The Park Jung Sang I used to know would have never finish his ice cream, let alone even eat it.

After finishing up, he raised his head to look at me inquiringly. “Did you know that I dreamt of you? You spoke to me in my sleep. All I heard was your voice. Every time I thought I was going to have a nightmare, you spoke to me. You said, ‘Yah, Park Jung Sang. I’m here with you. I’m Lee Ji Won, your girlfriend. Wake up.’”

I swallowed the bile that rose from my throat. I wasn’t going to cry anymore. Even if it got to be too much. “Really?” I said in return, pretending to be surprise by it.

He nodded. “This time your voice seem louder and clearer so I woke right up. I opened my eyes and sat up. But you weren’t there. I only saw my parents when I got up. The first thing I did was asked for you.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Abeoji said that I should thank you instead. Because you took care of me while I was asleep.” He scratched the back of his head and then cringed in pain, forgetting about his injury. “I don’t get it. Can a person really sleep for that long?”

“You were just tired.”

“Not no more!” he said cheerfully, standing up. “I feel great!” he added, stretching his arms out.

People stared and I let them.

He smiled and sat back down. “Yah! Lee Ji Won. What do you want to do next?”

“Maybe we should go home?”

He rolled his eyes upward. “Home? Do we live with each other?”

“No. You have a home. I have a home.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t want to go home?”

He shook his head like a child. “No. I don’t think I can stay home without seeing your face or listening to your voice.”

I've done that while you were alseep, Jung Sang. I've been there myself.

The next thing I knew, he ended up bringing me to store to buy a voice recorder. The moment we walked out, he handed the recorder to me. “Record your voice for me, Ji Won.”

After doing so, he held it close and smiled happily. “Thank you, Ji Won. We can go home now.”