You are an idiot. I am a genius. It’s just made that way. We can’t be friends.

* * *

---

She woke to the pandemonium down the hall. The hospital had never been so noisy before. Soeun pushed herself up from her sleeping position hoping to get a glimpse of what’s happening.

 

“Jaerim! Please stop running. You are disturbing the other patients.” A nurse’s loud voice echoed by. Another unpleasant comments soon followed.

 

“He is so messy.”

 

“Why do we need to take care a mental illness patient on this floor! Ugh.”

 

“Call the doctor to give him some medicine.”

 

Soeun looked at the airplane remote resting quietly on her nightstand. Maybe he was looking for this.

 

“Stop running!” Another voice shouted.

 

Soeun took a few deep breath to control her anger. What do they know about him. She reached for a wheelchair near the side of her bed. Someone must have accidentally moved it last night. It was hard for her to reach it, but she never wanted to ask for help. It only makes her look weak.

 

She stretched her arm for the handle. Her other hand pushed against the side of the hospital bed. A soft tick sound released from the bed. Her body fell sideways, and her legs followed. With her hand, she was able to find balance for her upper body.

 

When she looked up, she saw her feet bend backward and stuck on the bed.  There was a huge scratch across her leg. It was just skin wound, but blood quickly flooded the area. Within a few second, it stream down her thigh. It happened again. Just like before, she failed every time and this time she doesn’t want to call for help.

 

To remove herself from an awkward situation, she turned herself around and lay her back on the ground. Struggling, she attempted to lift her useless leg for the hook on the bed.

 

“Hey.  Haha! Found you!” The male’s voice traveled into the room.

 

She lifted her head and her eyes met with Jaerim. His expression went from excitement to confusion.

 

“Oh my god.” A nurse quickly stepped in behind him. Soeun sighed and looked away. She hate feeling so weak.

 

The nurse looped her arms under Soeun’s and lifted her up. With a few clumsy steps, she sat on the wheel chair. She had never seen this nurse before. She had a head of long black hair and her straight front bangs framed her tiny face. She must be a new nurse. Soeun glanced at her name tag: Kim Taeyeon. The nurse didn’t ask any question or smiled. She simply look at Soeun in the eye and said, “Looks like you need a few stitches. I will get the doctor.”

 

“What’s the point! I can’t feel it anyways.” Soeun responded.

 

Taeyeon stood up and ignored her comment. She turned towards Jaerim and commanded, “ Stay here. The other nurse will talk about you again if you keep running around.”

 

Jaerim nodded obediently as Taeyeon exist the room.

 

“Did you had a bad dream?” Jaerim asked innocently.

 

“No.” Soeun answered, “What made you think that?”

 

“Jaerim always fell of the bed, when there is a bad dream.”

 

Soeun sighed at his ignorance, “I can’t walk. That’s why I fell off the bed.”

 

“But you have legs.”

 

“Don’t asked!” Soeun shouted. Jaerim flinched at the volume of her vocal. She clenched her teeth and her voice softened, “Just don’t ask.”

 

“Okay.” The boy responded and blinked his eyes quietly. Soeun took another good look at him and finally notice the toy model in his hand.

 

“What are you doing here?” She broke the silence.

 

The boy raised his eyebrows and quickly remembered about his forgotten airplane. “You promised Jaerim to fix it together.”

 

“Not today.” She replied. The smile on the boy’s face slowly disappeared.

 

“Okay.” He muttered with a pout. “Can Jaerim stay here?” Soeun watched him as he sat on the cold floor. His two brown toned legs folded together. The toy airplane in his hand slipped on to the floor, and pieces spreaded around him. The strand of black waved hair slipped from his right ear, and he attempted to clear his vision by pushing his long hair to the side. His every action is strange like a child, but at the same time comforting. At least, he can be straightforward.

 

“It should be fine now. Ask for help when need it.” The doctor smiled and left the room for his next patient.

 

 

“Are you feeling ok now?” Taeyeon finished the white bandage around Soeun’s leg.

 

“How come I have never seen you before?” Soeun avoided direct eye contact and changed the topic.  

 

“I am Jaerim’s personal nurse.” She replied. “His family hired me.” Jaerim lifted his head over heard their conversation. She can see it through his eyes. He is always alone too.

 

“Jaerim. Let’s go.” Taeyeon tidy up the leftover bandage and called Jaerim like a mother.

 

The boy eyed Soeun and started to pick up the airplane pieces from the ground. His expression can be easily read as “I-want-to-stay”. Just like the face kids made when after their mother pick them up from a friend’s house.

