Withered (Michaeng) ✔️

Chapter 56: Our Baby

"W-wait, Hyung! Mina noona didn't want this! You heard her don't you?" Tzuyu exclaims, staring straight at his brother who's wordlessly eyeing the trolley that passes by them.

Chaeyoung pulls his eyes from the highly polished linoleum floor to catch a glimpse of the surgery room then turns to his younger brother. He feels so suffocated, so heavy as if the weight of the world is resting on his shoulder and there's nothing he could do about it but let the weight slowly crushes him. He knows what he has sacrificed and how the hole in his heart is the shape of the one he has lost that makes he feel the need to wipe away any non-existent tears that he wants to form but can't. And so there he is, sitting with his legs buckled, bleary-eyed and wet traces on his cheeks.

"Hyung" Tzuyu calls out, sitting next to Chaeyoung. The moment he sees his brother's hollow eyes, his heart breaks. He sighs and pulls Chaeyoung's limp body into a hug. They had been in this exact situation before and he couldn't possibly imagine everything Chaeyoung has gone through. His brother was the one who found their mother lying on the ground, breathless then telephoned the ambulance. Soon enough, Tzuyu returned from playing with his friends, too little to understand and only followed Chaeyoung boarding the ambulance. Before his father could arrive from work to the hospital, his mother slipped away to heaven.

Table death. She left them while she was under surgery while the two boys waiting outside, hoping to see their mother's smile again. At that time, it was Chaeyoung who had his arms wrapped around his little brother to assure him but now in the present, Tzuyu wonder how his brother has changed from someone who's bright to a man with despair.

Tzuyu tightens his hug when he feels his brother isn't responding, he seems lost and dead. He tries to lift his brother's body and slowly tap his shoulder. "Hyung, please. You worried me." His voice cracks as he grips Chaeyoung's arms and breaks the hug. Gazing into his brother's eyes, he says,

"Be strong and do not weep. Thinks of all the good time and be happy. I'll be watching over you keeping you out of harms. I've loved you all so dearly."

Chaeyoung raises his head, that words had soothed his ears that day. He still can hear it, playing inside his head.

"Mom's last words to us. We shouldn't disappoint her. Be strong Hyung. Everything will be fine. Your little brother promised" Tzuyu smiles and guide Chaeyoung's head and lay it on his shoulder. Rubbing his brother's back, he stares at the landscape of the operating theatres.

*  *  *  *

The walls have white wallpaper with a flower design pressed in it. On three of the walls hangs pictures of what seems to be endless fields of wildflowers. She has gained her consciousness and lay there quietly
She keeps her eyes closed, matching her breaths to the beeping of the machines that surrounded the bed, the only indications of her heartbeat, her existence. She can't feel her legs, the numbness has swollen her entire body. Curiosity slowly pried open her swollen eyes to meet a dismal view of a magnolia coloured room, the door is a navy blue.

She could still smell the plastic from the tubes that are in her nose and throat. She looks around, next to her bed stands a one-drawer nightstand and on top is a pink pitcher and cup filled with water and crushed ice. Judging by the IV she's hooked up to, she supposes she's in a hospital.

No one is inside the room. Realization comes hitting her mind as she quickly brings her hand and caresses her bump. It turns to a fist, gripping the patient's gown when she only feels her flat stomach. Before she calls for a name in desperation to know what had happened, the door opens revealing her sisters. For a moment, they stay glued at the frame door. It's the look they give her that disturbing enough. A look of sorrow, pity.