Breaking News : Actress Yoon Se Ri Rushed To The Hospital In The Middle Of Filming
It was the dead of the night and yet flashes of light and unanswered questions in the air flocked the entrance of the hospital. Reporters were clamoring to get even the smallest information they can about the actress who had just been rolled in by the paramedics.
Hong Chang Sik, the manager, trembles in fear and worry, but mostly fear for Se Ri's well-being. He had always feared about her habit of over-working.
He keeps his hand on her in the stretcher, tight and cold, tears almost flowing out of his eyes.
Seri's eyes were closed but she can hear his sobs, damn, she could even hear how worried he is that he might lose his job because of this.
"Seri..."
She scoffed.
Taking a lazy peak, she asks, "Isn't this too dramatic?"
Seri wanted to burst from amusement at the absolute exaggeration but the look on his face prevented her from doing so.
"You fainted."
"I was just dizzy, okay. I've been feeling lightheaded these days."
"You're stressing yourself too much, Miss Yoon. This is why I told you to stop overworking."
"Did you bring my script?"
Mr. Hong's mouth hang open. Lying in a stretcher, being carried to the emergency room, and she had the sanity to ask that?
He was exasperated. "Miss Yoon..."
"Did you bring it?"
"Yes. But that's not what matters right no-"
"Good." Seri cuts him off and closes her eyes.
When all the basic procedure she has to go through was done, she now frowns at her hospital bed, at the VVIP room.
It wasn't necessary, all of this, she thinks. She stares at the needle punctured on her hand, her clothes. Then, the door opens, the sight of her manager smiling with a bag of fried chicken.
"Dinner's here!"
She crosses her arms. "Get me out."
"Your parents called me. They're on their way. And they said no."
Seri got annoyed by that. "Since when did they get to decide with my life?"
He takes the crispy leg and bites on it, answering her in a muffled tone, "Your mom is scary. I don't have a choice." He moved the box close to her so she can have her piece of chicken as well when the door suddenly opened forcefully.
That night, what she just saw was something she never expected.
Jeong Hyeok.
He looked like he ran ten flights of the stairs, his hair ruffled and messy. A thick trench coat was wrapped around him and when their eyes locked, his feet walked on their own towards her.
She had no time to speak, no time to even breathe, because his hands cupped her face, scanning for any injuries as his eyes go over her body, the needle on her hands, and the chicken between her thumb and index finger.
He finally sighs in relief, the stiff palm on her face relaxing.
"You're safe..." he murmurs.
Seri felt her heart ache, that wonderful one, the feeling of his hands still lingering on her cheek. He was worried. She can see it in the way he tries to calm himself down.
She wanted to throw herself at him, smack his head for being stupid enough to disappear without any notice, but she never did any of it because the way he reacted and approached had her still caught in a daze.
Not that it was the first time, but it was rare to see him being this... worried.
Taking a bite of the chicken, she happily invites him, "Dinner?"
He looks at her.
"I mean, did you have dinner already?" She repeats, pointing at the box of fried chickens.
"No, Seri." He wasn't sure if he was confused or maybe the adrenaline rush didn't settle yet. The contrast of his mood over hers was vastly different, it takes him a while to adjust to the mood of the room.
"Well then help yourself."
Jeong Hyeok looks at Mr. Hong and he answers his unspoken question with a shrug, urging him to just take one from the box.
He eats, quietly, constantly checking her as she sits on her bed.
"So. What did you hear that made you run to here like that?"
Fainted because turns out it was pregnancy. Her agency overworks her too much. She's under severe depression and took too much pills. Food poisoning. Heartbreak. Cancer.
"Nothing," Jeong Hyeok replies. "The news from the TV told me about it."
"Ah..."
She somehow felt the urge to tell him the rumors aren't true even though she knows deep inside he didn't believe any of that. Must be the sad fact that she grew up having to deny and defend herself multiple times, that's why.
"I'm not pregnant," she awkwardly mumbles.
"I know."
"I'm not depressed," she keeps on going.
"I know."
The tension was too much for the manager and he knows the two probably wanted to talk without his presence. When he excused himself, Seri turned off the TV. "So where have you been?"
"Just somewhere."
"It's been months, Jeong Hyeok."
"I had a bad writer's block and took a vacation, Seri."
She wanted to cry, press him more about it, the worry that's been building up inside her taking a toll. But what came out was a sob, followed by another wave of lightheadedness.
