Things That End

There’s a book filled with thousands of pages left around sitting in the corner of the room. Someone must’ve read it for days, thought it wasn’t going to end, but the last page has been turned.

There’s a house at the end of the street with lights never seen. A family must’ve lived there for years, shared meals daily, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company, but years of love wasn’t enough.

There’s a dirty, old teddy bear inside a closet, tattered and dusty. A little boy must’ve hugged it every night, and whispered secrets and small dreams, then he grew up and forgot about his beloved toy.

There’s a song played at the restaurant in town, right next to the old local pub. A pianist must’ve played there everyday and touched every keys with passion, but everybody else was apparently better.

There’s a ball of gas that shined so bright hidden by a rock in the midnight blue sky. A star must’ve guided countless of men on their journey and brought them to kingdoms, but everything that glitters, explodes.

There’s an old man next door. A young man must’ve been in his place decades ago and traveled the world, kissed French babes, settled down with a pretty, pretty woman and had three beautiful children, but the children grew up and moved out and the wife left the world.

There’s an old romantic film playing on the television in the living room. Actors must’ve dedicated their whole lives to it, practiced and received shouts from directors and producers left and right, but the credits rolled in after 120 minutes.

There’s a love that blooms in the hearts of two young lovers. Both must’ve cherished each other to the core, touched each other in ways no other people can and memorized each corner of the other’s body, heart and soul, but fights at 3am ended a love right in the middle of the book.

(c)

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There's a cup of tea on the table.

Cold.

Bitter.

Untouched.

Wide eyes that used to be warm and full of love are now unfeeling and blank.

The clock ticks. Jongin waits.

"I'm sorry." Smooth, velvety voice falls on deaf ears--or at least, Jongin pretends he can't hear a thing.

He shakes his head, 'no', he wants to say.

He hates apologies.

"Did you—" he clears his throat because it feels as if someone stuck glass in the middle of his esophagus, "is this what you really want?"

Kyungsoo stares at him until he finally cracks and washes a hand over his face.

"Jongin, I don't―" he hears the tiredness in between the male's words.

Kyungsoo Kyungsoo Kyungsoo.

"I don't love you anymore."

There's no crash.

There's no glass pieces on the floor.

There's no harsh words that escape his mouth.

There's only the quiet deflating of his heart.

There's only the sadness slowly but surely taking over his entire being.

There's only the cruel thoughts about himself plaguing his mind.

People are wrong—hearts don’t break, they shrivel and fall off, like a dead leaf or a flower petal that can’t be brought back to life.

Jongin smiles, he thinks it's the most genuine one he could give without breaking down in front of his beloved.

It's all for Kyungsoo.

"It's okay. I still love you."

Kyungsoo tries to speak again but he cuts him off,

"And loving you means that I'll always want you to be happy, even if it means my absence in your life.” Jongin clears his throat after speaking, his left hand, shaking a little.

Both of them are wrapped in silence after that.

"I should go." Jongin says after another minute of silence. He needs to leave, he can't stay there or he'll suffocate.

Or maybe he'll do something stupid, something like going down on his knees to beg or throw that cup of tea so he could make a scene or better yet, not let Kyungsoo go.

The tall male stands up, "Take care of yourself, alright?"

Kyungsoo nods, "You too."

"Goodbye."

Jongin looks at Kyungsoo one last time before he's out the door and he misses the whisper coming out from the latter's lips. 

"I didn't mean it."

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a/n: i actually made an alternate/sequel ending to this but i'm not really all up for posting it but if anyone wants it i'll probably change my mind. thank you for reading! :)