When Thai transfer student Lalisa Manoban enrolls at her new Korean academy, she expects a hopeful fresh start away from the sadness she left behind. But when Lisa meets the popular and charming Jennie Kim, everything changes.
Minute by minute. Hou...
"Nini, I'm not sure about this? Maybe we should just reschedule?"
It was still early in the evening as I sat on the wall looking across the street at the hospital. It was a fear I'd developed, trepidation and anxiety soared through me. I hummed along to one of my favourite Red Velvet songs, a distraction to calm my nerves as Jennie tried to tell me jokes to lighten the mood.
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After gathering the courage, I stood up and Jennie took my hand in hers. We walked across the street, through the entrance instantly greeted by the plain walls and a strong smell of disinfectant. I'd been unwell for a few weeks and after some persuasion Jennie suggested I needed to visit the doctor to check everything was okay.
"Lisa, it'll be okay. Don't panic, it's just a check up." She held my hand tightly as we waited and filled out the paperwork.
"That's what my dad said." I mumbled sadly.
"Hey, look at me." Jennie cupped my cheeks with her hands to stare into her eyes. So warm, so calming and reassuring. "I'll be there with you, okay?"
Nervously, I nodded my head as my name was suddenly called. We wandered along the corridor to the doctor's office who happened to be a close family friend of Jennie's father.
"Good afternoon Ms. Manoban, I'm Dr. Kwon. It's nice to see you again Ms. Kim. How can I help you today?"
"Lisa's been feeling really under the weather and we're just a bit concerned."
"Okay, can you tell me about your symptoms Ms. Manoban?" The doctor asked as I sat nervously on a small bed lined with blue plastic.
Playing with my hands, I looked towards Jennie who smiled warmly as I took a deep breath. "Well I've been throwing up a lot in the morning and I keep getting really tired and losing my appetite. I thought it might have been something I ate but it's been like this for a month now."
It was fair to say the past few weeks had been anything but easy. Generally, I had a pretty good immune system and the thought of visiting the doctor worried me but Jennie had made the appointment stating it was for the best and, as usual, I took her advice.
"Hmm... okay, I'm going to run some tests and hopefully we should have the results pretty quick." I nodded my head as the doctor began his examination. The process seemed endless as the checks and samples continued.
It seemed to be never-ending as I began to feel nauseous all over again until finally after what felt like a life time he took the final sample. He exited the room for some time before eventually getting back the impending results and had in his hand a file with my name on. I made my way back to the desk and sat beside Jennie who immediately held my hand as she listened attentively the awaited news.
