Hello Dearest, Most Patient and Loyal Readers!

Without further ado, here is the next chapter.

Chapter 12

She could only stay for a few minutes, but Minnie couldn’t be happier.

“Mark-Oppa!” she shouted launching herself in his direction.

“Shhh,” Miss Jung attempted, doing her best to sound stern. Her smile betrayed her, though.

“Mark can’t speak much right now Minnie. His throat is very sore,” she explained.

Minnie looked worried as she approached him. Miss Jung had told her that her oppa looked sick, but there was no way she could have anticipated what she saw. But she knew that even though he looked different right now, it was Mark-Oppa and he would get better and play with her again. But she couldn’t help but feel a little afraid of him even while she felt sorry for him.

“I don’t have any ice cream to give you, Mark-Oppa. We can have some when you come home, okay?” she said his hand kindly once JinYoung had lifted her to sit next to Mark on the bed. Even though he looked a little scary, she was happy to see him. She was beginning to think that she would never see him again.

Mark nodded and her face brightened up at once.

“There are so many things to tell you, Mark-Oppa, but Miss Jung said I can’t stay long or talk too much or you’ll get tired and it’ll take you longer to get better.”

But, even though they’d told her that, she couldn’t help but chatter away, holding her oppa’s hand the entire time.

All too soon Miss Jung said that it was time to go.

“But I didn’t get to tell Mark-Oppa . . .” she began.

“He’ll be home soon, Minnie. The more he can rest, the faster he’ll come home and the sooner he can play with you again,” Miss Jung said.

“Is that true, Mark-Oppa?”

Mark nodded his head and squeezed her hand lightly. He wished he could talk to her, but he was feeling very tired and even though he didn’t want to be left alone, his head had begun to ache and he felt altogether heavy.

After giving him a kiss on the cheek, Minnie left holding Miss Jung’s hand.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *

After several days of recovery and a couple of days of observation, Mark was finally released from the hospital and allowed to returned home.

His room had been rearranged in order to accommodate the doctor’s orders: he still had to rest for the next couple of days until they could examine him one last time before closing his file. JinYoung had moved his bed just next to his so that he could be close enough to hear him if he should need something during the night. There was a tray with water and ice and freshly-cut fruit from Mrs Lee on his bedside table.

Mark sat heavily on his bed and immediately lay down. The trip home had taken more out of him than he’d thought.

How long am I going to keep feeling this weak?

“You have to take it easy for a few more days, but then if the doctor gives you a clean bill of health you’ll be able to come back to school,” JinYoung said sitting on the edge of Mark’s bed.

“Can we start studying at home?” Mark asked.

“No, let’s just wait until the doctor’s final visit, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed. He wouldn’t have been able to study right now anyway. He was really feeling tired.

“I’ll be right back,” JinYoung said, leaving Mark’s side to exit the room. After a few minutes he returned and closed the door behind him.

“I told everyone that you’re really tired and that you need some sleep. I promised that I would stay here to watch over you, so . . .”

JinYoung slipped into the bed next to Mark. This was the first time that Mark had been able to snuggle up to JinYoung since . . . the morning of that day. It felt so good. As JinYoung pulled him close, Mark lay his head against the crook of his neck. He breathed in his familiar scent and it relaxed him immediately.

“Sleep now, Mark-Hyung. I won’t leave you. I’ll be here when you wake up,” JinYoung assured him.

And with that Mark closed his eyes and slipped into an easy and much-needed sleep.

That night, Miss Lee made sure that Mark had a hearty, nutritious soup for dinner. She stayed for a minute to see his reaction to it and once she was certain that he really liked it, she chuckled to herself in satisfaction and returned to the kitchen.

Just being home again was doing a lot to strengthen him. As he looked around the room he could see all the evidence of the life he had lived here with JinYoung: their books, their desks, their beds. It was a little microcosm that contained them.

Just as that space in the attic had been.

When he thought of it he had to smile to himself, but it was bittersweet. Like here, there they had lived together but there they had also been independent.

And free.

Free to love each other.

“What are you thinking about?” JinYoung asked him.

“I was just remembering the attic.”

