A white ceiling patterned with a grid filled my vision.
Hhhk, hhhk.
Somewhere beside my ears, the sound of someone breathing echoed again and again.
Hhhhhh.
No.
Was that really someone else’s breathing?
“Please…….”
A desperate prayer brushed against my ears.
The voice was so choked with tears that it sounded muffled, but I still knew it.
“Please… just say something…….”
Scholar.
Seonrim.
A friend as straight as bamboo, who had always ranked within the top five in our entire school, yet had been forced to repeat a year solely because of an accident the day before the CSAT.
And even then, you didn’t cry.
I’ve only seen you cry twice.
Both times were when I got into an accident, or when I wasted my life because of its aftermath.
Now this makes three.
I don’t even know how I’m supposed to face you.
“H-Hey. Don’t screw around. You… you already pulled that kind of stunt once when you collapsed. Once was enough…….”
Shoes.
Lee Janghwa.
You always pretended otherwise, but you were such a crybaby that every time one of the students you taught succeeded in their entrance exams, you called all of us over and bawled your eyes out.
Still, whenever you cried, it was always because you were happy.
And I ruined even that.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry……
“A-Auntie. Right now, right now… Hhh, he woke up.”
Dakgangjeong.
Kang Jeonghui.
You bragged so much about the trip you were supposed to take in two months, but knowing how sentimental you are, you probably canceled it.
You weren’t thick-skinned enough…