Moo-young
The first heatwave of the summer had seeped into every nook and cranny. In the middle of an important conversation between Yeon, Andrew and myself, we heard a thump from the direction of Rose’s room.
We ran to find her lying on her side on the floor, Andrew left the room and returned with our bags. The two of us started checking Rose over while Yeon stayed out of our way. Her skin was clammy along with her pulse faster than we’d like it to be.
Andrew lightly touched the back of her lower legs and she let out a whimper. Once I was sure she hadn’t knocked her head, Yeon and Andrew carefully moved her back to the bed with her legs elevated slightly.
“Yeon, grab a bowl of cold water, a sponge, two body towels and a glass of water with a straw”, we changed her sweat soaked pj’s for clean and dry ones minus her top. I could feel his conservative eyes on me, but I ignored him.
With the dampened towel on her chest, we sponged her arms and legs. Yeon was tasked with keeping Rose conscious and getting fluids into her orally. The three of us kept going until Andrew and I were satisfied.
We placed her on bed rest, teaching her rebuilt immune system the signs to remember for future heatwaves. My gut feeling told me Rose might get worse before the weather cooled down a bit.
While Yeon stayed with his sister, I took a look at Yun. She wasn’t too bad, so I got Ji-ah to run a lukewarm bath to cool her off. Afterwards a serving of Mul Naengmyeon to sync her internal and external body temperature. I left Rose and Yun in the hands of Andrew overnight.
The next day Hong-ju and I were eating breakfast, when the phone call I was dreading came through. After I explained the setback, she grabbed my translator ring. I was pulled into a much needed hug and the encouraging words “we will get her past this, so don’t worry.”
On the drive over, slow and deliberate breaths helped me to focus on the task ahead of me. Entering Rose’s room I heard an unfamiliar language coming out of her mouth, along with her eyes looking around the room in a wild manner. Noticing the restraints holding her down, Andrew held up an empty syringe.
“Do we know which language she is yelling at us with?” “It’s her first one” Andrew confirmed my suspicion. His eyes widened as I slid the ring on my hand. “Hello, I’m Cheon Moo-young and this is Andrew. We are here to help. Do you know where you are right now?”
She calmed down, once I explained the situation. We found out she was 1000 years old. I resumed the treatment for her body and while Andrew remarked “She seems relaxed despite how much pain she is in.”
Over the next few days, the two of us learnt about Rose’s personality before either of us had met her. I wondered if this was too overwhelming for Rose. Would it feel like a dream or just be a gap in her long term memory?
Her temperature was slowly coming down and it seemed she was past the worse of the symptoms. It was a waiting game of when the current version would feel safe to return.
Yun had recovered and was asking to see her aunt. We were unsure of how their bond would react and it was too risky. It was painful to hear her crying in the living room.
“We can ask her forgiveness once Rose has recovered” Andrew reassured me. I was glad we avoided her losing consciousness, as it would have meant readmitting to the hospital. The personality switch would have made it tricky around human doctors.
Friday afternoon I took off the translator ring to give it a clean, when in clear Korean I heard “How long was I out and why am I restrained to the bed?” I sighed in relief, “before I answer your questions, please answer this. How old are you?”
Her answer of 1,304 proved the current version was back, so I answered her questions. She had no memories of when her younger self was in control, so Andrew and I would keep an eye on the situation. Rose had almost recovered with a few days of rest needed to bring her back to full health.
Shin-ju
It had been a week and half since the heatwave had hit Seoul. As we approached the remainder of our group, a wall of familiar scents was mixed in with new and unknown ones. My mouth started to water and to my left Soo-oh’s stomach growled.
A single side glance at Yu-ri and both of us broke out into giggles, giving him a confused look on his face. She squeezed his hand. A high pitched “Oppa”; he was guided to his seat by Yun.
We took our places to the left of Soo-oh and my heart felt light seeing everyone, especially Rose. “who’s idea was the picnic?” Yu-ri answered “after all the recent events, I thought this was a light activity, which wouldn’t be overstimulating for you.”
Andrew added “it’s a good opportunity to try each other’s common picnic foods.” It was quite a spread with Kimbap, Kimchi-jeon, Gamja-jeon, Mandu, Fried Chicken and Gimmari. “I recognise six out of twelve dishes. Please introduce the Australian ones”
Rose and Andrew played rock, paper, scissors to figure out who would answer my question. A winning wide grin appeared on her face, while he playfully glared at her.
“We have Sausage rolls, beef and chicken pies, sandwiches, potato and pasta salads. The dips are beetroot & tzatziki and accompanying them are rice & savoy crackers with small cubes of bread.”
He explained how each dish was typically eaten along with where the drinks were located. As I dug into the potato salad, I saw Rose helping Yun decide which food to try. It was hard to keep the smile off my face, observing Hong-ju and Moo-young lost in their own world.
Around two pm a subtle switch from the savoury dishes over to the sweet ones started to happen. A small giggle left my mouth, it was clear Yeon had passed his sweet tooth down to his daughter.
While the dishes were being introduced, Ji-ah kept them in line with a single glance. The large circular pavlova was covered in whipped cream and local seasonal fruit. Along with the cheesecake, there were Tim Tams and spongy chocolate bricks called Lamingtons.
Rose assisted Yun with her choices, while Yeon had one of all the desserts on his plate. Looking up from my own plate of a Lamington, slice of cheesecake and pavlova, I spied Hong-ju feeding Moo-young a piece of fruit. It took me back to when I was courting Yu-ri.
This afternoon’s picnic was a nice way to enjoy each other’s company and take a break from the chaos of almost a year. Although I could see Rose’s mask failing, with her zoning out and almost falling asleep.
Fetching a light blanket and pillow from Yeon’s car, I came back to find her on the ground fast asleep. We moved her to a more comfortable position, placing the pillow under her head and covering her. She did pretty well to be present for most of the afternoon.
It wasn’t long before Yun joined her for a nap; all of this had happened while Hong-ju and Moo-young were lost in each other’s worlds. At four pm without waking up the bonded pair, we packed up everything. Rose and Yun were gently carried by Hong-ju and Yeon to the car. Overall this afternoon was exactly what the doctor ordered.
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Chapter 19: 2 become 1
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Chapter 22: Melbourne Preparations
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