3:56 [p.j.m.]

051

monday july twenty-third
4:17 am

yeong ja
I stood outside the door that separated me from Ji Min and his brother. Eyes watering, vision blurred, knees wobbly, I knocked thrice before entering the room. Immediately, my eyes swept the scene in an attempt to comprehend exactly what laid before me. Ji Min was hooked up to so many unidentifiable machines. Steady beeping resonated throughout the otherwise silent room, and some device was attached that sounded like it was helping him breathe.

I nearly sank to my knees as I thought of the possibilities of things that would've put him in such a fragile state. Ji Min always seemed so strong, as though nothing in the world could bother him. Obviously something bothered him.

As I stumbled forward, I noticed a nurse sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, checking over a clipboard. A boy of my age or so sat in another chair next to his bed, grasping onto Ji Min's hand as though he would float away if he let go. His head was cast downward, hair hanging in front of his face. Must be Ji Min's younger brother. He sounded so calm over the phone, but he's got to be so worried about his brother. A woman sat on a bed right next to the window, staring out into the city. A bag of what must have been her belongings laid next to her. His mother. She probably brought Ji Min's younger brother all the way up from Busan when they heard about him.

"Pardon me," I said softly, trying to push past the break in my voice. The younger boy's head immediately shot up and he locked eyes with me. Reddened skin around his eyes and a glazed over look to the irises told me he had been crying, possibly for hours on end. "I'm Seo Yeong Ja. You called me?"

"Yeah. Hi, I'm Park Ji Hyun. I'm really glad you're here. I mean, I-I don't really know you personally, but my hyung has said some amazing things about you, so I'm glad you're here to just support him and us, and-and well... Thank you," he blubbered, voice raspy from what I assumed to be crying.

Ignoring my aching heart, I opened my arms to the crying kid and gestured for him to hug me. He wrapped his arms around my neck tightly. "I know how much you care about my brother and how much he cares about you, and I think you'll be really good for him. Take care of him, yeah?" I nodded and hugged him back just as tightly.

We stood like that for a few minutes before he let me go to introduce me to their mother. "Hello, I'm Seo Yeong Ja. I go to school with your son."

"I don't approve of you artist kids. You better not get too attached to my boy, because he's already struggling by himself. He doesn't need some girl to tie him down and make him even more emotionally fragile than he already is. Sure, you can be friends. But be careful of your feelings, because I'll cut them off faster than you can ever imagine."

•unedited