I froze.

My heart stopped.

My breathing ceased.

I literally felt as though I could’ve collapsed right then and there and no one would have questioned it as out of the ordinary. O…over? Donghae and I were… over? That… That doesn’t… That doesn’t even… I can’t even comprehend this! I refuse to comprehend this! He and I went through all this , all this hell, all these troubles to end over an article?! And not just any article, but an article that wasn’t even true? Never once, in my entire nineteen years that I’ve spent on this earth, did I ever expect any of my relationships to rely on the stupidity and lack of honesty of a stupid article, written by some filthy lowlife who had nothing better to do with their lives than to go around and ruin others’ lives by making up false marriage proposals and shouting it out to the world as if it were all truth. And now? Now Donghae and I were over? Is that even possible? Is it even humanly possible for he and I to be over, all because of some stupid article? I couldn’t even pull enough brain cells together to form a coherent response, but luckily, I didn’t have to.

“Donghae, take it back this instant. You don’t mean it! I know you don’t mean it!” Alex shouted after she had gotten over the initial shock of Donghae and I being over.

“I’m sorry, but I do mean it,” Donghae stated, causing me to choke on my tears again.

Why? Why would he say that?

“Donghae, quite being stupid! It was an article! You said so yourself that this article would impact nothing!” Heechul interjected, looking as though he were about to fly forward and tackle Donghae if he didn’t take his words back.

“What am I supposed to do if I know for sure that there is no future for us?! I can’t just sit here and wait forever and hope that she changes her mind! Life just… Life just doesn’t work that way!” Donghae replied.

“Well, what do you want her to do? She’s freaking nineteen, still in college, with other priorities in her life! Do you expect her to give up all that she’s ever worked for, all that she’s ever achieved, all her happiness for something she doesn’t wanna do?” Siwon asked, a perplexed expression laced with anger on his face.

“I-It’s okay,” I interjected quietly, reaching up to wipe my tears away. Everyone stopped talking and looked my way. I hesitantly looked up towards Donghae, slowly taking off my necklace and earrings in the process. I stepped toward him, gently bringing his hand up and opening it so I could lay the jewelry down in his palm. Shutting his fingers around them, I quietly said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the girl for you. I’ll probably regret it for the rest of my life. I… I sincerely hope that you do find the right girl, and I look forward to meeting your future wife.”

I didn’t give anybody any time to respond. Instead, I numbly began walking away, making sure that I avoided eye contact with everybody. I was in a state of shock, not quite sure how I should be responding to any of this. Should I be angry? Upset? Depressed? All of the above? I don’t know what emotion should be overtaking me at the moment, but whatever it is, it’s hiding ‘cause I feel nothing. I feel empty, numb, and vacant even though I should be feeling upset that this was how my only relationship that I actually valued had ended up. I knew it was too good to be true. A guy as amazing as Donghae? Mine? Tch. Yeah right. He and I weren’t meant to be, and this is Fate’s ty and unfair way of telling us.

I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but before I knew it, I found myself in my room, my real room. It felt deserted and dead, exactly mirroring what I was feeling at the moment. I turned and shut the door, and, upon remembering the fact that my lock still hadn’t been fixed, I listlessly pushed my couch against the door. Deciding that, that wasn’t enough to keep anybody out, I then proceeded to push my computer desk over in front of the couch and added my dresser as well. Figuring that, that was probably the best I could do to keep myself in solitary confinement for awhile, I then crawled into bed after pulling my blinds and curtains shut, pulled the blanket over my head, curled up into a tight ball, and began sobbing.

