< / 3

Uki’s POV~

The moment we got home, I didn’t even say anything to anybody.

I immediately headed to Donghae’s room and crashed on the bed, throwing that damned machine into the corner and covering it with a blanket. I could breathe fine without it. A little strained maybe, but enough to keep me alive! I refused to let my life depend on that damned machine. I heard the door open and the bed shift to one side due to the uneven weight distribution. A few seconds of silence went by before I was pulled to the center of the bed, my back against a warm body. I smiled as Donghae kissed my cheek, whispering, “Good night.”

This was how life was supposed to be<3

~~~~

“Do you think they’re awake?”

“They’re obviously not, you idiot.”

“Yah, hyung! Why are you so mean to me?”

“Because you ask stupid questions like ‘Are they awake?’ when they’re obviously still asleep.”

“You never know, hyung. Uki’s a pretty good actress. She can always be faking it.”

“I’m hungry! When is somebody gonna cook something?”

“AISH! Are we really starting up with old habits so soon?!”

They all fell silent the moment I snapped my eyes open at them and tried sitting up. Aish. I really hate not having the free mobility of the right side of my body. Leeteuk, Hangeng, and Sungmin rushed forward to help me sit up. I sent them a grateful smile, slipped my sling on over my head with the assistance of Leeteuk, and turned around to look at Donghae who was still sleeping. I gave his head a little shove.

“Bapoya!” I said. “Wake up! How can you still be asleep after all their annoying voices?”

“I was hoping that if I kept pretending like I was asleep they’d go away and leave us alone,” he murmured into his pillow, his eyes still closed.

“Aish, Donghae! Wake up! If I’m losing sleep, so are you!” I grabbed my pillow and hit him three times before he finally opened his eyes and grabbed my wrist, halting my assault on him. He gave me that smile of his, causing me to smile back at him.

“Aish, don’t be making out again!” Heechul exclaimed, shooting us a glare.

I looked up at him. “You told us to get a room. And now you’ve invaded our room complaining. You just can never be satisfied, can you?”

He smirked. “What can I say? I’m hard to please.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Don’t get me started, oppa. Now what’s this all about? Not even one day properly back and you’re already stealing sleep from me again?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, giving me a sad look. Oh no. This can’t be good.

“Troy’s mom called,” Henry explained. “She said the funeral’s next weekend.”

I swallowed, a sad look casting over my face. “Oh.”

Donghae put his arm around my waist, holding onto my one of my hands tightly. I felt my chest begin to tighten as my breaths started coming in short, strained gasps. Donghae’s eyes widened.

“Where’s your ventilator?!” he asked me.

“C-c…C-corner!” I managed to spit out between my gasps for breath, pointing to the covered ventilator sitting under the blanket in the corner.

Henry immediately threw the blanket off, grabbing the ventilator and handing it to Donghae, who turned it on and strapped the mask around my face. After about a minute or so of me breathing hard and all the guys plus Alex standing around, looking at me with worried faces, I finally felt my chest begin to loosen and breathing become an easier task. Donghae let out a breath of relief, glaring at me.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again! Do you want me to die of a heart attack or something?! Quit being so damn stubborn, Uki, just use the damn machine!” he scolded me.

I glared at him for a second before he threw his arms around me in a hug, pulling me tightly against him. “I don’t wanna lose you again, Uki. Please quit scaring me like that.”

A pang of guilt hit me as soon as those words left his mouth, knowing what my set decision was already. Pulling the mask back slightly, I said, “Mianhe, oppa.”

“Uki?”

I looked up at Leeteuk.

“What are you planning to do now?” he asked me.

I sighed, frowning slightly as I looked around at everyone carefully. “I’m leaving.”

Donghae shot up immediately as if my body just shocked him. “YOU’RE WHAT?!”

I sighed again, pulling the mask off my face and carefully shutting the machine off, taking a deep breath. By the way, just so you all know, it is the freakiest thing ever to breathe using only one of your lungs. It’s almost as if no matter how many breaths I take or no matter how deep the breath is, I can never feel complete. I’ll always feel like something’s missing. Weird, right? o.e I took turns looking at all of their faces, one by one, lingering slightly on Leeteuk’s shocked and hurt face.

“I’m leaving,” I repeated more firmly this time. “I need to be there for Troy’s funeral and the spring semester at Cambridge is about to start. I’ve already been here longer than ever before. I mean, six months? My maximum stay was always two. And although this visit was so much different than the rest, I really don’t think I would have changed a thing that’s happened. It pains me to leave you guys after all the excitement that’s gone down in the past month or so, but I have to. You all knew this day was coming sooner or later.”

