Surreal Tranquility

Gun's mood was terrible thanks to the meeting with that old woman.

However, as soon as he arrived at Yeo Ri's door, he rubbed his face, wiping off his long face. He didn't want to show such an unfriendly look to Yeo Ri, after all.

He took a deep breath and smiled widely as he pushed open the hospital room's door. "Yeo Ri-ah, Oppa is ba—"

When Gun figured out that Yeo Ri was sleeping, he hurriedly toned down his voice and pursed his lips tightly, as if sealing it. His eyes softened at her angelic sleeping face.

Quietly, he tiptoed to the chair by her bedside and placed the duffel bag full of miscellaneous things down on the floor.

The room was empty when he arrived, meaning that all the guests had left. Yeo Ri was asleep anyways so there was nothing else to do. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

"Oppa?" Yeo Ri drowsily called out.

"Hm?" Gun snapped up, looking at her tiredly.

"...Go rest."

"...Yeah, okay." Gun rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had been running around everywhere the whole day so he got up and went to lie down on the sole couch in the room. It was a little cramped for his size, but it was comfortable enough. Within a second, he easily dozed off.

Since she was woken up by Gun's presence, Yeo Ri could no longer go back to sleep. Accompanied by the slight buzzing of the air conditioning, Yeo Ri stared out of the window dazedly.

Observing the park from the window had become one of her favourite pastimes. She could watch it for hours on end. It allowed her to waste time as well as gather her thoughts, and if she didn't want to think of anything, she could just simply focus on the people milling about at the park. They were always doing something—exercising, walking, talking, playing, drawing, resting... she was not short of any observable subjects.

She especially liked to watch this one pair of old couple that often went on walks together after breakfast. The old man would push the old woman's wheelchair and their mouths would move ceaselessly as if having a conversation. Sometimes they would laugh, and sometimes they would pause and stare affectionately at one another. Sometimes, they would stop and rest, simply watching the other park-goers or secretly smooching.

Then, there was also a girl who would sit by the bench and simply draw. Over the time she had spent in the hospital, Yeo Ri had seen the girl switch her sketchbook three times. It was either because she had multiple sketchbooks, or perhaps she happened to draw so much that the pages were quickly filled up. Yeo Ri was much more inclined to believe the latter seeing as the girl never seemed to bring out the previous sketchbooks after she changed them.

"—Lee Yeo Ri? Miss Lee Yeo Ri?"

Finally snapping out of her thoughts, Yeo Ri's attention went to the nurse who had been calling her name for some time. She looked worried at the girl's lack of response.

"Patient Lee Yeo Ri, it's time for your therapy session. I'll help you get on your wheelchair," the nurse informed. In a professional and practiced manner, she helped Yeo Ri get off the bed and tucked her into the wheelchair. After all the preparations were done, she wheeled the girl to Dr. Hong's consultation office.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Hong perfunctorily asked.

"Fine."

"Really? I heard you had a meltdown when those detectives came," Dr. Hong raised her eyebrow at the girl. The nurses often kept her up-to-date with Yeo Ri's activities ever since she was assigned with Yeo Ri's case.

"Mm. I'm fine now," Yeo Ri muttered in reply. She looked as if she did not want to talk about it.

"If that's so, then I'm glad," Dr. Hong said smilingly. Sensing the girl's heavy mood, she changed the subject, "The nurses told me that you like looking at the park. Shall I ask the nurses to take you out to the park in the future?"

"No, it's fine," Yeo Ri shook her head. She was contented with just observing from her room.

"Oh... well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to tell the nurses. They're really dependable."

"Mm."

Dr. Hong smiled. Yeo Ri was becoming more talkative. It was a good thing. Luckily, she had not shown much regression despite her meltdown. This showed that Yeo Ri was open to recovering her past self.

"I heard from Dr. Jin that you didn't take Dr. Heo's offer to transfer? I'm actually quite glad. I didn't really want a patient of mine to be snatched away from me so easily, haha," Dr. Hong lightheartedly chuckled.

"..."

"Well, since we still have a lot of time right now, shall we go to the park?" Dr. Hong suggested.

"Sure, whatever." Yeo Ri shrugged her shoulders. She didn't have the mood to do anything so she just went along with her suggestion.

Dr. Hong continued smiling despite the girl's indifference. Cheerily, she helped push the wheelchair as she chattered endlessly.