12. Our World
My body feels heavy.
I barely manage to lift my heavy eyelids, and a white ceiling comes into view.
Beep— Beep—
The sharp smell of disinfectant and the familiar beeping of machines tell me I’m in a hospital.
Hana looks around, breathing shallowly.
Just then, a nurse entering the room happens to glance at her, and upon seeing her open eyes, hurries over in surprise.
“P–patient! You’re awake?”
Because of the oxygen mask, Hana can’t speak, so she blinks instead.
The nurse presses the call button in the room and shouts:
“Doctor! Patient Yoo Hana is awake!”
Letting her heavy eyelids fall once more, Hana realizes it.
She’s back.
Back in her own world.
****
Hana’s Uncle, Seok-hyun, visited a law office with his wife, Ji-seon.
“We’d like some advice about applying for adult guardianship.”
“Ah, you must be Mr. Yoo Seok-hyun, the one who called earlier, correct?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
“Please wait in the room inside for a moment.”
Seok-hyun and Ji-seon went into the room they were shown and sat at a table.
When the staff member left to bring them some tea, Ji-seon recalled what Seok-hyun had been saying for days and asked again:
“Dear, so if we apply for this adult guardianship thing, we can take back the property Mother left in Hana’s hands, right?”
“I told you, yes. But don’t say it like that in front of the lawyer! Say it’s for her hospital bills. Got it?”
Two years ago, when Hana’s grandmother passed away, her estate was split according to her will—between Seok-hyun and Hana.
Anticipating that Seok-hyun might covet Hana’s share, the grandmother left him a bit more.
Hana already had property from her late father, which her grandmother had passed on to her when she became an adult.
Still, Seok-hyun and Ji-seon resented even that and kept eyeing Hana’s wealth.
Then Hana got into a car accident and fell into a coma.
It was the perfect opportunity for them.
Seok-hyun planned to use the adult guardianship system, appointing himself as her legal representative while she was unconscious, and siphon off her assets under the excuse of paying her hospital bills.
That’s why they had come to the law office.
It had only been two weeks since Hana had fallen into her coma.
“But what if a miracle happens and that girl Hana wakes up?”
“That’s why we have to act fast. They said it takes at least three months just to appoint an adult guardian.”
As they whispered in low voices, a knock sounded and the door opened.
Standing up to greet the lawyer, Seok-hyun and Ji-seon turned—and froze in shock.
“H-Hana?”
Unlike their pale faces, Hana tilted her head with a calm smile.
“Why the looks? You two look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Y-you, how…?”
“Oh, not a ghost. More like the niece who was supposed to die and hand over her inheritance, but didn’t.”
Hana’s smile faded, her eyes turning cold as she stared at them.
If they had visited even once this past week, they’d have known I was awake.
When Hana woke up, she told the nurse not to contact her guardians. She waited a week—for Seok-hyun and Ji-seon to come.
Even just once.
But they hadn’t visited the hospital at all.
Instead, she heard from the law office, which had helped divide her grandmother’s estate, that they would be coming by.
Hana wasn’t particularly disappointed or hurt.
She had already known. She just wanted to confirm it.
“H-how can you talk like that! Do you know how worried we were? Are you feeling all right?”
Unlike Seok-hyun, who snapped even while guilty, Ji-seon rushed over, pretending concern as she touched Hana’s shoulder.
Hana subtly slipped out of reach.
“Anyway, what brings you two here?”
“Oh, we thought we could get some legal help about your accident.”
Ji-seon lied shamelessly, then asked:
“And you? Why are you here?”
“Oh, I thought I’d write a will and get it notarized.”
“A will? For who?”
“My will, of course.”
Hana smiled.
“If I were to die suddenly, it would upset me if my property was used somewhere I didn’t intend.”
To Seok-hyun and Ji-seon, her words carried a heavy meaning.
“Since you’re here, you can be my witnesses.”
Ignoring their startled stares, Hana looked at the lawyer and declared:
“In the event of my death, I, Yoo Hana, bequeath all property under my name to Somang Orphanage.”
For the Rashiel, Tezette, Astaire, and Cassian of this world—children who dream of being heroes.
Blindsided by Hana’s sudden appearance, then stunned by the will’s content, Seok-hyun and Ji-seon could only gape at her.
The two who had come to siphon off their niece’s assets ended up as witnesses to her will—and left empty-handed.
When they were gone, the lawyer asked:
“You’re still so young. Why prepare a will already?”
Barring the unexpected, she would surely outlive her uncle and aunt.
Hana paused, as if thinking of someone, then smiled.
“You never know what might happen.”
****
A year after Hana returned to reality.
The police station door opened, and Officer Lee and Sergeant Seo came back from patrol.
“Ugh, no wonder it felt eerie this morning—it’s snowing.”
From behind Sergeant Seo’s grumble, faint Christmas carols drifted in.
Filling out paperwork, Hana lifted her head at his words.
“It’s snowing?”
“Yeah. First white Christmas in years.”
“White Christmas or not, I hope it’s not much. Don’t feel like shoveling tomorrow.”
While half-listening to Seo’s complaints, Hana looked out the window. Snowflakes, thick and heavy, were falling.
Staring at the scene, Hana finished her report and stood up.
“Mind if I leave an hour early today?”
“…Officer Yoo, your soul already clocked out, didn’t it?”
“Our Officer Yoo doesn’t even have a boyfriend. Won’t leaving early just make Christmas even lonelier?”
Sergeant Seo teased, and Sergeant Kang nudged him with his elbow.
“Then why not introduce her to someone instead of teasing? Right, Officer Yoo?”
“I actually do have a boyfriend.”
At Hana’s bombshell, jaws dropped all around the station.
“What?! You do?”
“Then why haven’t you brought him by? Let us meet the lucky guy who stole Officer Yoo’s heart.”
Hana’s eyes flickered, but she quickly smiled as usual.
“Well… he’s a bit far away.”
Her colleagues assumed without asking: a long-distance relationship.
“Then a picture? Don’t you have one?”
“I’m not showing you. He’s too handsome. You’d all fall for him.”
“But we’re guys.”
Seo and Officer Lee pointed at each other, staring at her. Hana shrugged.
“Guys can fall too, can’t they?”
“Well, yeah, but still…”
“So you really won’t show us? After all we’ve been through?”
Instead of answering, Hana just grinned, packed her things, and stood.
“Merry Christmas, everyone.”
Leaving her disappointed coworkers behind, she stepped out into the street.
The city bustled with Christmas Eve crowds—families, couples, people carrying cakes home to loved ones.
Snow poured down, but the scene felt warm.
Hana smiled faintly, lowering her gaze to her phone.
No one to walk beside her.
No one waiting at home.
I’ll cross dimensions. Even if it takes years, I’ll find you. As long as you’re alive.
Unlike her grandmother, whose photos and videos remained, all she had of him were memories.
How hard it was, to remember someone who lived only in your heart.
At first, waiting for Rashiel, Hana tied up her loose ends in this world.
She ensured her property wouldn’t fall to Seok-hyun and Ji-seon if she died.
She passed the police exam, fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming an officer.
So whenever he came, she could leave without regret.
Seven seasons had passed since.
She was still waiting.
Still believing the promise that he’d find her.
But sometimes, her faith wavered.
Maybe everything she went through had just been a dream on death’s edge.
Just then, the traffic light changed.
Blending into the crowd, Hana began crossing the street.
Halfway across, she spotted—amid the people on the far side—an all too familiar silhouette.
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