It had been two weeks since Nayong ran away. Boryun didn’t bother to search for her daughter. In a way, it was good that she left. If all the negative things about this family were to be gone, it would be perfect. Now that the semester was over and school was out, everyone was at home mostly; which meant Mani and Yongguk had more time to see each other. The other day she had caught both of them laughing together. For some reason seeing Mani happy or smiling really bothered her. But seeing her precious son sharing laughter with Mani in that way was unacceptable. Boryun couldn’t allow that to happen though. Yongnam was very mischievous but sometimes that was a good thing.

Not even an hour after they left, Yongnam came home.
 

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be taking your exam?”

“Mom,” he chuckled, “I’m rich, I don’t need to take a dumb exam when I can always offer money to my poor professor.” He took off his sweater and walked up to his room.

“Bang Yongnam!” she shouted at her son as she followed him. “What were you doing this whole time then?”

“Spying.” He grabbed a shirt, “You know that little maid of yours?” He put it on, “She’s not as obedient as you thought she was.” He walked past his mother and to his bathroom.

“What are you talking about? What did Im Mani do this time?”

Yongnam rubbed the gel in his hand then spread it on the tips of his hair. “You know that servant-boss relationship she was supposed to have with Yongguk.” He laughed and washed his hands. “That’s not happening.”

Boryun looked at her son but he only laughed in response.

“Mom,” he said as he continued his chortle, “Did you really think you stop it from happening? I’m not surprised if she pops a kid and it’s his.”

“Stop!” she shouted. “That will not be happening.” She looked at her son, “Go wherever you want to go. Your father will not be hearing about your little bribery. Your only job now is to leave and make sure no one else sees you.” Boryun left the room and felt that pit of anger boil in her. “Little, lying .”

It was time for breakfast and as always the whole family, except for her husband and Mansuk, were waiting for their food to be served.

“Where’s Maru?” Yongguk asked as he entered the kitchen. Usually, Maru would wake him up, but he didn’t this time.

“Mani and Maru would be here in a bit,” Monae said as she poured more coffee in Yongnam’s cup. “For now what would you like to drink?”

“I can get it myself,” he assured.

“Bang Yongguk,” his mother called, “She asked you what you would like to drink.”

Yongguk sighed and sat down. “Apple juice would be fine, thank you.”

Suddenly Mani ran in and everyone looked at her. She looked rather uneasy and walked to her mother. She whispered to her mother until Boryun called them. “Whatever you need to say, you must say it in front of us. Do not be rude.”

Mani nodded and she faced the dining table. “Maru woke up and he can no longer see.” Monae gasped and Yongguk sat on the edge of his seat. Yongnam was uninterested, as always, and Boryun rose a brow. “These past few weeks his eye has been irritating him and–” she looked at her mother, “What do we do, mom?”

Monae gave the cup of apple juice to Yongguk then looked at the Boryun. “Madam, may I take my son to the hospital. This is a family emergency.”

Yongguk stood up, “I’ll take you.”

“No,” she protested, “You and Yongnam stay here. I’ll go. Stay home and watch the house.” She walked Monae and Mani to their little home at the back. Once they entered the home, she could already hear Maru sniffling and crying.

“Maru don’t cry. Mom’s here and Madam will take us to the hospital.”

Monae hugged her son. “Mom, I’m scared,” Maru said with an uneasy voice. “I’m gonna be completely blind now.” he began to cry, “I don’t want to lose my vision. I haven’t even seen half of the world yet.”

For once, Boryun felt a bit sympathetic to this pathetic family. She walked towards Maru and helped him up, “Come, Im Maru. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Maru turned to her and dipped his head a bow to her, “Thank you so much Madam.” he sniffled.

Monae deeply bowed, “Thank you so much, Madam. All my gratitude goes to you.”

“Im Mani,” she called to the girl at the corner, “Go get my keys and go start the car.”

Mani pressed her lips together and sniffled, “Yes Madam.” She ran inside the house and rummaged through the coat closet to see if the key was hanging on the door.

“Mani,” Yongguk hugged her. He released her and looked at her red eyes, “How’s Maru?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. I need to find Madam’s keys and we’ll be going to the hospital.” Mani grabbed the keys and was about to leave until he held her hand. She looked at him.

“Let me go with you.” 

She shook his hand off of hers, “I’ll be back.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek then ran out to the car and started the engine. Mani waited in the back seat and soon her mother, Maru, and Monae came in.

Once they started driving, Boryun threw the phone to her. “Call your father and make sure he gets to the hospital. Tell him that it is in my orders for him to be there.”

Mani nodded, “Yes, Madam.” She dialed her father’s number. At first, he was very impatient since he was in the middle of work, but once he heard what the emergency was he promised that he would be there.

“Now call the hospital and tell them that a VIP guest is coming and for them to reserve a room, pronto.” Mani nodded, feeling so rushed with everything that was happening. She called the hospital but they refused to believe such a young voice. Boryun took the phone and drove with one hand. “Hello, this is Kim Boryun. I am the daughter of Kim Boyang Center. If I do not receive a VIP reserved room the second I step in, I will have every medically licensed person on that floor fired. Do you understand?” she hung up and sped up.

The doctor knocked on the door then entered. Mani looked up as her parents both stood up.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Son Ahnyu. I’ll be taking care of your son.”

“How’s my son, doctor?” Mansuk asked as he held his wife’s hand.

“Well it’s a good thing he was rushed to the hospital.” the doctor said. “As of now your son is in critical condition and the only way to do that is through a procedure known as a corneal transplant. However, there is a waiting list for this and like other procedures, it is very costly.”

“How much is the procedure?” Monae asked. She knew they wouldn’t be able to afford it, but in times like these sacrifices were to be made.

“The transplant itself is ₩10 million. If we were to give him an immediate transplant even though he is not on the waiting list, that will be an extra ₩5 million. An addition to mandatory hospital fees would be 500 thousand ₩ so the ending cost would be approximately ₩16 million.”

Mani stood up and looked at how distressed her mother was. Monae sat down and tried to ease the stress that she was feeling.

“I’ll leave you all to discuss.” Dr. Son bowed then left the room.

“What are we going to do?” Monae asked