The Girl Who is Dead Inside

The next day.

"Yeo Ri-ah," Gun gently tried to catch her attention. "Oppa has something to do today, so can you wait here alone for the moment? Jin Goo-hyung and In Guk-hyung and Min Chae and the rest might come visit later so you'll have some company. Is that okay?"

"..." Yeo Ri stared quietly at the window, not paying attention to him at all.

"..." Gun smiled to himself again, feeling slightly crushed. He wondered what he could do to cheer her up. "O-Oppa's going," he stuttered, his voice cracking.

After Gun left, the silence was restored.

Yeo Ri was not thinking of anything at all; she was simply zoning out as she looked out of the window.

"Patient Lee Yeo Ri?" The doctor entered a few minutes afterwards.

Although the doctor was talking to her, Yeo Ri continued to act as if she did not hear anything.

The doctor, seeing her reaction, sighed.

"The patient is unresponsive. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Hong for her later," the doctor instructed the nurse behind her.

"Yes, doctor." The nurse immediately took out her phone and made a call.

Then, the doctor continued to examine her. After the brief examination ended, the doctor concluded that Yeo Ri was healing nicely.

Throughout the whole time, Yeo Ri did not speak a single word. No sound left her body and she kept ignoring the doctor and the nurses attending to her.

However, none of the hospital staff minded her reaction. They simply thought that it was a pity for a girl so young to experience such tragedy.

"Patient Lee Yeo Ri, we'll bring up your breakfast soon. Would you like to go to the bathroom?" The nurse gently asked, smiling warmly at the girl.

"..."

"...No? Then, I'll leave you to rest, okay?" The nurse sighed in her heart. She hoped for the girl to recover quickly.

After all the nurses and doctor left her room, she finally moved.

"... ... ... ." Yeo Ri's eyes glanced at the door silently. Then, she leaned into the bed and continued to stare at the window.

The doctor had finally lifted her visiting ban and the first of her visitors had already been waiting for ages.

Min Chae, Jang Mi, In Guk and Jin Goo walked into her room with expectant gazes. The four had been acquainted with each other when they were waiting for Yeo Ri at the ICU's waiting area. And so, the four had decided to come and visit Yeo Ri together.

"Yeo Ri, we came to visit!" Min Chae barged into the room first, impatient to see her best friend.

"This is a hospital; quiet down!" Following behind her with a withering glare was Jang Mi. However, when she moved her gaze to Yeo Ri, she completely lost her harshness. Softly, she said, "Yeo Ri-ah, how are you? We brought you some gifts. You like tteokbokki, right? We bought it at our usual place. Come try some."

"..."

"Yeo Ri-ah?" Receiving no reply from the bedridden girl, her heart raced.

"Yeo Ri-ah?" Min Chae also called her out. However, she similarly received no response. The two girls looked at each other with a worried look.

Jin Goo and In Guk also thought that something was strange. "Yeo Ri?"

"Hey, Yeo Ri-ah, what's wrong with you?" Min Chae approached her, looking somewhat nervous.

"..."

"Lee Yeo Ri, you're scaring me!" Min Chae shook her friend's body wildly but still received no response. "Hey, what's wrong?!"

"Min Chae, stop it!" Afraid that Min Chae was going to hurt Yeo Ri, Jang Mi hurriedly held the girl back.

"Yeo Ri! Lee Yeo Ri!" Min Chae called out desperately, wanting to stir some kind of response out of the girl. But, it was futile.

Yeo Ri was adamantly refusing to acknowledge their presence and kept staring at the window dazedly as if she was entranced.

Min Chae sobbed, feeling extremely vexed. She had heard about what happened while she was watching the news a few days ago.

Although Yeo Ri's name was censored, she could still recognise her friend. There was footage of her being taken out of the ambulance, then there was also footage of her eldest brother getting arrested for murder. The news channel that covered the story had said that the murdered 'victim' was their father, and only one day afterwards, the news of him being a serial killer and rapist came out.

It had shocked her. However, what shocked her the most was the fact that Yeo Ri had became her father's victim as well. Min Chae did not know that Yeo Ri had such a terrible home life. Her heart clenched at the thought. Yeo Ri had to endure so much pain, yet, all this time, she still continued to smile.

Thinking of that, and seeing Yeo Ri's current condition, her tears could no longer be stopped.

'If only I had done something,' she thought. 'If only I was a better friend.' If only she had not been so angry about Yeo Ri closing herself off from her. She wondered if things would have been better had she paid more attention to Yeo Ri instead of making her feel pressured to open up.

Because Min Chae was making such a racket, the hospital staff rushed in to intervene and in the end, they were kicked out.