Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum

Warning: character death

The moonlight reflected off of the kitchen table where Gwiboon was patiently waiting. All was quiet around her, the small apartment noiseless in the late hours of the night. She fiddled with the ring on her slim finger, playing with the wedding band that seemed to be burning itself into her skin. 

Minho cooed over the baby monitor and Gwiboon held her breath, waiting for the familiar wailing to start. Thankfully, no more sound came and she let out a shaky breath, barely holding herself together as the minutes ticked by loudly in the still kitchen.

Each minute that passed made her heart clench in worry. She and Jonghyun had fought before, but never like this. Never where he had stormed off into the night.

Tears burned behind her closed eyes that were now shut tight, refusing to look any longer at the silent cell phone lying on the table before her. Refusing to listen to the clock that told her that it was late. That he wasn’t coming back.

~

Gwiboon jolted awake at the loud buzzing on the kitchen table, her back aching from the awkward slump of her body from where she had fallen asleep. Groggily, she picked up her phone, Jonghyun’s bright smile looking back at her before she answered the call.

“Jagi?” Gwiboon mumbled tiredly, her brain only barely awake as she tried to clear her head.

“Is this Kim Gwiboon-ssi?” a strange voice asked from the other side of her husband’s phone. Gwiboon’s eyes fully focused as her heart began hammering in her chest.

“Y-yes, this is s-she,” she answered shakily, palms beginning to sweat.

“Mrs. Kim, this is Dr. Kwon from the hospital. There’s been an accident and…” here the man paused, a loud beeping in the background causing him to take in a deep breath before continuing. “You need to come to the hospital right away. Your husband Kim Jonghyun-ssi is in critical condition. Come quickly.” The line went dead and Gwiboon was once again left in silence.

As if on cue, Minho began wailing from his room and Gwiboon stood calmly, not allowing the panic coursing through her veins to come to the surface. Minho needed her. Jonghyun needed her.

~

Minho continued wailing from his car seat in the back, not relenting even as his mother tried desperately to sooth him from the driver’s seat. Gwiboon breathed a small sigh of relief as she reached the hospital and parked her car haphazardly in the front of the emergency room entrance. She barely remembered to turn off her car before rushing to the back and unbuckling the crying baby, pulling him into her arms. Minho calmed down, finally in his mother’s comforting embrace, and Gwiboon brushed the tears off of his small, red face before rushing through the sliding glass doors.

There was one nurse who sat silently behind the main counter, tired eyes taking in Gwiboon in her bathrobe with a tiny Minho in her arms before the nurse’s face paled and she rushed to greet her.

“Kim Gwiboon-ssi?” she asked, wrapping a strong arm around Gwiboon’s shuddering shoulders.

“Where’s my husband?” Gwiboon asked in response, not bothering with being polite. Minho began squirming in her arms, and she rocked him absentmindedly. The nurse’s gaze deepened with concern and she guided the pair down the long hallway filled with rushing nurses and doctors. Minho’s large eyes took in the bright lights and commotion around him, seemingly content with the distraction even as his mother’s grip tightened with each passing step.

“Doctor?” the nurse called out as they approached a room that was disturbingly quiet compared to the rest of the hallway.

Inside the small room, a doctor was speaking quietly with a police officer, both of whom looked up at the nurse’s question. Both of whom stared in sadness as Gwiboon took in the sight of her husband on a hospital bed, his form still and lifeless.

“No,” she whispered, her feet drawing her over to his side. Minho began crying, unsure what was happening as Gwiboon threw herself onto Jonghyun. The nurse came over and took Minho gently from her arms, Gwiboon relinquishing him without hesitation so that she could embrace her husband.

“No,” she sobbed, the doctor placing a gentle hand on her back while the officer answered his radio. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no….”

~

The sun shone brightly on Gwiboon’s seat on the grassy knoll. Taeyeon sat next to her, her small hand clutching Gwiboon’s tightly as the pastor gave his eulogy. Jinki sat next to the two women, one arm wrapped firmly around Taeyeon’s shoulders while the other held Minho quietly. Gwiboon felt empty as she watched the procession of mourners place flowers on her husband's casket, somberly moving through the line until Taeyeon was tugging her along and she too left a single rose on the final resting place of her husband, her Jonghyun.

Tears slid noisily down her cheeks as sobs wracked her body. Gwiboon felt her knees give and she sank to the ground, unable to move. Unable to breathe. Unable to think of anything other than the fact that he was gone. Jonghyun was gone and he was never coming back.

Strong arms lifted her up and she clutched at Jinki desperately, needing his strong reassurance even as she felt guilty for taking him away from Taeyeon. Minho was crying, upset to see his mother in such a state but his grandparents kept him at bay to give her some space. Gwiboon sobbed into Jinki’s chest, clutching at him until he sat her down and handed her a tissue.

“You’ll be okay,” he said, sitting down next to her and wrapping a strong arm around her as Taeyeon joined them and sat on Jinki’s lap.

~

Gwiboon stirred in her sleep, Minho’s tiny cries barely reaching her. Soft footsteps passed by her door in the hallway as Gwiboon’s mother went to him, his cries stopping as she no doubt lifted him into her loving embrace and cradled him comfortingly in her arms.

Sleep tugged her back down, turning over to seek out Jonghyun’s warmth only to be met with the unfamiliar coolness that stretched out under her seeking fingers. A sob escaped her as her hands clenched at empty sheets and she curled in on herself, heart breaking for the millionth time as the horrible reality that was her life came crashing down on her.

Jonghyun’s lifeless body on the hospital bed played through her mind like a movie on repeat. The calm words of the doctor telling her that he had died without pain. The deep voice of the officer telling her that it had been a hit and run but that they were looking for the culprit. The sadness in the nurse’s voice as she attempted to sooth a crying Minho who only really wanted his mother. And the small voice inside her head that told her she was alone. All alone.

As the scene played out before her, refusing to let her rest peacefully, a familiar hand combed through her hair and a whisper of a kiss brushed against her cheek. Gwiboon breathed in Jonghyun’s scent on his pillow and wished with all of her heart that he was here. That he would hold her and love her and tell that everything was all right. With just a kiss, he could ease away all her pain, all her sorrow. With just a kiss, she might be able to face another day.

~

“Gwiboon-ah,” Jonghyun whispered, his hear t breaking at the sight before him as Gwiboon cried in her sleep, burrowing her unwashed hair into his pillow. His ghostly form hovered over her, looking down at her as he reached out a gentle hand to cup her cheek. She shivered at the contact and he bit his lip tentatively before leaning down to place a feather-light kiss on those beautiful bow-shaped lips that he loved so much.

A/N: okay...this is actually the end. *bawling in a corner*