Startled, Soojung dropped her gun and covered her ears. Numerous gunshots followed more coupled with the echoes of the police’s sirens. Suddenly, there was a combat between the police and Soojung’s men. Soojung was screaming her lungs out and seeing this, Sehun crawled towards her and hugged her tight in an attempt to calm her down. Suzy, on the other hand, hurriedly dropped the gun and approached Myungsoo with tears streaming down her eyes.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now,” Myungsoo whispered in her ears as he cradled her.

Suzy nodded against his chest. When there was lesser clamour, she wiped her tears and broke free from the hug before replying, “We need to go. You have to get treated to the hospital.”

Myungsoo then inspected her before asking, “How about you? Any wounds?”

She shook her head and replied, “I think Soojung never intended to hurt me.”

He beamed, “Good. Let’s go.”

She glanced at Sehun’s direction and saw that he was still trying to calm Soojung down but Soojung was still covering her ears. Her eyes were wide and frantic and it seemed like she had already started murmuring incoherent names. Sanity was already leaving Soojung.

Sehun was crying as he held her and he kept telling her, “Soojung! Wake up please. Soojung, come back. You have to come back.”

Myungsoo tugged Suzy’s sleeve and panted, “We have to get help for them too.”

Suzy gazed at their direction again and saw that Sehun was already struggling to keep Soojung in place because Soojung had already started hitting herself while screaming. Suzy looked back at Myungsoo and nodded for Sehun might not be able to contain Soojugn any longer. She and Myungsoo started to walk towards the exit and she struggled to keep him up because of his injuries. Soon, they were already hearing their names being called and they chorused,

“We’re here!”

Myungsoo glanced at Suzy and a wide smile of relief was plastered on his face. She looked back at him and beamed back. She was about to call Sehun and tell them that they were indeed safe but as she looked back, she witnessed how Soojung was ferociously staring at her direction and then everything happened in a split second.

Soojung shoved Sehun away with all her might and with an injured body, Sehun sprawled behind the girl. He couldn’t do anything when Soojung picked up the gun from the floor that she had dropped. Soojung pointed it at Suzy’s direction and this time, she did not think twice before firing it. There was a loud bang and suddenly, the bullet was already speeding towards Suzy’s direction.

Her breath hitched and the memories of a lifetime were surging right through her eyes – her childhood, her school days, her acceptance into her job, her relationship with Myungsoo, their breakup, her relationship with Sehun, the unravelling of the truth – and then black.

Suzy was falling onto the ground.

She grunted as her body crashed onto the floor. But then blinked rapidly upon realizing that it was not the bullet’s impact that made her fall but Myungsoo’s weight on hers. She widened her eyes and quickly turned his body so that he was lying on her lap. Her hand shook upon touching the blood near his chest and her whole body trembled upon seeing that the patch of red was slowly becoming a pool of crimson.

She was speechless as she met his gaze but Myungsoo just smiled at her and reached for her hand. He squeezed it as he whispered, “I love you, Su.”

As soon as the incident happened, the police came and Soojung was too terrified to protest her capture. Medics were attending to Sehun but the two’s gaze were on Suzy and Myungsoo. Suzy had no recollection of how everything happened but the next thing she knew, she was at the ambulance which was rushing Myungsoo to the hospital. She was holding his hand as the heath workers tried to control the bleeding on his chest.

She was clasping his hand hard as she whispered a prayer because Myungsoo’s eyes were already fluttering close. But then, he managed to whisper her name again, “Suzy.”

“Please don’t talk,” Suzy bit her lip, “You should conserve your energy and fight death you idiot.”

“I’m afraid I’m losing the battle,” Myungsoo chuckled very weakly and Suzy wanted to scold him, but short sobs were leaving her instead. He beamed at her and gently requested, “Please count to ten – just like the night we had to let go of each other.”

“No,” Suzy cried, “Myungsoo, no. You have to live.”

“Please,” Myungsoo begged and a tear travelled down from his eye. He sadly smiled at her as he started counting, “One.”

Suzy shook her head but Myungsoo pressed her hand urging her to continue. Hysterically crying, Suzy sobbed, “Two.”

“I love you,” he repeated, emphasizing every word.

She tried to smile but tears continued flowing down her face as she counted, “Three.”

“And I,” Myungsoo struggled to talk, “I fulfilled my promise of loving no one but you.”

She was clasping Myungsoo’s hand hard, trying to feel his remaining warmth. She closed her eyes as she painfully said, “Four.”

“But I’m sorry,” Myungsoo’s voice croaked and another tear fell from his eyes. He continued, “I’m sorry that I’m about to break all my promises. I’m sorry that I’m about to ruin all the plans we made for the future.”

“Myungsoo, don’t say that,” Suzy shook her head hard. “Don’t die on me, please. You can’t do this. You need to live.”

But Myungsoo beamed sadly yet again as he breathed, “Count, Su.”

Suzy could already draw blood from her bottom lip as she bit it hard, trying to distract herself from the swelling pain in her heart as she stuttered, “F-Five.”

“I’m sorry,” Myungsoo apologized while looking at her eyes. “I’m sorry that I’m permanently erasing the possibility of you spending the rest of your life with me.”

She was shaking her head again but Myungsoo’s pleading gaze forced her to count, “Six.”

“And thank you,” Myungsoo earnestly stated, “Thank you for coming into my life.”

Suzy already refused to count as she grasped his hand and cried hard, doing nothing but shaking her head, as if telling Myungsoo that no, he couldn’t die, as if telling the world that no, it should not take Myungsoo away from her.

But then Myungsoo whispered, “Suzy, please count. I want to live up to the ten seconds you need to let me go.”

She was bawling but a gentle squeeze of Myungsoo’s hand forced her to utter, “Seven.”

“Thank you,” Myungsoo smiled again, “Thank you for giving me the privilege of falling in love with you.”

“E-Eight,” Suzy sniffed and she could no longer talk properly from the amount of tears cascading down her face.

Myungsoo slowly reached for her face and Suzy helped her put his hand on her cheek. She looked at his eyes and saw how his gaze traced her every feature, as if memorizing every detail – as if burying her image within his depths, hoping to bring it to what afterlife awaits him.

His gaze stopped at her eyes as he exclaimed, “But sadly, this is how our forever ends.”

Suzy pressed his hand further onto her cheek, desperately seeking for his warmth that was slowly fading away as she sobbed, “Nine.”

His thumb caressed her cheek as he told her, “Bae Suzy, please live well and be happy.”

She quickly nodded and she smiled for him but it was the tears which were still unstoppable. There was silence as they stared into each other eyes. No matter how she willed herself to do so, Suzy couldn’t bear to count, ‘ten’ because it felt like it was her who was about to end Myungsoo’s life.

But Myungsoo understood so it was him who said, “Ten.”

“No. Myungsoo. No. Please. No. Myungsoo, please. Don’t do this to me,” Suzy was begging him, “Soo, please stay.”

But Myungsoo was already closing his eyes. As if telling Suzy that he was thankful to spend his last breath with her, he smiled brightly. Then, he said those words that they refused to say to each other over the phone – he said those words that they refused to say to each other the first night