The Happy Nightmare

The ceremonies took place. A lot of people came by, prayed, shared a lot of soft memories and left by wishing the dead one an adequate afterlife. 

She stood strong, however, Seon-Ho noticed her trembling lips, glossy eyes, cracked voice and the anxious thoughts she kept zoning out into. 

"Afterlife? Is he okay now? Doesn't he miss me? Surely he doesn't make all the decisions but I-I miss him. I can't comprehend my life without him. I have no one who will loiter for me in sweatpants and a random SpongeBob t-shirt and hug me when I come back from a tiring day."

Jin-Ae couldn't help but kept marvelling about what-ifs, hows and whys.

Merely, being alive was difficult and filled with dozens of questions to which the answers were unknown.

She kept querying herself but as said some questions are better left unanswered, she came back to reality but in no time, went back into it.

Her dad's friends wept bitterly about how her dad was ready for the operation but unexpectedly, everything went downhill and he passed away. 

She broke down several times, stood and fell again. She bravely survived the roller-coaster of emotions, she was numb, heartbroken and thirsty of her father's warm gaze. 

Kim Min-Jae dwelled by her side, took care of her, supported her emotionally when needed. He was trying hard to make her like him but it was doubtful and uncertain for some reason.

Seon-Ho kept an eye on him as he was very dubious and oh he was not stunned, to be exact he was very used to it.

A lot of guys came by, tried to fiddle and took advantage of her innocence but every time Seon-Ho hushed them away. But this time, Seon-Ho felt a little exotic than usual, a little sceptical but more of someone who he decided to trust.

She was emotionally volatile and fragile so she didn't think a lot about it. 

The day ended, it increased the voids of doubts and the pain caused by the unanswered question; it was an upheaval of feelings and reality.

Who is Min-Jae? Why is he sticking around? Is he guilty about something? 

Days passed by,

She was restoring day by day. Min-Jae visited her every morning with gifts and flowers and oh, he gifted her a brand new phone too. 

He came off rich, of course, he was the owner of that famous and elegant hotel in Korea whilst Seon-Ho kept a gape on him too, he was quite overprotective about Min-Jae being around her but she told him not to worry and that she is wise enough to address it alone if anything happens. 

She was mentally ready to entrust Taehyung some space so he can let out the reason he stayed around her for all this time. 

Hours altered into days, the instability kept growing inside her. Her existence was not eager to move on after a huge loss. She stayed in bed for days and let the sorrow get to the roots of her fear. The fear of being left alone. 

Seon-Ho and Min-Jae somehow teamed up, they were striving their best to make her feel good, she smiled for them but when they were gone, she was miserable, polling the purpose of her life. 

She was strong and kept fighting but it was too much for her to handle. 

She kept it all inside, she didn't want anybody to know this but at the same time, she was not strong enough to put these into words and express it.

Soon the tables turned, fate's magic spell and portions began to work. A new moon carried something for her. A candle that might help her to see evidently. 

Min-Jae gifted her a scented candle as she cherished a room that smelt like lavender but more of roses. 

The feelings deviated. Every little thing that Min-Jae did for her came to her notice. 

Jin-Ae's heart battered at how Min-Jae visited the hospital every day, took some time off his busy schedule to spent time with her just to make her feel better. Most of all, he never touched her but always moved with what she likes and where her soul feels skilled in sensing peace and harmony.  

In no time, she felt warm and safe around him. She didn't know him, but she yearned for him to stay as long as he can. 

He had something, something that entices her towards him, more powerful than a magnet. It is Love, yes.

Love that makes the skin sting, a love like warm hands that caresses cold hands and instantly engraves it into feeling alive. Love that makes the dull marble shiver and shines in stardust sunlight. 

The idea of true love, finding another half perpetually fascinated Jin-Ae. She always waited for the morning when the glint of gold flashes on her window, her glasses crawl down to her nose with her hair moving parallel to the wind and when birds sing a romantic melody that makes her heart skip a beat, to which she would dance and bounce feeling euphoric. The wait was over. Love happened.

That's when Min-Jae entered the room with an angelic look, glowing like a moon in the daytime.

She blinked several times when Min-Jae snapped his fingers in front of her. She hurriedly sat on the bed looking down with her cheeks burning.

She was falling in love with him. Every day he would make her giggle, feed her, watch movies with her, share memes, and everything a newlywed couple would do. 

He made her end up on another side of him, the side where his storms, dreams and madness brought her peace. 

Slowly and gradually, the aroma of devotion, the portions helped her to accept actuality. She would brag about Min-Jae to everyone, her diary, the nurses and Seon-Ho too. 

He was happy to see her twinkle and glisten again. He lost the tiny naive Jin-Ae he used to know, but now he knows a Jin-Ae who was madly in love with someone who brought her yellow back. 

Min-Jae littered her with the vestigial of self-love and Seon-Ho was truly happy about it. 

Time fled, 3 months to be specific, she was in the hospital. Enchantingly, warmth and tenderness made everything easy, the injuries were somehow better but something in her health was taking turns, she was feeling a little groggy and nauseous but overall, she was fine. 

After evaluating her condition, Seon-Ho decided and allowed her to go home. 

Jin-Ae lunged in the air as if she was transported to heaven. She was thrilled to go out and feel the world, to go out with Min-Jae and sense the fondness of the world. She was excited for her dreamy confession, the strawberry farm dates, stargazing nights, hand-written love letters for when they would miss each other, the secret night stays and everything that sounds ravishingly pleasing. 

She waited for him whilst drooping into a daydream where they would be sipping coffee in the lavender fields.