Goodbye: the one word that never fails to strike fear into the depths of my heart. I know its coming. The day where I will have to surrender to that word. Soon, I will no longer able to fight it. So soon… too soon. I listen to the steady breathing that I have grown so accustomed to. No, accustomed is an understatement; his breathing had been the sound track of my life. Still even after all these years, the corners of my mouth pull themselves up at the sound of the slow whistles. Automatically my head finds its spot on his chest and I melt into his arms, the perfect mold for my body. His familiar scent flirts with my nostrils and for a moment, I pretend we are back at our house, lying in each other’s arms unwilling to separate. I can almost hear the children’s playful giggles coming from the room across the hall. For a moment I’m young again. For a moment I feel like even death can’t bring me down.

Then it happens again. Another attack, but by now this feeling is so familiar to me that I don’t even panic. My fingers search the edge of the bed until they stumble upon the emergency button.

“Eunhee? Darling? Are you okay is it happening again?” Jiyong’s voice interrupts my suffering. His hands intertwine with mine, and now I know it’s not time yet. He holds onto me and keeps me from drifting away. He is my lifeline.

“Mr. Kwon, are you sure you are going to stay again?” A nurse asks him as she begins the procedure. I squeeze my eyes shut as I prepare for the pain. It like a knife being forced down my throat, but I suffer through the pain because if I don’t then that means accepting goodbye, and I’m still not ready. Once the tube has been inserted into my esophagus I feel the immediate relief of oxygen in my lungs.

Air, what a different meaning that used to have for me. It used to mean, picnics in the forest, walks on the beach, building snowmen in the backyard, or s’mores around a fire. I feel a tear slide off my cheek from the pain. Not physical, I’m immune to that by now, but by the pain of the memories. Each one never fails to bring me closer to breaking down. Knowing that I will never again be able to spend another day like that with him chips away at my already fragile heart. I close my eyes a say a silent prayer. The same one I ask for every time. All I want is to, before I die to watch my memories like a movie. To dig out all those dusty moments I used to take for granted. To watch my whole life, no gaps, no missed seconds, the whole thing, one last time.

I open my eyes and look at the reason I’m so reluctant to surrender, Kwon Jiyong. I study his face carefully. He has aged, wrinkles framed his eyes, and his hair was spotted with white. Still, it is still very much the face that I fell in love with. The almond shaped eyes, the strong straight nose, and my favorite feature his lips; even age couldn’t destroy their perfection. They are still a light berry color, and they still curl inward when he talks in a way that even Shakespeare wouldn’t be able to capture in words. He smiles at me reassuringly, but his smile is tainted with grief, the grief of knowing, the number of times I’ll smile back at him is dwindling. He picks my hand up from his lap and brings it to his lips. Again another tear falls without my permission. I look at him and see that his eyes are stained with tears matching mine. He holds my hand against his cheek and kisses it again.

Finally I break eye contact and succumb to the heaviness in my eyelids, and let slumber bring me back to my youth.

I let my eyes drift open. I see myself; doctors are surrounding my body working fervently working to revitalize my body, Jiyong is holding my hand and whispering into my ear, but I can’t hear him, I’m drifting up. I want to panic and scream, but I can’t seem to do it. I want to reach out and grab onto Jiyong for him to pull me back to life, but instead I drift further away. For a moment, Jiyong glances up, towards me, and smiles, calming me, reassuring me.

 I’m slowly being lifted away from this moment, lifted higher and higher until I’m suspended in the air and now I can see my entire life, laid out in picture stills below me. I see myself progressively changing, from year to year, different clothes, different hair, different attitude, but one thing is consistently the same throughout my entire life. Jiyong.

I feel myself falling, gliding through the air approaching the first picture; I close my eyes and feel myself being immersed into the air of that world then. 1940. A very different time indeed. Nurses in white aprons were leaving the room. It was silent. I drifted to the front of the room and saw my parents, young and full of life. My mother was in the hospital bed protectively holding a bundle to her chest, as my father bent over her to look at it. He showered both my mother and me with kisses, and wrapped his arms around his family; finally he succumbed to the emotions bubbling to the surface. Tears of joy rolled down his eyes and dropped silently the blanket that was wrapped around my fragile body. I studied my parents and craved their embrace. They were the rocks that kept me grounded, and the arms that lifted me up so that I could see. I missed the comfort and familiarity of their smiles, the unconditional devotion with which they raised me. I missed the random laughter. I missed the days they would cry just because I was crying. You want to run into their arms, share their joy, thank them for everything. But you’re being lifted away again. You smile at the thought, “See you soon,” you whisper into the silence. Ironic isn’t it seeing the first moments, right before your last.

-A/N-

Hey guys, sorry for the long absense. I will continue I Still Remember, but I just wanted to put this up. Originally this was supposed to be a one shot, but I think I'm going to make it into a mini series, I'm guessing it will have around 10 chapters. I'm really sorry about keeping you guys hanging on I Still Remember but I promise that once I go back and edit some of the chapters to get the plot back on track I will continue that story, but for now enjoy this. I started this story because I realized I really at writing the stereotypical love story, and I really enjoy writing things like this a lot more so I hope you guys love it.

P.S. TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS YAYYYY