On Thin Air

Dreads

No answer.

Oh Haeran's eyes remained closed as if by glue.

In her days she was the prettiest of her class she told him one time. Yes, her father agreed, she was and had looked at her smitten. Long black hair, heart shaped face with girlish eyes that turned into crescents when she smiled. A dainty woman but witty. Oh Haeran was a girl popular with love notes and boyish confessions from all over. She'd grown up in a refined family. Her father owned a brewing company that grew larger over the years as alcohol consumption increased.

"One day," she had told him, when her skin still glowed with life, as she stroked his small head, "you will marry a beautiful girl. And you'll love her like your father loves me. She'll be so lucky she has you, my sweet boy."

Her skin was flat. She had no color. No more life zapped through her veins to bring her arms up to hug him. Just some lifeless doll who would not look at him. Someone he didn't know anymore.

He sat down on the nearby chair with the pale beige walls closing in. Suffocating the air he breathed. Increasing his discomfort.

You're wrong he wanted to say, about everything.

"I'm getting married," he said. "If you can hear me, tell me you're happy."

He waited. The heart monitor calmly beeped. Her heart rate didn't spike. It was what he had expected.

"You're happy," he solemnly stated in a soft voice, "because I'm doing it for you."

ꜛꜛꜛꜛꜛ

Tickling the grass as it passed the wind whistled in her. A rush swept left with a deep, taunting whisper. Goosebumps rose over her forearms. Another fast rush of wind rustling the tree leaves while the yellow orb stayed warm over her face. Light shone through the dark of her closed lids. Imagining she was floating away into an ethereal universe.

"Namjoo!" Her eyes opened. Flinching when she stared straight into the sun. Twisting away Namjoo pushed herself up. The clear blue sky loomed above her beautifully. For an instant she felt like a small existence.

"The car is ready. You have to go," Leah called from the back-porch steps.

Blinking once then twice Namjoo tilted her head back to sky gaze. An empty sky. Pretty, but void. No one would be stopping her today.

Pushing herself up slowly she brushed remnants of grass off her clothes. Staring at the mansion. Imagined her mother walking through the rooms. Watching her from one window to another. Smiling in one room, dancing with her in another, helping her into her wedding dress in another. Old and wrinkly in another and calmly in a rocking chair, only her mother would never grow old because she had died young.

Her mother Mihee had given birth to her here. Raised her on this land. So many countless memories born here. Now, Namjoo was leaving her ghost behind. Pressing her lips together, Namjoo tried to unwind her tense frown.

"Namjoo!" Leah called again.

Blinking again, Namjoo finally found the strength to step forward. When she reached her friend touched her arm affectionately. "Take care of yourself."

Lips firmly together Namjoo nodded. Squeezed her hand, "Don't watch me go." before turning to walk out.

Two days before the wedding.

Sehun picked her up every time. Dinner, breakfast, whatever. Mainly they just sat at a table unspeaking. Listening to their forks and spoons chatter as they clinked against plates. Both of them focused on eating and looking in different directions.