To My Dearest Roseanne

Chapter 42

"What is it with you and that bloody kebab rag?!" Roseanne asked while storming inside.

"It's called hanbok and it's the only clean piece of clothing I have at the moment," Cho replied. "I got two sets of these at the K-Royal Culture Festival."

"It turns you into a walking carpet. You look much better in regular clothes."

Cho closed the door behind her.

"You didn't answer my question."

"What?"

"Kiss the handle. What's the meaning?"

"Oh, in the language of Po, it means a situation when you come to visit somebody and there is nobody home."

"There is no such idiomatic expression in the English language."

"Don't care."

Upon first glance, Roseanne realised Cho's apartment looked lifeless and empty. There were no personal belongings, photos, souvenirs, stickers, or anything of that sort. The living room only had a single bed, a laptop, and a trunk filled with books. Adjacent to the living room was a tiny bathroom and a kitchen unit.

"You live a truly monastic life. It's no life at all," Roseanne remarked. "Pack your stuff, we're getting out of here."

Cho came closer to Roseanne and slapped her as hard as possible.

"What the hell have you done? What did you come here for?!" she screamed.

"I came here to save you!"

"Like how?! You thought you would show up on a white horse and return with me? We can't live in the same worlds, don't you understand? I'm gonna die out there, and you're gonna die here if you stay. Or maybe you have a solution to this problem?"

Roseanne massaged her cheek. The jawbone started to burn irritably.

"Well, that's part of the plan I didn't think through."

"Ugh! You always act on temper," Cho cried in despair and kicked the trunk, the lid of which slammed shut releasing a cloud of dust.

At that moment, the two heard a beeping alarm sound. Roseanne grabbed her belt and checked the dosimeter. The counter showed 1,324 mSv. If she remembered correctly what she read on the internet, such dosage wouldn't kill her, but it could lead to observable health issues sooner rather than later.

Roseanne switched off the alarm.

"I'm sorry I came, but I needed to see you," she said.

Cho observed the raindrops outside the window.

"And now you see me... I swear to God, if I could come with you, I would have done so already."

"You shouldn't live like this, all alone."

"Don't tell me how to live."

After a brief pause, Roseanne decided to ask directly:

"Your parents are dead, aren't they?"

***

The moment Roseanne said this, it seemed as if Earth stopped moving. Cho didn't move opposite the window, but her stature became visibly hunched, as if her shoulders couldn't bear the weight of these words.

"You figured it out, huh?"

"I suspected it for some time, but what I saw of your past only confirmed my suspicions."

The raindrops nearly stopped and Cho slightly lowered her head.

"It's always difficult to discuss it..." she said in a broken tone. "How does one even say this? My mom and dad died in a plane crash. I was only five... We were already settled in Korea. Robert, well, my dad Robert, had a job here, but they were coming back to the land of Po for Christmas. At least that's what I was told. Allegedly, they considered taking me with them but chose not to, I was too small..."