When Flowers Bloom (A DaraGon Short Story)

Four

"Noona..."

"Sang-hyun. You're early." Dara greeted, coming from the backyard. 

Attached on both her arms were metal crutches. 

"Sang-hyun?" Mrs. Kwon whispered on her asking tone. 

"You're with someone?"

"Is she?..."

"I'll explain to you everything over a cup of tea. Noona makes lovely tea. Right, Noona?"

Dara chuckled. "Come inside. It's a little hot out here since it's already noon. Who came with you?"

Mrs. Kwon walked towards Dara and hugged her. "What happened to you? What have I done?"

Dara's eyebrows furrowed, having the feeling of who came with her brother. "Sang-hyun?"

"It's Eomeoni. This is me, Dara." Tears started to crawl down Mrs. Kwon's cheek. 

"Eomeoni?" She stated, almost inaudible. 

"Yes. Mama Kwon is here." 

As if releasing all the caged emotion for years, Dara's lips started to tremble as tears drowned her eyes. "Eomeoni." 

Sang-hyun looked away, wiping the tears that escaped his eyes. He wanted to be strong but his tears were betraying him.

"What happened to you, Dara? What's wrong? Why are you in this state?"

"How did you find us? Jiyong... He can't..." 

"Shh... I promised your brother I won't tell Jiyong. Don't worry about that." 

"Sang-hyun." Dara called. 

"It was all coincidence, Noona. I was on my way back after delivering flowers and teabags when Eomeoni saw me outside the shop." 

She was sniffing while drying her tears. "Let's all get inside the house and talk."

Mrs. Kwon guided her up the small steps towards their porch before they reached the living room of the house.

********************

"Dara, there are a lot of doctors in the city who will be able to check on you."

Dara smiled. 

"I've forced her so many times about that, Eomeoni." 

"I'm fine. I'm receiving treatment from Oriental Doctors here. It has greatly improved my health status." 

"How long has she been unwell?"

"She learned about this few months ago. Doctors said it's Astrocytoma, a brain tumor."

"God!" 

"Don't worry about me." She smiled. 

"Still pretending she's okay when she's not." Sang-hyun commented. "A person's not okay when her illness causes her blindness and paralysis." 

"Sang-hyun..."

He stood up and entered the kitchen.

"Dara..."

Dara looked down and her shoulders started to shudder. 

"Sang-hyun's worrying about you, Dara." 

"Eomeoni, we've already spent a lot when the Doctors were just trying to diagnose my illness. I can't leave Sang-hyun with nothing. I want to keep the money I'm saving for him so he can have a future."

"I will help you. If that's what you're worrying about."

Dara shook her head. 

"Dara..."

"Please, Eomeoni. If you do that, Jiyong will know. Let's not distract him from his blossoming carreer. It's his long time dream and I don't want to ruin that."

Mrs. Kwon hugged her. 

"I'm okay. I'll be okay." Dara hugged her back tighter. 

"Please don't be too harsh on yourself. You've already sacrificed enough... For me, For Jiyong, and for Sang-hyun."

Dara didn't speak but continued to cry her heart out while her head was rested on Mrs. Kwon's chest.