Donghae and I were over.

~~~~

The next three days were brutal. I never once left my room and no one came in or out that door. Everyone from Siwon to Eunhyuk to Leeteuk to Yesung to Alex have begged and begged for me to go outside and at least eat something, but I saw no point in eating when my life was practically over. And what’s worse? Everyone’s about to leave me all alone tomorrow. Siwon, Eunhyuk, Zhou Mi, Henry, Sungmin, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, D… Donghae. They’re all leaving me tomorrow, and I’ll be left alone. I sighed at the depressing thought and continued aimlessly tracing the flowery patterns on my bedspread. When did my life take sucha pathetic turn? It went from being pretty awesome to pretty terrible in about three seconds flat.

“Uki Seohae Choi! You have two seconds to open this damn door before I bust down this entire wall and drag you out here!” I heard Siwon screaming outside my door, once again pounding against the wood.

I didn’t understand why he didn’t just kick the door in already. I mean, the wood was pretty thin, and he’s freaking Siwon. I hope those muscles weren’t just for show, and I hope that he’d at least be able to push my furniture out of the way like I had. If not… Well, if not, my brother just lost a whooooole lotta respect points from me. I tuned out the sound of his droning voice and once again focused solely on the flower and leaf pattern circling my white bedspread. I’m not gonna lie and say that I wasn’t hungry. I mean, I’m only human. I can’t help that. However, I will say that I found no point in eating since I was never going to leave this room again for the rest of my stay here in Seoul. I mean, who did I have to impress? I didn’t needa eat or keep up with my image. I have nobody to impress ‘cause I’m some annoying witch that no one would ever even wanna look at. I was not planning to leave this dorm again until I have to fly back to Cambridge, which, I assure you, will be very soon.

“UKI! YOU HAVE TWO ING SECONDS BEFORE I GO IN THERE AND KILL YOU FOR IRRITATING THE OUTTA ME! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING PEOPLE SCREAM YOUR NAME WHILE YOU’RE IN THERE WALLOWING IN SELF PITY! YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE THIS INSTANT BEFORE I START COUNTING, AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO START COUNTING!” a different voice suddenly shrieked.

I rolled my eyes.

You’re not fooling anyone, Heechul.

Instead of taking any heed to his warning, I simply shut my eyes and buried myself deeper underneath my blanket, pulling the thin material over my head until I was swallowed by complete darkness. I smirked in victory when I heard Siwon’s muffled voice say, “C’mon, hyung. It’s obvious she’s not gonna come out.”

“I don’t think so! I will not let her kill herself over some stupid breakup! I’ve raised her better than that, and if she dies because she refuses to eat over a broken heart, then I will resurrect her just so I can have the satisfaction of killing her again! DO YOU HEAR THAT UKI SEOHAE CHOI?! I WILL MURDER YOU IF YOU DON’T COME OUT THIS INSTANT!” Heechul screeched, sounding as though he were getting angrier and angrier by the second.

“Go. Away.”

“WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! That’s it. You’re gonna regret that, Uki Seohae Choi. You just wait! I’m gonna make you regret ever annoying me!” And then I heard him walking away, grumbling incoherent things under his breath.

“Uki… Can you at least come out and eat something? Please? I leave tomorrow, meaning I won’t see you again for almost four months. I at least wanna know you’re gonna be okay before I leave. Please?” I heard Siwon ask quietly in a pleading voice, completely contradicting with his screams of anger from earlier.

No matter how heartbreaking his voice sounded to my ears, I couldn’t bring myself to get outta bed. I felt as though if I did get up, I would simply blow away with the wind. I mean, I’m pretty sure I managed to lose five pounds in the past three days. Not good. Eighty-five pounds when I’m six months shy of twenty? NOT. CUTE. I groaned at the prospect of looking like a skeleton by the time I finally decided to leave this damn bedroom and simply curled myself into a tighter ball. Life , ya’ know that? Life seriously , and these past three days have been making me wonder if it really was all worth going through the pain and suffering for. I mean, what? You live for about 80 years or so, 90 if you’re lucky, and then you’re gone? Some peoples’ lives aren’t even eventful. They’re born, they go through a normal childhood, normal school life, they get married, they have kids, and then they’re gone? What kinda life is that? Was it even worth living anymore at that point?

I probably would have remained curled up in my bed, wallowing in the “self pity” that I’d managed to cast over myself, all day had it not been for the fact that all of a sudden, I heard the sound of my door splintering. I was confused for a moment and peeked underneath my blanket to see that someone was kicking in my door, and the next thing I knew, the entire door was gone, completely ripped off its hinges. I didn’t even have time to pull the blanket off my head before I was suddenly lifted outta bed. I screamed, fearing the very possible meeting between my face and the floor when the mystery person threw me over their shoulder as if I were some sack of potatoes.

