day 17
7.30 pm
lee haru

grateful

my eyes jolt open
and it takes me a brief moment to realise
where i am
and what is happening

right
jeongguk got a fever and fell asleep

i straighten myself up with a tired groan
and glance out the mirror
seeing that the blizzard may
be calming down slightly now

beside me
jeongguk is sleeping peacefully
dark fringes over his face, lips slightly parted
hands buried in the long sleeves of his sweater
and those beautiful eyelashes

it makes me feel weak inside

deciding not to wake him
i turn on the car engine again
before glancing out one more time
to make sure that it's safe to travel on
i see a few cars passing us on the road
and that's enough to clear my doubts

once i swerve the car back onto the road
jeongguk stirrs from his sleep
emitting a puppy-like yawn

that is
if puppies yawn

the first thing the boy says is
"wasn't there a blizzard?"
while blinking the drowsiness
away from his eyes

"it's surprisingly calmer now
i think it's safe for us to go"
i say and toss him a worried glance
"how are you feeling?"

"it hurts everywhere but"
he laughs softly
"it doesn't hurt that much"

"earlier on you made it sound like you
were really going to die
don't scare me like that
really"

he laughs before grinning
"were you worried about me?"

"worried to death"

"i feel better i swear" he assures me

i swallow the lump forming in my throat
still unable to wipe off the
uneasy feeling i have of him
but in the end, all i say is
"go back to sleep
we have a journey ahead of us"

twenty minutes later
i see the tall cookie cutted buildings
standing not far from the highway that we're on

it's daegu, we're here
at our 2nd destination
with 9 things off my list

i can't be more grateful
but the realisation hits me that
we'll be in busan soon
and after the lanterns
i don't know what exactly what
we're going to do next

is he going to go back?
am i going to go back?

the mere thought of doing so
makes my head spin in circles

jeongguk must've seen my hands
clenching into fists on the steering wheel
and he pipes out in a soft and tender voice

"hey"

the voice that makes me weak
the face that makes my heart pound
the boy that makes me feel at home

"we came this fat"
he says with his signature smile
it's as if he just read my mind
"we should keep going shouldn't we?"

i don't understand how we know
so much about each other in such a
brief period of time
in such a desperate situation

we know so much
but we don't know

but i am truly
truly grateful

"yes" i reply
and he smiles again

"let's go complete the rest of your list"