Journey 45

She did not wait for Kyungsoo to arrive though. As soon as the ambulance reached their house, Chanyeol was rushed to the hospital with a sobbing Jinri at his side.

The trip seemed to take for hours in Jinri's opinion. It was like everything around them slowed down, the distance to the hospital went farther, but Chanyeol's lifeline was rapidly fast. The medics had already tended for emergency actions, but Jinri wasn't comforted from that. She wants Chanyeol to be safely brought on the hospital with the doctors who will save his life.

Her phone rang for a numerous times but Jinri never picked up. She remained a firm grasp on Chanyeol's withered hands and wept, fearing for the worst case scenario she would face sooner or later.

At last, their ambulance came into a stop. Chanyeol was rushed inside, along Jinri and more medics at his side. They entered the double doors of ICU, and one nurse halted Jinri to a stop.

"This is as far as you can go ma'am. We'll take it from here."
"Please! Please save Chanyeol!" Jinri begged on the nurse. The nurse nodded grimly, already used to this kind of situation. At the end of the night, they can only say either of the two answers: 1) "He's safe"; and 2) "We're sorry. We did our best."

And the nurse always hopes it would be the first choice.

The nurse his heels and left Jinri standing alone outside the ICU. Jinri leaned on the wall for support and cried harder, praying that Chanyeol would indeed be safe. She doesn't know what will happen to her if he leaves her again. Chanyeol always do that. He always make her cry. 

That stupid, stupid dork.

At last, the double doors opened again. Jinri stood up immediately and received a slight shock when it was Joonmyeon who welcomed her. Of course, Joonmyeon was a doctor. Silly for Jinri to forget about that.

But Joonmyeon doesn't seem to be shocked at all when he saw Jinri waiting for his patient. In fact, he opened his arms and hugged her tightly, leaving those unspoken words in his heart through his heart.

"J-joonmyeon." Jinri cried. "I-is... is he alright?"

Somewhere, Jinri sensed that Joonmyeon already knew about Chanyeol's mystery. It wouldn't be hard for an observant man like him to not pick up the missing pieces and pulled everything together. But she cared less. Right now, she was hoping that this man, whom she used to love, had saved the man she loves now.

"Yes. He is Jinri." Joonmyeon replied, hugging her tighter. God knows how much he longed  to hug her again. He missed her just like every other day that passed since they broke up a long long time ago. But he can't be happy now. He was feeling burdened and sad. Sad because Jinri is crying, and sad because Chanyeol is dying.
"But it wouldn't be long." There, he cracked the bad news to her. Jinri seemed to break down all over again after that. She clinged at Joonmyeon's shoulder for support, feeling so weak and helpless all at once. Where do you find strength when your strength is dying? 

It was hard for Jinri to answer.

"C-can I see him?" she choked.

Joonmyeon nodded and led her inside the ICU. He left her by the door, closing it behind him.

Jinri remained standing on the closed doorway, staring at the almost lifeless figure of Chanyeol. And as if he sensed her presence, Chanyeol fluttered his eyes open and looked a Jinri, cracking a small, genuine smile.

"Injections feel like hell." he complained.

Jinri took small steps forward towards him. She was shaking from head to toe, her tears couldn't stop from falling as well. She grasped Chanyeol's hand again and choked back a sob, her lips trembling from that action.

Chanyeol sighed, and he winced from the pain in his lungs.

"This hospital is reeking with suffocation. Let's go home Jinri."
"You can't. You have to recover your energy while the doctors treat you. You'll be fine."
"I will not. You of all people, know that." Chanyeol answered sadly.
"Oh sure, you would." Jinri said, feigning a bright smile. "Then I will cook you my super duper best beef stew. I will also bake you cookies and cupcakes - whatever you wished for - after you've regained your energy."

Chanyeol lowered his gaze from Jinri's eyes towards her neck. His eyes fell on their couple necklace, his first gift on her birthday.

"I want to go home."

It would be the last time he would do this. He barely had energy left but he will try to gather as much power as he can. He closed his eyes and breathed in. He thought of that one place when everything around him is a dream with Jinri - their secret haven, the meadow.

He breathed out, and they were now standing in front of the bleeding hearts surrounding them. Chanyeol instantly fell on his knees. The teleportation drained his energy big time.

