- Sunni PoV -
That lady. The lady with a long, flower embroidered cardigan, brown pants and slippers, and short grey hair with a brown knitted beanie... Her features just like mom...
I have a flashback to when mom showed me halmeoni's pictures, and the one picture I always carry in my wallet...
Am I hallucinating? Do I have the powers to see ghosts now?
But I look at Ms. Go and see she's just as shocked and frightened as I.
Yuni who doesn't have a clue what's going on since I never talk about halmeoni, and Jungwon who's surprised... but why?
"S-Sunniya.." Ms. Go taps me as she looks at the lady in shock. "I-Isn't t-that.."
"Halmeoni..." I quietly say.
I slowly make my way towards her. Maybe she could be a doppelganger or she had a long lost twin... but it seems impossible...
I'm hesitant to tap her shoulder, because even though I know how she looks like... she's never met me and probably doesn't have a picture of me. She might think I'm just some random girl.
I tap her shoulder.
I see her body freeze up before slowly turning around to face me.
I look at her face features. She's practically mom, but older. I almost gasp seeing the resemblance.
We stare at each other in silence.
Her eyes wander around my face.
I then... notice her eyes become glossy.
Suddenly, she pulls me into a hug.
Confused and scared, but mainly confused. I wonder why she popped up after all these years, and why she's not dead...
"My sweet sweet baby," She lets out as she strokes my hair.
She pulls away smiling at me dearly.
"I..I don't understand," I say with my eyebrows furrowed.
Halmeoni purses her lips, "I know... I'll explain..."
Her voice fades as Jungwon, Ms. Go, and Yuni approaches us.
"What's going on?" Questions Yuni.
"Daeun said you were dead," Ms. Go says with her face reading "scared."
"That's Ms. Go and her daughter Yuni. I've known them my whole life," I explain to halmeoni.
I then look at Jungwon who's been silent but I know he's just as confused as Ms. Go and Yuni.
I point to him. "That's Jungwon... my boyfriend and..." I pause and slightly smile. "Bestfriend."
Halmeoni then gives him this huge smile, "You have such a handsome boyfriend."
Suddenly the double doors of the ICU opens.
"Doctor!" Ms. Go exclaims.
He bows at us. "Ms. Kim Daeun is doing better but she's still unconscious, I will allow only one visitor."
"Sunni, her daughter," Yuni says to him as she slightly pushes me to the double doors.
"This way," the doctor gestures me over.
- Jungwon PoV -
"We're going to go buy some coffee would you like anything?" Ms. Go asks Sunni's halmeoni.
Halmeoni gets herself situated next to me as we sit on the hospital's sofas.
"Just a cup of coffee, no sugar," Halmeoni says with a smile.
Ms. Go nods and looks over at me, "Jungwon?"
"Java chip Frappuccino," I say.
Ms. Go gives me a thumbs up and leaves to the hospital's café with Yuni.
When I saw halmeoni first walk in and to see Ms. Go's and Sunni's reactions, I was shocked. Not only that she is, in fact, Sunni's grandma but also the fact she never said anything when she would see us on the bus.
To know that they thought she was dead is by far the most shocking factor...
"You probably have a ton of questions," Halmeoni says.
"Ye..." I quietly say. "How come you never said anything to Sunni on the bus?"
"My sweet baby girl was always sleeping," she says with a sigh. "Plus, I wanted to be invisible in their lives."
"Why?" I question.
"My Daeunnie never wanted to leave my side after my husband passed away. She dropped out of high school just to support me, so I thought... the only way she could move on with her life is if I wasn't present anymore," Halmeoni explains looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh how I ached every moment of not being with my daughter and my grandchild, so I just watched from a distance... seeing my daughter struggle just to put food on the table wasn't the ideal life I thought she'd have," Halmeoni continues.
I stare at her as her eyes start to water.
I wonder if bumping into her on the bus was just a mere coincidence.
She pats my leg as she lets out a chuckle, "Meeting you on the bus was coincidence." It's like she read my mind.
"I almost peed my pants when I saw my sweet girl," She laughs.
"I never would have thought," I say with an airy laugh.
"I don't know you son, but from the first day I met you, you looked quite skeptical of life... and from our recent encounter, I notice a spark in your eyes..."
I look at her with my eyebrows raised.
She looks at me with a smile, "I might've never been physically there for my baby girl, but I know how bright her light is, and you my dear, are looking straight at it.." she softly turns my head towards the double doors to the ICU where Sunni is walking out.
She slowly walks over at us, her eyes puffy, her nose red...
"I think I need to have a talk with my granddaughter, but I'm glad you took my advice."
- Sunni PoV -
As I'm walking back from the ICU, I see Jungwon and halmeoni sitting together.
I start to mentally prepare myself for the conversation that I'm going to have with her. I'm just overall confused and quite scared to be in her presence.
For sure mom is going to think she's dead the second she opens her eyes. She might lose it. If I was mom, I wouldn't know how to control my emotions.
Jungwon gets up a does a quick jog up to me.
"Hey, is everything alright?" He asks me softly with his eyes wandering around my face.
I sniffle, "Mm, they're preparing her for surgery. Apparently she was in a car accident..."
"You want something from the café? Ms. Go went to-"
"I'm good," I cut him off. "I need to talk with my grandma..." my voice fades as I look over at her.
I look back at Jungwon who has a worried expression on his face.
"Go home, it's getting late," I tell him as I give him a long hug. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," I say before pulling away.
I walk away from Jungwon to sit next to halmeoni.
She smiles at me warmly, but I can tell from her eyes she's as sad as I am.
She explains to me about how my mom dropped out to support my grandpa and her. She was against it completely, and after my grandpa passed away, my mom wouldn't leave no matter how much halmeoni pushed her to.