She pressed her palms on her head, hoping to ease the unusual feeling, and Jeong Hyeok notices.
"What's wrong?" He comes closer, lightly holding her face.
She shakes her head but grips tight onto his arms, seeking for some sort of balance. After a few seconds of nothing but everything spinning and ringing, Seri tries to blink her eyes.
"Let me call the doctor."
"No, it's fine."
"Seri..."
"I'll be okay soon. This happens a lot. I'm used to it."
He sighed. A few minutes later, the grip on his arms starts to loosen up and she tries to relax more. Then, looking up at him, she smiled with tired eyes and moved to the side, quietly wanting him to join her in bed.
It's cramped up. His arm was glued to his side, the other one wrapped around her. Seri nestled herself on his chest and brings her attention back to the television, which she turned on again.
"Thank you," she says before a yawn softly interrupted. "Thank you for coming back."
He wouldn't leave her for good.
"Take a rest, Seri."
In the middle of the night, Mr. Hong who was dozing off on the bench outside of the room suddenly woke up to people rushing towards him, more specifically, the door.
The first person he recognizes is Seri's mother, Han Jeong Yeon, followed by his father, Yoon Jeung Pyeong who was still in his flip flops, like he had just gotten out from his house after three months of total isolation from the world.
There was tremble in her mother's voice. "Where is my daughter? Is this her room?"
"Yeobo, the nurse clearly said it's 220. See."
The manager nodded and hesitated to let them in, knowing Jeong Hyeok and Seri are probably still having their private discussion.
But it was too late and Seri's mother already slid the door open. When they arrived at the bed, there she sees her daughter, peacefully asleep in Jeong Hyeok's arms.
The man was awake, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw her parents in front of them, right in this position that felt intimate for some reason. He quietly turns the television off and bowed to them.
He carefully extracts himself and pulls her blanket. It took him about an hour to explain to her parents everything he knew as much as he could. Naturally, they thanked him for being the person by her side and not having to barge in and see her alone in the cold hospital room.
When morning came, Seri stirs in her sleep and yawns, delightfully stretching herself and loving the feeling of waking up. That was the best sleep she had gotten for a while.
She doesn't open her eyes yet and blindly reaches for her blanket when..
Someone smacked her in the head.
Groaning, Seri frowned and glares at the person who is no other than her mother.
"Eomma!"
"How many times did I tell you," she smacks her head again. "Not to overwork yourself."
She groans and cries out, "Why are you hitting me!"
"You're talking back now, you little.."
Carefully opening the door, Jeong Hyeok in his sweatpants comes in with a few beverages he bought downstairs. Seeing how Seri is being scolded, he carefully lowers down the plastic to the table and decides to walk out.
But then.
"Jeong Hyeok! You're here," she calls out, beaming full of hope.
But Seri's mother was not having any of it. "What Jeong Hyeok? He's not going to help you."
Rubbing her arm, she huffs at her mom and looks at Jeong Hyeok again, begging him to save her.
And then, the door of the washroom opened, revealing her father who just finished brushing his teeth. The sounds he heared from inside worried him but simply sighs when turns out, it's just his wife and his daughter bickering like cats.
He acknowledges Jeong Hyeok's presence. "Did you buy me the beer?"
Of course he did. After Seri's mother told him to buy water and juice drinks, he had asked him a favor to buy him a can without his wife knowing.
You didn't take any of the vitamins I sent to you, did you? I knew it!
"Appa!" Seri cries out from the bed.
"So how's your book going?" He nonchalantly asks.
"It's doing well. I can wrap it up this month," he replies.
"Jeong Hyeok!" Seri calls out again.
"That's great. Maybe we can finally play baduk again sometime." Yoon Jeung Pyeong pats his back and gives him a warm smile. He had always liked Jeong Hyeok and considers him his son, but more of like a buddy. Since Jeong Hyeok always had old fashioned interests, both of them clicked well.
Sadly, no one, not even Jeong Hyeok, batted an eye to her. Giving up from asking any of their help, Seri decides to just do it.
She lets herself fall back to the bed, eyes shut tight. She wasn't fighting or answering back anymore.
"I know you're a good actress but you can't fool your own mother."
No answer.
Seri's mother chuckles, seeing how her daughter is persistent in pretending to faint.
"Are you really going to be like this?"
She was quiet.
"Fine." Turning to the two men, she asks, "Jeong Hyeok, did you buy the spicy rice cake?"
He didn't even get to nod when Seri suddenly shoot up from her bed.