 

“Maybe...” Soeun coughed the words.

 

Taeyeon spinned around with a surprised face, as if she had been anticipating a statement a long time ago.

 

“Maybe, he can stay here till hospital lunch is served.” Soeun stole a look from Jaerim who has an ineffable smile pasted on his face.

 

Taeyeon lifted an unbelievable smile on her face and nodded in amazement. Everyone in the hospital had been treating Jaerim like a severe mental patient, so for her to heard those words is utterly unexpected.

 

“Jaerim has a friend now!” The boy shouted into the air. He stood up and jumped and thrown his hand into the air for celebration.

 

“Don’t get too excited. I just want to keep my promise.” Soeun warned with a stoned face.

 

He brought the airplane to her bed as she zoomed her wheelchair closer. His large hands transferred the broken pieces on the white bed sheet. Then he kneeled by the bed with his chin set on the bed.

 

Soeun picked up the pieces and examined the plane closely. His eyes pierced at her with hope.

 

“Looks like is just a broken wing and some decoration that fell off.” Soeun diagnosed and the boy nodded with trust. She extended her arm and pulled the wood draw next to her. Lips naturally folded inward as she searched into the mysterious dark space. Her hand fished out a thin glue stick that loudly printed SUPERGLUE.

 

The boy watched as the girl performed her rescuing surgery on the toy airplane. It took around two minutes. The wing was back with its body.

 

She set the airplane aside as Jaerim reached for it. “It take about one day to dry, so before that don’t touch it.”

 

Disappointment spilled out from his expressions, and he sat there staring at the airplane impatiently. She reached the comic book under her pillow and rolled herself towards the window.

 

“I kept my promise, but I think you should find a new friend.”

 

Her finger searched through the thick comic book.

 

“Why?” The boy asked.

 

Soeun noticed his bare feet once again. “You are an idiot. I am a genius. It’s just made that way. We can’t be friends.”

 

The boy went silence for a while seems to be struggling to grasp the meaning of her answer. Jaerim sat back down and curl up into a ball next to her bed stand waiting for his airplane to dry. Strangely, his existence brings her comfort. She turned back to her book and skim through the colorful images. For the first time, she was able to engage into the comic book. Both of them were quiet for at least half an hour. The smoothing wind is the relaxing melody. When she scanned up from her book, she watched the handsome man sleep soundlessly by the bed. His head rest slightly against the edge of her bed, and his back rest against the drawers. The wind gently brushed his long wavy hair. Both of his hands relaxed calmly beside him. One of his leg arched up and the other lied comfortably flat against the floor. Like a piece of art, the sunlight shined into the room and casted an even brighter light on him. It’s awe that people still haven’t notice his handsome potentials.

 

Unaware of his attraction, her eyes were glued against his charming face. The living portrait suddenly broken by the sound of the door. His strong eyebrows furrowed and his face muscle tensed once again. When he lifted his eyelid, her brown eyes turned away towards the door.

 

“Soeun.” Her father’s trembling voice entered the room. His thin hand shutted the door behind him. When he finally notice Jaerim, she watched her father’s expression changed from surprise to shock then to fear. His eyes locked on Jaerim as if a prey saw its predator.

 

“He is one of patient. I was helping him to fix the toy model.” Soeun set her book on her lap and rolled wheelchair away from the window. The wind had stopped, and the room became stiff and humid again.

“He need to get out of this room.” Her father commanded with a fearful voice. “Where is his nurse!” The old man thrown his jacket on the ground and grabbed Jaerim by the collar. She watched her father dragged Jaerim by the collar. The poor boy choked by the old man’s strength. His teary eyes locked with Soeun.

 

“What are you doing!” Soeun wrapped both of her hand on her father’s wrist.

 

Her father roared like a tiger, “He is your biggest NIGHTMARE!”, and pushed her hands off.

 

“Let him go!” Soeun shouted.

 

The boy went along with the man’s strength. He cried in fear and face clenched in struggle. Soeun fell towards the ground and can only watched her father dragged Jaerim out the door. The shut of the door left her all alone in the empty room. She heard the nurses and staffs outside discussing with her father about Jaerim.

 

She doesn’t have any special attachment with Jaerim, and matter of fact, she doesn’t even want to know anything about Jaerim. She just needed a...

 

friend.