“Oh,” JinYoung said running his fingers through Mark’s hair. He’d hardly stopped touching Mark since they got back. It was as though he had been deprived of something he needed and had to make certain that he never would be again. As for Mark, it was good to feel JinYoung’s touch. He had believed him that he loved him, but every now and then the words, the looks of his mother, his stepfather and even the clinicians who treated him would cause him to doubt. He tried not to think of those things, of those days, but sometimes they would just seep in before he could stop them. So, JinYoung’s reassuring touch and the fact that he didn’t want to leave Mark’s side reinforced his words: that he loved Mark and that he always would.

“Are we going to be able to live together one day the way we lived there?” Mark asked.

“Of course,” JinYoung answered confidently. “Once we finish school and go to university, that’s exactly how we’ll live. And once we graduate and get jobs, we’ll get a flat and  live together like that forever.”

He drew Mark into his arms.

“You believe me, don’t you?” JinYoung asked, kissing Mark on the cheek.

Mark hugged JinYoung close.

“Of course. Of course I do.”

It took Mark a little longer to recover than the doctors had first thought. After two days, he had a relapse and had to be re-hospitalized for three days before being re-released. During this time, JinYoung felt as though he had aged a decade. The anxiety of knowing that he had Mark back safe and sound only to have him get rushed back to the hospital, frightened him so much that he felt like he was going mad.

This time, he never left the hospital no matter how much Mrs Shin, Miss Jung, Mr Bang or Miss Kang tried to reason with him. There were no pieces of advice about keeping up his strength for Mark’s sake or threats about having him forcibly removed so he could eat or rest that worked in the least. He wasn’t going to be anywhere other than by Mark’s side or as close as he could possibly be to him and no one was going to keep him from him. So, when he wasn’t sitting next to Mark’s bed, he slept in the waiting room and he only ate when someone brought him something: he wasn’t even going to risk being as far away as the cafeteria in case something happened. During this time, Mr Bang became a frequent visitor. Every evening after school, sometimes with Mrs Nam, sometimes with Mr Yoon, but mostly on his own, he’d come and sit next to JinYoung. Often he wouldn’t say a word. He would just stay by JinYoung’s side and sometimes his shoulder or lap would act as a pillow for JinYoung’s head. Then, whenever the time came, he would disappear as silently as he had appeared until the next time.

When Mark finally returned home JinYoung’s behaviour was much the same as it had been in the hospital. He clung to Mark’s side and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He even refused to go to school, afraid that if he wasn’t there to watch over him, he could come home to an empty room to which Mark would never return.

And if that ever happened, he couldn’t take it. So, he stayed.

The staff all recognised that JinYoung’s state of mind was very fragile under the circumstances and decided that it would be better to allow him this bit of consolation, rather than have him return to school: he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate anyway. And with the doctor’s last assessment it seemed as though Mark would make a full recovery soon.

After two weeks at home, only the most stubborn of the bruises still betrayed faint traces of Mark’s ordeal, and during his final examination, the doctor pronounced Mark fit enough to return to school. He was advised to take it easy the first week and to inform the hospital of any irregularities, but other than that, he could resume his life as usual.

The night before his return to school was an exciting one. He couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

“JinYoung, there’s something I want to ask you.”

JinYoung, laying next to Mark, propped himself up on one arm so that he could look at his face.

“What is it?”

“I was wondering what you would have done if they’d insisted on taking me to Child Crisis or some other place,” he asked.

JinYoung smiled.

“I would have gone with you,” he said simply.

“You can’t just go along with somebody to a place like that.”

“I know. I wouldn’t have just gone along. I would have given them a reason to take me there.”

Mark paused and looked at JinYoung’s face. He was totally serious.

“You’re scary,” Mark smiled.

“Yes. So don’t get on my bad side,” JinYoung smiled back before leaning in kiss Mark on the lips. “Now go to sleep, Hyung,” he said as he snuggled close to Mark and closed his eyes.

“Scary dongseng . . .” Mark said to himself before he kissed JinYoung’s forehead and closed his eyes in an attempt to welcome sleep.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *

“I think it would be best to leave them alone to just get on with it,” Mr Bang said.

