Heliantus

Kim Sungjoo was part of a traditional Christian-Korean household, where his family was placed in the stereotypical church hierarchy where his dad was a Church Father who supervised the church, his mother was just an ordinary housewife in her late 40’s whereas his older brother and himself who served in the church together as altar boys during masses.
For the past 21 years of his life, Sungjoo had been living his dull life that way. Every time when there is a mass, the two brothers will arrive at the church early enough to ensure all the necessary items are in place, which includes putting aside the garments of the clergy, preparing the Holy Communion, lighting the candles and connecting the public address system. His life was like a translucent glass, part of it were exposed to the people around him, but some secrets of his life were only meant for himself to know – and one of them was his constant downgrading health.

He always kept himself in check, making sure that no one spot something suspicious in him till it was recently that Sungjin told him a joke at home that made him laughed a little too much and began coughing out blood. His brother stared at him eyed-wide, momentarily frozen at the amount of blood being spluttered upon the palm of his hands. Sungjoo rushed to the bathroom to clean himself up, slightly guilty about not telling his brother about his own deadly disease.  

“Sungjoo, what’s happening? Why are you coughing out so much blood? Why didn’t you tell hyung about this?!” His brother’s voice wavered a little while his yells echoed throughout the walls of their house. Sungjoo cupped his hands under the tap, collecting the water to rinse his mouth for the last time and looked at himself in the mirror. Shit, how am I gonna explain to hyung about this. Oh dear Father in heaven, forgive me for I have sinned by saying incoherent things!   He thought frustratingly to himself. “Nothing hyung, I’m perfectly normal.” He replied, wiping his mouth with a...