IX.

There comes a time when they would miss each other; and they missed each other the most now.

::

I.

There comes a time when she misses him; like how she misses saying his name and let the syllables glide freely with her tongue. She articulated his name for the first time, “Howon,” when they met for the third time; but that is with an apology afterwards, because she felt sorry (and mortified) for stepping on his foot with her (sharp) pump heels due to her massive carelessness. The fifth time they met was on a train; where he offered her his seat and that was also when she learnt to utter, “Hoya” because he told her to – and also because he thought it was much comfortable that way.

“Hoya,”

“Bomi,”

“Hoya,”

“Bomi,”

“Let’s be friendly,”

Two syllables were all it took and everything else was history.  

::

II.

There comes a time when she misses him; like when the sun starts to drown in the pallet of red horizon, and dark clouds began to stretch long across the sky; and that’s when she’d miss him the most. Because the first time he asked her out, she wasn’t wearing a pretty cocktail black dress like in one of those romantic movies, but an oversized white tee and a pair of yellow Converse shoes and there were nothing really fancy about their first date – because instead of dining out at an elegant restaurant, she dragged him all the way to the highway rest stop in a sunny afternoon. “That’s where the good foods are!” she reasoned and so, they stayed there for a couple of hours; sharing stories from taekwondo skills to him teaching her how to use the Busan dialects properly to them sharing a huge bowl of kimchi stew.   

Their first date ended at a nearby beach, where they watched how the sun began to set. There was nothing fancy really; he didn’t buy flowers for her, nor pulled the door first for her like what a gentleman should do; but he was patient enough with her – and that was everything that she could ask for in a man.

“I’ll wait,”

“Don’t,”

::

III.

There comes a time when she misses him; like when the jazz music starts to play and how the piano chords complement each other, forming a synergy of beautiful rhythm and feet that moves swiftly on the floor. It wasn’t her favourite genre of music because she likes Lee Hyori and he on the other hand worships Usher; but none of that really mattered because they had their first dance with the accompaniment of jazz music.

“I didn’t know you could dance,”

“And I didn’t know such clumsy girl could also dance this well,”

“Shut up, Hoya,”

“Yah – I am still older than you,”

“Whatever!”

“You, me – dance battle, now!”

With that, they had their first ever dance battle in an empty hall. They both had three rounds each and neither of them showing signs of giving up because dancing is what they dedicated their lives into. That was until the third and a half round when – she missed her footings and fell feebly on the floor. He burst out into laughter; meanwhile she was moping as she lost the battle – not because of the lack of skills but simply because of her clumsy self.

And that was when he had finally realized that he was in love with her. That night, he stole her lips for the first time.

::

IV.

There comes a time when she misses him; like how when she wakes up in the morning and the first thing that she sees is the sight of him sleeping peacefully with tiny snores released to the stillness of the dawn. At times, when she couldn’t sleep, he’d sing for her, her favourite S.E.S’ songs or tell her stories from his childhood like how purple ended up becoming his favourite colour. Sometimes, they would cuddle, sharing a single blanket while watching late-night movies together. Like how they’d watch Titanic for the umpteenth times because she claimed that it was her favourite; except that she had never really finished watching it because she’d fall asleep somewhere in the middle of the movie, and he would end up watching her slumbering into her dreams while whispering countless “I love you,” as her lullaby.

"I love you,"

"I love you, too,"

::

V.

“Wake up –”

“Wake up –”

“Wake up –”

One time she opened her eyes, she saw him waving goodbye.

Two times she opened her eyes, she saw anything but crystal white.

::

VI.

There comes a time when she misses him; like when the tip of their fingers would brush against each other and how they would effortlessly intertwined, and all she could feel was pure warmness – and she misses that the most, because everything she touches now would wretchedly disappear into thin air; cold and cruel, it’s a curse she thinks. He made a promise that he’ll never let her hands go; like how he would stubbornly hold her hands firmly in his each time they walked across the large pedestrian crossing in town simply because he was afraid that he’d lose her in the massive throng of faceless strangers. Both of their palms would drench in salty sweat, but he’d still hold her hands securely.

“You can let go of my hands now,”

“No,”

“Hoya, I’ll be fine –”

“No, my answer is still no,”

Tightly, he holds her hand.  It’s sweaty, salty; as salty as the throbbing tears he has on his b tired eyes, but he’d never give her life up to a stupid machine.

::

VII.

“Our hands fit perfectly well together,”

“Does it?”

“Yeap – except that mine is bigger, and yours is smaller,”

(chuckles)

“Do you know what that means?”

“Hmm – so you can hold the chopsticks better?”

(laughs)

 “It’s to protect you – silly,”

(silence)

“Your hands feel warmer,”

“And yours feel cold,”           

“Do you know what that means?”

(shakes head)

“Because we live in two different worlds now,”

“Let me go,”

Slowly, her hands began to slip away from his grasp, the light in her eyes faded out; he was static, barely moving and she was gradually disappearing from his blurred sight.

“Wake up,”

When he finally opened his eyes; the same dreadful antiseptic smell instantly filled his nostrils; but her hands were still firmly in his.

::

VIII.

There comes a time when he misses her, but he misses her the most now. Like how the dull skies would become more radiant and golden rays began to appear; shimmering in the valley; because that's when he'd be reminded of her the most. He stares out of the glass pane as the colour of the sun grows more vivid in time. Today, he’ll break his own promise – today, he’ll let go of her hands.

Holding her hands tightly in his; he warily takes off the life support,

“I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay, it’s about time,”

“I love you,”

“I love you, too,”

Within seconds, her heart finally stops beating; and his – is sinking.