Chapter Eight

            Sunday mornings were always so still and quiet. Be it in any time of the year, the feel would be unchanging.

            If only one’s fate would be like a Sunday morning…

            After a two-hour long discussion with the family, Sohee was able to persuade her parents to drop her off at the hospital. As long as she had the time, she would always spend such visiting her Jessica unnie. She owed the older girl almost half of her own life. She really did.

            Sohee headed up the spiraling staircase. Upon reaching the top, she turned right, walked along a narrow corridor until she arrived at the end. 3222, read a steel placard plastered on the mahogany door. Sohee knocked against the smooth wood for two times, by habit before she let herself into the cozy room. The hospital bed was set vertically, the iron railings abutting the wall. It was the first thing anyone would see once they step into the doorway. Two plastic chairs stayed beside the bed and one couch from across its foot. Inches away from the couch, to its far left, was a rectangular plastic table. Dozens of bottles of medicine and boxes of colored capsules lined up on its surface and at the sight, Sohee would always get goosebumps.

            “Sohee-ah?” Jessica called out to the frozen girl by her room’s entrance. She giggled. “Ever the fashionable one, hm?”

            Sohee sported a black undershirt and over it was a loose darkish-gray long-sleeved polo – none of its five buttons fastened – jean shorts and wired sandals. She blushed, clutching at the arm straps of her small leather backpack.

“How are you?”

Jessica tilted her head slightly.

“Fine, as usual. But I can’t move my toes.”

Sohee went toward the couch and left her bag before settling down on one of the chairs next to the bed.

“Oh… Mm. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

Sohee nodded. Jessica nodded. No words followed.

In the midst of the awkwardness, someone rapped at the door. Sohee glanced at Jessica, the girl smiling faintly.

“Come in!” Sohee said.

The door opened and revealed an unfamiliar face, though she easily recognized the clean, white uniform.

           “Miss Jung~ breakfast!” the nurse announced, beaming. “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget to leave out the cucumber strips that you hate so much. Since your shock last time, no way would I have forgotten.”

             She laughed as she pulled in a trolley where Jessica’s usual vegetable salad was placed. A tall glass of orange juice stood prominently next to the dietary dish, clanking against it was another bottle similar to those on the plastic table. Sohee unconsciously scrunched up her eyebrows in some horror and the new nurse happened to notice the weird expression.

“A friend of Miss Jung’s?” she asked, making Sohee realize the current situation. She bowed her head in apology.

“Yes. Sica— I mean, Miss Jung is my best friend.”

            The nurse grinned as she gave Jessica her breakfast, letting the plate settle on what looked like a small table positioned over Jessica’s blanketed thighs. Sohee watched the two closely. The nurse was kind and friendly, that was certain. She had dirty-blonde hair tied up into a secured bun, fair skin and very pretty eyes. Sohee wondered if she really was a nurse, thinking back to the nurses downstairs who all had either black or brown hair. But then again, Sohee decided that this new nurse was the nicest out of all those who took care of Jessica, remembering that some of them even snobbed at her.

The cloud-shaped bubbles were blown away as a hand stretched out toward her.

            “Kim Hyoyeon, at your service!” the nurse playfully introduced herself, pulling her hand back before Sohee could shake it and pinching the young girl’s cheek instead. “Reminds me of mandoo!”

            Jessica suddenly laughed, choking in the process as she was just about to swallow a small piece of celery leaf. She had been silent, observing Sohee and her new nurse’s interactions and she found it rather amusing. That, and she was busy eating her oh so wonderful salad, oh so very reluctantly. It was so bland.

Sohee pulled away.

“S-sorry…”

Hyoyeon smiled then handed over the glass of juice to Jessica.

“No, I should apologize. I’m sorry. Oh. I didn’t catch your name.”

Sohee showed a little smile, still very shy toward Hyoyeon.

“Ahn Sohee.”

“Sohee… Mandoo Sohee…”

Jessica and Sohee coincidentally looked at each other that instance.

“What?”

The two girls shook their heads at the clueless nurse. The clock just struck ten.

~*~

            Jessica went to sleep after Hyoyeon had given her a dose of whatever it was from the medicine bottle the nurse had brought over. Sohee felt like sleeping as well, just realizing after watching the older girl asleep for an hour. She tied her hair in a high, messy ponytail, reclining on the couch with her bag on her lap to hug. She closed her eyes.