"I just didn't want her to be held down," Halmeoni says as we're both just staring at the ground.
She tells me how she burned the whole house down and hid, but she wanted to still see my mom's life unfold...
"I wish she still went back to school, but no one can stop love," halmeoni says looking at me.
I know exactly what she's talking about...
"I'm sure your dad would've been the best," Halmeoni says patting my leg.
My already puffy eyes start to develop more tears. I don't even want to think about it...
"As love can be such a beautiful thing, she shouldn't have let it blind herself.. instead he should've encouraged her dreams and vise versa," Halmeoni says with a faint sigh.
"That's why I'm glad to see you and Jungwon," she says making me finally looking her way.
"I didn't say this to him, but I can see a sadness in his eyes," she says.
She's right. His eyes always tells what he's actually feeling.
"I think you know what to do," she advises. "He needs help, and just like how he helped you, you should do the same."
*******
I sit against the wall of the ICU with my knees to my chest. We're only allowed two visits per patient a day. Ms. Go got one earlier and I got the second one, so once they allow another visitor, I'm going straight in.
I see a familiar pair of white Nikes approach me.
I look up to see Jungwon sipping his frap.
Didn't I tell him to go home??
He sits down next to me with our shoulders touching.
I look over at him with a glare.
"Ya..."
He looks at me with his big eyes.
"Mm?" He then stops drinking his frap and hands it to me. "Want some? It's Java chip."
I take it and start sipping on it even though I'm annoyed at him. I don't want him here especially when we have school tomorrow. Well, he does. I'm not going.
I stop sipping. "I told you to go home," I say looking at him.
He shrugs, "You did?"
I raise a brow, "Yang Jungwon."
"Why am I just going to leave you here by yourself?" He questions.
"Ms. Go and Halmeoni are here," I say looking at him expressionless.
"Well Yuni isn't," he mumbles as he fiddles his fingers.
"Because she has school tomorrow and so do you, now leave," I say pointing towards the exit.
"I'm not going," he leans in closer to me. "You say you're not alone, but you're here sitting by yourself..."
I don't say anything. I just look into his eyes. Halmeoni was right...
He lets out an airy laugh and wraps his arm around me.
"I know, I'm the best boyfriend," he jokes.
I scoff and place my head on his shoulder.
He sure is, isn't he?
I play with his other hand and start to think of a master plan...
*******
Tuesday Afternoon
- Jungwon PoV -
I quickly grab my hoodie before rushing down the stairs at my house.
"Where are you going?"
I turn around to see my mom standing with her arms crossed. I'm quite surprised she's asking me that considering she tails my every move.
I came back home to wash up quickly before heading back to the hospital.
Ms. Kim is still unconscious, but her surgery went well. Hopefully, she'll wake up soon.
"Why do you care?" I then question.
She scoffs, "I'm your mother. I have every right to know, plus guess who got a call from school saying you weren't there yesterday or today!"
I roll my eyes.
"Not only that, I was going to give your girlfriend the benefit of the doubt to show out and prove to me that she'll be an eligible partner for you but she didn't even come to my invitation yesterday!" She yells.
Wait.. what?
"What are you talking about?" I ask furrowing my eyebrows.
"At least she listened to the part where I told her not to tell you," she says with a fake laugh.
I look away confused. Why wouldn't she tell me?
"Guess she's keeping things from you now. Who knows what else she's keeping from you.. I would rethink you're personal choices son," she says as she starts to walk away. "And... don't skip school... I'm sure your father would be upset..."
- Sunni PoV -
"Is that me?" I question pointing at a baby picture in the photo album halmeoni is showing me.
She lets out a chuckle, "That's your mom. You looked just like her when she was young."
I smile looking at all the photos of my mom. Halmeoni told me she saved a few items from the house before burning it down. Mom always shown me the same few pictures, so seeing all of these pictures is giving me life.
"How was grandpa?" I question. "Mom probably only talked about him once."
She gives me a half smile and pats my leg.
She sighs. "I only talk about him rarely too. When he died the world seemed to stop. Nothing felt the same anymore."
I look at her as she gazed up at the ceiling.
"He was the best husband and father," she starts to say looking back at me with a wrinkly eye smile. "He was so bright and cheerful..." she pokes me in the stomach making me laugh. "Just like you..."
"You really loved him huh," I softly smile.
"I did... I really did," her voice fades as she looks off again.
I want to love someone like that...
Just then, Jungwon walks in with a plastic bag.
He places the bag in front of me. "Take a guess," he smirks.
I clap my hands together and smile brightly, "Tteokbokki!!"
As I'm about to grab the bag he moves it away.
"Ya.." I pout.
"I need to talk to you first," he says. "If you don't mind halmeoni.."
She shakes her head, "Go ahead you youngsters."
I go ahead and walk off with Jungwon.
"What's up? Are you trying to bribe me to do something?" I squint my eyes at him.
He scoffs, "That sounds like something you would do Kim Sunni."
"Touche.."
"Do you... have something to tell me?" He questions.
I furrow my eyebrows. I can't recall anything-
"Sunni!!" I suddenly hear.
Ms. Go runs to us out of breath, "Your mom woke up!!"
I gasp and look at Jungwon.
"Lets go!" Ms. Go grabs my hand and we run to the ICU.
The doctor awaits for us smiling, "This way.."
Ms. Go lets me and halmeoni go in first.
Tears automatically roll down my cheeks as my eyes lay on her.
The nurses are helping her get situated and provided new saline.
"Mom!!" I exclaim as I hug her. "I was so worried about you!"
I pull away smiling yet teary eyed. To see my mom's face active and bright, my heart is so full.
She looks at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"Who are you?"