𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬 | 𝐊. 𝐆𝐖 - 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

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” NO! NO! NO!”

“YES! YES! YES!”

“KNOCK HER OUT KID!”

Screams of different voices merged, one shouting over the other with rapid fingers smashing controllers, bodies half up in the air and multiple eyes glued to the screen at the middle of the mantle. Characters danced on a screen and the shouting grew more frantic. There was a moment of total chaos until the one character lunged and a huge bold orange and red K.O jumped on screen.

The room split into cheers and groans simultaneously.

Nari slumped into the couch, the controller laying defeated in her lap while Woo-jin scooped up a roaring Nam-gi, flinging him into the air as the two whooped and hollered, pointing fingers at Nari with elated grins at her downturned and pouted lips.

“You cheated” she huffed but a small smile teased her lips as Nam-gi raised his hands in victory, perched on Woo-jin’s shoulders while the man paraded him across the room.

“It was a mistake buying him that game” Hyeon-ju muttered. She was dressed down in a simple plain black shirt, laying languidly across the chair with a bottle of soju in hand watching the intense match with a quirk of her eyebrow.

” I think it was a mistake having Woo-jin play it instead” Nari chuckled as Geon-woo dropped onto the seat beside her, throwing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his side.

” He’s a kid at heart” Nari hummed as said man dropped Nam-gi to the floor and snatched the controller from her hand and plopped himself next to her brother on the floor, preparing to go for another round.

” You spoil him too much” Nari said as Ms Yoon came into the kitchen, a tray of fruits and sweet treats laid in a charcuterie style board of which she placed on the coffee table in the middle of the room, Nam-gi was quick to grab at the chocolates in the corner.

” I can’t resist, he’s so adorable” Ms Yoon smiled, glancing fondly at the young boy who was screaming at the TV, Woo-jin matching his passion with a carrot stick hanging half out his mouth.

“Do you want company at the café?” Geon-woo asked his mother who shook her head with a warm smile.

“No, no I just want to grab something. You guys have fun” she waved goodbye, the others chorusing farewells and Nari couldn’t help reminisce everything that had happened.

Geon-woo had stayed true to his words. After they had had ensured Myeong-gil would never be a problem again, Gang-yong promising that they’d never have to worry about him, Min-beom sat them down and asked what they’d do with the money which they recovered as well. It was decided to fulfil Mr Choi’s last wishes of good and so a hospital was to be built in his name. It was then out of curtesy and affection she found herself staring at two gold bars in her hand.

Nari didn’t know how to feel about it at first, it felt like blood money. Solidified by the fact that for a moment they had become something they had never wished to be-bloodhounds. Everything came spiralling back. Money with money. They’d come full circle.

“You kids deserve it” Min-beom said. “Mr Choi would’ve done the same”

Her heart stuttered at that. She remembered glancing at Woo-jin who had burst into a disbelieving grin, Hyeon-ju whose eyes sparkled with joy and Geon-woo who stared it as if it was alien in his hands. The four of them didn’t really know what to do with the money but Min-beom assured them that if anyone deserved it, it would be them.

So they took it graciously and soon, they purchased a decent sized house in the countryside, close enough near Mr Oh and near enough to visit the orphanage as they pleased. The house was perched in a distance, overlooking the rolling hills but close enough to walk to the town centre in decent time. It was large enough for all of them to live comfortably in until Hyeon-ju was planning a trip to Rome and Woo-jin would find his own place, probably back in Seoul where he could get back to training and keep an eye on Mr Moon. The place belonged to Geon-wo and Nari, but it was never empty, Ms Yoon and Nam-gi would live with them and they even pooled their money to buy Ms Yoon a café in the town, situated between a bookstore and a lovely clothing shop. Let’s say the deli man was more than elated when he saw Geon-woo stroll the streets again.

They had moved in some time ago and Nari could remember distinctly how it felt when Geon-woo opened the doors to the place, his hands over her eyes before lowering it with a blinding smile. Her heart felt full and she couldn’t help tear up at the sight of the house, or rather her home.

Nari felt at home.

Her father was sent to a facility that would help him in more ways than she ever could and slowly he was getting better, not insanely fast but Nari noticed the small changes in him. He started looking at his daughter and for a moment when Nari visited, nervous with Geon-woo’s arms tightly wrapped around her waist for comfort, she almost thought she saw a smile.

Everything had fallen into place. A life she had only thought a fairytale.

Her heart still yearned for the family they lost but a piece of them was carried wherever they went. On the mantel piece, below the TV were pictures, many, and when Nari placed them on the shelf her heart felt a little lighter.

If Nari knew better if felt as if multiple pairs of hands held onto her as she corrected the frame with a sad smile, almost as if they were there, smiling at her, proud. They could finally rest.

And so could she.

But there was something unexpected that lay in her future. Something that would shake her and it came in the form of a call.

Nari slammed through the doors of Seoul National Hospital, her legs wobbling and breaths heavy and she all but crashed into the front desk.

“Where is she?”

“Ma’am-” the woman behind the desk glanced at her with wide eyes at their disarray. Nari was all but leaning over the counter, a frenzied look in her eyes before the woman noticed a man trail in a few seconds after, glancing around the room before landing on Nari where he let out a relieved sigh and joined her side.

“I got the call, where is she?”

Nari asked again, more forcefully and unsettled. The woman gaped and then turned to her logs on her monitor before another nurse overheard the conversation, peaked down at her clipboard and made her way towards them.

