18 >>>

             "W-will Yoona die too?"

             The wind ruffled Luhan's bleached hair as he let the thought sink in. His fists stayed clenched at his sides, nails wounding the palm of his hands. *This can't be.*

             Luhan leaned back against the cold surface of the bench. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Different images played in his head, making his breath hitched. Pale skin, soft lips, hair drained of its color, cold fingers, flickering flames, the old wooden door, the images were clear and vivid.

             and Luhan's heart hurt painfully at the memories.

             He looked at her still form for one last time. Her lips looked as soft as it always did, but her skin was almost colorless, devoid of its usual pink blush and white glow. He could see the veins that lined her right wrist, the thin wrist he used to hold. Her wavy brown hair was gone, replaced by pale waves that seemed to fall perfectly against her small frame. She lookd so peaceful, yet he knew she was going through so much pain, and it took everything he had to keep himself from rushing to her side. He wanted to reach for her and have her in his arms. He wanted to feel her warmth and kiss her lips.

             ​A sad smile came upon his face. She was beautiful; she always was.

             ​For a moment, he could see himself in the fields once again, his hands interlocked with her small warm ones. He could almost feel the burning sensation he felt when their skin touched. He could just remember the way she would with her lips when they kissed. He could remember her laugh, remember her smile, remember how she would squeeze his hand when she was scared, remember the tales she told, remember how his name sounded coming out from her lips.

             ​He clenched his fists. Sometimes, it was better not to remember at all.

             ​The rain poured heavily outside, the pitter-patter redundant against Luhan's ears as he took a deep breath and also a step closer to her frail body. The rain was making it harder for him to leave her, to leave her alone and cold.

             The only source of heat that illuminated the room was a flickering flame, dying slowly in the old fireplace. He watched as the dancing flames brought flickering shadows on her pale face.

             There was a knock on the door.

             ​"Hyung."

             ​"Hyung!"

             Luhan opened his eyes slowly to the cold stare Baekhyun was giving him.

             "Were you doing it again?" Baekhyun asked. His voice was emotionless as he settled down on the empty space beside Luhan.

             Luhan looked up to the dark gray sky for a moment before returning his gaze to Baekhyun.

             "Doing what?" He simply asked.

             "Don't play stupid, hyung," Baekhyun doesn't break his gaze and keeps his voice clear as he stares into Luhan's clear brown eyes. "We both know what you were doing. Stop it. You're just killing yourself slowly."

             Luhan pursed his lips and stared at Baekhyun coldly, emotionless. He knew. He knew very well what his own powers were doing to him. It was his power after all, but the thing was he just didn't care anymore. He long since has stopped caring. What right did he have to live when the girl he loved was dead, when all the girl he had ever thought he loved kept dying, right before him? Why did he have to bother caring about his life when everything he ever had were simply gone?

             "Hyu--"

             "I was and still am better off dead from the start, Baekhyun," Luhan stated bitterly. He smiled at the younger boy sadly. "I, if I didn't--"

             "She would still be dead either way, hyung. Soo-- she, her death was inevitable. It wasn't your fault, hyung. She--"

             "Is dead, Baekhyun," Luhan looked away from Baekhyun and let his eyes wander to his bleeding palms. "It doesn't matter if it was my fault or not anymore. She's still dead, Baekhyun. Wasn't that what you were trying to tell me days ago? She's dead, Baekhyun, and if I don't do something, Yoona will soon be following after her."

             Baekhyun laughed bitterly as he stood up, frowning at his hyung. He raised his hands exasperatedly in the air and gestured wildly.

             "Is that what this is about? You're comparing Yoona to her again?  This is just stupid, hyung. How many times do I have to tell you--"

             Luhan shook his head and kept his eyes glued to his bleeding palms.

             "You don't understand, Baek--"

             "You're right, hyung. I don't understand. I can't understand you," Baekhyun took a sharp intake of breath before closing his eyes for a moment. "I tried, hyung, but you're not letting me. You-- you're just hopeless."

             Luhan raised his head and met Baekhyun's cold glare with pleading eyes. He breathed a sigh when Baekhyun doesn't react.

             "Baek--"

             "Soo Jung-noona isn't Yoona, hyung. Get that in your head."

             Giving Luhan one last look, Baekhyun turned and walked away.

< | >

             Yoona woke up to the sound of voices talking in the room. A warm hand was caressing her cheek, making her shift and snuggle closer to the source of heat. She felt the hand flinch for a moment then continued caressing her cheek. She recognized the familiar roughness of the skin; it was Kris.

             Yoona kept her eyes closed and just listened to the ongoing conversation between Kris and another person.

             "I, I just don't know anymore," a deep voice said, "All these happenings are too similar."

             "Yi-fan, it won't be the same. You have to trust us on this," another voice said, "Remember the reason why we still kept in touch even after all the fiasco that has happened, Yi-fan."

             "It's Kris now. Stop calling me that."

             The other person tsks.

             "You're just like Luhan except that he, at least, is learning to accept what has happened. Stop running away from the past, Yi-fa--"

             "Don't compare me with him! You don't have any right to say that to me--"

             Yoona flinched at the sound of Kris raising his voice. She felt Kris stop caressing her face and risked a peek at him. She found him looking at her with wide eyes while clearing his throat awkwardly. The other person in the room was the first to talk.

             "Oh, you're awake now. How are you feeling?" a pale short boy asked while he took quick strides towards Yoona.

             "I-I'm okay."

             Yoona shifted her gaze away from the short boy and looked at Kris worriedly.

