"Hey, what's your name?"

She pauses in the middle of eating her ice-cream, her eyes still staring forward with the blank expression, though her tears have dried in the bandages. I can see stitches poking out of the edge, ugly black thread, but of course I don't say anything. I'm not gonna tell her how broken she looks. I may be an idiot, but I'm not a moron.

When she speaks, her voice is raspy, and she has to let out a feeble cough to clear . "... Sojin. My... My name is Sojin."

"Ah." I nod though she can't see it. She seems to realise it anyway and sighs, dropping her head to stare at her lap.

"I... I'm sorry... this must be weird, I'm talking to you but not looking at you..."

"Of course not. It's dark anyway, makes no difference," I try to say cheerily, but she just smiles sadly into open space.

"Um... what about you?"

"Huh?"

"What... What's your name?"

"Oh. Tae-" I stop. I know she can't see me, but it's not a good idea to just throw my name around so casually. Not anymore.

"...Tae? Just Tae?"

"Uh, no. Sorry," I bite my lip, feeling guilty. "It's Taeil. I'm Taeil."

Foreword is part of the story but it didn't suit being it's own chapter.
A short drabble-like story because I'm feeling it. Thank you for reading. :)