Please, don't leave me

Life is all about unexpected things. We never know what will happen next. Among all unexpected things, we are struggling to find reasons to live, to love, to leave.

AeRi is a 25 years old famous cardiologist in China. She had her own private hospital. She is well known as a crazy researcher. AeRi does many experiments using bats to make a vampire. Because she believed humans could get a long life if they could turn into vampires. There is no one in this world who believes in her logic except professor Chan-Yeol. He is in charge of the secret laboratory AeRi owns. Chan-Yeol is a 40 years old mature person who always thinks out of the box.

AeRi got married to a wealthy businessman at a young age. Her husband Dae-Jung and their five years old little son Se-Hun are her whole world. They lived a glamourous life.

Just a second is more than enough to make everything totally different. It was the day, AeRi could laugh for the LAST TIME!

AeRi came to her cabin after a 6 hours operation. She washed her hands and face. AeRi's mobile rang. The screen shows the caller's name as 'Hubby'. She picked up the phone with a smiley face. She was waiting for Dae-Jung to pick her up from the hospital.

"Mama… Mama..." AeRi's son Se-Hun was crying over the phone. AeRi got scared.

"Se-Hun… Baby, what happened? Why are you crying? Where's Dad?" AeRi couldn't understand anything. With a big noise of a crash, the phone line got disconnected.

"Se-Hun..." AeRi shouted while running out of her cabin like a crazy woman. She couldn't run far. She fainted and fell down.

AeRi was in a hospital bed when she woke up. Professor Chan was with her.

"Se-Hun..." AeRi looked around.

"Se-Hun is in danger. Mr. Chan, please. I have to find him." AeRi tried to get down from the bed.

"We found them, AeRi. Just stay here a little bit." Mr. Chan tried to calm her down.

"Where are they? What are you hiding from me?" AeRi shouted.

"The car was destroyed because of an accident. We transferred Se-Hun to the ICU." Mr. Chan delivered the words hardly.

"Accident? What about Dae-Jung? I want to talk to him. He's very careful when driving with Se-Hun." AeRi got down from the bed.

"I'm sorry, AeRi. Mr. Dae-jung was dead before he was brought to the hospital." AeRi couldn't believe those words. She kept looking at Mr. Chan for a while.

"Mr. Chan. This can't be true. I want to check him personally. No matter what it needs to cure them. You should do that. Come with me. You are a doctor. How do you say he's dead? You might be mistaken." AeRi tried to walk, but she was shocked and weak. Mr. Chen held her hand.

"It's better not to see her body, AeRi. You won't be able to control yourself. Don't be silly. As a doctor, you know it's useless to try on a dead person. You have to take care of Se-Hun now." Mr. Chen explained.

"Are you telling me not to be silly? You are the silly one here. My husband can't die. I want to check him. I should check him." AeRi ran out of her room to find her husband, Dae-Jung.

Dae-Jung's body has been dangerously damaged. AeRi could not control herself from crying and shouting.

"He protected son, without even thinking about himself." Someone said.

AeRi went to the ICU to check on her son. As a doctor, she had to accept that Se-Hun will not be able to live without ventilator machines. Little Se-Hun was fighting to live one more second. Mr. Chen came to the ICU and tried to explain the situation to AeRi.

"AeRi, Se-Hun is in a critical situation. We can't guarantee his life until he wakes up. We both know what is happening here. We can't keep hopes on Se-Hun anymore."

"No, I won't let him die. No matter how far it will take him to live without ventilators. I won't leave him. No..."

AeRi cried. Mr. Chen thought for a while and suggested to AeRi something she never imagined.

"We still have one last chance to bring Se-Hun back to normal."

"Wh...What's that? I will do that. I can spend whatever the amount it takes. Please, can we transfer him to another hospital?"

"This is the best hospital in the country. It's not something we can do with usual medicines. I think we should try our researched formula on Se-Hun. Maybe, the vampire formula could give him another chance to live." AeRi was shocked to hear that.

