Endings

Don't Let Me Go

"Jana, over here!" You turned your head and spotted your friend, Lena standing on the other side of the gate. You give her a big smile before running towards her while shoving your ticket back into your tote bag.

"Sorry I'm late! I had to go back home to change after work. I didn't want to wear my suit in this heat." You say while looking down at the clothes you chose for tonight: a simple white tank top with black painted on letters that said 'The Fray', paired with washed out denim shorts and sandals.

"Sure, you didn't." Lena says sarcastically will poking you in the chest, "You sure you didn't just go back for this ratty old shirt? I told you not to wear it, it's embarrassing!"

You gave her a guilty smile before sticking your tongue out at her. She knew you too well. But how could you not go to 'The Fray' concert without wearing your 'The Fray' shirt? They were by far your favorite band for years now. You knew every one of their songs, bought every album, but they haven't been to the city in years. That's why when Lena mentioned it to you, you almost flipped and had freed up your entire schedule just to make sure you could go. You even left work early just for this.

The two of you ventured together towards the concert area, arms linked and chatting away on what to expect from tonight. It was an outdoor concert, set up on one of the piers of the city with food and drink stands lined up on both sides near the water. The stage was set up at the very front of the pier, with metal bars framing the area and it's backdrop being the view of the city skyscrapers just behind it.

After getting a few drinks and some food, you and Lena began pushing through the crowd in an attempt to get a good spot while people were distracted by the opening acts. However, the further you got, the more crowded it became causing you both to stop at least a few rows away from the barricade of the stage.

"This will have to do." You say with a slight pout, tiptoeing and moving around to try and see what was the best view.

"Geez, you're so short. Times like these I feel so blessed to be tall." Lena teases which only earns a glare from you. You return your focus back to the stage and move around again, trying to look over shoulders and heads in front of you. But upon doing so, you slightly lose your balance and end up knocking into the person standing next to you.

", sorry. I--" But as you looked to your left to apologize, your words got caught in your throat and instantly felt the pain of a million needles attacking your heart at once.

"Jana...?" You shiver at hearing your name again from that voice. That familiar voice that used to say your name so sweetly... so lovingly. But now his voice was nothing but pure shock.

"Jiyong..." You finally say his name that seemed to burn your lips, sending that same sensation through your chest and making it harder to breath. Your eyes were glued to his face, his eyes, his lips, his everything, hungry from not seeing him in such a long time.

"Who is this?" You hear Lena's voice come up beside you, full of curiosity and excitement. Of course she wouldn't know who he was... after all, you didn't tell any of your friends here about him.

The man who stole your heart... and then broke it into a million pieces.

"Baby?" A sweet voice coos from behind him and you watch a slender arm wrap around his own before a girl comes into view, staring at you with her doe like eyes. You couldn't help but immediately notice that she was everything you weren't and more.

"HaeJin-ah..." He says what you could only guess was her name but while looking at you painfully, "This is--."

"Hi, I'm Jana." You cut in, plastering a fake smile on your lips while you hold out a hand to her. She takes it hesitantly as you continue, but seeing as she didn't react to your name, you could tell that Jiyong hadn't told her anything about you. "I'm a friend of Jiyong."

"Ohh." Her uncertainty disappears immediately and a warm bright smile surfaces on her lips, "I'm HaeJin, Jiyong's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you!"

From that confirmation, you only managed to give her a quick smile, masking your worst nightmare, before turning to Lena who was still very confused. Making sure you kept your eyes away from Jiyong, who you could feel was still watching you, "Lena, this is Jiyong, a friend I met when I went to Korea last year."

"Korea?! Oh damn!" She exclaims and grabs his hand to shake before taking HaeJin's as well, "It's nice to meet you both! What are you two doing all the way over here?"

HaeJin looked up at Jiyong as if waiting for him to explain but took the liberty herself, "Jiyong loves 'The Fray'! We just so happened to be visiting the city around the same time so we decided to come." She says while your eyes automatically focus on how she was holding onto his arm. Your own arm seemed to tingle as you couldn't help but remember how his arm felt in yours.

