A/N - Sooo~~~ If you thought the last chapter was angst enough, this one should hopefully be a level up ^^ Well, maybe not, but it holds yet another secret and for one character, the end has arrived. Hint hint, read the title. 

@wookielove - haha that's the point isn't it!!! *hugs* and yes, the action is pretty much ending soon and the ending credits shall play out. There's still a lot of stuff to be covered first, but the end is nigh~ And *pat pat*, i'll come sit in the corner with you. Or you can join me in my personal corner where i go to cry or scream my head off with joy after reading amazing stuff, its got cushions and hot chocolate. *hugs* 

@ainnurdoongie - haha unnie is so funny~~~Yes, yes, doongie just keeps getting endlessly battered~ 

@HanSang - haha yeah, i found it by accident and was like... *jaw drops* MUST PUT ON!!! This chapter's pic is from the same photoshoot but arrrghhh the position is just perfect and his eyes, his eyes, >< Hmm, and thanks i'll go check out the fic. I love B1A4 as well~~~

@cazz_96 - Ahhh well Ji-yun kinda gave up. She can't see a way out and so she kinda just...lost it again~~~ Buuutt, you know what comes next~~~~

@T4kara - *hugs* you praise me too much dongsaeng, haha, you make me smile~~~ I think you've written enough XD And yaaay, conversion then? Hmm and this chapter will answer your question. As for the ending, well i either tend to go for tear-jerker endings or happy endings. I like the idea that everything can end well~~~ You shall see though! Hope i won't disappint you!

Chapter 53 – Without looking back, she chooses death

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favour fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

                - Robert Frost 

Ji-eun POV

“Faster please!” I begged the taxi driver. As if sensing the urgency that cracked in my voice, he pressed his foot flat down on the pedal. It was late afternoon now and the sky was a dull grey, as if reflecting my mood. We were speeding down a deserted highway, and nothing could distract me from the fear that bled into my heart. Something deep inside me was telling me hurry, hurry.

“Please, please, please be safe Sanghyun.” I whispered, clutching my hands together in what was a small prayer. “Please god, please, do anything, anything to me. But just save Sanghyun. Please. If you ever grant me one wish, it would be this.”

But just as I made this feverent little wish, the taxi skidded to a rough halt.

“Ah!” I yelped as my face ploughed into the headrest in front of me. Thank god I was wearing my seatbelt (and no children, this is not a safety ad, but please do remember to wear your seat belts) otherwise I would’ve ploughed straight through it.

“What’s wrong?” I demanded, rubbing my nose and turning around. “Why did you-“

And then I saw why.

Fire, fire burning bright.

The house was burning.

“NO!!!” a scream came out of my mouth and I was roughly pulling the seat belt off with one hand and grabbing the door with the other. Suddenly an hand flew out to grab my arm.

“No, ma’am!” the taxi driver stared at me with wild eyes. He was a sweet old man, caring and worried more about my safety than the money I was about to run off with. “That’s dangerous! Let’s call the fire truck first and-“

“No!” I refused to let him sway my mind. “Sanghyun is in there!!!” I grabbed my wallet and threw down some bills. I probably overpaid him, but I couldn’t care less. Sanghyun was in there. I just knew he was. And then the door flew open and I was running, tripping, but running all the same.

My feet pounded as it led me down the stony, gravel path meant for cars turning off the highway. Rhythmic thrums thudded through my body and I felt just like the time I was in a club, the loud, pounding music reverberating through my entire body making my teeth shudder and my bones shake and my heart beat as loudly as the speakers.

And then I was in front of the house – our summer, beach house.

I knew it had to be here. Where else would Ji-yun go? She had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to call home. I had thought of this place instantly because it was the old beach house our parents had bought long ago but discarded in favor of better locations. We had come here from time to time with Sanghyun, taking advantage of the reclusive location to make bonfires and campfires and apparently now a housefire.

And it was also the place Ji-yun had once told me she would go to if she ever wanted to die.

“The old beach house?” Ji-eun stared at her twin, looking up with surprise from the thick book in her lap. “Why there?”

Ji-yun shrugged. “It’s the closest thing to home that I ever felt. I asked mother and father to give it to me.”

“And did they?” Ji-eun was curious.

“They did.” Ji-yun twirled a curl of hair around her finger. “I told them someone might as well live there and take care of it and I told them…I wanted some alone time and that was the best place to go.”

Ji-eun narrowed her eyes. Alone time? Best place to go? Sometimes Ji-eun felt her sister was a complete and utter stranger. They may be twins, but it didn’t mean they were telepathic.

But that was a long time ago. Sometime after I had met Sanghyun but before Ji-yun had declared war. Even then, I supposed, she had foreseen this end.

The burning, blazing end. In front of me, that old wooden beach house with its fond memories of our summer playtimes was crumbling to ashes. Fire at all four corners and even from meters away, the heat scalded me. I shivered despite the heat, more from fear than the weather because I just knew that Ji-yun and Sanghyun were in there.