"But… We are still at the research level. It's not complete. What if it caused any trouble to him?"

"He's not going to live even an hour, you know that more than anyone. I'm not forcing you but, that's the only option left. We can't guarantee the result but... "

"Let's do that. Mr. Chen, please bring the formula." AeRi made the hardest decision in her life to give her son another life.

"But, AeRi, if he could live because of the vampire formula, we never know what kind of creature he would become. There's a chance for him to have vampire habits too." Mr. Chen was uncertain about the decision, although it was the only way.

Parents will do anything to give their kids a better life. Days later, Se-Hun was recovered. Mr. Chen advised AeRi not to tell Se-Hun about the vampire formula they used to cure him. Se-Hun had a shock of seeing his Dad's death in front of his eyes. He could never travel in a vehicle alone because of his mental condition. Mr. Chen researched about Se-Hun but found nothing related to vampire habits and chemicals. AeRi and Se-Hun lived a normal life for a few months.

"Mama… I saw a vampire in my dream yesterday. Mama, he told me that I'm a vampire." Little Se-Hun explained the dream to AeRi that he saw last night. AeRi was expecting such a situation from Se-Hun. AeRi hugged her son tightly.

"You are not a vampire, Se-Hun. It's just a dream. Don't think about that." AeRi told them to Se-Hun to comfort herself too. AeRi took a phone call to Mr. Chen, to ask him to check Se-Hun's blood reports again.

"AeRi, I was about to call you. There's a different formula in Se-Hun's recent blood samples. I think the vampire formula is affecting him now." Mr. Chen said in a hurry.

For the first time, AeRi was afraid of her decision to use the vampire formula to cure Se-Hun.

******************* 20 years later *******************

Meihui lives with her Mom and Dad. Chia-Hao is her one and only brother that she always loves to be with. Meihui is 20 years old, and her brother is eight years older than her. Meihui always uses Chia-Hao's girlfriend's details to blackmail him. That's the only way she could earn some money. Meihui's family is lovely and caring.

After high school, Meihui wanted to find a part-time job to earn extra money for her studies. She has different ambitions. When she was little, she wanted to become an air hostess. Unfortunately, she didn't grow taller than 5 ft. Then she wanted to be a doctor. But she couldn't get high marks for chemistry. Then she wanted to become a nurse. She's studying for that now. Meihui found a part-time job opportunity at a hotel. It's her interview day today.

"Mom… I'm getting late. I'll have breakfast after I come home." She shouted as always.

"How can you answer the interview without eating? Have some fruits. Here..." Mom fed some fruits while Meihui was wearing her shoes.

"Chia-Hao… Come soon. Meihui is getting late." Mom shouted to Chia-Hao. He came out of his room. He was still brushing his teeth wearing a towel.

"What? Are you still brushing teeth?" Meihui shouted again.

"Er… Can you stop shouting like this? The whole of China knows that I'm brushing my teeth now." Chia-Hao said angrily.

"Keep brushing your teeth. I'm going. I won't help you with your girlfriends again. Bye." Meihui was angry with her brother. She left home angrily.

"Girlfriends?" Mom was curious.

"Ah… You know her. She's telling lies. I don't even look at other girls. I'm a shy one, don't I?" Chia-Hao buttered up Mom. Meihui came again in a flash. She turned down Chia-Hao's towel and ran away.

"Don't come home again. You are dead." Chia-Hao shouted while wearing his towel again. Mom was laughing at her kids.

Meihui took the public transport to get into the interview place quickly. She has to be at the interview by 10.00 am. It was almost 09.55 am when she arrived at the hotel. She ran to the reception and asked about the interview.

"I came for the hotel stewardesses interview."

"It's on the 8th floor."

"Thank you!" Meihui ran to the lift.

"She asked about the private driver's interview, right?" The receptionist girl said to herself.

When Meihui entered the interview area, there were only male candidates in the queue.

"Is it only for males?" Meihui was worried. She checked the vacancy on his mobile again.