“YAH! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!” I screamed.

“Alright,” they said, and before I knew it, I was thrown into the bathtub.

I nearly jumped outta my skin when I felt my internal temperature dropping almost ten degrees in two seconds flat, and screamed yet again when the mystery person turned the shower on, hitting me dead center, with a blast of the coldest water I had ever felt in my entire life. So there I was, sitting in a bathtub full of ice, with water that I could have sworn was taken straight from the North Pole soaking me from head to toe. I swear to God that if I get sick because of this, I am going to murder every single freaking person in this damn dorm! I looked up past my arms that I had used to help shield the water from hitting my head to see Heechul standing above me, a smug smirk on his lips and a dangerous flame burning in his eyes. I felt anger sparking inside of me, the first emotion I’d felt in the past three days. I immediately stood, almost slipping for a moment, and shut the water off, turning my dangerous glare toward Heechul.

“What the was that?!” I shouted in anger.

“I told you that I’d come in there and get you outta that damn room, and you underestimated me! Now, you are going to stay out of that room, do I make myself clear?! And you are going to eat so you can stop worrying your brother and everybody else in this dorm, do you understand?! And you are going to stop wasting away in that room, ara?!” he exclaimed.

I grinded my teeth in anger, my fists balling at my sides as I felt myself begin to shiver uncontrollably thanks to the coldness of my unexpected shower. “Who do you think you are trying to tell me what to do?!”

“I’m freaking Kim Heechul, that’s who I am! I’m sick and tired of hearing how worried everyone is about you, and I’m sick and tired of seeing you kill yourself by starving yourself! Look at you! You’re freaking skinnier than me now, and that is not something I’ll tolerate, do you understand me?! It is not okay that you are skinner than me! NOT. O. KAY.”

“Ugh! I don’t care what you will and will not tolerate, Kim Heechul! Do you hear that?! I don’t care! I’m sick and tired of all you people ruining my life!”

Heechul’s eyes widened and he looked like he was about to deck me as he screamed, “Ruining your life?! Ruining your life?! Just because you had one bad breakup does not mean you can go around insulting the people that simply care enough about you to worry about your health and wellbeing! If you’re gonna be angry with anybody and blame anybody, blame the idiot that broke your heart, not the people that’s trying to take care of you!”

I was shocked into silence. Yeah, I know right? Me? Silent? That never happens, but… Heechul was right. The moment that, that realization sunk in, I pouted, on the verge of tears once more, and sat myself down in the tub, drawing my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, and leaning my forehead against my arms. I took a deep breath, willing myself to stay strong and not burst into tears like I truly wanted to, but my attempts to ignore the onslaught of tears were futile and I ended up crying regardless, the ice and the subzero temperature no longer being a bother to me. I heard Heechul sigh and could vaguely make out the sound of him taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. It was silent for a moment, the only sound being my quiet whimpers through my tears, but Heechul quickly interrupted that silence with, “Look, Uki. I’m not upset with you… Okay, I kinda am, but that’s only because you’re allowing yourself to waste away over some stupid breakup. It’s not worth it, and I hate seeing you all sad and depressed all the time. Trust me. We’re all worried about you, and we only want what’s best for you. I know that you were in love with Donghae and everything, and I know that this breakup is especially hard for you, but you’re seriously gonna hafta get over it at some point. You can’t go back to Cambridge acting all depressed and everything, or else everyone’s gonna believe that we treat you badly whenever you come to visit us!”

I didn’t say anything.

I refused to say anything.

They all spoke to me as if I didn’t just have my heart ripped outta my chest. They didn’t know what it was like, going through a breakup such as this one, and it was seriously beginning to irritate me how every single one of them kept pulling the “You’re gonna hafta get it over it some time” with me. How in the hell do any of them expect me to just get over it?! I just got dumped because of some stupid article, and by a guy who I thought didn’t care about such things! And they expect me to just get over it? I understand that they have good intentions, and I understand that they’re only looking out for me, trust me, I do. But damn! Let me be depressed about it in peace, so I can just get it all outta my system before I feel the need to go jumping off a bridge again!

When I didn’t look up or respond to him, Heechul simply sighed and said, “Alright, I’ll leave you alone to shower then. Breakfast is at the table. At least just come out and show your face to everybody? That way they’ll know for sure that you’re not dead?”