As if to confirm my suspicions, a blackened man staggered out, crashing through a window and landing heavily on the sand. He then rolled, successfully extinguishing the fire. Only then did my brain kick into action and my feet rush over to where he lay.

I rolled the man over as gently as I could but still he groaned with pain.

And then I jumped back because I recognized who he was. Go Ji Young: the instigator of half of our pains.

“You!” I hissed.

He cracked one eye open and stared at me. For a moment he looked confused and then a grimaced grin appeared. “Ah, you.” He said slowly, pain dragging at his every word.

“Where is Sanghyun and Ji-eun?” I demanded, all thoughts of sympathy flying out the window.

“Where else?” he gave a bitter chuckle.

I rushed to my feet and stared at the broken window – a hole in the blazing inferno. It was now or never. I rushed forwards and behind me I heard Go Ji Young laugh and sing “London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down…”

And then his voice was lost and the roaring of flames filled my ears.

Ji-yun POV

“SANGHYUN!!!” a voice I never thought I would hear filled the crumbling room.

Impossible. I twisted my head in the direction of the voice. No…

”JI-YUN!!!”

Not impossible after all.

“Ji…eun!!!” I tried to yell back but my throat was sore and constricted by the ropy coils of smoke and my voice just came out a raspy whisper. I tried again. “JI-EUN!” I managed to choke out.

A pitter-patter of shoes alerted me that she had found me and soon enough the shadowy figure of my twin sister appeared between the blazes. She had a frightened expression on her face, but her eyes held some sort of steel backing to it that I envied so much. She had true courage for courage was as they say, ‘feeling the fear, but saddling up and going out anyway’.

“Sanghyun!” she gasped and fell to her knees next to me, her hands running over Sanghyun’s still body. “Is he alive?”

“He’s alive.” I croaked, feeling my energy sap away. “But you’ve got to take him. Hurry. Help me get him out of here.”

Ji-eun gave me a narrow look, but nodded. It would take both our combine strengths to get him out. I struggled to my feet and took one side of Sanghyun; Ji-eun grabbed the other. Together we braved the blaze and forged forwards, half-dragging and half-carrying the boy we both loved. Perhaps this was the first and only time we ever acted like twins – in such synchrony it would’ve shocked our parents.

Soon enough we reached the window which had been Ji-eun’s entry point. There the flames were shallower, less hungry and wicked in their touch. I blew up guns, i blew up buildings but I never pretended to understand how the flames worked. Not when Ji Young's gun had exploded and not when I had set off the dynamites to the warehouse where Ji Young and Sanghyun had had their stand-off. Don’t ask me why, I’m not scientist but I was just thankful.

“You go through first.” I told Ji-eun in my raspy voice. “I’ll push Sanghyun over to you.”

She nodded and in one smooth motion jumped over the window. I winced as the jagged edges of the broken window sliced her smooth skin, leaving long red trails across her arms. But she didn’t show any signs of pain. She just turned around with a determined glow in her eyes, shucked off her outer hoodie and lay it down across the window to soften the impact of the hard shards for Sanghyun. Then she held her arms open for Sanghyun.

I nodded and pulled him over. Together, one sister pushing and the other sister pulling, we managed to get Sanghyun over without slicing him too badly. And then with his full weight over on the other side, Ji-eun collapsed with Sanghyun sprawled over her.

“Got him!” she huffed from underneath him and rolled her beloved over. I stared at him, drinking in the last sights of him. I could never get enough. I was like a coffee addict, always coming back for more even know I knew I would never be able to sleep at night. Or like a smoker, taking just that one more dreg of the tobacco even all the while knowing I was killing myself inside.

“Your turn!” Ji-eun stood up and held out one hand to me. “Hurry up Ji-yun!”

But I shook my head. No.

Ji-eun’s eyes creased with confusion, her forehead furrowing with the lack of understanding. “Ji-yun?” she whispered and in the background there was the soundtrack of a crumbling orchestra and a wailing violin. “What are you doing? Hurry up?!”

“No, Ji-eun.” I spoke as softly as I could. “Not this time.”

“What are you talking about!” she hissed, frustrated now. She stretched her arm in further, trying to grab at me but I just backed away. “JI-YUN!!!”

I just shook my head. “Sorry, sis.” I whispered. “But this is where my story ends. Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favour fire."

Ji-yun gave a small scream of fury. “Why are you quoting Robert Frost at times like this?! Hurry up, do you want to die or something-“ fell into a small ‘o’ shape.

Then she shook her head violently as if trying to refuse the reality I was presenting to her.

“You can’t do this!” she begged me.

“I can.” I smiled. I was at peace with this. “It’s better this way.”

