Epilogue -- Changsun’s POV

I first thought living without Yoomi was going to be impossible. The first month was, in fact it was the darkest stage I had ever experienced. Everything reminded me of our love. The apartment we had carved our lives out in felt like it was laughing at me, our memories made together making it difficult to even sleep within the walls. Eventually I had ended up back at the dorm with the other members, unable to take the loss of Yoomi. The rest of MBLAQ were equally affected, and it made it difficult for us to continue with our individual and group activities. Cheolyong picked up on Yoomi’s cleaning habits, and we all would look at messes and thought of her never ending cleaning skills. Everything was relatable to the girl, and it was amazing to think that three months was all it took to change our lives completely.

I started to visit the hospital more frequently. I wasn’t exactly sure why but I found comfort in sitting beside Camille’s bed and telling her about my life. At first I felt stupid talking out loud without getting any response. With time though, I found it a good stress relief in between my busy schedule. It had been tough to pretend that Lee Joon was still happy, when the man behind the façade was falling apart. 

After five weeks I received the call I had been waiting for. Camille was finally responsive. Tests had shown that there was little damage though she had suffered memory loss. I knew that had to be due to Yoomi’s fusion into her body, and was disappointed to think that both girls had lost who they were to create one person. All the same I had rushed to the hospital at the first chance I had, hoping that I would see something that would spur me to believe it hadn’t been all in vain. When I arrived, I understood why Yoomi believed they had been similar. Although their ethnicity was different, they shared the same colour eyes. I hadn’t even known Camille’s were brown until that day.

However, my hopes were immediately dashed. Camille’s family had finally arranged for the girl to go back home to America and get specialist treatment there. Even if Yoomi was in her, I couldn’t do a thing to stop her from leaving my life. All the same, I visited Camille every day until she was ready to leave. We were able to communicate better with time, my English was poor and her Korean was equally useless. It was frustrating, knowing she wanted to talk to me, but I couldn’t understand her completely. What I did know was that she had heard me every time I had visited her, and found comfort in the strange man who had adopted her as someone to talk to. It was a small relief in the otherwise awkward and depressing situation.

With time, I was able to move through day to day schedules with more ease. Although Yoomi was never far from my mind, if I was busy, I didn’t have as much time to think about it. Our tour practice and then the actual tour took up a great deal of effort, and I threw myself completely into it, performing not only for the fans, but in honour of who made me still get up every morning. It was ironic, the one person I wanted to give up everything for, was the same person who propelled me forward each day. I wanted to resent her mannerisms that still affected me, but I couldn’t, because they were some of the reasons why I fell in love with Yoomi so easily.

The first anniversary of Yoomi’s death came and passed, as did Camille’s accident and wakening. Although we kept in contact via email now and then, we never saw one another for some time. I hadn’t lost the urge to do so, though it weakened over time, as my career completely took hold of me. After a long working schedule that had very little breaks in it, I finally managed to get a week’s break in July. I spent it at home, and with my parents. Their not so subtle questioning about dating made me feel miserable again. I knew they wanted the best for me, but if it wasn’t Yoomi, I couldn’t bring myself to like a woman.

I was at my apartment cleaning when I received an email from Camille. It was the second one in a week and I was surprised at her effort to contact me so much. It didn’t say much, except her wanting my address so she could send me a sketch she had done. After replying and giving her the details I got lost in thought, so much that when my front door rang I nearly fell off the bar stool I was sitting on. Scratching my head in thought as to whom it might be, I padded over to the door and peered into the CCTV screen.

A girl was standing there with her back to the door, her long wavy hair catching me off guard. I hurried to unlock the door, flinging it open and hoping I wasn’t dreaming. She turned around and for a moment my hopes dropped. And then I realised who it was. “C-Camille?!”

“Hello,” she said in Korean and smiled brightly. “Surprised?”

“Very, since when could you speak Korean?”

She grinned and gestured to come in. I allowed her into the house and shut the door. We headed into the living area and she then spun to face me. “I learnt it over the past year. Aren’t I sneaky?!”

“You sound like you can speak it well now too. How did you learn so fast?”

