Jimin's dad passed away.
The man had laryngeal cancer and was only diagnosed in the advanced stage. The surgery had only lasted fifteen minutes. The surgeon made an incision on his neck and poked around before sewing it right back up. The cancer cells had already spread to the lungs and nose cavity. The removal of infected organs was no longer a viable solution because the patient would not have lasted long after such a procedure.
The doctor took off his mask and said to Jimin who was waiting outside, "I'm sorry."
It took Jimin a while before understanding. He accepted it calmly. "How much longer does he have?"
The doctor was surprised by his easy attitude. "Six months at the most."
Jimin wondered how many deaths the tumour surgeon had to face every year to be able to announce the ultimate death of the patient to their family without batting an eyelash. Although his rational side told him that this man was a doctor and he could not blame his dad's illness on a stranger, his emotional side could not help but feel hatred towards the news breaker.
The two stood in silence.
"If you could excuse me, I still have other patients to attend to." The doctor broke the awkward pause.
"Yes, of course. I just need a minute to myself," Jimin said with reddening eyes as he tried to control himself.
On the way to what would be the last meeting with his dad, Jimin passed by a flowering tree of which he did not know the name. It was blooming with tiny white flowers growing in tight-knit bundles like clouds lost in the mortal world.
He stood under the tree with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the baby green leaves turn the noon sun into gold glitter.
Jimin was thirty-five that year. He worked as an editor for an up-and-coming publishing house. His workload consisted of reading the received material, finding the able writers and polishing them up. The pay was average but the satisfaction that came with it was not measurable by currency.
Jimin's dad was a veteran actor, Kim Shin-yang, who enjoyed wide recognition. The building across from Jimin's office still sported his advertisement for stomach medication on its wall. His hair was dashed with grey but he looked lively. Sometimes when Jimin would sneak a tea break and look out the windows, he would see old ladies walking with canes stop in their paths just to gawk at his dad's advertisement.
There weren't many in the publishing house that knew Jimin's family background, the only one being his boss and good friend, chief editor, Jung Hoseok. His friend had been surprised and studied Jimin's face closely.
"You've got to be kidding. You look nothing like Kim Shin-yang."
Jimin chuckled, knowing that he wasn't good looking. He didn't argue with his boss. "You'll see when you meet my brother."
Jimin had a younger brother, Kim Taehyung.
"I've been hearing about this brother of yours for so long," Hoseok began to complain, "But you never once introduced him to me. What are you doing hiding him away?"
Jimin did not take the bait and started talking about the publishing house's budget for the first period.
For the past few months, Jimin had been leaving his office building at twelve-thirty sharp, walking three blocks and crossing one overpass to visit his father at the city hospital.
He had rushed past this tree every single day without ever stopping once.
On this day, however, he saw the bursting energy that this tree harboured under the sunlight. He was absolutely in awe.