 

After a few minutes of struggling, she managed to get back up on the wheelchair. Her father walked back in with a heavy breath. His expression went from annoy and tiring to a smile. The dark circles under his eyes stretched a deeper mark on his skin.

 

“I should have came early.” He muttered under a tense smile. Soeun turned her chair away and brushed the book with her sleeves. She heard the sound of her father throwing the toy model into the garbage can. His father cleared his throat and searched for a box of cutted fruits from a plastic bag.

 

“Soeun. Do you want some fruit?”

 

“Why did you do that?” Soeun asked calmly.

 

“I heard aunt came by yesterday. You didn’t tell me that.” The father opened the box of fruits.

 

“What nightmare?”

 

“Here try some fruit.” Her father handed a piece of apple on top of a toothpick towards her.

 

“I hate this place.”

 

Her father sigh heavily and thrown the apple back into the box. He took a few second to reorganize his anger. It did take long he sat on that green chair once again. He putted a smile back on his face as if is a mask. With a very patient tone, he explained to his daughter once again.

 

“Your mother and I are working very hard.” He kept his tired brown eyes locked with Soeun’s. “All you have to do is walk again. Then you can go back to school and live your life.”

 

“You should have let me died that day.” She copied and pasted her aunt’s conversation word for word.

 

Before she can react, a slap went across her face. She fell the itching pain slowly crease from the right ear. Her mother was standing right in front her with her hand clenched and eyes burned.

 

“Who told you that!” Her mother screamed for the very first time. “How dare you... after all I have...” She couldn’t finish her sentences and stormed out the room. Soeun watched as her father ran after the woman.

 

Alone once again.

 

Alone.

* * *
 

Her parent never came back. The sun slowly lost its light, and darkness creep into the room. Her hospital room has an green old chair, a plain wooden drawer, a black garbage can, a white single bed, a cripple's chair and a her. She stared at the white ceiling and waited to fall into dreamland. She couldn’t sleep.

 

“Friend.” She heard a light whisper by the door.

 

The door slide open carefully. Jaerim tiptoed into her room. His face held a bright smile even before he stepped in. He walked towards her bed in bare feet again.

 

“Go away. Don’t come back again. You are not my friend.” Soeun turned her head away from him.

 

“Jaerim is sorry.” The boy said. “I promise not to get that man angry again.” He leaves his pinky in the air waiting for Soeun to respond.

 

There was a long silence. “It’s not your fault.” She grabbed the pinky with hers and shake it a few time before letting go. The boy’s innocent smile calm the whole room again. His eyes lighted up with happiness.

 

“Now go back, because they came to check on us.” Soeun shutted her eyes close.

 

“Jaerim have a secret.” The boy shook her shoulder.

 

She hissed to warn him not to touch her and gave him a side stare. “What it is?” She asked shamelessly.
 

“The sky grows flower at night.” The boy replied.

 

“What!”

* * *
 

She rolled the wheelchair after his jumpy steps and enter the back garden of the hospital. Her wheelchair stopped by the short stair. Jaerim skipped down the three easy steps. This is the challenge she faces every time she go out her own room. It must be nice to be able to walk down without help, but what is the point. She is can’t feel her legs.

 

“Come on.” Jaerim spinned back towards her. She stared at the three blocks of cement, then gave Jaerim a look. It was too much for her to expect him to understand what’s happening.

 

“You! Come here.” She commanded.

 

Jaerim till his head and walked towards her in bewilderment. She ordered him to turn around and squat down. She wrapped her hands around his neck, which surprised the young boy.

 

“If you dare to drop me, I will never talk to you again.” She authorized. The boy shook his head violently which cause his ponytail to slash against Soeun’s face. She twisted her lips and clicked her teeth and held his head still. The young boy carefully stood up and as he was instructed he created two hooks by the side with his hands for Soeun’s legs.

 

“Friend. You are heavy.” Jaerim commented as they travel into the garden. Soeun threaten him once more with ungraceful words, but he didn’t remember for long.

 

The sound of the “flower” zoom through the sky and bursted into stars. The darkness suddenly light by the two second shine in the sky. Everytime before another one bloomed a high pitch noise echoed loudly into their ears.

 

“Flowers!” The boy flashed a wide smile and followed by a few unstable jump.

 

“They are called firework. You idiot.”  Soeun couldn’t take her glowing eyes off the magic. She smiled with her heart for the first time. It’s beautiful. There are something more out there she haven’t experienced yet.

“I will be your friend.” She muttered under the loud bloom. The boy probably couldn’t heard her. His eyes were glued to the firework the whole time.