The Stockholm Syndrome

Through Time...

With a large bouquet covering the face and holding a basket of fruits in other hand, a man entered the hospital room pouring his lively aura with his quick steps. On sensing the presence of someone, Sohyun and Yeri who had been living the past hour in silence, looked up to see that person.

"Yellow flowers?", Sohyun murmured wondering the identity of the person. And the stance of the person pacing towards her, gave away his identity. "Kwak Dongyeon oppa?"

"Sohyun-ah!", the cheerful voice sounded behind the bouquet. Getting the bouquet away from his face, he eyes looked at the two women who were rather taken aback by his presence. "Oh, Yeri-sshi! You are here too!", he said placing the fruits basket on the table beside her bed.

"Am I visible to you only now?", Yeri responded.

On seeing the empty vase among the bouquets, he unwrapped the flowers he brought and arranged it in the vase.

"All those flowers...", Sohyun asked.

"Ah, this one?", he said, "I found this bouquet in front of your room... may be from your fans? Beautiful and big, isn't it? It's a pity to leave it like that, so I brought it here!"

"You didn't buy it?"

"I bought fruits for you! I didn't come empty handed!", he defended himself, "I more than willing to spend my money on you!"

As Sohyun chuckled at his response, Yeri felt relieved on seeing her witnessing her mood brighten.

Taking his seat on the edge of the bed beside Sohyun, he looked into Sohyun's eyes. Her eyes that bore a tinge of red hue and her lashes which were clubbed together with her tears, sold out her state. "Were you crying?", he asked softly but his tone told her, he was serious about his question.

She hung her head in silence.

"Is that a no or yes?", he insisted.

"I wasn't-", she started.

He interrupted her with his stern question, "Then, were those tears of joy?"

Yeri interrupted, "Why are rubbing the salt in her wound?"

"I was asking her...", he told her off without taking his eyes off Sohyun.

Sohyun's lips were tightly sealed.

"I was pondering over someone who parted...", he reminded Taehyung's rumor but continued his sentence as if he was referring himself, "Pondering over someone who parted me, is like seeing myself in despair, in sorrow... aren't I a fool?" His eyes fell on the phone beside her pillow, and he remarked, "I waited for a call, a text or even a glance from that person... waited, holding the phone in my hand, never let it away, it stayed by my pillow when I slept... I slept carefully to not silence the phone under me or the pillow and always conscious of the sounds from the phone... I waited... straining, struggling, swallowing every painful knot in my throat... I just waited, never got redemption... my life drenched in sorrow...", he paused and asked her, "How are you feeling?"

'The same', her mind replied which her lips dammed up.

"I was rejected... so that was expected of me... what about you?", he asked.

Yeri realized where he is getting at and raised her voice in anger, "What are you hinting at?"

Not minding her words, he continued his one-way conversation with Sohyun, "Our photo in the articles wasn't tempered with... so is his'!"

"You-", Yeri's call never reached his ears and he continued cutting in, "Ours was real, so is his photo...", his words clearly affected her as her eyes wandered the air. "How about the content in it?", he asked. Only at his last question, her eyes met with his. But words never slipped her lips. "I came here to confirm the truth... I asked Bogum, but he even feigned ignorance of Taehyung's relationship with you! That sly loyal person never uttered a word! So, I came to you... any news?"