"It's so great that you guys ran into each other then! What a small world!" Lena says excitedly while looking from you to Jiyong, both her and HaeJin completely oblivious to the real matter of the situation.

"I'm going to go get more drinks. Do you want one, Lena?" You ask before chugging down the remainder of your beer. But before she could give you a definite answer, you already turned and started slipping through the growing crowd and back towards the drink stands.

It was as if the further you got away from them, the less numb your body became and all the pain and memories you had been trying to fight away were hitting you all at once, bubbling up your emotions to the brim of your eyes.

Why did he have to be here? Why did you have to see him today? Why did you have to seem him today with her?! You squeezed your hand into fists, digging your nails into the palm of your hands as an attempt to distract yourself. But it wasn't working as memories flooded back to you faster, making you feel like you were drowning in them.

The memories came at random, at random points in time and random parts of your relationship with Jiyong. How you two used to walk in the park late at night, hand in hand by the Han river telling each other stories of your lives. How he used to wrap his arms around you from behind while you cooked dinner for the two of you after a long day at work. How you both stayed up for hours lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling and talking over music being played in the background. How you waited for him for hours at home wondering what he was doing at work. How you used to nag him to pick up his clothes that he always left lying around the apartment floor. How you used to yell and cry, frustrated by his late hours coming home. How he used to curse whenever he could never get through to you to make you understand how much he really loved you. How there would be nights when he'd never come home after a fight. How the next morning, he'd always wake you up after a whole night of crying with a kiss on the forehead and saying 'I'm sorry, baby'. But you were too obsessed to forgive him, and too broken to care. How you two first met at 'The Fray' concert in Korea, you noticed each other across the sea of people and instantly fell for one another. You liked the way he smiled, he liked the way you laughed. And how all of that ended when you packed your things and left the house as he cried while calling out your name, begging you not to go.

It's been six months since that day you left him and Korea. It's been six months and you were still not completely over him. But clearly he was, with that girl wrapped around his arm.

"Jana." You nearly felt your insides shatter completely just from hearing him say your name from behind you. Your breathing was uneven as you tried to hold in the tears threatening to pour out. Slowly, you turned to look at him but only when you were sure you had at least some of your wits still together.

He hadn't changed much since six months ago. His hair was a different style and a different color, which didn't surprise you since he was always known for changing his hair style. But he was skinnier, a lot skinnier than you had remember. The part of you that still cared for him was worried sick thinking that he never looked so unhealthy when you two were together. But the other part reminded you that you resembled something similar when you had left him, and that quite possibly, he looked like this because of you.

"Are you...okay?" He asks, with clear worry and pain etched on his face. You had no idea what that pain or worry meant. But you didn't want him to look at you like that, especially now that he had moved on... and clearly you hadn't.

"I'm fine, Jiyong. You don't have to worry about me... anymore." You added and tried to give a brave smile. It was a weak one, but a smile nonetheless.

You hear his breath hitch, but he covers it with a cough before running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry... that I didn't tell you I was in the city... I assumed you wouldn't want to see me." He speaks. Surprisingly, there was some sadness and regret in his voice. But that only made you want to cry and wrap your arms around him more.

"No, thank you... for thinking about me." You say, realizing too late on how strange that sounded. But it was too late to take it back, at this point it was even a miracle you were forming sentences, "How... have you been?"

"Not too good." He says honestly, with a bitter smile on his lips, "I mean, it's getting better... HaeJin... she's really nice."

You bite down on the inside of your cheek as you look towards your feet. Your beat up sandals looking ratty compared to his designer shoes... The sight was mocking you, reminding you of another difference in your lives... and why it was never going to work out in the first place.

"That's good to hear." You whisper while your thoughts can't help but wander to a nice place and time for the both of you. It seems he was doing the same as silence had taken over and the air seemed to fill with nostalgia and bittersweetness.

Suddenly, the stage comes alive with lights, music and the screams of fans. You both glance over towards that direction before looking back each other, not missing the sadness and wonder present in each other's eyes.

