The private gym was still lethargic - Sunday mornings were usually slow, especially if one were to go there at 6 AM.
Loud panting, the sound of boxing gloves hitting a punching bag, and the shrieking sound of the rubber soles wiping the floor already wet from sweat echoed through the empty room when two more people entered it with the look of sincere amazement on their faces.
"Wah, as expected, hyung is here already! Yo, Min Hyun, have you been torturing this poor punching bag since 4 AM? Few more punches and it will fall apart already!"
Lee Min Hyun threw the last punch and took a good look at the black punching bag in front of him. Indeed, it looked like he would have to replace it. Again. He then looked at the two other guys standing next to the door - the tall and rather handsome guy was Chae Ji Seon, he met him years ago when throwing punches was still the sole focus of his attention; the second guy who looked like a retired boxer was Moon Jun Ho, a famous MMA coach who chose to retire after a certain incident and joined the non-professional team of coaches in the HIM Private Gym which Min Hyun and his friends were now frequenting.
"You're here."
"What's gotten into you? You've been coming here every morning for the past week, you were never this diligent even when you were training professionally."
Jun Ho gave the guy an open bottle of cold water and a towel while carefully observing his movements. Min Hyun gulped down the water, wiped his face, and showed him a tired smile.
"Well, back then I was not this frustrated."
"Frustrated? Sexually? Don't tell me you've been coming here because you can't get laid!"
Ji Seon put his long arm around Min Hyun's wide shoulders and smiled mischievously, baring his surprisingly perfect white teeth. He hated to admit that Ji Seon was partially right - he wanted someone he could not have and his desire turned into frustration which kept him up at night and forced him to exhaust himself physically to the point where he managed to get his anger and frustration under control.
He slapped the guy's arm off his shoulders and looked at the big rectangular clock on the opposite wall. Ji Seon followed his eyes and sighed.
"You should go, hyung, it's today."
Min Hyun threw the dirty towel on the floor, grabbed his bag, and waved his free hand at them.
"Yeah, have fun."
Moon Jun Ho watched him close the door, looked at the rectangular clock, then rubbed the back of his neck, and let out a loud exhale.
"He is going to see her again?"
Ji Seon blinked at him with his big brown eyes and shook his head.
"He is going to see THEM."
Lee Min Hyun came out of the shower, dried his hair, put on his favorite Balenc*aga tracksuit, the one he usually wore when he went there, a black cap, and covered his pale face with a black face mask - he did not want to be noticed by anyone. When he got into one of his cars and closed the door, he noticed that the time was already 7:30 AM.
"I need to hurry, if there's not much traffic, her bus will arrive at 9 AM."
***
Once a month. She could not do it more often. Not because she was busy or tired from work but because she could not stand looking at her being that way. For the past 9 years, on the last Sunday of each month, Yoon Se Ah went to the Gaehwa Psychiatric Hospital to visit her mother who was like a prisoner there.
"Gaehwa Hospital. This is the last stop. I repeat - this is the last stop, please get off the bus."
Se Ah yawned and got off the bus with a few other people who were still with her there. She looked ahead and could not understand whether she felt nauseated because of motion sickness or because she could not stand the view of the tall white hospital walls. The hospital opened for visitors only at 9, she still had 10 minutes to spare.
'Should I buy some flowers? Last time she said that their smell gave her a headache. It has become harder to please that woman.'
She scoffed quietly when she heard a low male voice telling off someone in the parking lot in front of the hospital.
"Sir, you can't smoke here, we have a designated smoking area behind the hospital!"
A tall man in a dark tracksuit standing with his back to Se Ah nodded and dropped his cigarette into an open trash can. He then threw a quick look at the woman and rushed inside the moment her eyes met his.
"Why is he dressed like this? Is he a celebrity or something? Oh well, no one said celebrities can't have crazy relatives."
Se Ah followed the man and entered the hospital lobby. A young, rather chipper nurse greeted her and snapped a red paper bracelet on her wrist - it was a mark indicating that Miss Yoon was visiting either someone violent or someone who had a criminal record. Those were the only times when she hated the color red.
"She is eating well, even agrees to go outside sometimes, you know, the usual. Nothing really changes. She talks about you a lot, though, I guess she misses you."
Kim Do Won, the male nurse working in that wing, escorted Se Ah to room 403, opened the door, took a step aside, and gestured for her to come in.
"As always, call me if you need anything."
Miss Yoon nodded, let out a quiet sigh, and came inside, closing the half-transparent door behind her. The eggshell color of the walls was drowning in the blinding sunlight that had already filled the entire room. Right next to the open window with white metal bars covering it from the outside, in an old rocking chair, sat a thin woman with her bony hands resting on the knitted blanket on her knees.
When the woman heard familiar footsteps behind her back, she slowly turned her face around, and a light, almost invisible smile moved the corners of her still-plump lips.
"You're here?"
"Yeah... Good morning, mother."