Light entered my eyes as I sat up in my bed yawning.

"Good morning Soojinnie!" I sang sleepily as I stretched my limbs outwards across my bed.

Failing to hear the girl's response, I turned my head over to her bed opposite me and readjusted my vision.

"Yah Soojin-ah wake up we have to practice soon." I called a little more aggressive than before.

Finally fed up of the girl's inability to wake up, I crawled out of my spot and uncovered her sheets in a quick motion. To my surprise, the younger girl was no where to be seen.

Huh?

She's never awake before me.

Where could she be?

Confused by the sight, I eagerly left the bedroom and made my way around the house in a search to find her. Peeking my head into every room I suddenly saw the figure of a girl with long black hair.

"Soojin?" I called hesitant to see if it was her.

The figure turned around revealing one of our close friends Hwang Jiwoo.

"Oh Chohee! It's me. I don't think Soojin is around here sorry." she replied as she munched on a crunchy apple.

"Oh that's okay." I spoke before leaving the room and resuming my search for Soojin.

That's strange.

She's not in any of her usual spots.

Gradually getting more and more worried, I soon entered the lounge. As I walked around the couches, I glanced outside to the balcony and caught the sight of a small figure on the floor.

"SOOJIN?!" I gasped covering my mouth before sprinting outside onto the wooden deck and approaching the young girl.

Her body was curled up in a loose ball and her face was pale like a ghost. Her eyes were red and swollen as her lips had turned blue. I picked up her small hand and shivered at how cold it was.

Was she out here the entire night?

What happened to her?

Feeling my heart race in concern for my friend, I quickly lifted her up and brought her inside. I laid her down onto the couch carefully before quickly making my way over to the cupboard near the kitchen. I slammed open the drawer before picking up the device labelled 'EMERGENCY PHONE'.

I quickly clicked the speed dial number before anxiously waiting for the someone to pick up. Finally I heard a voice muffle through the speaker.

"Hello, is everything okay?" I heard one of the staff members speak.

"No. Park Soojin is unconscious."

***

"Quick bring the medical team up to the I-LAND!" yelled one of the staff members as soon all the staff began scurrying all over the place.

Oh no.

Did someone get hurt?

But it's so early in the morning, what could have happened?

Having my early morning quiet time disrupted, concerned thoughts ran through my mind. I watched the medical term rush out to the I-LAND facility.

As curiosity washed over my mind, I decided to tap one of the staff members and ask them what had happened.

"One of the applicants is unconscious" they spoke before running off to follow the medical team.

Holy crap.

That sounds really serious.

I hope she's okay.

As I sat on my stool watching the chaos unfold, I soon noticed our CEO Bang Si hyuk enter the room. I watched as a staff member suddenly approached him and spoke in distressed manner. All of a sudden, my ears picked up a name that caused my heart to shatter.

"Si-hyuk-nim, Soojin's not waking up." the staff member spoke in a stressed tone.

Soojin?

Soojin's the unconscious applicant?

My chest clenched as I felt my heart sink to my feet. Without wasting a second, I placed myself into the crowd of staff members and followed them into the I-LAND.

My God, please be okay Soojin.

•••

Soon enough the staff and I arrived at the facility and quickly made our way to the second floor.

My eyes met with the sight of a a small crowd of people over one of the couches.

My gaze roamed the room as I noticed a few of the other applicants sobbing into each others shoulders.

Oh no.

It's bad isn't it.

Without wasting another second, I dashed over to the huddle of people and cautiously peeped my head over a staff member's shoulder.

To my despair, my eyes fell upon the small girl lying down lifelessly. Her skin was concerningly white as her eyes were shut gently. Her once sweet luscious lips now looked cold and frail.

What happened Soojin?

Who did this to you?

As my heart was breaking at the sight, I felt my soul leave my body as I heard one of the medical staff speak up.

"We need to take her to the hospital immediately."

•••

"BEEP BEEP BEEP..."

I gradually tuned into my surroundings as I a monotonous beeping entered my ears. The sanitised smell of antiseptic tickled my nostrils as I slowly opened my eyes to bright white light.

"Doctor! She's awake!" called an unfamiliar voice as I heard a person dash away with loud footsteps.

Carefully sitting up, I readjusted my vision and scoped the unknown place I was in. I first paid my attention to the stinging pain in my left arm. Looking down, I saw a large tube penetrating my skin, connected to a large machine by a lengthy tube. The tube was filled with free-flowing dark crimson blood. I then took noticed of the white gown that I was in.

