April 14^th, 1912. Lee Taemin.

“We have to stay on the ship as long as possible!” I heard Minho's voice say. I looked at him, squeezing his hand as we started to run to the back of the ship, the front of is slowly sinking into the water. The further we ran, the harder it became to climb up,- the deck was now diagonal, and as the seconds passed by, it became more and more vertical. “Move Taemin, move!” Minho yelled, and we jumped off the first class deck, landing on the second class one. I fell down on the hard surface, but he immediately helped me back up again. We ran to the back of the ship and made our way to the railing, holding on to it like our life's depended on it. And they did.

The sight of people dying was horrible. Some jumped. Some fell. All screamed. The sound of people's prayers slowly faded as I looked up to meet Minho's eyes. Our eyes locked and I tried to move closer to him.

“Minho...” I whispered. “This is where we first met.” I could see the tears in his eyes as he smiled, kissing my forehead. The ship shook underneath us and I screamed as I heard the wooden deck slowly breaking. One of the enormous chimneys collapsed and fell down, breaking the deck in two.

“Minho!” I cried. I tightened my grip around the railing as the back of the ship fell back down to it's original position, the tale of the ship hitting the water with huge impact. Loud screams of horror filled the air, and I imagined the people who jumped and survived the impact of falling now being smashed by the heavy ship. I breathed out, but it wasn't over yet. The forces of nature had more waiting for us. I gasped as the back of the ship started to lift again.

“We have to move!” Minho yelled, and he started to climb over the railing. He quickly helped me climb over it as well and soon we were lying on the back of the ship, holding on to the railing as the back of the ship pointed straight up. More people fell down, and I was sure that if I would survive, I would never forget the terrified looks in their eyes, seconds before death found them.

“This is it!” Minho shouted, and he grabbed my hand.

“Minho!” I cried. He looked me in the eyes.

“Listen Taemin. You have to listen to me!” I nodded, my body shaking in fear. “The ship is going to us down with it. Take a deep breath when I tell you to, then let go of the railing. Do not let go of my hand, you understand me? As soon as we hit the water, start kicking. Keep kicking until you make it to the surface of the water!” I nodded again, squeezing his hand as the ship started to disappear into the water. We were only a few meters away from hitting the water when I felt Minho grab both my hands.

“Now Taemin! Now!”

I took a deep breath like he told me to, looked at him, and we jumped.

The water was even more cold than I remembered, and I felt my body go numb for a while. I tried to remember Minho's words. Kick. Kick and swim for the surface. But there was something more. I felt myself panic as I realised that his hand was no longer holding mine. I started to kick with all the strength I had, reaching for the surface, but the ship was me down with it. Somehow, I managed to kick hard enough to make it to the surface and I looked around.

“Minho!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Minho!” I looked for him desperately as I swam around in circles, trying to keep my body warm. Suddenly I felt myself being pushed underwater. I found myself kicking around, trying to reach the surface to breathe, the water making me feel like my chest was being stabbed, squeezing all the oxygen out of my longs. Suddenly I felt a hand grabbing my arm, pulling me back up. Two more hands grabbed my shoulders, pushing me back underwater again.

“Let go of him!” an angry voice roared, and I felt the pressure leaving my shoulders, leaving just one hand on my arm. I looked up, facing the boy that had now saved my life for the second time. I tried not to think of the fact that I'd probably die that night anyway, and I thanked him.

“I need you to swim, Taemin!” Minho said. “Swim!” I did as he told me and we swam away, leaving most of the crowd behind. I could see a woman struggling to keep herself and her baby floating, kicking her feet desperately, fighting the cold, dark water. A man was holding on to something that looked like a small table and I watched him grab a little, silver whistle. He started to blow on it, but the sound was weak and vague. Minho pushed me towards a big, wooden closet door that was floating on the Ice cold water.

“Get on.” He commanded, his voice shaking from the cold. I used all my strength to pull myself up on the wooden surface and I felt all my strength flowing out of my muscles.

“Y-you have to g-get on too, M-Mi-Minho.” I managed to say. He shook his head slowly and stayed in the water. I could see our shaky breathing forming cloud-like mist as we panted, exhausted, freezing...

“It can't h-hold us b-both.” he spoke. I was to weak to argue with him. I watched him grab the door leaning on it with his arms, resting his head on top of them, his eyes locked with mine. I reached out to touch his cheek, trying to find a hint of blush underneath the thin layer of ice that was forming on his body, as it probably was on mine as well.

“I... I love you, Minho” I whispered. He slowly lifted his head, his moving almost robotic as he reached out for my hand, shaking, locking our fingers together.

“Don't you do that, Taemin!” He sounded angry. “D-Don't you say your goodbyes... The boats... They will come back, Taemin...” He nodded. “They had to move away from the pulling of the sinking ship, but... They're coming back for us Tae.” I watched him swallow and I could hear the sound of the man's whistle fading as he too became tired. Or maybe he died, then. Death was surrounding us, it got us cornered and it was waiting for us to give in. I tried to squeeze Minho's hands, but I couldn't feel my body anymore. I was too numb to feel if I was actually squeezing his hands, and I wondered if he was be able to feel it.

“You... You are going to die an old, gray haired man, Taemin... Warm and safe in your bed. N-not here...”

I was tired. So tired... Fighting the urge to close my eyes, I looked at him. His once beautiful, full, pink coloured lips had turned blue. His fair skin was now white in a terrifying way, and his dark, curling hair was full of little ice crystals. “You have to p-promise me...” he swallowed again, before he continued.

