"When you get a new heart, will I still be in there?" She says, barely a whisper. "Will I still be in that heart?"
"You're not just in my heart," Jeongguk replies truthfully. "You're in the blood flowing through my veins, you're in my mind, you're u...
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
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"This is awful," he tells her one day. They're both sitting side by side on a bench in the hospital courtyard. Just like every other day, there's only a few people who have come here and it's peacefully quiet.
Yerim takes a bite out the tuna sandwich in his hands and glances up at the boy by her side. "What are you thinking about?" She asks as she munches down on her food.
Jeongguk sighs in exasperation. "About all the things I want to do when I get out."
"What do you want to do?"
He pauses, thinks about it for awhile, before answering, " I want to go out and feel the wind hitting my face as I'm running, I want to buy a house, a car, I want to wear a nice suit and take a girl out on a date at a fancy restaurant," he laughs at the last part, thinking of how silly that sounded. He has never had a date before. Doesn't think he ever will.
Instead of laughing at him like he expects that she would, she smiles at him genuinely. "That's a lot of dreams you have there."
Jeongguk closes his eyes as he feels the rush of strong wind hitting his face. The evening breeze is cold against his skin. The thin hospital gown protecting his body doesn't seem like its doing it's job at keeping him comfortable. "Don't you have dreams?" He asks.
Yerim hums. It almost sounds sad. "Used to," she replies as she stares down at her feet. "I just don't think there's a point. Dreams are just... dreams."
"Says the one who thinks she's the queen of the galaxy and everyone else are mere peasants," Jeongguk retorts.
She frowns. "That's different. That's just my imagination."
"Dreams can change you, you know. It gives you a sense of purpose," Jeongguk explains.
A pause. Yerim munches down on her sandwich again until it's all stuffed in her mouth. Once she's gotten it down her throat, she says, "You're right." Another short pause. "Then I have a dream. I want to go to Hollywood."
Jeongguk laughs. "Hollywood?"
"What? It's where all those famous movie stars go to, right? If I have a dream, I'd like to meet some of them one day. Or if I'm lucky, I'll even become a star."
"Now, those are some really big dreams."
"I know, thank you for realising."
Yerim clucks her tongue at him and throws her head back. He sees the sun casting it's vibrant race on her perfect skin. There's a scar, a couple scratches here and there. Even a little bit of acne marks that have faded over her teenage years. Somehow, he finds all of them beautiful.
