Jang Dongwoo

---

 

Jang Soya had always been the kind of girl who was always outgoing and adventurous, caring and kind-hearted. Unfortunately, just because one had a good heart, it didn’t mean she was protected from bad omen.

 

One day seven years ago, Soya had been playing in the woods behind their home with her little brother Dongwoo, who was thirteen at the time.

 

People thought it was strange that a sixteen-year-old girl would be playing with her teenaged baby brother, but the two had an especially close sister-brother bond that most people in the town knew about. They were inseparable.

 

They were pretending to be explorers of a distant land, and collecting undiscovered plant and bug species, logging them into a leather-bound journal Soya gifted to Dongwoo for his birthday the year before. Dongwoo didn’t know what he wanted to write in it, so his sister suggested that he write down whatever his heart desired.

 

“Whatever my heart desires?”

 

“Yep! Anything, really. It’s yours to keep, little bro,” she had said to him after he had opened his gift. He had hugged the journal so tightly in his arms, for it was just that precious to him--the first and last gift he would ever receive from his dear sister.

 

And so the first thing he wanted to write down were discoveries of an unknown territory.

 

“Sis, what do you think this is?” Dongwoo tugged on Soya’s arm and the two of them kneeled down to see what Dongwoo was looking at.

 

Soya eyed the little shiny trinket at the base of the tree trunk. It looked like a necklace at first glance, but they weren’t entirely sure. After a closer look, it seemed that it was a locket, but it was stuck.

 

“I can’t open it, Dongwoo. Let’s go back home for today, okay? It’s getting late, little brother.”

 

Dongwoo nodded and the two walked out of the woods back to their home.

 

--

 

When they finished their trek back home, they were greeted by the housekeeper, who had urgent news.

 

“The madam and sir would like to speak with you in the main parlour, Miss Soya,” she said.

 

“With me?” It wasn’t often that Soya’s parents had something to talk to her about. She tucked the locket away in the front pocket of her overalls and turned to her brother, who had followed in behind her. “Go to your room and get cleaned up, all right? I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”

 

They exchanged smiles and Dongwoo scurried off first.

 

“Miss Soya, maybe you should change into something more formal first,” the housekeeper suggested as they walked toward the parlour.

 

“No, it’s fine. My parents don’t usually care about how I look when I’m with them,” she shrugged off the advice just as they reached the closed doors to the room she was called to.

 

“But Miss--”

 

And when Soya opened the door, she saw her parents seated on the sofa, as expected. Across from them in an armchair, was a boy she hadn’t seen before.

 

“Mother, father, I’m here,” she announced. She heard her mother gasp, probably at her unkempt appearance, but she could care less. Soya stepped into the parlour, and sat in the empty armchair next to the boy. After a quick glance at the boy’s eyes, she had a few conclusions on what this meeting entailed. She straightened herself in her chair and crossed one leg over the other, awaiting for her parents to speak.

 

“Soya, dear, your mother and I want to talk to you about something really important,” her father started. He gestured his arm at the boy next to her. “This is--”

 

“Wait a minute, father,” Soya interrupted, cutting off her father from revealing his name or title. “Is this a new playmate? If he isn’t, then I’m not interested. Is this some sort of engagement? If it is, then I’m not interested. Is he someone who needs to be involved in my life, or am I someone who needs to be in his? I don’t know him, so I don’t think this meeting has any reason to go any further.”

 

Soya uncrossed her legs and stood up from her seat, and turned to walk out of the room, but she was stopped. The boy had grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from leaving. She glared at the boy, whose gaze appeared stern.

 

“Pardon me, Miss Jang Soya,” the boy finally spoke, “but could you please at least have some manners and the decency to let your parents explain the situation to you first?”

 

She jerked her wrist out of his grasp. “Who are you to lecture me on mannerism? Do you know who I am?”

 

“As a matter of fact, I do. Now please be quiet and listen. I will personally explain to you why I’m here.” He turned to Soya’s parents, and they nodded and stood up to leave.

 

Seeing that her parents seemed to listen to him, Soya sat herself back on the chair. “Okay. I’m listening.”

 

The boy introduced himself as Lee Donghyun, Lee Sungjong’s older brother.

 

“You’re his older brother? I thought Sungjong only had a younger brother, and he passed away with their parents in a traffic accident years back.”

 

Donghyun confirmed the validity of Soya’s knowledge of Sungjong’s familial details, but it seemed to him that she didn’t know what happened to Sungjong after he was orphaned.

 

“I’m his adopted brother. Or I guess he’s my adopted brother. My parents took him in a week after the accident, since our parents were close.”

 

Soya’s eyes widened, for she actually didn’t hear anything about his whereabouts after the tragedy. Sungjong used to be one of Dongwoo’s playmates, so she treated him as much like a little brother as she did Dongwoo.  

 

“So what brings you here? Is he alright? Is he living alright with your family?”

 

“That’s exactly why I’m here! You are smart after all,” Donghyun said sarcastically. “Okay, now on a more serious note. No, he’s not alright. That’s exactly why I’m here, Miss Jang.”

 

“What do you mean he’s not alright?”

