☆First Snow☆ | Joshua

27❄️ HIDDEN UNHIDDEN

After Areum left Hayoon started to clean the apartment. It's been days since they last cleaned the apartment. She started it from the kitchen. After she was done cleaning the kitchen, Hayoon went to clean Aruem's room. "Oh my god." Hayoon was depressed by the mess in Areum's room. When she was about to start cleaning, the bell rang.

"Don't tell me you are-"

"Hi, sweetheart!" As soon as she opened the door she was shocked to see the person in front of her.

"Hi! Mom," She didn't know how to react but she tried hard not to be obvious.

"Are you not going to invite your mom in?" Her mother asked. Her voice was trembling but she was trying to be nice. Hayoon couldn't understand what was happening. She noticed that her mother was unnecessarily calm more than any day. However, she opened the door fully so her mother could enter.

"Don't mind the mess. I was cleaning." She picked up some dirty clothes on the sofa and let her mother sit.

"Mhm- sweetheart, I know you are not ready to talk to me but can you give me some time?" Her mother asked desperately not even looking at her eyes. Hayoon was very curious about her mother's behaviour.

"Do you need anything to drink?" Hayoon asked before starting the conversation.

"No thanks, sweetie. Where's Areum by the way?" Her mother looked around expecting to see Areum."She went to meet someone. Maybe work, I don't know." She couldn't tell her Areum went out with Mingyu. Of course, she can't. "That's good. If you are not busy, will you come with me to go somewhere?" Again her mother's suspicious behaviour was noticed by Hayoon. "Actually, what are you planning? You know what, Mom, you are so suspicious. I don't want any trouble. Please," her voice was more likely a begging. "Did I ever let anyone hurt you, sweetheart?" When her mother asked, that made Hayoon think before speaking again. "Okay, fine. Give me five minutes." She went to her room to get ready to go out.

"Why are we here?" After around 30 minutes they arrived at the hospital. Her mother tried to hide her tear, but Hayoon caught it before she hid it. "What's happening, Mom?" She was confused. "Just come with me." Her mother took her towards the ICU. "Mom, what is going on here.? Who is here?" Hayoon was almost crying out of fear. She was afraid to see the person inside, but at the same time, she was curious. Her mother went to talk to the doctor, leaving her all alone at the door to the ICU theatre. After a few minutes, her mother came back with a nurse, and they let her enter the ICU and gave her a gown and a pair of gloves with a mask. She wore them immediately as her curiosity was consuming her. "Give me your hand." She gave a right hand to her mother, and she was taken towards a room where the patient was lying.

"What? Why? What happened, Mom? Tell me." Hayoon started to cry, forgetting how badly she was treated. Even her mother failed to hold her tears this time. "Your sis..sister, we couldn't protect her, Sky! We couldn't." Hayoon's mother hugged her and cried with her. Hayoon's screams were uncontrollable. "What is that meaning, Mom? What happened? Why aren't you telling me anything?" Hayoon screamed. Even the nurse had to come to her to calm her. No one dared to speak for a few minutes. Her mother let Hayoon calm down.

"You were always curious about what happened to your eyes, weren't you?" Her mother started to talk. She sat beside Haesuel and held her hand. Hayoon was just standing behind her selflessly. "I thought it was due to a wrong injection," Hayoon answered. "That's right, but not the truth." That made Hayoon frown at her mom. "What are you saying?" Disbelief in her voice was so obvious not to dodge. "When you were born, Scarlet I mean your sister Haesuel was so sick. Doctors never believed that she would make it. They had to take her out immediately so as not to impact you. But they couldn't take out her only. So they took both of you and put you in incubators for 3 months. Unfortunately, you two were swapped, and all her medications were given to you." She stopped the story to let her sobs out. It was like stabbing her heart with thousands of sharp knives at once to remember all her past days when her kids were born. The same goes for Hayoon. She was aimlessly looking at her sister's immovable body and trying to understand her mother's words. At the same time, she was trying to connect the dots which she heard from others when she was in LA. Her mother started again. "When the doctors noticed the mistake, it was a little bit late. Yet, your sister was saved. But due to overdosed medications to the healthy baby which was you," She paused to look at Hayoon. "I'm sorry sweetheart." She stood and hugged her daughter. But Hayoon's legs had given up so she fell. She didn't know how to react. The nurse suggested taking her out, to which her mom also agreed. While the nurse was carrying her out, her mother looked back at the Haeseul's selfless body one more time.

When her mother came out, Hayoon was given a cup of coffee to regain her energy, but she was looking at the front wall instead of drinking. The nurse was trying to make her drink but not Hayoon sip a bit of the coffee. So the nurse had to feed her, and surprisingly, she opened her mouth and drank it. But both her mother and the nurse knew that she was unaware of it. "So I was blind because of her and she is dying because of me." Finally, she spoke, but those words were unexpected. The nurse looked at her mother and she nodded. So the nurse left, handing the coffee cup to Hayoon's mother, letting mom and daughter continue. "It's not like that, Sky, she is not dy-" It was hard to say that word, but she continued. "She is not dying because of you." To continue, she took a sip of the coffee which she was handed by the nurse a few seconds ago. "The doctors hadn't any hope about Scar- Haesuel. They thought she would only make it for a few years. That's why we decided to separate both of you. To protect both of you as much as we can. So your father took all Haesuel's responsibilities and came to Korea. It's not like he left us Sky; he had to look after your sister. I'm sorry for lying sweetheart. He didn't stop looking after you also." Hayoon's tears stream down her face, and her expression often conveys deep sadness or emotional pain. She cried over and over. Even though her mom tried to calm her down, she couldn't. She was also crying with her. Later, in a few minutes, she was calmed. She looked at her mom's face but it was not her mother. "Grams?!" She didn't see her grandmother until now. While she was crying, her grandmother started to calm her down without her knowing it. She was too busy crying not to notice that. She hugged her grandmother tightly. As always her grandmother is her living guardian angel. "You also lied to me then," Hayoon said. That made her grandmother disappointed in herself. "I'm sorry love, we had no choice."

"My phone, I want my phone." Suddenly, she searched for her phone, and then her mother handed Hayoon her side bag. Immediately she took her phone out and dialed a number.

"Ah..reum ah~" Her voice was trembling.

'Hayoon what's happening? Tell me.' It was Areum.

"Haes...Haesuel, Sh.. she.. i..is dy..dying"

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Stay until the next snowfall