Two months into November a dark clad figure had fought his way through the unsteady weather that had started turning into snow. The fine white layer covering the ground like the finest powdered sugar the figure only could dream off. His cloak only held on by a white hand that had lost all feeling the moment he had stepped outside.
He knew which house he was rushing to. He had one out of two options, he would try the hardest first. The ones that would be hardest to convince. That way he didn't get his hopes up too high. His fist hammering against the front door before a small laughing lady opened the door in amusement.
"My, I was worried we wouldn't get our freshly baked bread today," the woman chuckled once she noticed the young baker on her doorstep.
"I am terribly sorry madam, but your son won't happen to be home?" Sunoo questioned a bit out of breath as he looked at the woman with desperation.
"He's at tea with his sister," the woman shook her head in shock and Sunoo immediately looked over his shoulder, "what has he done? He did not speak to your little baker girl, did he?"
"No mrs. Park, no need to worry," Sunoo quickly shook his head with a forced smile, "he simply forgot to pick up the biscuits he had ordered two days ago."
"Does look like him, doesn't it?" the woman shook her head in disbelief, "you'll find him at the Yang estate. I can assure you that."
"Thank you mrs." Sunoo bowed his head and rushed down the steps, finding no time to spare as he set his run for the Yang estate. Then his best hope would be the only hope he had.
His lungs were burning by the time he reached the Yang estate only a bit further down the street, but his fist was no less strong when he knocked on the door. A very startled young woman opening the door and looking at Sunoo in bewilderment.
"My, get inside," Jiyeon rushed and pulled Sunoo into the warmth once she saw the heavy snow outside, "tell me... are you out of your mind?"
"Sunghoon," Sunoo breathed out and stared at Jiyeon with grave intensity.
"Right... okay," Jiyeon nodded and rushed down the hallway and into the first room on her right, murmuring something quietly as she glanced out at Sunoo every once in a while.
"What has happened?" Jungwon was the first one to appear from the room before Sunghoon followed after with a frown as he stared down at Sunoo, who still stood by the door breathing heavily - partially due to panic and partially due to having run through the heavy snow.
"I swear I would've paid it myself in a heartbeat if I had the money," Sunoo started before gasping for his words, resorting to just making it short, "she needs a doctor... please."
"Soomin?" Jiyeon questioned carefully and arched her eyebrows in surprise, "but I saw her just the other day and she..." Jiyeon trailed off before realizing what she really had seen, "she did look very sick."
"Please..." Sunoo begged quietly, almost letting himself cry there in the front hall of the Yang estate, face to face with three of the richest of his peers in town, "please, she needs a doctor."
"Go get him," Sunghoo nodded, marching down and stepping into his boots, grabbing his coat as he sent Sunoo another look, "go get him. I'll pay whatever he needs. Just go get him. I'll go down to the bakery. Is she upstairs?"
"The room just above the oven," Sunoo nodded, "it's the warmest."
"Go get the doctor and I'll go down and sit with her," Sunghoon assured with a small nod.
Sunoo immediately nodded and rushed out of the house once again, leaving Sunghoon behind in the front hall. With a quiet glimpse he managed to give all his apologies to his sister, as she stood there outside the living room, Jungwon behind her with a solemn look.
"He needs to go," Jungwon murmured and guided Jiyeon back into the living room as Sunghoon gave him an appreciative nod before setting out into the snow.
The wind was biting cold. It felt like multiple small bugs nestling on your cheeks and deciding to bite at the same time with small second intervals. Within seconds of being out in the cold weather Sunghoon's cheeks had turned a bright red and his fingers had gone numb from having to hold and warm his ears.
Even the bakery seemed ice cold when he entered through the backdoor. The front door had been locked and he had to circulate the bakery to find the back entrance that would lead him straight into the kitchen out in the back. From there Sunghoon knew the way by heart. He had been visiting her a lot the year before - walking up the stairs to greet her in her chamber that overlooked the sea as she always secured her hip pouch when he arrived.
This time her chamber would be too cold from what Sunoo had told him. The top floor was slim and wonky, only a few doors existing to the rooms that was spread out over the second floor. The disorientation of the second floor forcing Sunghoon to enter multiple rooms before finally opening the door to a slightly warmer room with a single candle standing by a mattress - on which a small lump laid curled up under a thin blanket.
"Soomin..." Sunghoon breathed out, stirring up the lump that rolled over on her other side to look at the voice.
