playing by the rules || j.jk

XIII

Ji-Young POV:

I was in the tunnel again, watching as the cars skidded, piled up, sending one blue SUV plummeting into the wall.

Then I was in the car, at the moment of impact. The outside was spinning and the wheels left the ground, before it landed again, but on its roof. Glass flew from either direction yet barely a single shard hit me, as Jin shielded my body with his. The scene grew fuzzy around the edges and all I saw was Jin's face, blood streaming down like tears. I could see nothing after that, yet I felt and heard everything.

 I felt the seatbelt dig into my neck as Jin went limp on my lap. I heard the screeches of tires and frantic yells of civilians. I heard other crying families. I heard my mother whispering my name, strained and in agony. I heard the blare of sirens in the distance.

And then it was black.

Then bright white light filled my vision.

Then black again.

Then there was a hospital room. I was alone. There were tubes in my arms, one thicker than the rest which led to my stomach. It drained a subdued red liquid into a closed top bucket, which had a hazard symbol across the top. A nurse approached me, her expression hard to interpret. She kept me in the room till night time, after I begged continuously to see my family.

First there was Jin, laying lifeless. His skin was pale and his eyes rimmed with dark. But he was breathing. His heart was steady. He looked peaceful. He had a chance.

Next there was my mother's room. There were more tubes in her than there were in Jin. One down her throat, which created a dull hum which was audible from the hallway, made me worry. She was even paler than Jin. Not even a drop of colour in her face. Her body looked skeletal, too thin. When I went to hug her body, a feature I had become accustomed to was not there. Her large stomach, which had grown due to six months of pregnancy, was gone. No one had mentioned anything and being old enough I realised. My baby brother was gone.

"Where's father." I asked a woman who entered the room, checking tubes, taking a bucket similar to mine in her hands. She turned to me, her expression shocked. She placed the bucket down and sat me down across the hall, in a black leather armchair.

"His wounds were much worse than anyone else's. He fought until the very end. I'm sorry." She grew emotional as I looked at her with a forlorn expression. "Before he lost consciousness, he said he loved you all dearly and that he'll be caring for you from above." I didn't answer her. My heart swelled in my chest and my breathing constricted as I realised I had been abandoned. What if mother never wakes up. What if Jin is hurt more than he seems to be.

She walked me back to my room, closing the door as I sat on the bed. Violent sobs, which were unlike any I'd experienced before, possessed me. Tears soaked my face and the cloth of my hospital gown, so the material stuck to my bare skin. I reached for my belongings, which had been placed in a basket by my bed. I sifted through the items, my books, my phone, the plane tickets to Paris that I'd begged for since years ago. Behind the ticket was my passport which I flicked through, taking every detail in.

I am Kim Ji-Young. I am 14 years old. On the 344th day of the 14th year of my life, my favourite people were hurt. Two left me. One could leave. Another will stay, but no one can say if he'll ever be the same. My family has been torn apart. I don't know what I'll do.

I curled up into a ball, holding all my belongings close, yet now they all seemed so worthless. Across from me the clock struck midnight. The date changed to become the 18th September 2014. My phone, which was cracked and barely working, started playing a song, which was familiar to every person on this planet. For a second, I eradicated all thoughts, despite my world crumbling around me, to try and have a sense of normality for just a single second. So I chanted the last line, my voice strained and thick from crying. It came out as a whisper, shaky, but audible to me.

"Happy Birthday to me"