I didn’t respond, but I didn’t need to, for right after he finished speaking, he stood up and left, shutting and locking the door behind him. I sighed, sniffling and trying to get myself to stop crying. I’d been crying too much as of late, and as much as I hated to admit it, Heechul was right. What good would it do anybody if I just spent all my time in my room and allowed my body to waste away until I looked like some emaciated skeleton? None. None whatsoever. I’m tired of hiding away and spending all my time crying in self pity. I was done. Just because Donghae and I were over doesn’t mean I can completely shut down and end my life right then and there. I have a freaking life to live, and damn it, I was going to live it even if it killed me.

Siwon’s POV~

“I’m assuming by the shrill shrieks that you managed to get her out after all?” Leeteuk asked suddenly.

I looked up from my bowl of cereal to see Heechul sauntering into the kitchen, a satisfied smirk upon his face and a new jaunty bounce to his steps.

“Why yes, yes I did,” he replied nonchalantly, taking his seat beside Eunhyuk and pulling up his plate of pancakes that he had left half-eaten when he went on his mission of dragging Uki out of her room.

“I’m also assuming by the shrill shrieks that she was none too happy about the little surprise you had in store for her?” Leeteuk asked next.

Heechul’s smirk simply grew as he said, “Nope. Not happy whatsoever. I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to kill me in my sleep tonight.”

“You know what the scary thing about that statement is?” Eunhyuk asked, casually eating a strawberry after he had finished his entire stack of pancakes. He swallowed the bite of strawberry he had in his mouth as he said, “I can actually see her doing it.”

“Can we please quit talking about her?” Donghae suddenly asked, his vacant gaze turning into a slight scowl. “I’m sick and tired of hearing her name everywhere.”

“That can’t really be helped, now, can it? She kinda lives here,” I responded coldly, shooting him a slight glare.

“I wish she would just go back to Cambridge already, where she can go off, flirt, and get herself another guy who she’s also not planning to marry,” Donghae grumbled, using his fork to stab his pancakes with probably more ferocity than necessary.

I was beginning to get irritated with the way he was speaking about my sister. He acted as though she were the one who broke things off, when it was obviously him who wanted to end things! And that childish little pout isn’t helping anything whatsoever. If anything, it’s pissing me off even more that he had the audacity to pout at something he did. I mean, c’mon! Sure Uki says she doesn’t wanna get married now, but she’s freaking nineteen, still in college! Of course she’s gonna say that! What else do you expect for a teenager who’s actually right in the head to say? That she’s gonna get married and throw away her entire future? Chyeah. Highly unlikely.

“K-Kim Heechul, i-if I c-c-catch a c-cold, I’m going to m-murder you,” a stammering voice suddenly said.

I looked up to see Uki shuffling in with a fleece blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders and her hair tied up in a messy bun despite it still being wet from her shower. She was noticeably shivering, and I could see that her skin was about ten shades paler than normal. Oh gosh, Heechul, what did you do to my sister?!

“Hey, look at it this way. If you catch a cold, at least we’ll know you’re still alive,” Heechul responded with a cheeky smile.

Uki’s face fell, and she gave Heechul a flat stare, looking as though she were tearing him apart in her mind. She refused to say anything as she simply turned the other way and began walking away, but Leeteuk immediately shot up and grabbed her by the shoulders, saying, “Oh no you’re not. You are going to eat something, do you understand me? We will tie you to the chair and force food down your throat if you don’t cooperate.”

“Oppa—”

“Uki, he’s being serious,” Eunhyuk interrupted, raising a coil of black rope so she could see that they were not joking. “We will tie you down if you don’t willingly eat. I mean, look at you! That tank top used to fit you perfectly, and now it’s beyond loose on you!”

Uki looked down at the tank that indeed used to fit her to the T but was now freely flowing at the bottom and rolled her eyes, saying, “S-so what, I l-lost a few pounds.”

“Uki, sit,” Heechul said, standing up and pointing to his chair.

I could already tell that she was about to protest, but I thought ahead and quickly said, “Uki, if you don’t sit down and eat, I’ll call Doojoon to come over and make you sit down and eat.”

Her eyes widened in shock before she narrowed them in anger. “Y-you w-wouldn’t.”

“Wanna bet?” I asked with a smile, fishing my phone outta my pocket and showing it to her.

She gave a slow, angry breath before she took a seat and reluctantly took a bite of Heechul’s still half-eaten pancakes. She gave me a sarcastic grin and unwillingly began chewing, her expression souring once more. Eunhyuk busted out laughing, leaning down and hugging Uki, his cheek against hers, as he said, “Aigoo, you’re so cute! We can actually use your bias against you now!”

“Hyukjae, you have two seconds to step away from me before I bite you,” Uki responded flatly.

“At least you’d be eating something!” Eunhyuk replied cheerfully.

“Eunhyuk, quit being irritating, and leave her alone before she seriously kills you,” I said, slightly tugging on his shirt.

“But I love her!” Eunhyuk exclaimed, hugging Uki tighter. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve last said that to you? Gosh, it’s been fre—Ow! You bit me!”

“I told you I would,” Uki replied nonchalantly, completely indifferent when Eunhyuk suddenly jumped away from her body as though she had just electrocuted him.

