Chapter Three

She’s crying again…

Mina saw her mom wiped her tears off and stands behind her.

“I will wake up, I promise.” She said in tears hoping her mom would hear her.

The door suddenly opened and her brother and dad came in with a painting. She recognized that painting. It’s hers; that piece is her favorite. She stared at her dad and smiled.

“Young-ah, I brought Mina’s painting. Remember? It’s her favorite piece. I hope once she opened her eyes, she’ll see this.’ he said and patted his wife shoulders.

Her brother walked towards her and holds her hand. “Noona, I hope you wake up soon. I really hope you could see me playing soccer at the tournament.” He grins widely. Mina stared at him and pursed her lips; trying not to cry.

“Mino-ya, can you look out for noona? Umma need to speak with appa for a while.” She asked him and signaled her husband to go out. Mina heard them and followed them outside.

“What is it?” Mina’s dad asked.

Mina’s mom sat on the bench and stared at the ground. “What if… what if our daughter won’t wake up?” She asked and she tried hard not to let any tears spill out.

“W-what?! How can you say that?” Mina’s dad is shocked by her question and got furious.

“It has been two years, right? What if she’s actually suffering? What if she couldn’t wake up?” She spilled her hearts out and her tears too.

“You should know better since you’re her mom. What? Two years? I heard a lot of stories that people woke up after five even ten years! Don’t give up on our daughter Young-ah.” He kneeled down and holds both of her arms.

“I’m just scared that if she’s suffering and in pain right now. We don’t know what she feels and we don’t know when she will wake up. I’m scared. As her mother, I feel useless. I couldn’t do anything to help her. I really want to see her smile, her voice, her alive presence again. I cried everyday next to her but I just can’t help it. I hope she wouldn’t see her mom’s tears but when I saw her lying figure, I just couldn’t stop crying. I missed her.” She cried her hearts out and her husband comforted her. He soothed her back and patted her arm.

What they don’t know is that Mina was watching the conversation the whole time. She cried harder than her mom. Her pain is increasing. She can feel her heart is hurting. Her desire to wake up is rising and her only hope is that guy, Nam Taehyun.

***

“Taehyun-ah! Taehyun! Yah Nam Taehyun!” called his mom. She went upstairs and knocks on his door. There were no answer but she knew her son very well. He won’t wake up just by the noisiness. She opened the door slowly; afraid if he might sleep . There he was, still sleeping soundly like a baby. His mom called out his name a few times but he’s still in a deep sleep.

“If he’s that tired then I’ll just let him sleep for a few hours.” His mom mumbled by herself and leaves his room carefully.

Suddenly his phone rang and he almost fell off from his bed because of his phone.

Who the hell would call me on early morning like this?

He answered the phone without even checking on the caller.

“Hello?” he said in his morning lazy voice.

“Yah Nam Taehyun, did you just wake up? Do you know what time is it, you punk?” The caller yelled at him. It was Song Minho, his close friend. Minho is even flustered by hearing his morning voice.

“Yes, why? Why do you sound so mad, hyung? It’s still morning!” He said with his eyes closed and ruffled his messy bed hair.

“Morning my . We have a lot of work to do, Nam Taehyun-ssi.” Minho said and he really tried hard not to curse at him especially he’s with some important people.

Taehyun thought really hard about it and finally he remembered that he has a photo shoot session today. He slapped his forehead, gets up from his bed and quickly go to the bathroom.

“Yah! Yah!” Minho is still on the phone with him but he forgot about it. Minho ended the call and massages his temple. “Is he coming or not?” Another hyung, Jinwoo, asked Minho about Taehyun. “He is coming. He must or I’ll kill him.” Minho said with a dead glare. Jinwoo quickly ran away from him and apologies to their clients.

***

“Alright, that’s a wrap for today.” Taehyun said while monitoring the pictures he took on the iMac. As always, he is proud of his works and he loves doing it but he loves money more.

Minho walked towards him and whispered, “If you’re late again, then it’s a big loss for us and if you’re late again, keep in mind you’re already dead.” He tapped Taehyun’s shoulder and smiles at the happy clients. Taehyun’s face stiffened because he knew that his hyung isn’t joking about him being dead.

“Thank you for today and I hope you have fun as much as we do.” Minho said while smiling.

“We are having fun and Taehyun-ssi’s photos always turned out great.” The client complimented Taehyun and smiles at them. Taehyun bowed at them and bids farewell.

“Yah! Yah! Big money! Let’s celebrate it tonight, okay?” Jinwoo cheerfully said and hugs both of them. Taehyun lets go of his arm and focus again on the iMac.

“Let’s celebrate it first, okay? You can edit it when you get home anyway.” Minho said while staring at Taehyun. Minho always known Taehyun as a very hardworking kid but he doesn’t know Taehyun’s secret. He’s curious why Taehyun could forget this important photoshoot and Taehyun has always been so secretive about his life. He decided to take Taehyun for some drinks and finds out the truth.

***

“One shot! One shot! One shot!” Jinwoo cheered at Minho. Minho took the glass and drinks all of it. The three of them cheered at him and Minho pours soju in Taehyun’s glass.

“One shot! One shot! One shot!” Minho said with his deep voice and Jinwoo follows him along. Taehyun has no choice but drinks all of it. He made ‘ahh’ sound and shakes his head. He’s half drunk and Minho noticed it. Minho took his chance to ask about what has happened.

“What were you doing last night until you woke up so late?” Minho said while pouring soju in Jinwoo’s glass.

“I didn’t sleep. I was doing some researches.” He said as he’s trying to stable himself.

“What research though?” Minho asked again.

“Umm, just some researches.” Taehyun is half drunk but he will try to keep it a secret. Minho is quite disappointed by his answer and the stubborn Taehyun won’t reveal it. He poured soju again in Taehyun’s glass and asks him to drink. He drank all of it at once and now he’s completely drunk.

“Tell me the truth. It’s a girl, isn’t it?” Minho asked Taehyun and hoping he would answer the truth. The drunk Jinwoo has already fell asleep.

“A girl? How do you know, hyung?” Taehyun said while laughing. Minho’s eyes widen and he couldn’t believe the Taehyun who he always known as the guy who only work, eat and work.

“R-really? Is it really a girl?” Minho asked him again. Although he knew Taehyun is also a man but when he asked about girls to Taehyun, his answers would be “I’m too busy to have a girlfriend, hyung.” and Taehyun also has a lot of girls that adore him. Well, he’s the type that every girls would fall in love with anyway.

“Yes, a girl. But hyung, she’s a ghost” He said with a giggle. Minho’s excitement crushed because of his statement. He really thought Taehyun finally found a girl. Suddenly Taehyun moved his chair next to Minho’s and whispered, “Hyung, I can see ghosts” he said in a serious tone.

Minho automatically got a goose bump. He strangely thought that Taehyun could be saying the truth. He moved away from the drunk Taehyun and takes them home.