“Promise me that you'll survive. You h-have to promise me, Taemin...And never let go of that promise.” I felt my body again for a second as he squeezed my hand, my heart jumped at the feeling,

“I promise...” I whispered, too weak to make my voice sound any louder. I tried to get up, to reach out for his face, in desperate need of feeling his skin that had kept me safe and warm for the precious moments we had shared. I wanted to touch the pure beauty that was right in front of me, but I couldn't. Instead, my arms went numb and I rolled onto my back, facing the stars. I couldn't feel his hand anymore.

“Taemin... winning those tickets... That was the best thing that ever happened to me.” I heard him say. “Because it brought me to you... and I'm thankful, Taemin. I'm thankful.”

“I'm... So cold...” I heard myself say.

“They'll... They'll be here any time now...” Minho said, a weak cough sounding from his mouth. “I d-don't know about you but I am g-going to write a s-strong worded letter to the company about all t-this...” he said, and I imagined him smiling to his own joke. His attempt to cheer me up was in vain. I gave in to my exhausted body, my mind going numb also as I slipped away in some sort of dreamless sleep.

"He didn't write a letter. He couldn't. So I'm doing it for him. Not to complain, but to share his story, our story. Because it is meant to be shared. The world must know about the man who saved my life, three times in a row. The world must know about the man who set me free. The world must know about the man who made me feel loved. The world must know, about Choi Minho."

“Hello?!” Slowly, I opened my eyes, but I immediately closed them again, blinking against the amazingly bright lights above me. “Is there anybody alive out there?!” I tried to open my eyes again, and I looked at the stars above me, shining like never before. It looked beautiful. The flickering lights reminded me of his eyes. A sudden lightning-like shot of energy hit me and I sat up, turning around to see Minho still holding on to the door, his head still resting on his arms, his eyes closed. “Can anyone hear me?!” I looked up to see another bright light, but it wasn't a star. It was a flashlight.

“Minho...” I whispered, meaning to sound louder, but my voice refused. “Minho!” My voice sounded squeaky and it cracked as I tried to yell at him. “Minho, the boats... they're here! Minho wake up!” I grabbed his arms, shaking them lightly in an attempt to wake him. His head tilted to the side and moved in sync with my shaking his arms. My heart skipped a beat, and another one. He didn't open his eyes. He wouldn't open his eyes. “M-Minho! W-wake up!” I felt my arms going weak again as I shook his shoulders one more time. I cupped his cheek with one hand. His skin was cold as ice, and his lips were no parting to let out little hints of mist. I grabbed both his hands and felt like screaming, crying, but I couldn't. I rested my head on his hands as I prayed for death to take me with it soon.

“These are all death, sir.”

“Keep looking!”

“Check them!”

The light of the flashlight faded, as did the talking of the crew members. I swallowed hard, my throat dry and aching from the cries I wanted to let out, but my voice wouldn't produce. They were leaving. They were leaving me here to die. They were leaving me, like they left Minho. I blinked. Minho... The thought of dying suddenly haunted me. I wasn't ready to die. I couldn't die. I promised!

I rolled over and sat back up, facing Minho again. I grabbed his hands tightly in mine and brought them up to my face to kiss them, his once warm skin feeling cold against my lips.

“I wont let go, Minho...” I whispered, but at the same time, I slowly raised his hands, letting him slip away from the wooden door. I bend over and kissed his icy cold lips, caressing his cheek one last time before I slowly started to let him go, watching him literarily slip through my fingers as he disappeared into the water. I watched the bubbles of his last breath reach the surface and stared at the point where he'd vanished for a while, my heart aching, my body gone numb. I couldn't hear a single sound apart from my own, shaky breathing, as I realised that he was gone. Gone forever. But his words weren't gone. His love wasn't. I could still feel his touch, suddenly burning on my skin as my survival instincts took over, wanting to hold on to promise, wanting to live like he wanted me to.

I rolled over until I fell off the edge of the door and into the water. It took me some time to adjust to the water again, but I started to kick and swim towards my goal; the silver whistle that was still in between the man's frozen lips. I made my way to the little table that he was still holding on to, but I could tell that he was no longer holding on himself. He was frozen in place, like the little baby that was frozen in it's mother's arms. I reached out and pulled the whistle away from his lips and put it between my own as I started to blow. The sound was weak, but it grew along with my fighting for survival. I watched the flashlight re-appear as the boat turned around and got closer, the man on board of it yelling. I knew they were able to see me. I knew they were coming for me, but I didn't stop blowing on the whistle. I continued to blow it as hard as I could until I felt myself being pulled out of the water and I knew I was safe. I could hear the crew members talking to me, but their voices didn't make any sense. Their words faded along with my consciousness and the last thing on my mind before I passed out was Minho, and how I'd hold on to the promise. 

/

Final Chapter.. I cried while writing it. I regret ever wanting to write this story :( But I hope that even though Minho died, you guys were able to enjoy my writing and the sad, sad story of Titanic in a whole new, SHINee way. I've decided to end it here, because it seemed like a good end to me. I didn't involve the heart of the ocean anymore, because well... I didn't want to. Also for the people who haven't seen the movie or who forgot... Jinki's character also drowned. Kibum's lives. Jonghyun's also survives, but he commits suicide for some reason. And for our main characters.... Well, I suppose that's clear. 

Thank you all so much for reading, subscribing and commenting. I will continue to work hard to improve my writing, and I've already started to write a new 2min drama, so... Keep an eye on my profile if you're interested in that. It's going to be full of plot changes and mind s and everything. It'll be good. Also you can read my SHINee comedy that I'm posting right now, it's called Key's lullaby and yes, there is Jongkey involved. :)

Thanks again, and please, let me know what you think!

Lots of love,

May.