Tic… Toc… Tic… Toc… Tic… Toc…

            Sohee knew she wasn’t going to fall asleep easily. Not when she had to look after her Jessica unnie no matter how long because, as much as it pained her to think, her best friend might—

Creak

            Sohee kept her eyes closed. The distinct screeching sound that shoes made against the tiled floor was somewhat deafening, not to exaggerate or anything. It carried on until it passed Sohee and the sound came to a halt somewhere to the far left part of the room. She carefully cracked an eye open, just enough a slit to see whoever it was that came in. It was Hyoyeon standing beside Jessica’s bed. She had something in her hand but Sohee couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“Miss Jung. Miss Jung,” Hyoyeon said repeatedly as she gently tapped Jessica on the shoulder.

“Nnn…”

Sohee saw Jessica stir,

            Funny. Sica unnie doesn’t wake up that easily. Must be the medicine, Sohee thought as she glimpsed Jessica starting to stretch her arms and Hyoyeon suddenly crouching down, leaving her hand next to Jessica’s own.

What is she up to?

             Then Jessica, still quite drowsy, unknowingly touched her nurse’s hand and shrieked. Hyoyeon bounced up to her feet and patted the terrified girl on the back, giggling. Sohee shut her eyes immediately by reflex.

“Hyo!”

“Oh c’mon, Miss Jung. You don’t have a heart disease. You have cancer.”

There was a dismal pause that made Sohee hold her breath and hug her bag tighter, hoping that her two companions didn’t notice.

A nervous chuckle flowed out from Jessica’s lips.

“I know that already.”

“Of course you do. It’s just… I’m trying to help you accept it.”

And with each depressing pause, Sohee’s heart began to shatter faster.

“I already do. But thank you for being concerned. Just don’t scare me next time. Please.”

Hyoyeon giggled.

“You do know that you’re the first person I’ve ever handled in this hospital, right? It’s been a week.”

“Okay?”

“Since I used to take care of kids back in my town. Gosh they’re so—“

“Yes yes.”

Hyoyeon cleared .

“I’m glad you’re able to handle this nicely, Miss Jung. Please stay strong.”

             Sohee’s lips quivered. She bit the insides of her cheeks to stop her from bursting. In her head, Jessica probably had a sad smile as a reaction to Hyoyeon’s words.

“By the way.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you wake me up? For that?”

Hyoyeon laughed again.

“No. That was a ‘moment’ thing. The doctor told me to get your temperature.”

“I see.”

             Sohee didn’t hear her best friend’s voice anymore as well as Hyoyeon’s. Her body became light, her surroundings drifting to some place far and she was left behind. She heard herself, her own very voice loud and clear in the deadly darkness.

It’s difficult!

Please tell me you’re lying, unnie.

Don’t joke around…

… Why? What did you do to… To…

But you were so happy! Why… So suddenly…

Sohee opened her eyes. Hyoyeon wasn’t in the room anymore.

“Sohee-ah.”

Sohee shifted her attention toward the bed. Jessica was smiling at her.

“I’m still happy, okay?”

“I’m still happy, okay?”

The flustered girl mustered her remaining strength to smile, as happy as possible despite her bleak qualms.

“I’m happy too.”

~*~

              A woman in her late thirty’s came to pick Sohee up at twelve o’clock. Jessica was asleep so a proper goodbye wasn’t called for. Sohee ripped a small piece of paper from her memo notebook and hurriedly wrote a short message then folded it, leaving the note on the table.

              On the way home, Sohee gazed out the car window. Buildings stretched all throughout the city that, because of their heights, the sky seemed small. It was suffocating, somewhat.

“Miss Ahn, you have a visitor waiting at home. I believe she’s a friend of yours.”

             Sohee nodded absentmindedly. She was trying to remember the last time she saw the sky in its vast beauty or the outskirts of some town where the cows and goats grazed under the sun. Somehow, nothing came to mind.

             Sohee and her nanny climbed out of the taxi as soon as the driver pulled over the curve. First thing’s first: the Ahn residence wasn’t a mansion. The land was wide but the house itself looked pretty normal. A huge maroon gate that stretched for 2½ meters barred the domicile away from the outside world. Before getting to the front door of the house, there was a lot where four cars were parked, another space to the left where three others were. Mr. Ahn was quite a collector, honestly. Cars, CDs, figurines, guns – the ones for air soft but he hinted once that he had real ones stored in the family vault, not to mention a shotgun hidden in one of Sohee’s closets – and some other knick-knacks. Sohee sometimes worried having doctors for parents. She couldn’t tell why.

