Cuatro caminos
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"How is it possible that you've been ignoring me all this time?! Do you have any idea how much we've struggled to contact you, Cho Hyunju? You're a damn—!"
Hyunju's mother yelled, her voice shaking with rage, while her two younger siblings held her back to stop her from lunging at Hyunju.
When you reached Hyunju, you saw she was trembling. She didn’t react to her mother’s shouting—she was frozen in place.
Quickly, you took her hand, and she clung to yours with a desperate grip.
"Don't let go, please, don't let go," she whispered, barely audible.
"Excuse me, ma’am, but we need to leave. My patient is experiencing stress levels that could be harmful to her post-surgical recovery," you told Hyunju’s mother while turning Hyunju around to guide her back to her apartment.
You placed a hand on Hyunju’s back, leading her toward the store’s exit.
"Hyunju, please! I'm your mother! Please, my son, come to your senses!" Her voice echoed from afar.
Hyunju and you crossed the street in silence, her arm tightly wrapped around yours until you reached her apartment door.
As you stood at the entrance, you fumbled to pull out the keys from your coat pocket.
You could already guess what was going to happen next.
You guided Hyunju to the couch. She remained lost in thought, not uttering a single word.
"Do you want something to eat?" Hyunju suddenly asked, as if trying to distract herself from what had just happened.
"Oh my God, I even left my groceries at the store!" She let out a hysterical laugh, but soon, tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry... I-I never thought this would happen. After all these years... how was this possible? H-how?" she said, sniffling and wiping away her tears.
"Hyunju, it's okay. Just let it out. You need to," you reassured her, handing her some tissues.
"If you want to talk about it, you know you can tell me anything. Whatever you need. You don’t have to carry this alone, I’m here." You gently rubbed her back. Though she had calmed down slightly, her body was still trembling.
"Can I... hug you?" Hyunju asked, her voice broken.
You didn’t answer with words. You just embraced her, holding her close as she let out more silent tears.
You stroked the back of her head with one hand, while the other rested on the small of her back.
"Do you want some tea?" you asked after a few minutes, as you both sat in the most comfortable and comforting embrace possible for Hyunju.
"N-no, this is fine," she murmured, pulling away slightly and wiping away her tears.
"This is exactly why I didn’t want to see my mother again. She’s always trying to make me feel like there’s something wrong with me, like I don’t have the freedom to choose my own life. I’m almost 40! Isn’t it fair that I finally get to live my life the way I want?" Hyunju asked, exasperated.
"I can’t understand your mother, nor can I justify her actions. Every situation is different, and I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, Hyunnie," you said before continuing, "But what I do know is that we all deserve to live our lives in a way that makes us happy. Don’t you think?" You took her hands in yours and stroked them gently.
"Even if others don’t agree, I think it’s right to live in a way that makes us happy. I admire and respect you unconditionally for that, Hyunnie." You held her hands firmly, never breaking eye contact.
"Even if it’s hard..." Hyunju muttered to herself. "Even if no one treats me well, even if everyone rejects me... I just want to be okay with myself."
"You know... the people who truly value you will come into your life when the time is right, Hyunju. You just have to let them stay." You said shyly, slowly releasing her hands as you stood up.
Hyunju stayed silent. She knew exactly what you meant, and she knew you were right. A strange feeling began to take hold of her heart and mind as she heard you say it.
Was it fear?
Yes, it was.
But it was different from the fear she had felt before.
"I’ll order some food. Do you want anything? My treat," you said with a smile, picking up your phone to make a call.
"Ah, yes, sure." Hyunju accepted without protest, though she had already decided she’d pay you back.
𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼
You had fallen asleep on Hyunju’s shoulder again.
The food arrived shortly after you ordered it. You both turned on the TV, and you brought some blankets from Hyunju’s closet to cover yourselves.
You showed her one of your favorite meals, and even had a small argument over who would pay for the food (which, of course, Hyunju secretly paid for). You insisted on paying her back.
After finishing your meal, and Hyunju managing to eat half of what you had ordered for her, your eyelids grew heavy, and you accidentally fell asleep once again, leaning against her shoulder.
The TV played softly in the background, the blue glow from the screen reflecting on both your faces.
Hyunju barely moved, not wanting to wake you. Instead, she decided to enjoy the sound of your peaceful breathing.
