Chances

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

November 20

6:12 am

            “Annyeong Chunmi!” my brother greeted me as he sat down at the dining table.

“Oppa, can I take the day off? I don't want to go to school today” I said as I sat beside him.

He placed his hand on my forehead and said, “You're not sick, why don't you want to go?”

“My head hurts like hell, oppa. Please let me rest today” I looked at his worried eyes.

He sighed then nodded, “Okay, if you say that you're in pain then I'll let you off this time”

I hugged him and kissed his cheek, “Komawo oppa”

            After eating breakfast my brother left me with a few words before he took off. I'm alone in our house for my sister was on a weeklong school trip, while my parents left last week for their overseas work. With nothing to do I cleaned up our house.

11:24 am

            I lied down quietly on my bed as I looked at the ceiling. Ah, how many times have I let him die? It kept on repeating like a broken record inside my mind. I've certainly lost count of how many times Sung died.. there was no point in counting it. Somewhere between saving him and letting him die, I lost the will to cry and feel guilt. The patterns of his death were nothing but a wild goose chase, it was not a mere murderous attempt, most of his death was caused by natural accidents that were inevitable. All I could do was rewrite what happened and try my best to avoid it, but every time I would be able to save him.. there would always be another death waiting for him.

            At the middle of pondering my cellphone rang, I took my remaining energy to grab it by my side table.

            From:  Sung-ah.:3

            Hey Chunmi, what's up?

I suddenly remembered that today's the day when he comes back from promoting overseas; it’s almost 3 weeks since his last death.

I quickly dialed his number as I finished reading his text.

            “Uh.. hello?” he answered.

I giggled as I sat up. “Sung-ah, how are you?” I asked.

“Same as before, what about you?”

“De, I'm okay. Are you feeling okay Sung?”

“Why wouldn't I be?” he chuckled. We continued to converse normally until a few minutes passed. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about his death.

            “Ya, Chunmi. Why are you silent all of a sudden?”

“A-Ah, it's nothing” I tried to laugh. “Hey it's Wednesday, don't you have classes today?” he asked.

“Ah, I've been caught” I chuckled, he sighed. “What about you? No work?” I asked.

“Ah, I've been caught” he mimicked me, we laughed. 

“We just got back from promoting, I'm really tired”

“Why don't you take a rest? Let's talk when you're feeling okay”