             "Kris--"

             "I'm going out for a while. Just rest for a little while more, Yoona. We'll leave when I come back."

             Kris let go of Yoona and stood up from his seat. He gave the short guy a quick nod of acknowledgment and walked out.

             "I'm sorry you had to wake up to us arguing."

             The short guy smiled apologetically at Yoona and proceeded to sit on the chair beside her.

             "I'm Junmyeon, Kim Junmyeon. You can call me Suho though"

             Yoona gave Suho a polite smile and nodded her head.

             "I'm Yoona--"

             "I know. You shouldn't stress yourself by talking too much. You still don't look too well."

             Yoona waved her hands in front of her and shook her head.

             "Oh, no, no, I'm fine. I really am." 

             Suho chuckled and patted her head affectionately.

             "If you say so."

             Yoona just smiled back and bit her lip. *I wonder what they were talking about.*

             She was worried about Kris. She rarely heard him raise his voice, and she wasn't used to it. She didn't get what his conversation with Suho was about either.

             "Um, Kris, he--"

             "You're wondering what we were talking about, aren't you?"

             "Eh? Well, um, yes, if you don't mind me asking."

             Suho closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He gave Yoona another smile and leaned back on the chair.

             "It's nothing special really. We were just talking about a movie, and Yi-fan just couldn't get over it. You should know how he tends to overreact sometimes."

             "Oh, a movie? What is it about?"

             "Yes, and like most movies, it's about a boy and a girl," Suho started with another smile. "The boy, well, he's not really normal. He was not from this world. He was from a far away planet. He was like the little prince. He traveled around the galaxy and eventually arrived here in Earth, and here, he fell in love. He fell in love with a girl not from the human world, a girl that was very much like him, but the girl refused to love. You see, she was scared, Yoona. She was scared of the world. She was scared of being hurt, of being shattered, but the boy, he didn't give up. And, he eventually won her heart, but fate isn't always so kind. The girl, she died, and the boy was the one left shattered."

             "That's. . ."

             "Not the end of it," Suho continued and tapped his fingers playfully on his leg. "The story isn't about the boy's first love tragedy. It is about him and the girl he meets after the first because hundreds of years later, he does meet someone again. He meets a girl, a girl who looks a lot like his first. Things happen, and he falls in love all over again. The girl falls in love with him too, but fate really is cruel. They're not allowed to be together because she is mundane. The story really was sad, but Kris is just a wuss."

             Suho looked up from his lap and was surprised to find Yoona teary eyed.

             "But that was so sad. W-what happened next? Did they end up together?"

             Suho chuckled and grinned mischievously. 

             "Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out."

             Yoona pouted and hit Suho lightly on the arm.

             "But--"

             The door opened.

             "What's happening here?"

             Kris entered the room with his brow raised up. He looked from Yoona to her hand on Suho's arm and back to her.

             "Is something wrong?"

             Suho stood up from his seat and smiled warmly at Kris.

             "It's nothing. I was just telling her a story." Suho sneaked a wink at Yoona and proceeded to walk pass Kris. "Well, I'll be going now. Remember what we talked about, Yi-fan, and I hope you get better, Yoona."

             "Thank you, Suho--"

             "'Oppa,' call me 'oppa.'"

             "Ah, yes, thank you Suho-oppa."

             "You're welcome," Suho gave them one last smile and walked out of the room.

             Kris turned his attention from Suho to Yoona.

             "You do know you're older than him?"

             Yoona's eyes widened, formed an "O."

             "Obviously not, what did I even expect? Suho really is a sly guy," Kris muttered to himself before meeting Yoona's wide eyes. "Come on, get up. We're getting you home."

             Yoona nodded and slipped her foot out from the warmth of the blanket to the cold concrete floor of the nurse's clinic. She shivered slightly to the sudden coldness, but got up nevertheless. At least she was feeling a lot better.

             Kris handed her his hoodie, and the both of them proceeded to go home.

             "Wu-fan?"

             Kris looked away from the front and faced Yoona.

             "Hmm?"

             Yoona turned to face him with a big smile, feeling a lot better. 

             "Don't worry because despite what Suho said, I don't think you're a wuss."

< | >

I AM SO SORRY FOR THE MORE THAN 3 WEEKS DELAY!!! OHMYGOSH I TOOK SO LONG TTOTT and I feel so bad!!! sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry *suddenly dances to Sorry Sorry* okay, this isn't the time for my weirdness. Sorry. Jeongmal Mianhe!! I didn't intend to take this long. It's just that school, laziness, exo, and other things gets to me. Well, I was really planning only a week delay, but school is evil ToT and stress just gets to me. . . . I still have a foreign language test tomorrow (but I'm feeling so bad for not updating) so here you guys go! It's longer than usual too I initially wanted to do a double update, but it wasn't possible because of other activities to be done. I'm really sorry!!

well technically they're not bowing out of apology, but ugh! I'm just rly sorry

I'm making it worse with the gifs, aren't I? but they're such cuties. . . . I'm sorry.

but I really love you guys!!! hello new readers who subscribed while I was away!! I added you guys~ ;) ahh I'm too weird right now. . . . I'm sorry if my chapter is still crappy even after 3 weeks' delay, but at least I revealed something here *wiggles brows*

 (my so far fav :))))

I'm infesting my A/N with gifs. . .  I'm finding this too amusing

I love you guys!! <3 <3 you know that, right?

See you on my next update~ (which is hopefully soon)
Saranghaeyo~ <3 <3

Okay I'm really going now~