”Excuse me? Are you Miss Byun by any chance?” the nurse asked, leaning slightly forward in question, pulling Nari’s attention.

“I am” Nari affirmed and the woman waved her hand.

”My apologies we didn’t expect you to be here so early. Please follow me” the nurse said, she turned on her heel, clutching her clipboard to her chest and fiddled with her name card before gesturing them to follow her.

Neri shared a look with Geon-woo, the two pausing before trailing after her, their paces quick to keep up with the woman all the while their eyes jumped at the rooms that began to blur.

” I am glad we managed to get in contact with you” the nurse said and Nari’s breath lodged in her throat as the nurse led them through the pediatric section of the hospital. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the hospital, more light and less grave, with pictures drawn on the wall, a mixture of colours. The roof was painted a sky blue, white fluffy clouds among it and a sun drawn around the light fixture. Paper mâché artworks hung from the ceiling and for a moment, one tended to forget the purpose of the ward from how distracting and childlike everything was.

“We came as soon as we could” Nari nodded and the woman smiled.

” You see, we tried getting in contact with the family, but we were unsuccessful. We had to wait for months for clearance, and only then could we get access to any sort of information that would get us in contact with anyone really. Your name was listed as an emergency contact, and you were also the only one to reply” she told them and then slowed her pace until they reached a door. There was no name plaque or anything indicating the name of the patient, but it didn’t stop her anxiety from bubbling in her chest.

Geon-woo reached for her hand as the door slid open.

” I’d like to finally introduce you to someone” the nurse smiled and when Nari stepped into the room, a woman rounded from a crib with a bundle in her arms.

Words seemed to leave her as her eyes settled on a little baby girl, sound asleep in the nurse’s arms. She was wrapped in a soft pink blanket, her small hands below her chin and a small nose that twitched occasionally. She was beautiful.

“This is her?” Geon-woo raised the question softly when Nari was unable to. Her eyes, now waterlined, were glued to the small miracle.

“She is” the nurse nodded, her smile was sweet. ” Lee Du-yeong and Lee Mi-kyung’s daughter. Isn’t she adorable”

Nari had to stop her lips from trembling as she took slow careful steps towards the sleeping child.

“Can I hold her?” her words were so tender, she wasn’t even sure they had heard her until the nurse who was holding the baby nodded with a smile and delicately placed the baby in Nari’s barely noticeable shaky arms.

When the baby was transferred, Nari could get a good look at her. She must have been around 8 months now. Alone, not knowing what happened. Never knowing her parents. How much they loved her even when she wasn’t born. How much they wanted to meet her. How much they would’ve adored her. Nari held her and her heart broke. She was a perfect blend of her parents. Cute chubby cheeks, black hair like tufts with pink bows on either side of her head.

She’d been alive for 8 months and nobody knew. She didn’t know. This little girl had been alive all along.

Nari gulped down her sorrow and mourning as she rocked the baby gently in one arm while her finger lightly traced over her cheek with the other. The baby stirred and then settled and almost seemed to curl into her. Nari took a shuddering breath.

”Is her mother? Is Mi-kyung-?” her question failed her, and the nurse’s smile simmered into pity. The other nurse gently took the baby from her arms and Nari went to protest, to hold onto the baby and not let go. She was the last thing she had of her uncle and Mi-kyung. A living embodiment of the two.

“You might want to sit down” the nurse said, and guided the two to the couch in the corner of the room. The nurse took a seat opposite them and then began explaining.

It had been a peaceful night, the woman started. I was the nurse in charge and I was in the foyer checking in on a few more patients before I’d clock in for the night. It was late and I was tired. I was finishing a couple goodnights to my colleagues before the call came and then minutes later the sirens. They said they were bringing in a couple, a man in his early forties and a pregnant woman of similar age. They were both bleeding, stabbed was the diagnosis. The husband, he didn’t make it by the time they had arrived but the woman. They barely kept her alive. She wasn’t going to make it but the baby… we had to make a decision. She died before reaching the table and there was only a window opportunity. They ripped the baby from her mother’s dead womb. It was miracle really, the baby was premature and it took a couple moths but she pulled through. We couldn’t get any information because the case was considered a murder, It was only recently that we were able to track you down. I’m not sure if the attorney sat you down but, in the will, you were labelled as legal guardian in the event anything happened to them. Which lead us to now.

Nari had tears falling down her cheeks, head bowed and shoulders shaking. Geon-woo had stifled his own but his eyes were watering, rubbing her back as Nari cried into her hands. The nurse was sending them comforting glances while the other gently rocked the baby in her arms.

“What’s her name?” Nari eventually asked but the two nurses shared a glance.

”She doesn’t have one, not officially. We didn’t feel like it was right to name her without her guardians” the nurse said and then the nurse placed her back into her arms while Geon-woo pulled both girls into him. Nari glanced at Geon-woo and he nodded in reassurance. She found the baby’s round face once more.

“Lee Mi-yeong” Nari whispered. “That will be her name”

Named after both her parents. A good, self confident girl she would grow to be. A girl who would be so loved.

Nari smiled shakily, her tears glistening as she held the baby closer to her chest. Geon-woo smiled and pressed a tender kiss to her temple before they both glanced down that the sleeping child.

Lee Mi-yeong- the miracle child and the beginning of a new life for them all.

Sobbing😭😭😭😭

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