Nobody said a word, just looked at me with identical devastated looks on all their faces. I frowned. The looks they were giving me really didn’t help me cope with the ridiculous guilt and sadness running through my mind at the moment. You think I wanted to leave them? I’d give anything to stay here longer! But I can’t exactly do that. I freaking busted my getting to Cambridge. I wasn’t gonna give it up. Okay, I know, that was, like, complete contradiction of what I’d just said, but it was Cambridge. Would you give up a college like that, especially with a full ride scholarship? Yeah, didn’t think so. And besides. After all that Troy’s done for me, I had to go to his funeral. There was no way in hell that I was skipping out on that. They knew that I was leaving sooner or later. I mean, did they really expect me to stay here forever? Maybe after I finish my PhD and my entire body fully comes back to life will I ever consider moving back to Seoul, but not a second sooner.

“You’re really leaving us, Uki?” Henry asked sadly.

I nodded sadly at them, half frowning, half smiling. “Sadly. But I’ll be back! I always come on my yearly visits, remember? If I don’t, who’ll check up on you guys to make sure that you’re not getting into any trouble? I know for a fact that your manager isn’t gonna do it. And if I leave poor Alex here all alone, she’ll go insane. Trust me, I speak from prior experience.” I smiled slightly, tears pooling in my eyes at seeing them with tears in their eyes as well. “And of course, Hangeng, there’s that pesky little lawsuit still.” He gave a sad nod, his tears falling slowly down his cheeks. “I’m not abandoning you guys. It’s just…There are other things out there in the world that also need my attention and care at the moment.”

“Wh…When are you leaving?” a soft voice asked from behind.

I turned slightly to see Donghae sitting on his knees, staring blankly at a random spot on the bed. I sighed, pained at seeing my fishy like that.

“When my parents are,” I answered, not wanting to give the real answer.

Siwon looked up at me, a look on his face that was telling me he knew the answer but didn’t wanna believe it. “But, Uki…That’s tomorrow.”

I shut my eyes tightly so I wouldn’t have to look at their expressions any longer as I sadly nodded. No one said a word. Suffocating silence filled the empty space around me as I finally opened my eyes to see all my boys crying silently, even the big bad Heechul who’s proven to me recently that he’s really just a big softie on the inside. Leeteuk, my dear angel, was also crying. Aish, I hated it when he cried the most, simply because he was Leeteuk. He was always crying, especially when someone lashed out on one of the other boys. It was beginning to get awkward when someone’s phone rang, breaking the deafening silence.

“Yebeoseyo?” Siwon answered, wiping away his tears. “Ahh, yeah, she’s right here. Uki, it’s for you.”

I took the phone from him, grateful for an excuse to break the silence. “Yebeoseyo?”

“Uki?” a deep voice responded.

“Yes, this is she,” I answered.

“Ahh, good. Uki, this is Agent Yi. I was just calling, thinking you might want an update of the current situation down here.”

I smiled half-heartedly. “Yeah. How are things down there?”

“Things are going great. We’ve returned all the girls to their proper families and Tony and his friends have been charged with abuse, assault, and kidnapping charges. I highly doubt they’ll be making it out of jail any time soon.”

I smiled victoriously at the news, knowing that I helped make that happen. “That’s great to hear! How’s Amanda doing?”

“Oh my goodness, Amanda has been a great help around here! She’s a great intern and we’ve been able to find her a place to stay that specializes in running a home for battered women. She’s starting high school this upcoming January, but she’ll still be working here as an intern. She’s turning her life around.”

I smiled at the news, happy that I can say that I also helped in making that happen. “That’s so good to hear. How’s my Little Uki doing?”

“We haven’t had a status update about her, but we made sure we got her back to her family safely.”

I smiled to myself. I missed her already.

“Oh, and, um, Uki? The earrings?”

My eyes widened as I realized that I still had those earrings in. Oh .

“Oh crap,” I said. “Um…?”

He chuckled on the other line. “Keep them. I disabled the radio inside them so we won’t be able to hear anything on your end, no matter how many times you touch them. Oh, and they’re real diamonds, so take care of them. Consider them…A reward for all you’ve managed to accomplish in the little time we’ve known each other.”

I smiled to myself and nodded. “Thank you, Agent Yi. Thanks for the update.”

“No problem. How’s your arm?”

“Still not moving,” I responded with a laugh.

He sighed heavily. “It’s always sad to see a good person such as yourself end up with such a life-changing injury.”

I just sighed along with him. “Can’t say I disagree. But it’s okay. Now I’ve got an amazing story to tell my kids one day. And besides. I can still walk and I can move one of my arms, so I’m not completely useless yet.”

I heard him chuckling again. “I’m gonna miss working with you. Goodbye, Uki. May God bless you in everything you do and help you go far in life.”

I smiled. “Goodbye, Agent Yi, and thank you. You as well.”

I hung up the phone on him, feeling as though I just had the satisfaction of forever ‘hanging up’ on all the events that had taken place in Vietnam. I turned back to my boys, biting back the sad feeling that was beginning to rise from the pit of my stomach again. I said something about having to go take a shower and I slipped out of there, grabbing a towel and one of Donghae’s T-shirts on my way out along with a clean pair of Sophies and undergarments. Making it to the bathroom, I shut and locked the door, sliding slowly to the floor. Aish. I hated this feeling so much. I did not want to leave my boys.

I liked it here way too much.

Ugh.

Whatever happened to never wanting to move back to Seoul ever again?!

Aish.

Eff my life, man. Just eff my freaking Korean-drama-like-emotional-roller-coaster of a life.

