Poignant

Chapter Twenty Three

Soyeon's POV

"Okay, have a good day, ma'am," I dismissed the nurse that walked into the room with a small smile, turning to the girl who lay silently in the hospital bed.

I took a moment to study her face and appreciate the features that I nearly lost before opening the container that had just been given to me. It was a cream that helped to heal scars in a healthy way. I had been using this cream on Yuqi ever since the wounds on her face had closed, and it has been helping quite a bit. The tissue is still very damaged and even a little red, but it hasn't gotten infected or anything, so that's great. She'll forever have the memory of the trauma she went through etched on her face, but I'll do my best to make her feel confident about it if she ever finds herself feeling insecure. 

"You're so beautiful. Did you know that Yuqi? I'm sorry for not saying it enough to you before, I promise to tell you it every day," I whispered softly, beginning to slowly apply the cream to her scars.

I've been doing a lot less work lately. Yeah, it makes me feel like I'm being a bit lazy, but I need to learn that it's okay to take a break. And at this point, I couldn't even make myself care. Without all of the work put on my shoulders for me to deal with alone, everything has been a lot easier lately. I am able to get up at better times without cursing at whoever decided to have the acceptable wake-up time be so early in the morning. I no longer had constant aches from sitting in a chair and working all day. I was able to get back into some of my old hobbies like reading.  Oh, how I love reading.

"Now that we have that done and out of the way, how about we read the next chapter of our book?" I suggested, taking Yuqi's unconscious silence as a yes.

I have been reading a book about the Korean war to Yuqi as a way to pass the time in the hospital. I had heard that constantly interacting with someone who is in a coma helps to stimulate their otherwise stagnant brain.

"You know, Soojin had told me that you hate reading," I snickered, opening to the page that I had bookmarked earlier. "She said that you would refuse to read the words yourself and would have her read you a story every night before you went to bed. Even when you were older, you still asked for her to tell stories to you. When you wake up, don't be afraid to ask for bedtime stories, I have plenty to share."

Soojin had been spending a decent amount of time in here, too. She tries to visit as often as she can, now that she has taken over the company for the meantime. She usually spends around twenty minutes in here, catching up with me and telling stories before she goes to visit Shuhua's room.

I took a moment to appreciate the bookmark. It was a fairly thick piece of paper that held a picture of Yuqi and I on the front, our names on the back. It's a drawing of us kissing happily right after we both had confessed at the same time. The picture had originally been taken by Miyeon, and so she drew it on a bookmark as a gift. She had only just given it to me recently because neither of us was really reading, and there wasn't a reason to gift a bookmark.

"Chapter fourteen," I began, finding myself quickly immersed in the story.

The book was told in the view of a nine-year-old boy who was just trying to survive through the war with his little sister, who was barely even a toddler. It was apparently based on a true story, so it tugged on the heartstrings a little more than books normally do. Especially with the way that the author had written it. She had written everything in great detail, as if she had experienced it herself, and portrayed emotions and scenes in a beautiful way. Every chapter was long and in-depth as well.

I loved the way that the young boy's character was written. His name was Choi Eun-woo. His last name, Choi, means mountain or top. Eun translates to kindness, mercy, and charity, while woo translates to house, universe, protect, bless, etc. I find his name almost genius as it truly reflects his personality as soon as you meet him despite not even knowing him yet.