You had to wait for your mother to return before you could leave the house. Someone had to look after the children. Your mother didn’t return until midday on the Saturday, and all the time Gikwang was right next to you.

As soon as your mother entered the apartment you and Gikwang ran out the door and made your way to the hospital. Gikwang caught a cab and you both urged the driver to drive as fast as possible. Gikwang paid the driver and for the first time in your life you didn’t you didn’t protest against the generosity. You just waited impatiently the few seconds it took Gikwang to pull up his wallet and almost throwing the money at the driver before running inside the hospital. You told Taeyeon’s name in the reception and got the floor and the number of the room Taeyeon where was located. Gikwang bowed and thanked the receptionist while you ran off towards the elevators, pushing the “here” button a hundred timed.

You burst out of the elevator, glanced at a sign and hurried of to Taeyeon’s room with Gikwang right behind you. It wasn’t far. You put both hands on the handle and jerked the door open. You made a sudden stop making Gikwang bump into you from behind. You stumbled a few steps forward before Gikwang grabbed your shoulders and helped you regain your balance.

Taeyeon and Yoseob turned their heads in your direction.

“What’s with the noise hyung? It would’ve been enough if you had just knocked.” Yoseob smiled widely. “Annyeong noona.” You stared at him dumbfounded. This wasn’t what you had expected. You had pictured Taeyeon lifeless and pale, lying all alone in her bed. Instead, here she was; sitting up and talking to Yoseob, and is she smiling? All the worry seemed to slowly disappear from your body, getting replaced by relief.

“Yoseob, has she gotten enough rest?” Gikwang asked. He didn’t seem as surprised to see him here. “You’re not troubling her, right?”

“I don’t think Taeyeon have had enough rest for quite a while, but she would still let me know if I was a pain. She’s strong.” Yoseob turned to Taeyeon with a smile. “Aren’t you?”

“I am,” Taeyeon nodded and returned the smile. You got touched by the tender atmosphere, a small whimper crossed your lips and you ran up to your sister and embraced her. You squeezed her tightly against your chest and buried your face in her hair.

“~~~~~ noona. ~~~~~! You’re suffocating her.” Yoseob removed your arms from Taeyeon’s body. Taeyeon inhaled deeply.

“Sorry,” you mumbled. Gikwang walked up to the bed and put a hand on Yoseob’s shoulder.

“Come on, let’s give them a moment alone,” he said. Yoseob got up with a reluctant face. Gikwang half dragged him to the door while Yoseob was walking with his back facing the door and looking at Taeyeon.

“I’ll be right back, okay Taeyeon-ah? She won’t eat you alive, right? I’ll be right outside if you need me, I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t hmpf…” Gikwang put a hand over Yoseob’s mouth, dragged him out of the room and closed the door after them.

“So, what did the doctors say?” you asked cautiously.

“They say I fainted from exhaustion…” she said. “… and under nourishment.” You almost felt like throwing up when you heard that and the worry that had just left you streamed right back into your veins.

“Exhaustion I can understand, but under nourishment? Taeyeon-ah, it’s important to eat!”

“Yeah, I kind of know that.”

“This is not a time to try and be funny,” you said angrily. You calmed down, smoothed your face and looked Taeyeon straight in the eyes with a serious expression. “Taeyeon-ah… have you been starving yourself?”

“What!? NO! Of course not!” Taeyeon exclaimed with a shocked face. You sighed, with just the slightest feeling of relief.

“Then how come you’ve lost so much weight?”

“First of all, I know you do this too so don’t scold me and don’t even try and deny it, I skip meals in order to save money. Second, I’m not as privileged as you are to be able to eat for free at work. I don’t have time to eat.”

“God damn it Taeyeon, you can’t just not eat. You’ll have to eat at night when you come home from work. Tell omma to save you some.”
”When I come home at night I don’t have the energy to do anything. I can barely make my way to the bedroom sometimes.” Taeyeon looked down at her hands, “The doctors say that I have to calm things down for a while and regain some weight before I can do anything. I’m not allowed to work…” She glanced at you.

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll make it for a few weeks on my pay.”

“I’m sorry,” Taeyeon whispered.

“Don’t be.” You stood up. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to make a few phone calls.” You walked towards the door.

“Could you please ask Yoseob if he can come back in?” Taeyeon asked in a weak voice. You glanced at her. When did they become so close?

“Sure.”