"Hotel stewards and stewardesses required. Why are there no girls to see?" She wondered. After a few minutes, she went to the interview room.

AeRi and Se-Hun were sitting at the interview board. They were shocked to see a girl at the interview. Meihui showed a nice smile to them.

"How old are you?" Se-Hun asked the first question to make sure she's not a teenager.

"I'm twenty years old. My name is Meihui. I'm a 1st year nursing student at Medicare nursing university. This is my very first job interview, so I don't have any professional experience in the field. But I can learn anything quickly, and I hope to..." Meihui opened up her usual chatterbox.

"Wait. wait. I just asked your age." Se-Hun stopped her and signed AeRi that she isn't a good fit.

"Actually, we expected a male candidate for the position. But hiring someone with knowledge of medicines isn't a bad idea. Do you know the job role?" AeRi was quite satisfied with Meihui than other candidates.

"She doesn't have any experience Mom. How does she know about the job role?" Se-Hun said to AeRi. Meihui realized that Se-Hun is such a hard person to deal with.

"The best thing is, you don't need any kind of experience for this job. Do you have a driving license?" AeRi asked kindly.

"Why do I need to have a driving license to be a stewardess?" Meihui thought.

"This is not gonna work Mom. She's not tall enough to drive a vehicle." Se-Hun laughed after saying so.

"I have a driving license and I can drive any kind of vehicle," Meihui said, looking at Se-Hun angrily.

"Can you drive a bus?" Se-Hun asked. Meihui was full of anger. AeRi laughed.

"Why are you giving her a hard interview? She's still a little girl. It's more than enough to know how to drive a car." AeRi said to Se-Hun and looked at Meihui.

"Actually, I wanted a more responsible man for this role. But just after seeing you, my idea was changed. I think you would be the best fit for this job." Meihui was pleased. She looked at Se-Hun. He rolled her eyes. Meihui looked around the room to calm herself before getting angry.

She saw a board on the wall. It says 'The interview for personal driver position'. Meihui was speechless when she saw the board.

"I'm at the wrong interview." She realized.

"All you have to do is accompany my son, Se-Hun when he's driving. And you will have to be the driver when it is needed. You don't need to work all time. But you should be there when Se-Hun has to drive alone. Your main responsibility is not to let him stay alone in the car even for a second. Did you understand?"

"What kind of a job is it?" Meihui was amazed. She found it more interesting than being a waitress at a hotel.

"I… I understand. I will work hard Ma'am." Meihui said happily. Se-Hun smiled.

"Fine. Let me explain something. I personally don't like to hire someone so young as you. But I always respect my Mom's choice. You are not allowed to drive my car. I will drive it. You are not allowed to talk while I'm driving. I just want you to be with me in the car. You are not allowed to come after me wherever I go. Just stay in the car." Se-Hun explained.

"Yes, boss," Meihui answered. AeRi couldn't stop laughing at her answer.

"Just call me Se-Hun." He said. Meihui moved her head to say yes.

"When should I start work?" Meihui asked from AeRi.

"I want to go to the office now. Come with me." Se-Hun left the room. Meihui looked at AeRi with a question face.

"Se-Hun owns a wedding planning company. He usually goes to the office and comes back home. If there's any other arrangements, he will inform you. He's not rude as it seems. You will get used to it. You can call me anytime if there's anything. Good luck." AeRi said. Meihui felt relieved. She thanked AeRi and ran to catch Se-Hun.

Se-Hun got into the car and opened the front door for Meihui. Se-Hun felt a little headache but he ignored it. Meihui saw his difference. Se-Hun couldn't endure the pain in his head. He closed her eyes tightly. Meihui was scared.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"It's a little headache. Just stay still for a few minutes." He said. His voice was deep and different.

"Wait here. Let me bring a coffee. It reduces headaches." Meihui tried to get out of the car. Se-Hun grabbed her hand suddenly.

"Please, don't leave me," Se-Hun said with teary eyes. Meihui kept looking at him.

- TO BE CONTINUED-