𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟓𝟗

jihyun was on her way for her daily visit to her mother when she saw miyoung and minjun arguing with the doctor.

"what's going on?" she asked, interrupting them. the three went silent, hesitating, which only annoyed her. "what is it?"

"they... want to take mum off the ventilator." minjun told her.

"what?!" she exclaimed. "why?!"

"there's nothing that can be done for her. it's a lost cause. we're wasting our resources when we could use it on someone else."

enraged, jihyun lurched forward, her fist nearly connecting with the doctors face but minjun pulled her back in time.

"you bastard! how dare you!" she screamed, thrashing in his arms. "that's my mother you're talking about!"

"jihyun, calm down." miyoung said.

"no! she deserves to live! he can't do this!"

"miss, please—"

"shut up!"

"jihyun! he's right, okay?!" miyoung snapped, making jihyun go silent. "there's no way to save mum at this point."

"so what, we take her off the ventilator and then she becomes another corpse we have to bury?"

"it'll have to happen one day. there is no point dragging it out and building false hope. she's gone."

"but what about the twins? they'll grow up without any parents. and iseul? she's strong, but this'll break her. she was the closest to mum." jihyun said, her pupils shaking in fear.

"they're already inside with her. the twins won't understand what's happening, but iseul agreed to this. we were waiting for you, you're the last one to make a decision. we'll only do this when you decide." minjun explained.

"but i-i didn't even get to say goodbye." her voice cracked as tears pooled in her eyes. "i didn't get to say bye to doyoung and now mama..."

"i know." miyoung wrapped her arms around her. "i know it hurts so fucking bad, but mum is still in there. you can talk to her, even if she doesn't hear it, you can say what you need to."

"we'll call you when we're ready." minjun told the doctor and the three entered the room.

"jihyun." iseul mumbled as the older joined her by the bed, taking her hand. "i just said my goodbyes."

"i don't know where to start." jihyun whispered, looking at her mum. "there's so much to say. for a while, i held a lot of dislike towards you. it was because you decided to have so many children when you couldn't even look after yourself and i know it wasn't your fault, but i was mad. i was mad because i didn't get to have the childhood i wanted like the other children. i was always at home helping out. but despite my anger, i always loved you. how could i not? you're my mother, the one who brought me into this world and showed me love even though there were so many horrors around us. you've suffered a lot, mama, yet you'd always smile for us. but now it's time for you to rest. don't worry. i'll take care of everyone."

"we." miyoung corrected, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"yes, we'll take care of each other." iseul added.

"you hear that, mama? these two are taking some responsibility around here." jihyun joked with a bittersweet laugh. "but really, it's time for us to let you go. you rest well now."

"minjun, take the twins out and call for the doctor." miyoung said.

he nodded, opening the door to leave and getting startled by hana standing on the other side. she rushed into the room, immediately bringing the three sisters into a hug.