I leaned forwards and kissed Ji-eun on the cheek, the last remnant of our sisterly bond. And then, using the last of my strength, I pushed her hard and she fell down and away from the house. Then I backed away from the window and felt the comforting flickers of flames hug around me like a pack of friendly dogs. They burned my skin but I didn’t feel it. It was more like gentle caresses.

I closed my eyes and Ji-eun’s wail faded into the background; instead the crackling of fire and the collapsing of wood became the music to which only I could hear. It was like a summoning and I stood stock-still and straight in the middle of the room. I heard a large crash as presumably, more wood fell and blocked my last chance at escape.

But there was no more escape. I had lost at every game I tried to play, found I was playing the pawn instead of controlling the king and then like all losers across the world, I had accepted the end. Let it burn to ashes.

“I choose fire.”

Ji-eun POV

I couldn’t believe what had just happened. My sister, my twin sister, had pushed me away. She backed into the fire and the wooden ceiling crashed down, blocking my last view of her figure and last chance at saving her.

“NOOOOOOO!!!!” I yelled, reaching out with hands that could not reach and a voice that would go unheard.

What had scared me the most was her utter calm, the absolute acceptance that this was her destiny. To burn up in flames.

No.

No.

No.

I turned around and scrubbed harshly at the tears which flew down my cheek.

No.

No.

No.

I had to get out of here first. Get Sanghyun and get out of here.

I had to choke back the sobs, hide the tears and sorrow in the pit of my soul and then…and then, I don’t know. All I knew was that Sanghyun was alive and I couldn’t let him die. Not like her.

I reached down and locked my arms under his and pulled. But to no avail.

Sanghyun was suddenly as heavy as a ten ton weight, as a pile of bricks, as a bulldozer off-kilter. He was immensely heavy and I was barely pulling him away from the house. This wasn’t good.

I tried to put more force into it, to grab him up and drag him along the sand. The collapsing house served to fuel the adrenaline – my last resort of energy – but even that wasn’t enough. I had inhaled too much smoke and l was more tired than I dared to admit. Sanghyun was dead weight to me and I feared that at any moment the house would cave in and bury us all.

No. I couldn’t. I couldn’t let Sanghyun die, not after her sacrifice. Never!

I dug my heels into the sand and redoubled my efforts. In response, Sanghyun started to slide away but it wasn’t good enough. All of a sudden, I toppled and both of us fell.

“NO!” I snarled, frustrated and slammed the sandy ground beneath me. “I will not let it end here!”

“Let me help.” A sudden voice came out of the blue – my savior. I stared at him, thoroughly clean empty of sense.

“Huh?” was all I could say. Bright of me to say, wasn’t it?

The man didn’t seem to notice my blurred brain. Instead he knelt down next to Sanghyun. “Get him on my back.” He commanded and I was happy to just respond. With his help, I shoved Sanghyun sloppily onto his back and then he was up and ready to go.

“Can you walk?” he asked me and bit his lip. I nodded.

And then we ran, away from the burning house and into his car. It was an ambiguous black lexus, sleek but unnoticeable.

“Get the door, they’re unlocked.” He continued to instruct me and I followed his orders dumbly. With the backdoors open, the man slid Sanghyun in and nodded for me to follow. I crawled onto the seat next to my boyfriend and gripped his cold hand. Gods, it was so cold even though I had just pulled him out from a raging inferno.

And then the mysterious man was closing the door and sliding into the driver’s seat. With a determined expression in his eyes, he reversed and with a screech drove down the highway.

Only then did I regain my senses.

“Thank you.” I managed to say in a rough voice. “Thank you for saving us.”

“It’s okay.” He sighed and glanced at Sanghyun via the rear mirror. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m taking you to the closest clinic. We can get some first aid treatment there.”

“Still,” I had to say it. We owed him our utmost gratitude. “Thank you.”

A soft smile appeared on his lips and I was struck at the sudden familiarity of them. Did I know him?

“Um, excuse me.” I couldn’t help but ask. “But do I know you?”

He suddenly frowned and I backtracked with fear. “You don’t know me, so to speak.” He said slowly. “But.”

“But?”

“But my name is Park Tae Hyun.” He said and I drew a sharp breath. “And I am Sanghyun’s father.”

A/N - >< Yes. I did it. I killed Ji-yun. She's not coming back, not anymore. But i felt this was the best ending for her. She was going to die anyway, so this time she wanted to choose the means and ways of her own death. Finally she felt she was in control of her destiny and to be honest, this is probably the best outcome because she knows if she continued to live, it would only bring more pain and hurt. >< But still, i quite loved her as a character. Hope you guys did too. 

Hmm hmm and not sure if anyone is actually paying attention, but anyhoo, i'm gona reccomend this seungdoong story: Get on your knees by KPopFan3Ever101 It's quite an exciting one where Doongie falls in love with Seungho buuuut Seungho rejects him and then BAM, everything goes wrong when Doongie gets kidnapped !!! *insert high pitched scream of horror* Check it out if you want~