“I’m gonna go finish packing my bags,” Donghae suddenly said, abruptly scooting his chair back and walking to the sink with his empty plate in hand.

After dropping the plate in the sink, he walked away toward his room, not even throwing any of us a second glance. I snuck a quick glimpse at Uki to see her staring at Donghae’s vacant chair, her eyes wide and already beginning to shine slightly with the tears slowly welling up in her eyes. She sniffled, cleared , and dropped her gaze to her pancakes, the corners of pulling down in a slight frown as she halfheartedly began eating once more. I sighed. I’ll admit, I wasn’t thrilled of the fact that they had gotten back together in the first place, but now that they’re broken up—for good, it seems like—I’m seriously praying to God every night that both of them will come to their stupid senses and get back together already. I hated seeing my baby sister like this. It wasn’t like her and it was just way too weird! I mean, just think about it. Big bad Uki all of a sudden going around moping and crying all the time? That’s. Not. Normal.

As I looked around the table, I could see the rest of the guys exchanging unsure looks with each other while Uki continued poking at her pancakes. Finally, Eunhyuk sighed and laid his hand on her shoulder, quietly saying, “Don’t worry, Uki. He’ll come around. Lemme talk to him, okay?”

“No, it’s okay,” she responded, not even looking up to speak to his face. “I get where he’s coming from, don’t worry. There honestly is no point in us being together anymore, and that article simply brought out that realization for the both of us.”

“Uki, you’re being stupid,” Alex said bluntly, crossing her arms and giving Uki that look. “You’re the first girl Donghae’s been with that I don’t wanna kill or chase away. Trust me when I say that, that’s a good thing, otherwise, you would have ended up like Jessica with a deathly fear of both The Grudge and cucumbers. But that’s beside the point. The point is, you need to freaking get back together with him already so we don’t hafta see you moping around all the time and him acting all cold all the time.”

“I don’t think you guys get it. I’m done. I’m done playing this ‘break up, make up’ game. I gave him a choice, and he made his decision.” Uki finished off the last of her pancakes and stood from the table, dumping the empty plate into the sink. She turned and faced us, sighing as she said, “I know that you guys probably don’t wanna accept it. Hell. I don’t even wanna accept it. But the fact of the matter is, we’ve all gotta face facts here: Donghae and I over. Like… for good.”

I’m pretty sure that if we all had a chance to respond, we would have, but at that moment, the sound of Super Junior-M’s voices cut through the atmosphere as “Oh my, super girl” hit all our ears. Uki blinked for a moment, staring at her phone that had seemingly magically appeared on the counter. She sighed and walked toward it, her brows knitting in confusion.

“I don’t recognize the number…” she said, as Super Junior-M’s voices continued singing. I was about to tell her not to pick it up, but she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, time to make new friends!” Sliding the answer key, she put the phone to her ear and said, “Yebeoseyo?”

“Uki! How’s my favorite midget doing?” a singsong voice shouted on the other end, causing me to flinch from the fact that Uki and I were at least ten feet away from each other yet I could hear his voice with such clarity, I would have sworn the person were standing right beside me speaking.

“What the… What the hell? Who is this?!” Uki exclaimed, her eyes widening slightly in anger.

“You deleted my number already?! But I’ve only been gone for a few months!” the voice shouted, and I could vaguely imagine the person pouting at her in my mind as he said this.

Oh God…

“Look, I don’t know who the hell you are, but I’m not in a particularly good mood right now, so you have two ing seconds to tell me your name before I find you and kill you,” Uki snapped, her eyes glowering in anger.

“No need, ya’ wanna know why? Because…”

The front door suddenly burst open, causing us all to jump slightly and share a look of confusion between us before we all raced outta the kitchen toward the living room. My eyes widened while Uki whined slightly under her breath. The person standing in the living room grinned at us, his cell phone still next to his ear, as he said, “I’m right here!”

“Void…” Uki trailed off, rolling her eyes to the heavens with a pleading look on her face as she faked some cries. Well… At least I think she faked them.

“I’m baaaaaaaack~” Void said in a singsong voice, the all-too familiar grin full of nothing but mischief and mayhem making its way onto his face.

“Oh my sweet Jesus. All Hell is about to freaking break loose,” Uki said, shaking her head as she collapsed onto the couch, covering her face and still faking cries.

Oh, you’ve got that right.

Lol. Oh gosh. This chapter has been so delayed. xD

But, I don't feel like going into why again since I've been ranting about it all over Facebook for the past week. :3

Any who, Void has finally made it into the series! ^-^

I'll do the whole credit thingie tomorrow 'cause it is currently 2:10 A.M., I'm tired as , and I've been awake since 7:30 this morning. Needless to say, I've been sleep deprived lately. xD

Soooo... Buh-bye!~ ^-^