“My teacher said I was a natural and must have been a Korean in my previous life,” she answered with a laugh and I tried to smile, my mind wandering to Yoomi. It was uncanny how she was the same height as the girl and I was struggling to keep calm.

“And you’re here in Korea because?”

She sat down on the couch and I followed her. Camille blushed lightly. “You’re going to think I’m a really strange girl.”

“I’m sure stranger things have happened to me.”

“I have to show you my sketch first, it’ll help me explain.” She reached for a tube that I hadn’t even noticed until then. She undid the lid and slid the content out of it. Camille unrolled it and then held it up. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

I froze, staring at the exact replica of the woman I loved. I trembled slightly and resisted the urge to take if from her. Instead I swallowed roughly. “She’s very beautiful.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Camille grinned. “She’s someone who I’ve never met but feel like I know. She’s like a guardian to me. I swear she must have existed at some point in my life and I didn’t realise. I’m absolutely in love with anything to do with her. I love drawing her, but she always makes me think of you. Is that weird?”

“N-No.” I swallowed again. “Not at all.”

“Changsun-ssi, are you alright?”

I tried to nod. “Do, you uh, have a name for her?”

“I do.”

“Is it Park Yoomi?” I watched as her expression changed. “It is, isn’t it?”

“H-how did you know?”

I hesitated to tell the girl, and then closed my eyes. “Yoomi is the love of my life. She’s no longer around and like you she was hit by a car, but she uh, died from it.”

“Oh my god Changsun, I-” She stopped, blinking back her tears. “Do, do you think she helped me recover then?”

“I do.”

Camille was thoughtful for a moment and I glanced away, hoping to settle my emotions in front of the American. My eyes fell upon the calendar on the wall, and I started to laugh, looking at the date. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s Yoomi’s birthday today.”

“Okay, now this is really weird,” Camille mentioned and I glanced back at her. “Mine’s tomorrow. I came to Korea as a birthday treat. My parents weren’t exactly thrilled with my destination choice.”

“Why did you choose here?”

She smiled shyly. “I wanted to see you. I don’t know why. And it’s not because you’re famous, if you’re wondering.”

“Ah, so you finally figured that out huh?” I asked with a grin and she nodded. “I’m honoured you decided to visit. I’ve always wanted to see you again.”

“Because you believe Yoomi is within me?” I sighed and nodded my head once. “I believe you, ya know. I feel her sometimes. Especially when I looked you up online. I feel happy whenever I saw you in videos and photos. I uh, I’m really happy right now to see you.”

I gazed at the girl, noticing how nervous she appeared. Taking the picture gently from her hands, I placed it on the coffee table and then leant in to hug her. Camille was surprised at first, but snuggled in deeply, moulding to my body in the same way Yoomi had.

She was no Yoomi. I could tell that Camille was more outgoing and confident than Yoomi had ever been. Her fashion sense was entirely different, and she was westernised. However, she was comforting. There was something about her that made me hopeful that all my waiting alone had come to an end.

I glanced over Camille’s shoulder at the sketch on the table. Yoomi was smiling in it and I felt a tear trickle down my face as I smiled back.

She would come back to me, and I knew that day would now be soon.

The End.

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Author's Notes...

Well, it's officially over now *sobs*... thank you to everyone who joined me on this journey and have stayed around despite my moments of being unable to post fiction due to several commitments. It really means a lot to me that so many people loved this story, felt the magic and the realistic notions within it. This story has captured my heart and become one of my all time favourites.

As for me, well I unfortunately don't have a story prepared to follow up yet. Uni work has really slowed me down. The good thing is that after the 27th October, I'm free from uni for the remainder of the year and will be able to spend more time on my fiction. I hope to bring a new fiction back to AFF very soon! For now, if you like, you can follow my progress on either of my blogs/websites - my main one is: http://smiledreamlovefictions.wordpress.com/ (though still in the process of editing and adding chapters of fictions up here!) or my tumblog: http://smiledreamlovefictions.tumblr.com/ I'll also, like usual, be posting any of my important notices on my blog here on AFF :)

Thank you so much again everyone. I'm really sad it's over now... but I really hope you enjoyed my story - not everything has to end with a happily ever after, but this one was pretty close to that!

Chelle ♥