Call the Doctor!

5. New invisible friends

Finished having breakfast together, Minhee had to follow Luhan and Jihyun to their apartment. Guess why? Well, the reason was only because Luhan insisted on taking Minhee to the hospital with him. He said that, at least giving her a ride was what he could do as a part of his gratitude for taking care of Jihyun and allowing him to stay for a night. It was not like Minhee could reject Luhan’s offer anyway. She indeed wanted to erase whatever feeling she had for him, but she just could not get away from him that easily. He was a kind man, and it’s hard to say no to him. Not to mention to hurt his feeling by rejecting his act of kindness. Final. That was hard.

There, in Luhan’s apartment, Minhee had to wait for some minutes giving Luhan and Jihyun a space to prepare themselves for the day. During that time, Minhee got the chance to look around the living room where she saw many photographs hanging on the wall. However, something was quite odd. All pictures only had Luhan and Jihyun on it. There was hardly that certain someone in any one of them. Well, that certain someone referred to the mother of Jihyun. Minhee couldn’t see her in any photos. It troubled her a bit. Well, maybe a lot, to be honest.

“We’re ready, doctor Minnie!” Jihyun’s voice snapped Minhee out her thought. She awkwardly turned away from the photos to the two people standing on her left side.

“Oh! That’s good.” Minhee made a small smile, to which Luhan and Jihyun replied with the bright wide smile on their lips.

“Thanks for waiting, doc.” Luhan said, lowering his head slightly.

“No problem. Shall we get going?” Minhee replied nervously.

“Sure.”  

Before getting to the car for heading to the hospital, Luhan took Jihyun to the apartment next door where a woman in her fifties and her son lived. Luhan had been doing it for the past few days since there was no one taking care of Jihyun when he was working. It was such a great bless for meeting those kind people who love his precious little girl. Luhan was grateful for that.

“Good morning Mrs. Choi. I’m really sorry, but can you please take care of Jihyun again for today?” Luhan asked the woman who just opened her door and beamed at her.

“Yeah, it’s okay son. But, I’m afraid I can’t help you out tomorrow. I’m going to the countryside and have a new life there.” The woman said with hoarse voice. She managed to show a thin smile despite her tired eyes and expression.

“What’s wrong Mrs. Choi?”

“My son….” Mrs. Choi stopped couldn’t reply to Luhan’s question right away. She covered her mouth with her left hand and lowered her head. A silence afterwards was unbearable. Moreover, when some drops of tears streamed down Mrs. Choi’s cheek. Luhan, Minhee, and even Jihyun were feeling uneasy.

“My son didn’t make it. The fire had burnt him so badly. He couldn’t contain the pain anymore.” The woman resisted herself from sobbing even further end explained what happened.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs. Choi.” Luhan inhaled a deep breath and expressed his condolence.

“May he rest in peace.” Minhee muttered in a low voice.

“Grandma. Don’t cry. Jihyun will be with grandma.”

“Thank you sweetheart.” The woman took Jihyun in her arms and hugged her. Thankfully, Mrs. Choi’s sorrow seemed to be a little bit subsided because of Jihyun.

“Well, then Luhan. Jihyun will be fine with me today. No worries. You can go to work now.” She said with a better expression on her face.

“Um… wait a moment Mrs. Choi.” Minhee suddenly stopped Mrs. Choi from walking inside her apartment.