November of 2010 arrived with the cold wind hitting harder and the trees that still resist to shed their leaves, were beginning to lose the battle against the entrance of winter and the farewells of Autumn. 

Soo Yun had finally being free from her casket for the last 2 weeks and was trying to catch up with all the things that she had falling behind in school. She was struggling but she was getting there.

As she was about to fall sleep on her old bedroom in her grandmother’s house, she began to remember the events that had led her to be sleeping over with her grandmother.

----- flashback-----

She was finally off from her Friday classes when she got a sudden phone call from a number she wasn’t used to see in her phone:

Dad.

She picked up the phone and had to ask her father to say again his words:

“Soo Yun-ah, your grandfather just have a heart attack, they are taking it to Gangnam Hospital, for the time being they have asked us to remain calm, I will let you know any further news”

Soo Yun hold still and almost fall down on the floor if it wasn’t for one of her classmates holding her by the waist and helping her get to one of the couches in the chemistry faculty.

“Yunnie, what’s wrong? What happened?” Eun Bi, her classmate, began asking her, but Soo Yun didn’t seem to react to her words.

After a few minutes a familiar face showed up and made way across the small group of girls that where surrounding Soo Yun.

“Noona, Soo Yun noona, what’s wrong? Eun Bi-sshi just ran to get me, whats wrong?”
“Seungri-ah, haraboji…. He had a heart attack again” Soo Yun finally spoke up and saw a rain cover maknae in front of her “Seungri why are you here?”

“Yunnie, I call him over, I remembered he told me he was going to be in the music faculty and thank God he hadn’t left yet, I call him as soon as you stop reacting” the petit Eun Bi began explaining.

Eun Bi had became the newest addition to their group of friends, she was one of Soo Yun classmates, who was double majoring in Nutrition and Dancing, and who had a “some” relationship with Seungri for the past 3 months.  She had become really close with Soo Yun ever since they had met and she had become a true friend to Yun in a world where male friendships took over her life almost entirely.

“Thanks… “ was all that Soo Yun managed to say.

“Unnie, I brought my car, do you want me to drive you home?” Eun Bi offered and before that Yun could agreed, Seungri was already picking all of the girls stuff up and making his way to the car.

After that phone call, Yun had the chance to go visit his grandparent on Monday, since the visiting hours to the coronary ICU where restricted and her family was so big, they only had a small chance to visit.

She remembered walking into the hall where his grandfather was and when she saw him, something in her heart told her that was going to be the last time she was going to see him smiling at her like that.

Her grandfather wasn’t the picture perfect father for any of his kids, he had never being there with them and was mostly Soo Yun grandmother the one that had provided for her children and make them study, but her haraboji had repented greatly and had become into an amazing grandfather for all his grandchildren, Soo Yun being the one with the greatest benefit for having being raised in the paternal house.

She smiled to her grandfather and he smiled widely seeing her walking to him, grabbing her hands into his and small chatting like they used to when she was still living with him.

The time flew by too fast and soon the nursed asked her to leave the room, she planted a big kiss on her grandfather forehead and promised to come again on Saturday.

------end of flashback-----

Now it was Thursday night and since they didn’t want to leave her grandmother alone, her cousins had began taking turns sleeping over with her. She look at the walls of what it used to be her room and everything felt so strange, just in how 9 months everything had changed so much.

The phone rang across the house and Soo Yun rushed to pick it up, but when she got it, none was on the other line. She look at her phone clock, 4am and a sudden chill ran down her spine. Something was completely off, she could sense it, that something inside of her was struggling to tell her something bad had just happened.

She remained awake for as long as she could, but finally the accumulated tireness of her classes made her crash on the bed again.

It was around 6am on Friday when her aunt walk into her bedroom and slightly woke her up.

“Sweety, please wake up” she said with her voice about to broke.

“Gomo, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me?” Soo Yun said fighting against the fog of sleepiness in her head.