~~~~

“The eleven thirty flight out to the United States is now boarding.”

I sighed sadly, tightening my grip around my suitcases’ handles. Donghae looked down at me sadly.

“What’s gonna happen to us?” he whispered softly, staring at me with his intense brown eyes.

I smiled at him. “I’m not my sister. I believe in long-distance relationships.”

He smiled at me, wrapping his arms around my waist and picking me up until my feet were off the ground, kissing me like he’d never kissed me before. My lips formed a smile around his when I heard Heechul making gagging noises in the background. Pulling away, I smiled at Donghae, knowing that I was going to miss seeing that face every day.

“Take care of yourself, okay?” he said, a concerned look in his eyes.

I smiled at him. “I can say the same to you. You better learn how to get some sleep or else I’ll call and make sure Eunhyuk and Sungmin knock you out every night.”

He laughed at me, letting me slide to the floor through his interlocked arms, pecking me quickly on the lips again. I smiled and went to say my goodbyes to the rest of them, hugging Siwon and Alex extra tight.

“Don’t go too insane alone with the boys, alright?” I told Alex.

She laughed at me. “I’ll try not to. Come back soon, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I replied with a smile.

I hugged Siwon next, not wanting to let go. “I’ll see you soon, oppa. No need to worry about me. I think I proved to you that I can take care of myself.”

He laughed at this statement and pulled back, kissing me on the forehead. “No matter what you think, I’ll always be there to watch over you. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

I smiled at this statement. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“Last call for the eleven thirty flight out to the United States.”

Aish. I heard you, you annoying woman. I went back to my fallen suitcases that had toppled to the ground when Donghae had attacked me and picked them all up. Seeing as how only one arm could do any work, my dad had to help me with my other three suitcases while I managed to roll three on my own. I glared at my sling for a second. I will get you off. You are going to come off sooner or later. Just like that damned machine, this sling was a constant reminder to me of everything that I wanted to forget. It needed to die. It will die.

