L U C I D || A Dreamcatcher AU

8 | Enigmatic

Minji set herself next to the bed, eyes staring dejectedly around the room. The hospital room was as devoid of beauty as she was of hope. Its walls were simply cream, not peeling or dirty, just cream. An old TV set hung from the ceiling. A window giving her a view of the world below was just beneath the screen. In the corner were two chairs, frayed with wear and tear. It was a typical hospital room, sparse and functional.

Handong lay there, motionless. An IV pole with a digital monitoring system was attached via a needle to her left wrist, and a face mask supplied oxygen to her fragile body. Minji could hear the gentle beeping of the heart rate monitor. With every beat and every moment, the lines dashed up and down on the screen. A life was hanging in the balance of that steady sound. Nurses came in to check her vitals every half hour. The doctor couldn't determine the induction of her coma, all he had mentioned was that her brain was extremely active despite her physical state, and they would continue to monitor her.

Siyeon and Mrs. Han had been here earlier, but Minji had asked Siyeon to take Mrs. Han home, for she knew they needed rest. Mrs. Han was visibly shattered. She had sobbed into Handong's chest unceasingly, hands clutching at the hem of her daughter's shirt. She held her in silence as her tears soaked Handong's shirt. Nurses had tried to pull her away for they needed to carry out their duties, and Mrs. Han, blinking lashes heavy with tears, got up before she collapsed to the floor, her howls of misery worsening. The pain must have come in waves, minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths before Siyeon had tried to comfort her, even though she herself was fighting back her own tears. Siyeon was never one to be emotional, but even when she was, she tried her best to remain strong, being a pillar of support to others even as she herself could break down any minute, and Minji admired that quality of hers.

None of this felt real to Minji. Perhaps it was just a nightmare, and she just ought to play along. Or she could just force herself to wake up, and all this would be over. She pinched her thigh, letting out a tiny yelp of pain. She was half-expecting her surroundings to warp into her bedroom, where she last was, but nothing. She was still seated in the chair beside the bed, not lying down on her own bed. Handong was still lying there on the sheets, skin as pale as a ghost. The sadness drained through her rather than skating over her skin. It traveled through every cell to reach the ground. She filtered it, yet strangely enough, she kept what was pure and it was the dirt that left. Everything will be alright, she will wake up soon. Just gotta be optimistic.

Her thoughts traveled back to where she had left off in the taxi. Yes, the story Handong had told us about...what was it? Minji racked her brain, trying to recall the story. An old friend...stole items...accomplice...police station...betrayed? Something clicked in her mind. Yes, that was it. That was what the story was about. In the past, Handong was an accomplice in theft with her old friend, but she had betrayed her friend, causing her friend to be arrested, kicked out from school and forced to live in a girls' home. They had never contacted each other since. Handong had felt extremely guilty about it, for ditching her friend for her selfish reasons, even though she realised afterward that she should have reached out to her friend and helped her instead of abandoning her. That was, and is still her biggest regret. That was also the reason why she had become a Christian; she wanted forgiveness, and she wanted to learn how to reach out to others in order to prevent history from repeating itself. Questions swarmed in Minji's head. On one hand, Minji understood why Handong did what she did, but on the other hand, she was genuinely curious about Handong's old friend; what had happened to her? Where was she now? Did she ever complete her education? What was her motive for stealing in the first place?

Minji imagined the girl to be how a typical delinquent would: dyed hair, ears covered in piercings, smoked, drank, got into fights in school, shoplifted, skipped classes, never handed in their homework and was constantly called to the principal's office for causing trouble. She wondered how Handong, a pure and righteous individual, became friends with someone who was a polar opposite of her. Then again, Minji knew that some delinquents never seemed like delinquents. Some were genuinely nice, good-looking, or exceptionally good-looking at that. Maybe that was how Handong had gotten mixed up with a troublemaker. Looks could be deceiving, and Handong was naive at that. Shit, I did it again. Minji berated herself. She had always stereotyped and labeled others, and that was something that she had never been proud of. Minji took a step back and tried to put herself in the girl's shoes.