The sun broke over the horizon, painting the sky with various shades of pink and orange that slowly turned blue as it rose higher and higher into the morning sky. The birds were chirping, taking on the cliche moment that people thought only happened in movies. It was a peaceful morning. It was no different than any other day. Nothing appeared to be out of order. People awoke for their daily duties, piling into cars or making their way into the city to get on the nearest subway line to get to work on time. Kids were waking and dressing for school, far from eager to be up so early to attend their daily lectures and do classwork. If given any other option, they would gladly take it.
 

Park Hyomi would be the exception.

The alarm blaring on her nightstand interrupted her dreams and brought her back to reality. No longer was she lost in the strange darkness that had been haunting her dreams for the past two weeks. She was back in the light in a place she called home. She felt safer and out of danger, though she had no idea why she felt as though something was going to happen. And she wasn't certain what that something was, but she had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to be something good. Hyomi would have to be cautious. Her friends told her that it was probably all in her head as a result of recently changing medication and told her not worry over trivial things like senses and feelings.

But she felt like it wasn't trivial and that she should start worrying about something.

There was a boy she always saw in her dreams. It wasn't for long. He would only appear for moments before disappearing, fading into the background of the darkness. In her dreams, she was always trying to find him, but her search would always be fruitless and her alarm would wake her before she could ever find him. She questioned who this mysterious blonde haired boy was. She didn't recognize him from anywhere, yet he kept appearing before her with the same expressional look on his face. He never said anything. He only stared at her.

However, last night was different.

The boy appeared before her and rather than disappearing soon after like he always did, he stood directly in front of her. She remembered watching him and she recalled seeing his lips moving. It was like he was trying to speak to her, but sound didn't come from his lips. He seemed desperate to speak to her. Judging by the look in his eyes, he had a question he wanted to ask her, but Hyomi had no idea what he wanted. Perhaps she was reading way too far into her dream, but it was bugging her. It wasn't normal to have the same dream every night and then have it change so suddenly.

"Who are you?" She wondered aloud as she stared up at her ceiling. "Who are you and what do you want from me?"

"Yah! Park Hyomi! Wake up! You're going to be late for your doctor's appointment if you keep lazing around in bed."

The sound of her mother's voice and knocking on her door shook her from her thoughts. She sat up immediately and ran a hand through her tangled hair. She was still in a state of sleepiness as she stumbled towards her bedroom door and pulled it open. Her mother was already standing there fully dressed and waiting patiently for her. When she saw that she was still wearing her pajamas, she frowned in disapproval and shook her head.

"Hyomi, I thought you would've been up and ready by now. Your alarm had been going off for half an hour." Mrs. Park sighed and ushered her towards her closet. "Hurry and get dressed. The sooner we get to the doctor's office, the sooner you can get to school."

Hyomi rolled her eyes and reluctantly stripped out of her clothes and slowly into jeans and a sweater. "Mom, we both know that's not true. My visits to the doctor's never goes by quickly no matter how early we get there or how fast we arrive. I know that I'm probably going to be in that tiny little office taking test after test for a good whole day."

Her mom sighed and patted her shoulder. "I know, sweetie. But look at it this way, at least you don't have to go to school. Most kids your age would love to switch places with you so they wouldn't have to go to school today." With a soft and reassuring smile, her mother gave her a kiss on the top of her head and made her way out of her room. "Don't take too long. Your father is already waiting outside in the car." The door shut behind her with a click and Hyomi slumped her shoulders.

"But I'm not like most kids my age." She muttered under her breath as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm not normal like them."

She would gladly go to school instead of going to see the doctor.
 

It was far better to be in class with her friends rather than being confined to her bed and driven around to various locations to take medical examinations. She was tired of being tested and prodded. All she wanted to do was live a normal life and hang out with her friends, but the numerous doctor visits made it almost impossible to do so anymore. She would be lucky to even get to step foot on campus today. Her parents always assured her that the tests wouldn't take more than a few hours, but then she would end up spending the night at the clinic to be observed.
 

The tests they made her do were long and straining. Sometimes they were painful. The nurses would draw blood from her and send it to some lab to be tested to make sure her red blood cell and white blood cell counts were normal and nothing was wrong them. Then they would always take her to get her chest screened. Her heart would be monitored and the doctors would ask her questions regarding her dietary habits as well as her daily activities to make sure that she wasn't doing anything that would be unhealthy for her. Something would always come up though and they would confine her to the hospital for a day or two. They claimed that it was just to observe her for any sort of changes, but she highly doubted it.

Hyomi knew that they were hiding something from her.

Every time they smiled and said she was getting better, she knew they were lying through their teeth hoping that she wouldn't notice.

But she noticed.

All those years of countless doctor visits made her accustomed to the expressions and lies doctors would spew to try and keep their patients happy and calm. She had learned everything they had to say to her, and they could only keep repeating the same lies over and over again for so long before she