             Beside the front door was a bench for visitors to sit on, another one to its far right (if you stood in front of the place) reserved for only patients. Yes, the Ahn’s had a clinic built within their house, its entrance also showed in the lot like it was some kind of small house stuck to the main one. It was Sohee’s late grandfather’s idea. Back in his days, he was the best doctor in the city.

              Sohee marched up the lot and caught sight of her visitor seated on the bench. She was a rather skinny young lady with brownish, short hair that fell to her shoulders, doe-like eyes and very clear and fair complexion. She was wearing a green t-shirt and skinny jeans, emphasizing her slender legs. She waved at Sohee.

“Sohee-ah! Welcome home!” she shouted before smiling brightly.

Sohee walked over to her with an equally bright smile.

“Since when have you arrived home, Yoona-sshi?”

The girl frowned.

“I keep telling you to call me ‘Yoong’ instead! Don’t be so formal!”

               The former blushed and giggled in embarrassment. They’ve had known each other for almost nine years already. Yoona’s dad was an old friend of Mrs. Ahn’s from work. Or, to be exact, Mrs. Ahn’s friend from work introduced Mr. Im to her, when Yoona caught a terrible flu one day, nine summers back. Sohee was waiting outside the clinic until Mrs. Ahn called her inside to meet Yoona and keep said child company. It didn’t go as smoothly as Sohee and Jessica’s friendship on the first conversation since Yoona was sick and Sohee was awfully timid. Kids would usually say greetings like ‘Hi! What’s your name?’ then they’d become instant best friends. But that wasn’t the case for Yoona and Sohee. They eventually grew close after Yoona got treated for her cold and the Ahn family would invite the Im’s over. Most times though, Mr. Im would only drop Yoona off for a play date with Sohee and, perhaps, Victoria and Sunye. They all got along well, those four girls but since Victoria and Sunye were older, they usually left Yoona to Sohee’s care as the two were of the same age. Yoona lived two neighborhoods away, near a small beach. Their house was simpler compared to the Ahn’s, Mr. Im being a businessman even so. But it was so cool and nice to run along the sandy grounds and play in the water at sunset. Sohee would always feel so… Free, whenever she visited Yoona.

              Unfortunately, the Im’s - who only consisted of Mr. Im, Yoona and Yoona’s older sister - had to move to the next city (Seodaemun, was it?) because of Mr. Im’s work. The two girls parted quite sadly, Sohee not being informed of the matter immediately because of the Ahn couple’s fear of possibly hurting their daughter due to the absence of her ever first true friend. They waited for a year to pass before telling Sohee. During that year, the poor girl thought she must have done something wrong to Yoona for her to suddenly disappear without even a simple goodbye. Mr. Im also didn’t let Yoona visit the Ahn’s before their departure. He, like the Ahn couple, feared hurting Yoona.

“It’s been really long since your last visit,” Sohee said, taking the seat next to Yoona.

             “I knooow! Four summers passed ever since,” Yoona mumbled. “But I really, really wanted to see you and your unnies again. It’s been kinda crazy at home so you know…”

Sohee nodded.

“I understand. I’m just really happy you got to visit this time.”

“Okay, well, go on. Stories~” Yoona said jokingly as she poked Sohee’s cheek. They stifled a laugh.

             To make up for the painful separation of the two, the Ahn couple and Mr. Im decided to let them meet every summer, as often as possible. But since the Ahn couple was very much busy at work even during summer vacations, they couldn’t travel to Seodaemun as often. Mr. Im had the same case so he usually asked Yoona’s older sister, who was already quite an adult, to drive to Mokdong during vacation or when they really had the time.

“Let’s go inside,” Sohee said as she stood up to pull Yoona to the front door. “I’ll ask the nanny to make us some juice.”

“Thank you~”

              In the living room, the two friends chatted. From friends to school, high school entrance exams to family – just all around. The nanny came with two glasses of strawberry juice and set each on the coffee table in the room.

“Where’re Victoria unnie and Sunye unnie?”

“They went to the dentist with dad. Mom’s at work.”

Yoona lowered her head, her hair covering her cheek as Sohee sipped a little of her juice.

“You never changed, Sohee-ah. I’m really happy.”

Yoona looked up and Sohee saw tear-filled eyes. Yoona wasn’t always a crybaby. They hugged each other tight with all four summer’s worth of strength.

“I missed you,” they both whispered to each other’s ears.