"Why did you do that?!" Jinri shouted. "You know you're weak, why did you still use your power and bring us here!"
"This meadow is the last place I want to be in if I die." Chanyeol gasped for breath, lying on his back on the soft earth, flattening the flowers.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you are not going to die?!" Jinri yelled. She wiped her tears furiously and glared at Chanyeol. "Why do you always leave me without my permission? Why do you always decide things without my knowledge? Do you think you're the only one who's hurting here? I am too!"
"Jinri... please. Let's not argue." Chanyeol grasped Jinri's hands and squeezed them. He met gazes with Jinri and his eyes softened with pleading. "For me. Please."

It was a tough work for Jinri to do. Her brain commanded her to keep on shouting at Chanyeol, but her heart doesn't want to. She bit her lip and cursed, finally settling down beside Chanyeol.

Chanyeol breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that even his efforts of calming Jinri cost a lot of energy too. Jinri softened after seeing him so tired, and slowly, she lied on Chanyeol's arms.

"I hate you for this, you know." Jinri sobbed. "You are so unfair."
"I'm sorry."
"Once, you left me the day after you made me so happy. I never knew by then that it was your farewell gift to me."
"Then, I found out about your secret wish. And from then on I lived in fear for... for this day."
"And now, you dare to leave me again, after letting me wait for nine years, after marrying me. After..."
"I'm sorry Jinri." Chanyeol closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on Jinri's. "I am weak."

They were silent for a while. Chanyeol listened to Jinri's heartbeat instead, counting the number of times it raced, then the number of times it slowed down. He memorized her features. Even with the years that had passed, Jinri still stayed young in his eyes. Her lips were still soft. Her eyes were still warm. Her cheeks were still red. She was still perfect.

"Rest for now, okay? Then we'll go back to the hospital." Jinri said at last, breaking the silence. "I will cook your meal everyday so you don't have to eat hospital food. How about that?"
"Jinri..."
"Then after Joonmyeon fully treated you, we'll leave Seoul and stay in Jeju, so you can always be with nature. Seoul is all about buildings, it was pretty tiring to see, isn't?"
"Jin -"
"I wish we had a baby soon too." Jinri cut in again. "What do you want to name him? Oh, do you want it to be him or her?"
"Stop please -"
"I still have that crib I bought for you when you were a baby. Maybe I'll let our child inherit that -"
"I'm not going back." Chanyeol finally interrupted.

Jinri refused to look at Chanyeol. She stared straight ahead, her lips trembling again. She sighed, and met eyes with her husband, the saddest of the saddest expressions she had.

"Please?" Jinri whispered. The wind whistled softly behind them, swaying the bleeding hearts gently. Chanyeol stopped counting Jinri's heartbeat and gazed at her tears instead. Unfortunately, it's the one thing he can't give to her. His promise of living with her in Earth.

"Remember what Peter Pan told Wendy before she leaves him?" he asked.

Jinri recalled those words. It had made her such an impression when she read that phrase, that she knew it by heart already.

"'Remember a place where dreams come true. There I will always love you.'"
"That's right." Chanyeol smiled. He kissed Jinri's lips one last time, tasting her bitterest tears. "I'll wait for you on that place."

Is that it? Jinri's afraid it was. Chanyeol closed his eyes peacefully, like he wanted to sleep for a long long long time.

"I'm tired. Can I rest now Jinri?"

Jinri leaned in and gave Chanyeol her goodnight kiss. He was asking her the hardest favor to do, but she'll do it anyways, because there's no choice left for her to pick.

"Sleep well, love. W-wait for me... okay?"
"I will. That, I promise you princess."

Jinri watched Chanyeol's tattoo glowed darker, until it glowed no more. He slowly disintegrated into cyan ashes. First were his feet, then his legs, next was his lower half of the body, his hands, until it reached his head. Chanyeol's final smile and tears floated amidst on that cold, lonely evening.... leaving Jinri crying among the saddest, bleeding hearts.

The riddle of man:

He walks on four legs in the  morning, like a baby;
Two legs in the afternoon, like a man;
Three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane.

The End.

As I wrote the last chapters of this fic, I realized that I must have lack romance in real life because I always end my fics in a not-so cliche way. Like, obvious happy endings for instance. Well, I know not everyone would like it, but... writers write to express themselves, right? And I'm thankful to all my readers who stayed with me in the end. Thank you!

XOXO,
TwinTowers

Check out my new Chanlli fic [click here]
Title: The Alternatives
Pairing/s: Chanlli & Kailli
Genre: Angst