She glanced down at your sleeping form—your chest rising and falling, your slightly open mouth, your arms loosely wrapped around hers.
Without waking you, Hyunju grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil to clear her mind. She began writing, spilling her thoughts onto the page.
The fear she had felt before was different from the fear of being close to you—it was the fear of losing you.
How contradictory was that? she wondered.
Both fears consumed her entirely.
So she gripped the pencil tightly and began to write:
— Dear Nurse,
You have been a ray of light in my cloudy days. You have been a lifeline in a sea of people who have rejected and hated me. You have been...
Hyunju set the pencil down and crumpled the paper. She wasn’t ready to put it into words yet.
So instead, she closed her eyes and fell asleep beside you once again.
𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼
"Miss, you don’t understand. This is the receipt. My patient left all these items here yesterday afternoon! We didn’t take them home, please understand!" you frantically told the convenience store cashier as you tried to retrieve Hyunju’s forgotten groceries.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, ma’am. I have no way of knowing whether you took your items yesterday and are just trying to trick me," the cashier replied.
She had a point, but still—it was Hyunju’s money and her groceries! You were really upset.
"Could you at least check the security cameras?" you insisted.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," she repeated before turning away and ignoring you.
You groaned in frustration and made a decision—you’d buy everything for Hyunju again.
Too angry to shop at the same store, you stormed outside and pulled out your phone to text Hyunju.
— "Hyunnie, I'll take my time coming back home. I'm still at the hospital, see you soon!!"
You hit send and checked your map for the nearest convenience store.
— "Alright, stay safe, Nurse. I'll be waiting with food prepared 😊."
You chuckled at her choice of emojis.
s you walked to the convenience store, you made a mental note of what you remembered Hyunju had bought that day and what you hadn’t been able to pay for among her dessert supplies.
You recalled her smile as she smelled the heart-shaped vanilla-scented candles, as she looked at the cheap decorated mugs with a palpable excitement.
Hyunju had a beautiful quality that you had slowly come to notice: she had a precious ability to be surprised.
She marveled at the smallest things and got excited like a small, precious child.
Hyunju paid attention to details, to the things no one else seemed to notice.
You wouldn’t describe her as simple—quite the opposite. But she was someone who was effortlessly beautiful, without even trying.
Upon arriving at the convenience store, you immediately went to buy everything you could remember.
You saw cookie cutters in the shape of hearts and bunnies, as well as others shaped like flowers and stars.
You saw mugs with red heart patterns and pink backgrounds. Others had hearts in different colors—everything was so beautiful, so Hyunju, you thought.
You even found chocolate chips shaped like tiny hearts! You didn’t hesitate to put them in your shopping cart.
You smelled the candles one by one, trying to find one with a vanilla scent.
They all smelled like roses, strawberries, and the sea—everything except vanilla.
Finally, you found one shaped like a bear holding a heart. It smelled like vanilla.
You didn’t even look at the total price and simply swiped your credit card (you had just been paid at the hospital).
"Thank you," you said to the cashier with a smile and quickly left, walking toward Hyunju’s apartment.
It was cold outside, and you had forgotten to bring your coat this time. Your feet ached from walking almost all day.
Meanwhile, Hyunju was particularly worried about you. You had said you were going to the hospital to check some documents and monthly paperwork.
She hadn’t been concerned at first and even felt relieved when you sent her a message letting her know you’d be late to her apartment.
But several hours had passed since your last message.
Should she send you another one? Should she call you? Should she think about you once again?
The food Hyunju had prepared for you had already been stored in the fridge some time ago.
She remained seated at her kitchen counter, thinking about you. She couldn’t help it, even though she wanted to, even though she tried.
Hyunju did everything she could to distract herself from thinking about you.
She took a cold shower, crocheted again, searched for and studied recipes online for her orders.
She prepared food for both of you, washed the dishes, and sat down to read another book you had lent her.
She decided to send you one last message before heading to bed.
— “Your food is in the fridge, I hope everything is okay, nurse! Have a good night 😴.” —
You read the message just as you were getting into the elevator of her building.
You’d finally arrive, eat, and sleep deeply, you thought.
The next morning, you would have to go to the hospital (this time for real) to take care of paperwork and prepare for your transfer back there.
The thought saddened you a little, but you decided to ignore it so you could sleep peacefully.
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