-4-

For a moment, her heart pounded so loud that it was deafening; and as she clutched her chest underneath the sheets, she breathed steadily through until she slowly opened her eyes. Carefully, she went down from her bed and walked barefoot towards her door. She looked at the silver knob and carefully grasped it, feeling the coldness of the metal on her palm. She turned it and opened the door, surprising her with a view of a colorful field of tulips. Feeling the cold wind, she smiled a genuine smile and ran to the field, making the pollen dance with the air. For the first time after a month, she laughed happily when she felt a soft tickle on her nose as she smelled the flowers.

“Mirae?” a deep and familiar voice spoke

A sharp intake of air was heard by him when she realized who he was. She turned around slowly, eyes filled with salty tears as she played with her wedding ring, holding her breath until she finally saw him.

“Yongguk” she said as her tears finally flowed down her delicate face.

He looked at her with his gummy smile and hugged her as tight as he can. He didn’t let her go for a solid minute, remembering every single moment they spent together. His tears started to flow as well as he combed her black wavy hair after so long of not seeing her. He hugged her tighter and let himself cry on her shoulders.

“You don’t know how much I’ve missed you” he said with a shaky breath

They cupped each others’ cheeks and gently wiped their tears as they looked at their eyes lovingly. Yongguk leaned into her hand gently, feeling her soft hands holding him once more. He held her close to him as he started to cut the distance between them. At that beautiful field, they shared a soft and tender kiss, letting each other know how much they missed one another. He soothingly rubbed her cheeks with his thumb, remembering how soft they were under his touch.

When they parted, he held her hand and kissed her ring, looking at her eyes while doing so. They intertwined their fingers and gently lied down on the beautiful flowerbed, sighing in content.

“I missed you so much Yongguk” she said as she moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He softly ran his hand through her hair, playing with it as she inhales his familiar scent. He kissed her forehead and smiled at her. He closed his eyes and sighed happily, knowing that they were finally together. He pulled her closer to him and hugged her while lying on the ground.

“I’m sorry” he whispered to her, remembering the series of events that happened, and knowing as well what Mirae experienced.

“It wasn’t your fault Gukkie” she said, trying her best to comfort him

He remained silent, thinking hard that he was the reason why this entire ruckus happened; he blamed himself for all those painful moments she faced, all those heartbreaking nights of crying to sleep, all those times she hurt herself, and even the night she met Youngjae. He knows well why all those happened.

He looked at her peaceful face, eyes closed, cheeks as rosy as ever, and her lips, her soft kissable lips curving to form a subtle smile that he knows was a smile of joy. He caressed her face and kissed her forehead.

“I need to take you somewhere” he said as he shifted a bit to make her sit.

He immediately stood up when she finally sat down on the ground next to him. He reached out his hand and smiled sweetly at her, as he gently asks her to follow him. She accepted his gesture and stood up gracefully; they intertwined their hands and walked slowly with Yongguk leading her somewhere she doesn’t know. The cold wind blew her hair beautifully, making Yongguk wince at the pain he felt in his chest, knowing she couldn’t stay with him there forever.

As they approached the end of the colorful tulip field, an old oak tree stood proud against the horizon, making a beautiful silhouette as the sun started to set right before their eyes.

“Remember when we were still young? We would climb a tree in the park and just stay there until midnight just to get away from people?” he said as he looked up the oak tree, squeezing her hand gently

She nodded softly and smiled at him. Understanding with just a look, they climbed up the oak tree and sat on a sturdy branch that will support both their weights. She chuckled softly while trying to balance herself on the branch. Yongguk smiled shyly at her, loving the way her laugh tickled his ears softly, missing the sound so much. As Yongguk leaned on the trunk, she leaned onto his chest making Yongguk unconsciously hug her from behind. Mirae held his hand that was placed on her lap, making him let out a sigh of content.

For a moment they were happy, for a moment they were contented, for a moment they were together again. He closed his eyes as he thought of the right words; she wasn’t supposed to stay there.

“Mirae” he said softly

She hummed in response, inhaling his scent.

