L U C I D || A Dreamcatcher AU

7 | Dubiety

The phone call had left her speechless, heart hammering painfully in her chest as her breathing became more ragged and pained by the second. In her state of numbness, her fingers loosened the grip on her phone, which dropped and clattered to the ground. The next thing she knew, she was seated at the backseat of a taxi on her way to the hospital. Only a single thought swarmed through Minji's mind: How did this happen?

None of this made sense.

Handong's mother, Mrs. Han, mentioned that Dong had fallen asleep while folding laundry in her room. Hours later, when she had tried to wake Handong up for dinner, she couldn't be woken up at all, which was rare, for Handong was a light sleeper. She sensed that something was off, and that was when she had hurriedly dialed for an ambulance, then informed Siyeon, whom Mrs. Han knew was a close friend of her daughter.

But still, none of this made sense. How could someone slip into a coma just like that? Slipping into a coma due to an accident or an injury made more sense than just slipping into a coma when taking a nap. That is just incredulous.

But it did happen.

For whatever reason, Handong was now in a coma.

However, Minji failed to wrap her head around the situation. How could something so horrible like this happen? No one deserved to be in a coma, but Handong of all people? How could something of such tragedy happen to someone as wonderful and pure and caring as her?

She didn't deserve it.

Her legs were tightly crossed, chills creeping up her bare legs, causing goosebumps to rise on her naturally fair skin. Arms folded, she bit her nails nervously, eyes darting around, focusing on nothing. Her brain whirred, flooding with thoughts of worst-case scenarios. She was no doubt an overthinker - her brain was a mindmap; an extremely detailed mindmap, linking everything together, even if it seemed impossible to draw a link. Her brain was able to do that, which is, frankly speaking, rather astounding. But she had a love-hate relationship with this habit of hers. It made her a natural pessimist, thinking the worst of situations, and sometimes overreacting.

She did not truly know where she was. Yes, she was physically sitting at the backseat of a taxi with Bora. But she was not mentally and emotionally present. It felt as if her soul was elsewhere, drifting in an endless void.

The manicure parlors lined up by the street kindled memories of Handong. She remembered when she and Handong had gotten their very first manicure together - Handong choosing a coral-coloured polish for her fair, dainty fingers, while she had picked a navy blue for herself. They took numerous photos together, posing with their newly-done nails in every picture. How vain, she thought.

She recalled the time when they had first met - in church. Handong was a newcomer and had decided to visit the Sunday small group session that Minji was in. They had hit it off immediately, partly because they were of the same age and were both slightly more introverted individuals. A similar taste in food, music, books, fashion, activities, and even had the same "goody-two-shoes" behaviour - putting on the seatbelt when in a car, only crossing the road when the pedestrian light turned green, and trimming their nails bi-weekly. It was almost as if they were soulmates, Minji thought. She was certain that she would never meet someone so similar to her the rest of her life.

Handong's 21st birthday - her, Siyeon and Bora had planned to surprise Handong at her apartment. They had gotten a red velvet cake - Handong's favourite, pink balloons, as well as a cat plushie, for Handong loved cats to bits. The whole day of her birthday, they had ignored her texts and pretended to forget about it. The half an hour before her birthday was over, they showed up at her doorstep to surprise Handong. She was rendered speechless with realisation when she saw her best friends clutching a cake, balloons and a giftbag right outside her doorstep. It was hilarious, a small smile played on Minji's pale lips. She was so stunned, she forgot to let us into her house till we chided her for making us freeze to death.

And there was the time when the four of them, including Siyeon and Bora, had a sleepover at Minji's house - they ate fried chicken and drank beer, laughed along to lame jokes in sitcoms, talked endlessly about their embarrassing moments, first impressions and played truth or dare. Siyeon, being the secretive person she always was, chose dare instead of truth. The dare that they had given her was to imitate an alien - and surprisingly, she did it really well. As much as it had been cringe-worthy, all of them had laughed till their tummies hurt the minute Siyeon started pouting and speaking gibberish in a high-pitched voice. Bora, the daredevil, had obviously chosen dare as well, and the dare was to dance sexily. Damn, that girl is good. Who wouldn't fall for her? Minji wondered. Bora showed off some top-notch moves, eyes staring seductively at each and every one of them, then waltzing closer to Minji, tracing Minji's jaw seductively with her fingers, then retreating. Minji swore that her heart rate had increased at that very moment, and she considered for a split second that she might be gay.

But no, Minji was convinced that she wasn't. She had liked men her whole life, so there was simply no way she could be gay. She couldn't even see herself kissing a girl. Not ever.

Then it came to Handong's turn, where she had chosen truth over dare. The question given was, "What is your biggest regret?". Minji couldn't remember in detail the story that Handong had told them, but she knew that it broke Handong, and she had tears welling up in her hazel eyes as she recounted the experience. What was it? What was the story that she had told them about?

Minji chided herself for thinking as if Handong was gone, but she failed to stop her thoughts from running wild.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Bora's voice. "We're here." They had arrived at the hospital. Minji hesitated briefly before pushing open the Hyundai's door and stepped out into the harsh air. "Do you want me to accompany you?", Bora inquired. Minji turned her head to face Bora who was just about to step out of the vehicle herself. She pondered for a moment. "No, it's okay. Go back to my place and rest, you must be exhausted." Bora looked at Minji worriedly, before nodding and closing the car door as the silver machine disappeared into traffic.

Minji ran as fast she could manage. Her breath came in short gasps, the cold air from the air-conditioning biting into her lungs. Just a bit more, she told herself, grinding her teeth together as she ran swiftly, then waited impatiently for the doors to open that seemed to go slowly just to torment her. Her feet desperately attempted to create some form of traction against the highly polished linoleum floor. Whipping out her phone, she opened Siyeon's text. "53-05-12. Level 5." She tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket, dashing past people who didn't bother taking a second glance at her, headed towards the large set of stairs as she couldn't bear just standing and waiting for the elevator to come. She had to be doing something, even if that something was just climbing the damn stairs. Screw it, it's only five levels. She panted, the muscles in her body aching ferociously as each step felt like an eternity. Her eyes burned slowly from holding back the tears she so badly wanted to let out, but she couldn't. She had to remain strong. She wasn't about to cave in now.

With each step, she edged closer to her destination, till she arrived just before the ward. Her pulse was beating in her ears, blocking out the sounds of machinery humming or the light chatter of the nurses. Drawing in a deep, shaky breath, she tried to calm the panic rising in her being. Dread crept down her spine like a careful spider leaving a trail of silk. Her mind was worryingly empty. She hesitantly reached out, clammy fingers wrapping around the door handle. The handle felt icy in her fingers, and before she knew it, the door was nudged open, and she was greeted by a warm gust of air.