“We should at least offer them counselling,” Mrs Nam said. “The incident did occur on school grounds. The district office suggested it and there may be legal implications if we don’t.”

“Well, you can offer, but I don’t think they’ll accept it.”

After further discussions about what else was going to happen with the two students who were returning that day had concluded, Mr Bang and Mr Yoon took their leave.

“YongGuk-ssi, what do you think about Mark and JinYoung?” Mr Yoon asked.

“What do you mean?” Mr Bang returned.

“They’re very close, aren’t they?”

Mr Bang said nothing. Both he and Mr Yoon had been there when JinYoung knelt at Mark’s side in the basement storage room that day. Mr Bang had clearly seen how frantic JinYoung was and heard the way in which JinYoung had spoken to Mark: he had also clearly heard him call Mark “Baby”. It was highly likely that Mr Yoon had heard it too.

And if Mr Bang had had any doubt, the time he spent over the following days with JinYoung in the hospital had confirmed what he’d suspected.

“I mean closer than most friends,” Mr Yoon continued.

Mr Bang just looked at him.

“Don’t you think so?”

“I don’t think it matters what I think,” Mr Bang responded.

Then, the two teachers parted ways and went to their respective classrooms.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *

The two teachers weren’t the only ones who had given the subject some thought. After the two young men had been attending school again regularly for several weeks, during their shift change, Miss Kang observed:

“JinYoung is very devoted to Mark, isn’t he?”

“That’s only to be expected. He thought he might die,” Miss Jung answered.

“He must have helped him a lot while they were gone. Mark hasn’t had one nightmare since he returned.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“JinYoung hasn’t moved his bed back yet, has he?”

“No, he hasn’t,” Miss Jung responded.

After a moment, Miss Kang said, “When I’ve gone in to check on them sometimes at night, the way they’re curled up together . . . it looks . . . well, it looks like . . .”

“ . . . like they’re a couple?” Miss Jung asked looking at her friend and colleague.

“Yes, exactly like that. What do you think we ought to do about it?”

“Why should we do something about it? Miss Jung asked.

“Because, it’s our job to make sure that these children have a normal a life as they can when they leave here. What sort of life do you think they’re going to have if . . . if they’re like that. It’ll be hard enough to get anywhere without having a family, but then to add . . .”

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it,” Miss Jung said. “If you’re worried about what Mrs Shin might do, I think they’re hiding it well and the truth is, JinYoung and Mark have both helped each other a lot. You remember what they were both like: JinYoung’s troubles at school, his distance no matter how we tried to get close to him; and Mark’s withdrawal, inability to trust, difficulty with his schoolwork, nightmares . . . ”

“I remember,” Miss Kang said. “But . . . but what about the other children?”

“What about them?”

“We owe them as much of a normal environment as we can give them. They’re impressionable. They could grow up thinking . . . well . . . that . . . and . . . also what if this gets around? You know we get some funding from the state, but there are also private donations. What if the state authorities remove our funds because of . . . an immoral environment? What if contributors no longer want to support us because . . .”

Miss Jung could see that her friend was genuinely concerned, but she couldn’t see how separating the boys at this point could do them any good. She could only imagine it making things worse. And the two boys, although older, were also children living in the orphanage for which she and the others were responsible. Right now, both boys were working hard in school. JinYoung had managed to stay out of trouble and even though it had been very hard, Mark had caught up. They had goals for the future now. They had realistic hopes for university and if things continued to go well, they might just have a chance to have a happy, stable life. After all they had been through, Miss Jung thought they deserved at least that.

“This is their last year. As long as they finish on time, they’ll be gone soon, and on top of that, I can’t imagine they want anyone to find out about . . . what’s going on, if there is indeed anything going on. Let’s just leave them alone for now. If it gets too obvious, we can always talk to them about it then.”

“But if Mrs Shin finds out . . .”

“Then we’ll have to make sure not to raise the subject to her,” Miss Jung said, looking steadily at Miss Kang.

Miss Kang got the message.

“Yes. We’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t find out.”

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