“Do you know the difference between fate and destiny?” he asked

She opened her eyes slowly and thought about the question.

“Isn’t fate when events were arranged in a way that the universe wants? Then destiny is the final thing that is inevitable and is made possible by fate?” she said carefully with her eyebrows a bit furrowed

He smiled at her as he brushed her hair to the side and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“It’s somewhat like that” he said softly

“Fate is when we met, destiny is when we became a couple; fate is when we weren’t adopted from the orphanage, but it was destiny that we were engaged, and fate is…” he stopped as he felt a lump on his throat

“Fate is when I died that day” he explained to her as he hugged her tightly

“Fate is the one we can’t control, it’s inevitable. But destiny, we’re the ones who write it; it’s up to us what our destiny will be. But this –“ he sighed

She twisted her body and faced him, knowing from his tone that there was something wrong.

“You’re not supposed to stay here Mirae, a few minutes from now you will go back and I won’t be there” he said as he failed to keep his tears from crawling out of his eyes.

“No, no Yongguk! I’ll come back! I’ll go back here… I don’t want to leave you” her voice started to shake, tears flowing.

He hugged her as tight as he can and let his actions speak. He caressed her back as she cried her heart out to him.

“You can’t, even if you tried to kill yourself again, you won’t see me here anymore” he told her

“Why not?”

“Because fate won’t allow it”

He faced her and wiped her tears with his thumb. Gently caressing her cheeks, he kissed her softly as the sun started to set. The sky started to dim, stars appeared one by one, and the beautiful crescent moon shone upon them.

As they parted slowly, Mirae started to disappear. Her feet were slowly becoming transparent as it crept up to her legs. She started to panic, looking into Yongguk’s eyes as he hugged her tightly.

“Shh” he calmed her

“Until the first firefly appears, you won’t disappear” he said while rubbing her back

He looked at her once more and cupped her cheeks, softly rubbing her it as his tears started to flow once more.

“Listen to me okay. When you go back, don’t end it. There is someone else fated to stay with you; there is someone who will love you more than I ever did.” She started to shake her head, tears pouring from her face

“No, no that’s not… no… Gukkie please”

“Continue okay, continue living without me Mirae, don’t just stop where I ended; continue. Never forget that” his voice was trembling as he saw half of her body was now translucent.

She kept shaking her head while chanting her disagreement to what Yongguk said.

“Promise me Mirae, promise me” he said as he showed her his pinky

She bit her lip as she intertwined their pinkies, promising that she will continue living her life on earth. As they lowered their hand, they sealed their final promise with a kiss.

Their last kiss.

“I love you” he softly whispered to her before a small firefly landed on their intertwined pinkies.

With that, she disappeared completely, leaving only a petal where she sat. He covered his face as he started to cry profusely. He picked up the red petal and placed it on his chest as the wind blew against his face, gently brushing his hair.

From his pocket, he took out a photograph of the two of them. Their very first picture with Mirae's first camera: A kiss on the cheek. A kiss on the cheek from a man who loved her truly, a kiss from a man who thought he'd never love, a kiss from a man who was never to be hers forever.

“Continue” he whispered to the air as he himself started to fade away.

Fate can let him rest now.

And with that, he disappeared as well, leaving the petal and the photograph on the tree they had their very last kiss. 

Feeling her heart beat once again, she woke up and saw unfamiliar faces surrounding her point of view. She looked around and started to panic when she realized that she was inside the emergency room of the local hospital.

“No no no! I have to go back! I need to see Yongguk” she yelled as she tried to leave

Two nurses pulled her to her bed as she persistently tried to get away from them. She felt a sudden sting on her arm when one of the nurses decided to inject something into her vein. Bit by bit, her body started to feel numb, he knees weakened, and the last thing she saw was a guy rushing into the emergency room.

“Yongguk” she whispered as she became unconscious, a single tear crawling from her eye.

Hey guysss ♥ I'm really really thankful to you all for reading my story (even tho it needs a bit of work) I will continue writing this and have you guys as my motivation! Shoutout to my friend Yka for pushing and motivating me~ ♥