Huh?

Why am I wearing this?

As I sat up in my spot, I suddenly felt an excruciating pain in my chest. Gripping my the material of my gown tightly, I gasped in pain as my foggy mind soon finally realised where I was.

What the heck?

I'm in the hospital???

My eyes widened as stressful thoughts soon ran through my mind.

What am I doing here?

Did something happen to me?

I looked around the ward I was in and suddenly took notice of a still figure lying on a small chair next to me. Startled, soon enough I figured out that it was a boy. I observed his soft facial features and light brown hair. His eyes were gently closed shut and his mouth was slightly open, deep in slumber.

Who is this boy?

What is he doing next to me?

Before I had the chance to wake up the boy and ask who he was, there was a sudden loud bang as someone barged into the door.

"Oh my goodness. Thank God you're okay." spoke a woman's voice as she came rushing to my side.

"Soojin, do you remember who I am?" she spoke concerned.

I analysed her face for a while before finally speaking up.

"Of course! Hello Goreum." I greeted the company director.

She gave me a warm smile before placing her hand on her chest.

"Oh I'm so glad! The doctor had told me you may suffer amnesia."

I looked at the woman shocked as the sudden news shook my core. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I spoke up.

"Wait- do you mind telling me what happened?" I asked politely.

My hands began to sweat in anxiety as I waited in worry for what her she was going to say.

"Ah yes how could I forget. You were found unconscious at the balcony in the I-LAND and it looked like you had stayed there the entire night. The doctors ran tests and concluded you suffered from hypothermia as well as anaemia." she informed calmly.

My eyes widened at her words as the pieces of information all came crashing down at once. Noticing my visibly confused expression, Goreum spoke up again.

"In simpler terms, your body temperature fell to dangerously low levels causing your heart to fall into a cardiac arrest and the lack of iron in your body as well as stress, caused your immune system to attack itself. All this combined caused you to fall terribly ill."

Wait- cardiac arrest???

I had a heart attack?

Feeling overwhelmed, I suddenly broke down into tears as I felt another pain in my chest. Hearing her words hit me like a truck as I fell into a vulnerable state and endlessly cried.

"Where's my mum? I want to go home." I sobbed as the woman stared at me sympathetically.

"She tried to book the soonest flight here but unfortunately there were no available tickets."

Falling into a state of home-sickness, I felt my heart sink to my feet. Thoughts about my mum alone at home, hearing about my situation, unable to see me, made my stomach churn in guilt.

"Can I talk to her please." I spoke as a command rather than a question.

Goreum nodded understandingly and reached for her phone, typing at it quickly. Soon enough, she handed me the phone and left the room quietly. I tapped the speaker button on the screen and rested the device on my thigh, letting the loud beeps of the phone to echo in the room.

"Hello?" spoke the voice I hadn't heard in so long.

"Mum!" I cried into the phone as I cupped my hand over my mouth trying not to cry too loud. Weeping uncontrollably I took short deep breaths before sobbing into the phone.

"Omo. Soojin is that you?!"

"Yes mum, it's me."

Almost instantly, I heard muffled wailing through through the phone. Hearing her shed her tears shot a pang through my chest as I had the immense urge to hug her.

"Soojin! I'm so sorry Mum is not there with you. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm so sorry you're hurting like this. I'm so sorry that I am your mother." she sobbed into the phone.

Hearing her gut-wrenching words triggered another uproar of weeping as once again I found myself soaking myself in warm tears.

"Mum it's not your fault. Please don't say these things."

"No Soojin. How could I have been so careless to let my daughter live alone at such a young age. Seeing you on I-LAND gave me hope that maybe you really are doing okay but after your situation I've finally realised that you're still only so young. The stress and expectations the show put on you must have been absolute hell to bear with and yet you managed to carry on for so long. Soojin you really have done so well."

As I listened to her heartfelt words, I felt myself fall into a state of intense heartache. Suddenly remembering her words, I quickly was reminded of a very important factor.

Oh my God.

The show.

If I leave now I could probably still perform in the finals.

Quickly feeling a sense of adrenaline and worry I quickly spoke to my mum.

'Mum! What day is it today? I might still be able to perform and make the debut group! I promise to make you proud!" I chimed into the device holding it close to my mouth.

There was a long period of silence as I heard nothing but the sound of my mum's heavy breathing through the audio. Finally after hearing her begin to sob again, her voice spoke through the phone.

"Soojin-ah. Today is the third of March. I-LAND finished in September last year. You've been in a coma for 6 months."