“Ne, we got a call from the hospital, your haraboji had another attack at 3am and water entered his lungs, the doctors say is now just a matter of hours, so please get dressed as quickly as you can and don’t say anything, we only told your halmeoni that he got a bit worst, but not to which point “

Soo Yun nodded and quickly got dressed, she put on a green tshirt, a pair of jeans and put her hair up in a ponytail, she didn’t bother with makeup of breakfast, she grabbed her phone and the small purse she kept her documents and enter his uncle’s car.

She made the ride to the hospital, praying, praying with all her might to be prepared to see whatever it could be waiting for her. They got to the front desk and as soon they said her grandfathers name, they allow them in.

Her halmeoni grab strongly onto her arm and she knew that she was also struggling to be strong. That’s the woman that her grandmother had showed her to be, strong even in the hardest moments.

When they got in front of the room, Soo Yun could see many of her uncles and some of her cousins, all with severe eye bags and they made their way so she could enter with her halmeoni to the bedroom.

Nothing in 1000 years could prepared Soo Yun to the sight she was having in front of her, the haraboji that was smiling to her just a few days ago, was now connected to an oxygen mask and was visible having a hard time to simply grasp each breath of air into his lungs. Her grandmother walked and took one of her husband’s hands and began whispering into his ears, Soo Yun took the other hand and simply it with her thumb, but the hand she was holding was slowly loosing the warm that had always accompany it.

Soo Yun’s dad got inside and asked her to go outside to give other family members chance to say goodbye.

That’s when she remembered her cousins, the ones that she knew none will have told them about it and call them, to get their asses as soon as possible to the hospital.

The next phone call was to her mom, she needed her omma right now. Her mom promised to get ready and get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Her Dad took Soo Yun and a couple of her closest cousins to try to eat something for breakfast around 8am, but Soo Yun took this opportunity to try to reach out for someone to bring her comfort.

She opened up her phone and texted him

To Bingu Oppa:
Oppa, can you call me? Is my grandfather… he, I don’t think he is going to make it

After a few minutes a phone call reach her, she picked up and heard his deep voice.

“Yun, gwenchana?” Seung Hyun said on the other side of the line.

“Hanging in there”

“What do the doctors said?”

“To say goodbye” she said and finally she felt like the lump of tears she was fighting back was pushing her way out.

“Jongmal mianhaeyo Yun, really”

“Gomawo… could you tell the other guys. As soon as I have other news I will let you know” she said clearing up her voice, pushing down the sob that was eager to escape from while listening to her father calling her to hurry up.

“Of course, I let them know asap” he said and hang up the phone.

Soo Yun walked back into the room and saw more family members had gathered, she managed to get inside the room once again and grab into his grandfathers hand, raise it to her lips and planted a soft kiss on his hand and let it go.

She walked out of the room and was about to pick up a phone call from her mom, when she saw her dad crying making her way to her and catching her in his arms. “He is gone, he is gone”

They hold each other in a tight embrace like they haven’t in almost a year and cried their eyes out. It was like if another terrible thing had pushed them together, to defy the first one that pushed them apart.

She saw her mom walking into the corridor and walked to her to be hold in her mom’s arms, like the little lost child she was feeling now. Her mom hold her in her arms and she finally broke down in sobs, he was gone… her grandfather was gone.

One by one, her family members began to scattered, making the preparations for the wake and burial. Her mom took her to their apartment and forced her to take a shower and got her a suitcase ready, she knew even if Soo Yun hadn’t told her anything that she was going to stay in her grandmother house for the following days.

As she was making her way home ridding a taxi, she called Eun Bi asking her to talk with their professor, about her being absent that day. Eun Bi promised to do as she was asked to and to go later to the wake to pay her respects.

When Soo Yun came back to her grandmother’s house, everyone was everywhere but none seem to find what to do. So she had to take charge, she send her grandmother to rest in her room and made her way to his grandfather room to pick the last suit he will ever wear.