Two weeks since he had decided to give her the space she asked for and everything came back to him all at once. The recognition and desperation in Soomin's eyes was enough to tell him she had wanted to see him again. Initially she had attempted to get up from the mattress, but Sunghoon was quick to rush over and move the candle to the side and kneel down by the mattress, urging her to lay back down.
"Sunoo is getting a doctor for you," Sunghoon assured and pulled off his coat despite the room being chilly. Instead he resorted to drape it over her and rub her arms gently, hoping to give her warmth.
"I'm so cold," Soomin whispered and Sunghoon only nodded, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.
"I know," he murmured quietly and moved her hair out of her face.
"It hurts so much," she continued and looked up at him with glossy eyes, "my chest... it hurts..."
"I told you they were sick out in the slums," he murmured quietly.
"They needed help," Soomin shook her head quietly.
"But now you're sick too," Sunghoon pointed out, managing to make Soomin go silent, "very sick at that... Sunoo sounded like you were dying when he asked for a doctor."
Soomin stared quietly up at Sunghoon before deciding to just curl up against his back as he continued to run a hand through her hair. Impatiently waiting. How long could it take to get a doctor?
However, when Sunoo did return with a doctor there was no doubt. Sunoo was constantly yapping away downstairs, listing any symptoms Soomin had had. Showing the doctor down to the room where Sunghoon was sitting quietly on the mattress with a tired Soomin curled against him.
"Mr. Park?" the doctor questioned in confusion upon entering the room.
"I suppose enough payment will make you stay silent about my presence," Sunghoon remarked sternly and the doctor immediately nodded, "fix her. Make her better."
Then proceeded the check up of Soomin. Getting her to sit up in bed, despite how tired and dizzy she looked once she sat up straight. Listening to her breathnig through a stethoscope pressed against her bare back - by then both Sunghoon and Sunoo had left the room out of pure respect for Soomin. Both awaiting the diagnosis out on the hallway. The doctor eventually emerging with a stern look on his face and his doctor bag in one hand.
"When will she be better?" Sunoo eagerly questioned while the doctor was busy making sure Sunghoon was giving him an adequate amount of money for his services and silence. Eventually deciding he had been paid enough by the time Sunghoon had started to eye the doctor suspiciously.
"Very clearly an infection in the breathing," the doctor declared calmly, glancing between the two boys, "Pneumonia, I fear."
"And how do we cure her?" Sunoo questioned, "what do I have to give her? What do I have to do?"
"Wait and pray," the doctor calmly excused, earning a shocked and confused look from Sunoo.
"What do you mean, wait and pray?" Sunghoon sneered and crossed his arms over his chest.
"As much as we try to find a cure, nothing is a secure and definite cure," the doctor excused, "I could prescribe her coughing syrup, but that would do nothing to her breathing difficulties. The best of my advice is to make sure she gets fresh air and is kept warm. Give her some food as well, she looks like she's been starved."
Sunoo stared after the doctor in disbelief before angrily muttering something about how he was feeding Soomin, but her body was rejecting all sorts of food within minutes. Eventually turning to Sunghoon with a small sigh.
"Thank you for... paying..." Sunoo sighed and gestured to the stairs, where the doctor had disappeared down with no last comment, "I promise to pay you back slowly."
"Don't think about it," Sunghoon shook his head and leaned up against the wall behind him, "would you mind me staying a bit?"
"She's all yours," Sunoo shook his head and gestured to the door, running a few fingers over his lips before glancing to the end of the hallway, "I have some bread I have to bake in the kitchen... the room will heat up a bit. I can't promise you what she says though."
"I think we're on the same page for once," Sunghoon shook his head quietly and carefully entered the room once again.
Once he entered the room he rushed over to close the window the doctor must've opened. It was blowing straight in on the blanket that was draped over Soomin, making it flop around and let in cold air to her frail body.
"I'm not doing too good, am I?" Soomin questioned with a small snicker on her face, struggling to keep her eyes open as Sunghoon walked back to adjust his coat over her.
"No..." Sunghoon shook his head quietly and sat back down on the mattress again, "says it's Pneumonia... claiming we can only pray and hope for you."
"I'm fine," Soomin shook her head once Sunghoon's hand went back to run through her hair, "just a small cold."
Sunghoon snickered at her denial, noticing the small and content smile on her face. His ministrations in her hair continuing as her eyes fell close and he watched her slowly drift off to a deep sleep. She did look awfully sick to him once she was asleep. Cheeks hollow and as white as the snow outside. The skin around her eyes almost as dark as her hair. She truly looked like she had died already.