GiKwang’s POV:

HimChan and I walked down the isolated street, scanning each house for the correct house number. Soon, my eyes landed on 1897.

“HimChan, it should be here,” I whispered, lightly tapping him on the shoulder.

We both looked at the large house standing before us and immediately detected that there was something wrong. The windows were broken and the doorway wide open. It was obvious that someone had broken it.

“NO!” a familiar voice shrieked out from within. It was none other than Natalie's.

HimChan and I eyed each other and nodded simultaneously before we quickly ran inside.

Natalie’s POV:

The second the doors opened, Yongguk hurled me aside. Before I could comprehend what was going on, a loud gunshot rang out and Yongguk dropped lifelessly in my arms.

“No… No…” I whispered as tears began spilling uncontrollably out of my eyes.

“How sweet. Your boyfriend took the bullet for you,” Jin mocked. I shot a hateful glare at him. “I hope you two live happily ever after in hell.” He held the pistol directly at me, but I completely ignored him—holding onto Yongguk as tightly as I could.

“Yongguk, please… Say something...” I pleaded desperately, gently tapping at his face hoping that he'd regain consciousness.

Suddenly, Jin's men began to drop down onto the ground one by one—grunting in pain before they completely knocked out. I looked up to find GiKwang and HimChan standing at the doorway, hovering over me. HimChan began tackling down the rest of the men as GiKwang charged towards Jin—knocking his gun out of reach. 

"GiKwang, take care of Nat. I'll finish the rest off and come out with you," HimChan instructed sternly as he roughly kicked down another man. GiKwang nodded understandlingly as strangled Jin onto the ground—throwing continuous punches at his face with utmost force and power. Soon, Jin out under GiKwang's masculine weight.

"Natalie, are you okay?!" he quickly came to my side, giving me a comforting one-armed hug. I nodded in reponse.

"Please help him..." I whimpered helplessly as I looked down at Yongguk. GiKwang nodded and helped me Yongguk outside into his car. As soon as HimChan came out, we drove straight to the hospital. 

I bit my lip and tightened my hold on Yongguk—consistently praying and praying that he would be okay. He suddenly choked up a little bit of blood and regained insight of his surroundings. I had never been so happy to see his eyes peek open and look at me. 

"Yongguk!" I wailed, feeling the tears dripping down my face once again.  "Oh my god are you okay?!" 

He grinned as he reached up to my face and caressed my cheek with his cold hand.

"Of course I am... Don't worry about me Nat. I'll be fine," he blatantly lied. 

"GIKWANG! PLEASE DRIVE FASTER!" I cried, knowing that was nearly impossible based on the extremely rapid speed we were going at. If we were to go any faster, we'd probably end up ramming into another car.

"I'm trying Nat, I'm trying," he reassured as he allowed a little bit more pressure onto the gas pedal. 

"Nat, don't put so much pressure on the guy. He's trying his best. You're always so impatient," Yongguk chuckled as he brushed a lock a hair out of my face. "I'm going to miss you so much..." he whispered.
 

"Yongguk, what the hell are you saying—"

"I'm sorry for not being able to protect you. I'll apologize to your mother when I see her," he continued. 

Every word that came out of his mouth cut like a knife. 

"Shut up. Don't say that... You're going to be fine," I ordered—watching as my tears began forming little pools on his cheek. 
 

"I love you so much Natalie. I always will," he muttered before falling back into unconsciousness.

"Yongguk, no... Stay awake! WAKE UP! You can't sleep on me right now!" I begged as I shook his shoulders. "YONGGUK!"

"Natalie! WE'RE HERE!" HimChan announced as he got out of his seat and began helping me take Yongguk inside. 

Doctors and nurses began rushing towards us—carefully placing Yongguk onto a hospital bed and pushing him into the surgeical room. One nurse placed an air mask over his face and began drawing oxygen through the pump while another stuck an IV needle into his vein—both working at an extremely hasty speed. I ran beside him, grasping tightly onto his hand—consistently repeating the same prayer over and over again in head. 

Please be okay...

"I'm sorry miss, but you're going to have to stay outside," one of the nurses instructed strictly. I acknowledged her order and pried my hand off of his—watching as his bed rolled in behind the doors where he was no longer visible. Sighing in defeat, I retrieved back to the front and sat down next to GiKwang and HimChan. During the waiting time, we all stayed quiet—using each other's mere presence as comfort. 

An hour had passed, and with every minute that painfully crawled by, I grew more and more anxious. 

Two hours had passed, and with every agnozing minute that went by, I began to doubt the last slice of hope I was holding on.

At last, the doctor returned through the same doors—removing his gloves and mask and stuffing them into his white lab coat's pocket. I looked at him, but was unable to detect the condition of the news through his neutral eyes. 

"I'm so sorry, he was not able to make it. The two wounds—located at his abdomen and leg—would've been easily treated. However, the fresh bullet he had last taken had gone straight to the heart, and we with our medical technology today, we are unable to help him. Once again, I am very sorry," the doctor informed before leaving.

I felt my world crumbling to pieces before my eyes. My knees buckled in anguish as I dropped straight to the floor—sobbing uncontrollably. Everything I placed my hopes, happiness, and love into was now gone. And it was none other than my own goddamn fault. If he hadn't taken the bullet in replacement of me, he would've survived. I was angry at him for leaving me behind, but was even more angry at myself for being the reason why he left. It wasn't supposed to end like this. 

"Oh Natalie..." GiKwang whispered as he pulled me into a tight hug, rubbing at my back gently. "I'm so sorry..."

GiKwang's POV:

That night, I took Natalie back to my house in GangNam—completely igorning the rude remarks my parents were making and their opposal of this in general. HimChan aided me in transferring Yongguk's body from Jeju Island to GangNam and prepared the reservations for his funeral the next day. I came back home to find Natalie fast asleep on the couch—her eyes swollen from persistent crying. I had left her some soup on the table, however, it was completely un touched. 

I had never seen her this upset before—and it hurt to know that I was incapable of doing anything to make her feel better. But I knew that this wasn't something I could help her with; it was something that had to be done in her own will. In order to stop the suffering, she had to let go and move on. 

I shifted her from the couch onto my bed and tucked her in—brushing away any stray locks of her tear-stained hair.
 

Before switching off the lights, I took one last look at her pale face before I shut the door behind me.