 

Donghyun stood up from the armchair next to Soya and walked around the coffee table to sit on sofa on the side opposite from her. “He’s in his deathbed at this moment.”

 

And Soya gasped in horror hearing those words. A thousand thoughts zoomed through her mind. Such an innocent young boy facing death? Clinging onto the edge of his life? Lost his mom, his dad, and orphaned so young, lost his brother, his friends, his--

 

“Miss Jang, calm down. Listen to me.”

 

Soya was shaking, her hands trembled.

 

“His last wish is to see you one last time. I haven’t been able to do much for him as a brother, so I want to at least help him see you one last time.”

 

Soya steadied herself a little, and continued to listen.

 

“This is what we’re going to do, since he doesn’t have much time left. The physician said he has a few days left at most, so listen carefully and don’t mess up.”

 

She nodded, slightly hesitant to go along with this plan, but it wouldn’t hurt to help her little brother’s friend, right?

 

--

 

When Dongwoo came downstairs for breakfast the next morning, something seemed really off to him.

 

His parents were at the table. His parents were busy people. He hadn’t eaten breakfast with his parents for the longest time, so it seemed strange that they were randomly still at home that morning.

 

His sister, however, was not at the table. His sister had always eaten breakfast with him, even when she was ill and bedridden.

 

“Where’s Soya, Dad?”

 

“I don’t know, Dongwoo. Eat your breakfast, it’s getting cold,” he said, and turned to the next page in his newspaper.

 

Dongwoo didn’t take that for an answer. His parents must know something, because they didn’t even seemed worried that their daughter wasn’t here for breakfast. He turned to his mother.

 

“Where’s Soya, Mom?”

 

“Just eat your breakfast, Dongwoo, please,” she said. “You have a playdate with Howon today, so hurry please. You don’t want to keep him waiting.”

 

Dongwoo looked down at his food and picked up his spoon, stirring his porridge around a little. He could still see the steam rise from the watery rice. He shoved a spoonful into his mouth and picked up a few vegetables from the side dishes spread on table before him.

 

“Why are you two still home?”

 

--

 

Dongwoo and Howon’s playdate this time was at Dongwoo’s house, which he liked better than going to Howon’s house. At his own house, he could use the kitchen to bake to his heart’s content. Howon didn’t particularly mind either, because he liked to eat the things Dongwoo baked.

 

Howon wasn’t exactly skilled with his hands when it came to shoving ingredients together and popping them into the oven to make magic. He gave up months ago, but Dongwoo kept experimenting with new recipes.

 

“Today, I serve you strawberry longcake,” Dongwoo announced as he cut a slice for Howon.

 

“Longcake? Is this supposed to be the opposite of a shortcake?” Howon looked at the shape of Dongwoo’s creation and raised an eyebrow at Dongwoo’s logic. “I think that’s called a swiss roll, not a longcake.”

 

Dongwoo shrugged. “I can call it whatever I want. I made it,” he retorted, and proceeded to pour Howon a cup of tea.

 

“Dongwoo, I don’t like tea.”

 

“You don’t have to like tea. It’s meant to complement the cake, not satisfy your tastes.” He cut himself a slice too and popped a small chunk of it into his mouth. “This needs more strawberries in the middle.”

 

Howon continued to eat the cake. To him, it seemed to have a good ratio of strawberries, but if Dongwoo said it needed more strawberries, then maybe it did. He was about to shove another bite into his mouth, but set his fork down halfway to his mouth.

 

“Dongwoo, where’s Soya?”

 

“Howon, what do you think of the cake?” Dongwoo asked instead, completely dodging the question, just as his parents had ignored the same question earlier that morning.

 

“Dongwoo, what the heck? Soya always tries your new desserts with us and gives you actual critique,” Howon pointed out. “So isn’t it weird that she’s not here?”

 

“She’s old enough to have her own life sometime, you know? She’s not necessarily strapped down to us. We’re just kids. She’s almost a grownup.” Dongwoo turned away from Howon and started gathering his supplies to do the dishes.

 

The other boy got down from the stool and stood next to Dongwoo at the sink, grabbing the dish soap and pouring it into the sink. As the faucet water ran over it, bubbles emerged from the water as the dish soap dissolved.

 

“Howon, that’s too much soap! Look at all those bubbles,” Dongwoo complained.

 

“More suds, more clean.” Howon scooped some of bubbles into his hands and sprinkled them over Dongwoo’s head. “Look Dongwoo, it’s raining bubbles!”

 

“What the—Howon! That’s my eye!” Dongwoo yelped, and he too scooped bubbles and dish-washing became a bubble war.

 

The boys were lost in their fun, laughing and enjoying their childhood as children should, but it had been interrupted when the housekeeper stopped by the kitchen to check on the boys and found the entire kitchen covered in soapy water.

 

“Hi Miss Kim,” the boys stopped their game and greeted in unison.

 

The housekeeper simply shook her head and didn’t bother scolding the boys, since she knew that they knew to clean up after themselves.  

 

“Good afternoon, young sirs. I came to deliver a message from the family physician.”

 

“The physician?” Dongwoo asked. “Is someone sick?”

 

“I’m not sure, young sir. I was just told that the young miss is in the hospital.”

 

Dongwoo and Howon both felt their stomachs drop.