18 Grateful

"Okay but why are you crying though?" Haneul asked both of her friends, sobbing their eyes out in front of her. "Haru, Youngsoo, it's okay, you can do it!"

But the cat on the surgical table needed much more than their tears. Hit by a slow moving car, the cat wasn't in danger. But his unconsciousness only wavered their hearts.

Youngsoo's clinic was supposed to be closed today but since Haru rushed in with her pet cat, he had to open it.

"Youngsoo!" Haru said amidst her tears. "Do something!" He shook him around.

Youngsoo too, was full of tears. "I-I" He couldn't even speak.

Haneul sighed. "Look at me, you two." She said, "We bandaged Luna right?" She asked.

The two nodded.

"We also checked his vitals and made sure he would wake up, right?" She asked again.

The two nodded, again.

"Then stop crying." Haneul frowned. "You're only making him sad!"

Then the two cry babies rubbed their faces with their sleeves. Luna had been adopted by Haru since last October. She still remembered when Youngsoo found him in the harsh and cold weather and brought him to Haru. How quick these small creatures ended up capturing hearts was very visible, considering their endless streams of tears. At this point, they could cause the Han River to flood.

"I should've forced him into the carrier." Haru said as she pouted. "It's my fault."

"I should've arrived here earlier." Youngsoo frowned with his still-moist eyes. "It's my fault."

"I should've had a softer heart and cried your share too." Haneul sighed. "It's my fault."

Not that Haneul disliked pets or animals. Of course, her heart was also melting to the cat's pains. She just wanted to stay more professional and strong as crying wouldn't magically help the cat wake up.

The two quickly sniffed unanimously, as if planned before. Luna wasn't going to wake up till the next few hours. However, they weren't going to leave the clinic till they heard the cat meow. Fortunately, Youngsoo's clinic was spacious enough for them to be comfortable and monitor Luna at the same time.

"Have you guys eaten?" Haneul asked out of concern, the two had been in the clinic since early in the morning.

The couches had finally given their backs an opportunity to rest when Haneul asked them a question they hadn't even thought about since the morning.

"No?" Haneul sighed. "What am I going to do with you guys?"

"I can't eat until Luna wakes up." Haru pouted and frowned.

"Yeah, but Youngsoo?" Haneul's tone was extremely lecturing, "You should know better."

Youngsoo nodded. He had been starving all this time too. But seeing Luna in that state really killed his appetite. His stomach growled right away.

"Youngsoo?" Haneul called him again, intensifying her lecturing tone.

"I'll eat… in a while." Youngsoo looked down.

Haneul pulled her phone out from her handbag and started looking for places to order food from. She wasn't going to wait a few hours for the cat to wake up. She wanted her friends to be able to stand on their feet to see the cat wake up.

It was ridiculous to skip food under any situation and she was not going to let them do it unless it made them really sick. She placed orders and sat on the couch alongside them.

"I have an inpatient at the hospital." Haneul said out of the blue, "A 17 year old girl who was in a traffic accident." She added. "Haru should know her. Ahn Minsoo, vertebral displacement and fractures. Surgery was done twice."

"Minsoo can't walk." Haru said in a low tone, still recovering from flooding the Han River. "Ever."

"But she can breathe." Haneul said. "She can eat." She added. "Laugh, play, run around in her wheelchair, feel, cry, and most of all live."

Haru looked up at Haneul, being motivational for the first time in forever.

"We are always able to surpass the greater pains in life in one way or another." Haneul continued. "I'm sure Luna will be able to recover soon. He's still breathing, right?" She added in a questioning tone. "Then that's enough for now!"

That was true. The only thing worrying Haru and Youngsoo was the fact that Luna wasn't awake yet.

"Since Luna is breathing," Haneul continued. "Eat." She emphasized. "Eat to earn the energy to fix things if they happen to go wrong. Eat to earn the energy to witness Luna waking up with all your attention and strength."

The two pouted again, tearing up right away. The motivation was all true but the pain in their heart was greater. Haneul was still going to stuff their mouths with food, that was for sure. For now, she let them weep their pain out.

While they were busy wiping their face clean, Haneul received the food from outside the clinic and brought it inside. The rider had gotten lost as the clinic still said 'closed'.

Haneul had ordered tteokbokki, a comfort food. If this wasn't enough to comfort them, she would look for food until they could finally eat. Fortunately, Youngsoo was able to eat right away. Haneul felt proud. During her bad days, never once she had missed food. In fact, she was the one to stress eat. Youngsoo was somewhere in between and Haru would cut off from anything edible.

It was all understandable. Everyone had their own ways to cope with their stress. If eating more was reducing stress, that was okay. If starving was reducing stress, that was okay too. Once the stress is reduced, it's not like they won't give up on eating or return back to it. Everything was timely. So was Luna's unconsciousness.

Meow!

Then they jumped out of their places, running towards the cat's small murmur. Youngsoo quickly examined him firsthand and checked his vitals.

"Out of danger." He smiled at Haru.

Haru pouted and smiled back, slowly and gently patting the cat's head.

"Thank you for waking up."

(A/N: Tteokbokki is a stir fried, spicy rice cakes dish.)