Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sun slowly rose from behind the horizon. The sky was painted in different hues of oranges and blues as if the work had been given to an indecisive painter, who changed the colour everytime the red ball of fire moved an inch further up. The birds began to wake up one by one and by the time the sun was fully in the sky, all of them were awake and chirping around.
But unfortunately, Seohyun was way too comfortable in the warmth of her bed to be able to witness the sunrise. Normally, her alarm would have gone off by 5 a.m., the time when she used to wake up early and study for her exams. But she had turned it off permanently on the day of her last exam. Now she relied on her body's natural sleep-wake cycle, which surprisingly woke her up around 7 a.m. each morning, except for the nights when she stayed up late with Haeyoon.
Today was no different save for the adrenaline rushing through her body at the thought of meeting someone. She was out of the bed and in the bathroom at lightning speed. Seohyun finished her morning routine and was in the kitchen by 7:30. She made some pancakes for herself and Haeyoon, who was still sleeping. She covered her plate and put a note beside it that she was leaving.
Seohyun wore a plain white, full-sleeved, oversized, t-shirt tucked in her straight black jeans. She hailed the bus from the bus station nearby, not wanting to disturb the patients with the noise of her motorbike, as she made her journey to the hospital.
On reaching the hospital, she greeted the lady behind the reception counter as she made her way to the fifth floor and through the hallways, almost as if it was in her muscle memory. She had been a regular visitor at the hospital for the past 17 years, ever after the Dojeon incident. She came there with Jaehyun when they were kids and later, all by herself. She knocked twice on the door of ward no. 502 before peeking her head inside noiselessly.
There she lay, her mother, Jung Soomin. Seohyun walked inside and sat on the chair beside the bed. She gently held her mother's warm hand that was by her side as she slept soundly. The nurse in the room had excused herself to give the mother-daughter some private time. She had been looking after Soomin since the day she was admitted there.
Soomin woke up by the sound of the door closing as the nurse left. She was surprised to see Seohyun by side. She instantly sat up straight in her bed but with a lot of effort and Seohyun's help. She then passed her a glass of water. Soomin was surely thrilled to meet her daughter after 4 whole months.
Seohyun hadn't had the time to visit her mother during exam season and this was the first time after her graduation. She softly embraced her mother as soon as she had sat upright. They spent a few minutes in silence before Seohyun spoke up.
"How have you been, Mom?"
Soomin had been in the hospital on the day after the Dojeon incident. The injury that had afflicted Soomin caused her permanent paralysis of the legs from below her waist. Her lungs had also become weak, restricting her to the bed till death.
