"Soooo this Dr Kim, are you crushing on him or something...?"
Haru turns to her sister, Areum, who has been busy choosing a cereal from the row of shelves in front of her. Areum is back in Seoul for a few days, taking a week off from work just to visit her family here. And of course, she crashed Haru's place last night and now here they are, doing groceries early in the morning just because Areum craves for Korean snacks and everything else.
"Good god, were you even listening to me?", Haru sneers, randomly grabbing a box of cereal before pushing the trolley away. "Just choose, will you?"
Areum heard her sister walking away thus she randomly grabbed whatever cereals she could and quickly catches on her.
"Walk fast you snail", Haru heads towards the dairy section. "Which milk do you need?"
"Almond milk", her sister leans closer to the trolley, dumping all the boxes in. "Wait, let me rephrase your sentences just now"
"What?"
"You have been telling me about Dr Kim—do you like him or—"
"I don't like him in a romantic way. I am telling you about him because he seems compatible with you"
Areum's mouth dropped open, eyebrows arched as she looks at her sister weirdly. "You want me to ask him out on a date?"
"I am asking you to get to know him better"
Areum stays silent for a moment, observing her sister as she studies the various selection of milk on the shelf. It is not that she has not been paying attention to her selling out Dr Kim's perfect traits and sharing everything about him to her. In fact, she was busy trying to arrange her words to ask Haru about herself. She wants to ask about Haru and their parents.
"Haru"
"Whattt—what else do you want to buy?", she asks, not turning around.
"When was the last time mother talked to you?"
The snicker smile on Haru's face disappeared almost instantly as she turns around, looking at her sister with a blank face. "You really going to ask me about mother? Here? In the grocery store?"
"Where else? You didn't even tell me about you when I arrived last nig—"
"You were tired. Jet lagged. You were sleepy. I can't be spilling my problems to you just like that."
There is it, this side of Haru. Always putting others first, but never herself. It sometimes annoys Areum to the point she wants her sister to think more of her feelings. She wants her to spill her thoughts to her and tell her if everything gets too heavy for her. But no, her sister never does that. Whenever she called her or texted her, wondering if everything is okay, she would just say she is fine and everything is good.
A lie, a white lie them both know very well.
"Haru", Areum sighs as she places both hands on the trolley. "I am sorry"
Haru looks at her confusedly, eyes silently asking her to explain.
"I have not been here for you. I know you have been through a lot—and our parents....", she sighs regretfully and knowingly. "I'll talk to them, okay?"
"No", Haru objects immediately. "We talked about this. I don't want their love. I don't want to beg for their love. I am tired of hoping that they will love me. So no. Don't. Just don't. Promise me"
Areum looks around, suddenly aware of their surroundings. She gulps to herself at the sudden outburst of her little sister, feeling regretful for mentioning about her parents here, out of all places.
"I am sorry", she managed a smile. "Let's get our groceries and have an early lunch, okay?"
-
"She talks a lot about this Mister Kim guy, who is this guy?"
Haneul looks away from the tv screen and turns to Areum whom is seated on the chair beside her bed. She quickly switched it off and sits up straight, adjusting her pillows carefully on her back before turning to her cousin again.
"Have you met this guy?"
"She talked about Mister Kim? What did she say?", Haneul's eyes sparkle with interest. "Did she say anything else?"
"She told me he was her hook up from weeks ago and they met again—or something like that. But, I don't know. She was all questioning herself for thinking about him and accusing him for being such an ass—yeah...did they date or something?", Areum's sighs as she tilts her head to the side, looking very much confused.
"She didn't tell you who this guy is?"
"Not really", Areum murmured sleepily, adjusting herself on the chair. "Anyway, where is this handsome Dr Kim, I have not seen him yet?"
"I bet she has been talking about Dr Kim to you since you arrived",Haneul chuckles lightly. "You really need to get to know him. He is so dreamy, so handsome and definitely your type.
Areum drums her finger on the chair handle, looking up at the empty wall in front of her before suddenly sitting up straight. "Well, how am I going to get to know him if he is no—"
Her sentence got cut off at the sudden knocking sound from the door. Both heads turn to look, watching as the door slowly slides open to reveal the long awaited Dr Kim. He bows politely at them and then the little shock on his face when he sees Areum sitting there didn't go unnoticed.
"Good Evening, may I come in?", he stopped midway, hesitant when he sees unexpected person in the room.
"Come in my favourite Doctor!" Haneul invites him in cheerfully, making him flustered. "My cousin is here too, I believe you have met before"
"Good Evening Dr Kim", Areum quickly gets on her feet, fixing her clothes before offering him a very polite bow. "Yes, I think we have met...months ago. But, anyway, I am Seo Areum, Haru's sister"
Seokjin might had to take a few moments to process the sight of Areum in the room. He remembers her, but he might have forgotten how astonishingly stunning she is. It feels like he is looking like a goddess that has fallen from heaven, gracing the earth with her heavenly features.
"H-HI, I am Dr Kim. I am Haneul's doctor", he quickly replies with a quick bow, a hint of redness on his cheeks. "And yes, we have met before"
Looks like someone is smitten already
-
Haru steps out of the lift, looking around the quiet hospital floor. It was not her plan to go to the hospital to visit Haneul and check on her sister who is staying over. But she got too bored at home thus she decided to surprise them. She even dropped by the mart to get some of Areum's favourite snacks and drinks.
Slowly walking towards Haneul's room, she realized that the door is slightly ajar, and the room is already dark. Haneul might already be asleep by now due to her nightly dose of painkiller she takes after dinner. Not wanting to make any noise, she tiptoes to the room cautiously. One hand reaching for the door, the sudden voice coming from the room startled her.
"I don't think I can tell her"
"She is going to be in pain if you keep lying to her"
Haru heard her sister lets out a soft regretful sigh before she continues speaking.
"I am not ready. She is in so much pain already and I—"
"I am in pain, looking at her being left in the dark. You need to come clean and tell her the truth"
Surprised and very much curious, Haru keeps herself hidden behind the door and stays silent.
What truth? What are they talking about? Who is this person they have been referring to? Is it her? Is someone else?
"Areum, you must tell her", Haneul sounded firm as she speaks. "Haru needs to know"
"How am I supposed to tell her that I am not her real sister? How ? How do I tell Haru that I am actually adopted? I am not even related to her? How do I do that?"
~~~~
NOTE
Hello everyone! Here is another quick update! I hope this chapter is good even when it is quite shorttt hshshshshs. But, thank you so much for reading! Love youuuu