“Aish, Uki, you look insane for glaring at your sling like that,” I heard someone say. I looked up and smiled at Heechul. “Now hurry up and go! You’re gonna be late for your flight!”

I waved goodbye as I boarded the plane, handing my suitcases to one of the flight attendants to be stowed below. Right before I stepped into the corridor leading to the inside of the plane, I turned around and waved goodbye one last time, receiving fourteen—Alex, remember?—waves back, all from people I was going to miss dearly. I turned my back on them, but most definitely not for the last time, and walked down the corridor, stepping into the plane. I looked at the seat numbers. 21 B. Window seat? Perfect(: I slid into the seat, glad that the window was on my left side so I could rest my left elbow on the window’s ledge, staring out at the landing strip. I turned my attention back to the plane when that annoying voice came on the intercom, informing us of the procedures of what to do in the case of an emergency. I noticed my parents were a little ways up there. Aish.

I dug around in my bag, pulling out my phone to shut it off, but not before reading this:

From: Fishy<3

Sent, December 2, 2010, 11:29 A.M.

I love you, Uki! Have a safe flight back to the States and don’t forget about me while you’re over there! I can’t wait until I get to see your beautiful face every day again, but until then, study hard and work hard! When you come back, I expect you to have your PhD and on your way to opening up your own law firm by then, arasso?(: I miss you already, so hurry up and become a successful lawyer so you can come back to me!

Saranghae, Uki!<3

I smiled at his text. That guy. I shut off my phone, tucking it away safely in the pocket of my purse and pulling my iPod out, unraveling my headphones. I was about to plug in the headphones when the girl who was sitting next to me said, “Unnie, can I ask you something?”

I was surprised for a moment, but I smiled at her.

She reminded me a lot of Little Uki.

“Sure thing,” I responded with a smile.

“What are you listening to?” she asked me, her big eyes full of innocence directed right at my iPod.

I laughed. “I was about to listen to this super duper amazing band named Super Junior.”

“You’re a fan of Super Junior?!”

“Fan? Oh, lemme tell you a little somethin’ about the emotional roller coaster I call life with Super Junior…”

 

Hey, guys! So yeah, this is the final chapter< / 3 I know, I know, it's sad. Lol. But I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I never thought it would pick up this much popularity and you, my dear readers, made it all worth the effort. I love you guys!<3 And now, it is time to tackle the sequel, which can be found here-->I'm Emotionally Unstable and I Thank Super Junior For It<--And yes, that's the title that you all chose. It's a good thing, too, 'cause that was the one I liked best. ;D

Anyways, my lovely readers, Uki's story is most definitely not over yet. This single chapter of her story may be done, but Super Junior's about to have a comeback. You think Uki and Alex can stay sane? I highly doubt it(x

Kekeke. I love you guys! Especially those who have stuck with me through it all, from day one, through all the bashing and hating, through all the twists and turns, through all of it. You guys mean so much to me and reading all your comments really do make my day so never for a second think that I don't read them 'cause I really do! Whenever I'm having a bad day, I come read your guys' hilarious or sweet comments and it makes it all better(:

Anyway, I hope the sequel will gain as much support and love as this one, more if possible! I hope my faithful readers will remain faithful, my silent readers unsilence themselves, and my new readers come back and read this one first, despite there being 100+ chapters(x

Okay, so I think I'm done being all mushy gushy now. Lol.

Stay in school!

Say no to drugs!

Say no to alcohol!

Live a good life!

Yeah, that's my last bit of advice(x

Oh! One more thing. If you ever see an "update" on this one after this chapter, it's probably just me making a grammatical change that's been driving me insane all this time but I've always been lazy to fix so don't get your hopes up(x Lol. Alright! That's really the end of it.

Bye, guys! And thanks for all the support!

S A R A N G H A E ~ <3