"They must be coming out soon...I guess we should head back then." He says, reluctantly. You too, didn't want to have this moment with him come to an end, with so many things left unspoken. But even without communicating it, one thing seemed clear enough: that after the day was over, you'd never see or speak to each other again. For what you two had was broken beyond repair.

With that thought in mind, you allow one tear to fall from your cheek catching him by surprise at the emotion you were willing to emote in front of him after all this time.

"Thank you for keeping your promise though." You suddenly say while wiping away the evidence of your tear and begin making your way towards the stage. Jiyong remains frozen in place as he watches you walk a few steps before turning to face him, a bittersweet smile on your lips, "You promised that we'd watch 'The Fray' concert together again someday."

Without waiting for a reaction, you quickly turn back around and make your way through the excited crowd before finally reaching Lena and HaeJin. Soon after, Jiyong reappeared by your side with HaeJin on his left, returning her arms around his while pointing excitedly at the stage. From then on, neither you or Jiyong paid attention to each other as 'The Fray' finally came on and began playing their first song. Despite everything, you finally felt like you could breath as a smile slowly creeped onto your face. Your eyes dancing along with the flashing lights and colors that lit up with the melody. The sunset casting it's orange and pink light across the stage. Despite the warm colors in front of you, you couldn't help but feel so cold and alone.

Surrounded by the cheers and singing from the crowd, and their songs ringing in your head and chest, you believed you could get through the concert without a single thought about you and Jiyong. But of course you had forgotten one thing.

(A/N: Please play this song while reading if you'd like: Click!)

"This next song, is an oldie but a goodie. I'm sure you all know the lyrics, right?" The lead singer says into the mic as he plays the tune on the piano. Instantly, you feel your heart contract in your chest as your eyes began to blur from the unstoppable tears.

Some things, we don't talk about
Better do without, Just hold the smile.

Falling, in and out of love
The same damn problem
Together all the while

Your vision began playing tricks on you, as you could almost see you and Jiyong slow dancing across the living room of your apartment in Korea. Letting the slow melody of the song move you both around the room. Letting your hearts sing to the same rhythm of the song you both dedicated to each other. A song that reminded you of him and him of you.

Your heart jumps as you feel a sudden warmth slip into your hand, a warmth that you missed so much that it felt like it was burning you. You looked down to see your fingers intertwined with his, a familiar sight you thought you'd never see again. You looked up, first to see that HaeJin was completely engrossed in the performance on stage and had no idea what was happening just to the right of her. Then, you finally focused on Jiyong who was already looking at you, with a single trail from his own tears marking both of his cheeks as he bites down on his quivering bottom lip.

You stared at each other, acknowledging and understanding the emotional state you both were in before facing forward again, squeezing each other's hands to the point that you were both shaking.

At that precise moment, you both knew neither had forgotten the other and may never will for a very long time. You had loved each other, and finally, this was the closure you both needed in order to move on.

Now here you both were, standing beside each other and listening to the song together for one last time.

Holding hands until the end.

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icxxha
#1
Chapter 1: Huaaaaaaaaaaa :'(
SevenDaisies
#2
Chapter 1: just one simple closure that helps to make everything feels right
Mikelai #3
Chapter 1: Sad but beautiful.
lovelexx3 #4
Chapter 1: I cried when he slipped his hand into hers and they both had tears streaming down their faces, silently holding each other without words for their last goodbye, a closure that both didn't want to have but had to have. And it is still so amazing how their promise could be kept depite what happened between them. Actually in life, all we need is a closure to move on because without it we will forever be stuck in that time until someone comes to rescue us from there.
VIPJan12 #5
Chapter 1: Shoot! This is so sad yet beautiful, and the fact that my name is the same (but only double 'n') made me cried. The feeling is there. Good job author-nim. ^^
amber_roxx #6
Chapter 1: I'm blown away... Wow!
ninabread #7
Chapter 1: Um stop I just saw the Fault in Our Stars I don't need anymore tears mane
saranghae_ukiss
#8
Chapter 1: gosh this is good cries