┊┊┊┊ ➶ ❁۪ 。˚ ✧

┊┊┊┊ ➶ ❁۪ 。˚ ✧

Song Bada crossed yet another thing of her bucket list. She had a short road trip to Busan with her mother over the weekend and went to the beach and had a wonderful weekend. For three whole days she hadn't spent a single thought on her health.

But now she was sitting in her bedroom, looking at the bucket list. A few unrealistic things and all the Jungwon related wishes were still black on white in front of her eyes. She moved her hands through her now short hair and sighed.

Her heart had been in a lot of pain lately. She was breathless and simple things started to become difficult for her. She would get exhausted quicker and even though she enjoyed the road trip and all the things she did with Wonyoung, she knew something was changing.

School was starting in a week and Bada wasn't sure if she would be able to get better by then.

Sighing, she dropped her pen and leaned back in her chair. She had to speak to her mother about it. She patted her chest bone and looked at the calendar in front of her. Today was August 8. Jungwon had his big New York concert today. And in exactly seven days school would start again.

How would she be able to stay at school the whole day, when her condition had been the opposite of good?

"Mum?", called Bada, rubbing her temples. She could hear her mother shuffle in the kitchen. Just a moment later her bedroom door was opened and Song Maria stepped into the bedroom, wiping her hands on a dish cloth.

"You called?"

"Do you think I'll be fit enough to go to school next week?"

Bada's question hit Maria harder than she expected. She knew Bada's condition had worsened over the summer holidays. She knew the trip to Busan was a bad idea, since Bada hadn't been physically well to spend so much time in the sun.

"How do you feel?", she asked, instead of answering her daughter.

Bada pushed her septum up her nose with her top lip and looked at her hands. They were shaking—they've been shaking for days now. And Bada felt unnatural cold. She wore a thin cardigan, even if it was hot outside.

"Honestly?", Bada asked and turned to face her mother. "Not good." Bada's voice was quiet and Maria looked at her. "I had so much fun this summer that I kinda pushed back all feelings regarding my illness." Bada folded the cardigan over her body, her legs were shaking.

Maria put the dish cloth on the cupboard next to Bada's door and walked over to her. "Do you want help?", she asked, as she watched Bada struggle to stand up from her desk. "Can I lay down on the couch? I don't want to be alone right now" Bada whispered and Maria nodded. "Sure, love."

Linking her arm with her mother, Bada let herself be helped to the couch. Maria tucked her into a fuzzy blanket and gently wiped her short blonde hair out of her face. "Do you want to watch some Netflix? Or Disney+?", Maria asked but Bada shook her head, grabbed the remote and switched to National Geographic. "Just going to watch some documentary."

Maria looked at Bada and nodded. "I'll be in the kitchen. Yell, if you need me."

Bada spent the last seven days of her summer holidays like this. She was getting weaker, paler and she was unable to eat a lot.

When Jungwon landed back in Seoul it took him a few days to contact her. He send her a text message asking if she wanted to meet up.

Bada left him on read.

And just like this the summer holidays ended and the last term of their senior year started.

— ❤️‍🩹 —

It was August 15 and Yang Jungwon had never ran up the school hill faster. His cheeks were burning and he had a little paper bag in his hand—gifts from all the cities in the USA he visited. Gifts for Bada.

After a quick stop by his locker he ran to his classroom. He greeted his friends and stopped by Bada's seat. The blonde girl wasn't here yet, so he gently put the paper bag on her desk before walking to his seat.

Jang Wonyoung watched this and lifted her head. She glanced at the paper bag with the little pink ribbon and sighed. She bit her lip, put a strand of hair behind her ear and turned to Jungwon.

"Jungwon" she called and the drummer looked up and smiled at her. "Hey Wonyoung! Did you enjoy your summer?" - "Come here" Wonyoung said and Jungwon realized the dark rings under Wonyoung's eyes and that her hair wasn't as silky as usual.

She nodded to Bada's chair and Jungwon sat down.

"What's up? You look tired" he said and Wonyoung folded her hands. "Is that for Bada?", she asked and Jungwon nodded. "Yeah, I brought her little souvenirs from the states!", he grinned and nodded at the paper bag.

"I'm not sure how much you know of Bada's condition" Wonyoung then said. She bit her lip and tried not to start crying.

She had been at Bada's house over the weekend and realized that Bada's condition had worsened drastically. She was now bed-ridden and very pale, thin and slept a lot. Her doctor told Maria that her body started refusing the medication. Dr. Huh had put Bada on a list for transplants, but Maria had told Dr. Huh that this wasn't Bada's wish.

With a heavy heart Maria had submitted Bada to a children's and youth hospice. They were now only waiting for a spot. When Maria told Wonyoung her whole world shattered, but Wonyoung knew she had to be strong. For Bada.

"Bada won't come to school anymore" Wonyoung said and looked up. Jungwon froze. He saw the tears glistening in Wonyoung's eyes, but he didn't quite understand. "Why? Did she drop out?", he asked but Wonyoung shook her head.

She wanted to explain when their homeroom teacher entered the room.

"I'll tell you at recess."

Jungwon nodded and walked back to his seat. Once he sat down he saw Wonyoung taking the paper bag and putting it in her backpack. Something inside him was moved by this and he furrowed his brows.

Wonyoung seemed stressed. Jungwon couldn't judge all this, but he felt like something must have happened during the summer break. He quickly shook his head and tried to concentrate on homeroom and the lessons that followed.

— ❄︎ —

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!

𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞.

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

—𝕤𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕞𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕠𝕡