“I’ll let you go although it hurts to not have you in my arms anymore.”

Present time

                Both of them were breathing heavily along with their rapid loss of energy. Seunghyun was working with drug dealers so of course he was trained to fight. His punch could make someone collapse, his kick could send someone flying. But Yongguk was not any less from him. He mastered martial arts as he grew up with his adoptive family, he could withstand Seunghyun’s attack and returned it back twice as hard.

                Now, Seunghyun was finally pinned down to the ground. Yongguk could not stop striking the despicable face with his fists as he thought about what that man had done to his fiancé. He let the anger out in every hit he made. Seunghyun’s head turned from side to side with each blow, blood splattering out from his mouth.

                Yongguk only stopped when Seunghyun did not struggle anymore. He moved aside, plopping down next to the semiconscious guy. He had a look around while trying to catch up his quick breathing but Daehyun and Junhong were nowhere there. His pulse rate increased again once he remembered about Junhong saying that he was taking Daehyun to the hospital.

                Yongguk scrambled up before making a run out of the apartment building to his car. He wanted to drive Daehyun to the hospital because that would be a lot faster. But of course that bastard had to hold him back from taking his lover into his arms. It seemed like Seunghyun really held to his words. He just hoped that Junhong could get there on time.

                Junhong arrived at the emergency. He didn’t have a clue to where he should head to. Everyone stared at him as he straightaway went to the waiting area, looking around like a lost outsider while desperately shouting and crying for help. The attendants came to him in a hurry.

                “What happened?” One of them asked as if they didn’t hear what the boy had been wailing all the time.

                “My mother’s been shot,” Junhong repeated impatiently.

                They took his mother off his hold. Daehyun was laid down on a stretcher which was then wheeled further into the building. Junhong held onto Daehyun’s hand all the time. His mother’s grasp was firm on him as if Daehyun was gripping onto his life.

                Junhong wished he could hold Daehyun’s hand until the man woke up. But as they arrived at the operation room, they stopped him before the door. He wanted to be with his mother but they did not let him. They kept pushing him away from his mother. Their hands were slipping away from each other. Junhong was losing his grip and he knew he shouldn’t.

                “My mother needs me! Please!” He cried. His fingertips were barely clinging to Daehyun’s cold ones.

                “I’m sorry, but you have to wait outside,” One of the nurses said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

                With that, Daehyun’s stretcher was pushed into the room and their hands lost contact. Junhong just stared at Daehyun’s hand dangling from the stretcher. It felt like a déjà vu. It felt like the nightmare he always had and it made his whole body shivered.

                His legs buckled, making his knees crashed onto the cold floor. When he dropped his head, he realized the hand which had been supporting his mother’s back while he was carrying him was painted with blood; his mother’s blood. It made him shuddered, his hands were uncontrollably trembling. He could possibly throw up if he kept staring at the blood but then there was suddenly someone tugging on his arm to make him stand up. It was Yongguk, his face and shirt was covered with blood. It pained Junhong to see the man in that state because of him but having his mother taking a bullet for him was even more devastating.

                Junhong burst out in tears again when Yongguk pulled him into a hug. Everything felt so surreal. Everything that happened from him running to his apartment, to running to the hospital felt like a dream. Imagine how relieved he would be if none of this happened. He would probably be watching TV with his mother right now while waiting for Yongguk to come home.

                Yongguk brought the boy to the seats. He kept Junhong in his arms because he knew the boy needed more support than he could ever be. He tried to soothe the boy, whispering promising words while caressing his head and rubbing his back. He tried as best as he could although he was also feeling scared as hell. What if it would only get worse from here?

                After hours of waiting anxiously, the doctor finally came out. Both Yongguk and Junhong stood up and braced themselves for whatever he got to say.

                “He’s in a critical state and the chance for him to live is thin because the bullet went through his lung. You could only hope for a miracle to happen.”

                Silence surrounded them as they walked into Daehyun’s ward. Only the beeping sound from the heart rate monitor was echoing throughout the four white walls. Both of Junhong and Yongguk’s wounds were also cleaned though their dirtied shirt was not changed yet. It was not a problem since the hospital gave them visitor coats.

                Junhong was weak at his knees once he saw his mother’s cleaned peaceful face, the face that was not contorting in pain anymore even though there were still bluish spots here and there. Daehyun looked like he was sleeping, like he never had a bullet buried in his back.

                Yongguk’s heart clenched when he couldn’t see Daehyun’s beautiful eyes. He ran his fingers through Daehyun’s hair, wishing those eyes would open and looked at him in reassurance. He wished to see Daehyun’s lovely smile again because that would mean everything was going to be alright.

                “Eomma, I’m sorry,” Junhong spoke up from the other side of the bed. “It’s all my fault. You wouldn’t be like this if I didn’t go out there,” He was tightly holding his mother’s limp hand as he cried. “Eomma, please. I need you to forgive me. I need you to wake up,” He pleaded but Daehyun didn’t move even a bit.

                Yongguk took a step back. He could not bear to watch it. He took a deep breath before vigorously shaking his head as if he could shake off all the fears. Junhong couldn’t keep being like that. He wanted to be the boy’s pillar of strength but how could he do that when he was not that strong on his own?

                Yongguk decided to call Hyukjae’s family. He strained his voice so hard, not wanting it to waver. When the call was over, Junhong had already fallen asleep on top of his and Daehyun’s clasped hands. The boy must be tired. He was tired too but he didn’t need a rest. He took a seat by Daehyun’s bed instead and held the younger man’s hand. He gazed at the calm beautiful face as he hoped for Daehyun to lift his eyelids.

8 years ago

                It had only been three months since Junhong made Tot as his pet. His mother said that they could not have a cat or a dog because they would not have anything to feed it. So Junhong started thinking of something that would not need much feeding. When he came across a frog at the park on his way home, he picked it up without a doubt. His mother never protested. It was okay as long as he could take care of it.

                But now Tot was lying weirdly in his box. Junhong stared at his pet for so long but it stayed still. Then he noticed that the frog had his eyes closed.

                “Eomma, why does Tot not move?” He asked after calling his mother to come to him.

Daehyun took a careful look at the frog and his expression changed. He sighed, before squatting down and turned his son to face him. “Junhongie,” He began, gazing straight into the boy’s eyes. “Tot has fallen asleep.”

                Junhong frowned. “But why is he not waking up?” He asked because he had poked the frog a couple of times.

                “He’ll never wake up,” Daehyun bit his lip, thinking of a better way to say this to his seven years old son who loved his pet so much. But then maybe it would be a lot better to just be frank about it. “He…died.”

                Junhong gasped, his eyes widened in disbelief. “What? He died? Buy why? I took care of him very nicely,” He whined and started to cry.

                Daehyun quickly pulled his son into a hug. “Maybe it’s time for him to go,” He said before sitting on the floor. He brought the boy down onto his lap and pulled the box containing the dead frog closer for both of them to see.

                “Maybe because he’s really really tired,” Daehyun continued. “He couldn’t keep on breathing or moving his body anymore. We should bury him so he can rest in peace.”

Present time

                Junhong jolted up from his sleep. It was weird for him to dream about something from a long time ago. He looked at his mother but Daehyun was maintaining the same unmoving posture. Suddenly, he felt a chill running through his veins. He remembered the times when his mother said that he was tired.

                He noticed Yongguk sitting across him. The man stared at him with glassy eyes as if he was telling him that his dream could really be happening. Junhong’s heart throbbed, feeling the blood draining from his body. When Yongguk averted his eyes towards the monitor, Junhong slowly followed his gaze. Tears gathered in his eyes again as he shook his head. His mother’s heart rate was getting slower and he was not prepared to confront anything coming up next.

                “Eomma…” Junhong called in a whimper. His cheeks were dripping with tears as he clenched Daehyun’s hand. “Please don’t leave me… If it’s really time for you to go, at least say your goodbye,” He sobbed, bringing Daehyun’s hand to his lips. “Why does God need to take you away from me?”

                “God loves him more,” Yongguk choked on his words, gazing at Daehyun’s face. “He needs his angel back to be up there with him,” His voice was trembling as he said that.

                Junhong stared at Yongguk for a moment. The man’s words sunk into him. This was it. The time finally came. He had no choice other than to get through it.

                Junhong took a deep breath. He scooted his chair closer before brushing out the strands of hair from Daehyun’s face. He leaned close to Daehyun’s ear to make sure his mother could hear every word he was about to say.

                “Eomma, you’re really tired right?” Junhong sniffled when his tears wouldn’t stop running down his cheeks. “How about a nice and long sleep? You don’t have to worry about me... You won’t be in pain anymore... You won’t cry anymore...” He shut his eyes when the ache in his heart was getting more and more agonizing.

                “You’ve gone through a lot,” He whispered before pressing his lips on Daehyun’s forehead. “So sleep, eomma.”

                Right after that, Daehyun’s heartbeat flattened. Junhong instinctively wrapped his arms around his mother’s lifeless figure and cried his lungs out. Yongguk didn’t move. His eyes were unfocused but the tears were welling up in them. He looked like his soul had left his body.

                The doctor and nurses rushed in shortly after that. The Lee family followed after them since they were not allowed to enter before. But Donghae stopped at the doorframe when he saw Daehyun on the bed, surrounded by those people in white. He clasped his mouth, still trying hard to believe what was actually happening. He had to find comfort in his husband’s embrace when he was wailing uncontrollably.

                Jongup too couldn’t hold his tears anymore. He had to pull Junhong back from Daehyun and gave him a bone crushing hug. Junhong didn’t want to let his mother go but his limbs were already too weak to protest. So he clung to Jongup for even a tiny bit of strength.

                Yongguk moved away from Daehyun’s bed and just watched them from behind. He was finally crying. Every fear he had held in his heart, every single hope he had, burst out just like that. He only stared at the doctor who was still trying to save Daehyun’s life as the tears clouded his view. Daehyun was not breathing anymore. Daehyun was leaving him for real. Daehyun was gone.

                He went to Junhong, taking the boy from Jongup into his arms. They were seeking solace from each other. Their most precious person had left them and would never come back. People say a dying person will have a sign showing they’re going to die but we wouldn’t realize it until they’re really gone.

“But we will still be separated by one thing when the time comes. Death.”

“What are you talking about? A tough person like you can live forever.”

“Nobody lives forever.”

“An angel does.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re my angel. You’ll live forever in my heart.”

“Then if I’m gone first, would you take care of Junhong for me?”

                The hospital attendants finally left after they failed in bringing Daehyun back to life, offering their deepest apology and condolences to everybody else in the room. Yongguk released Junhong to go to the motionless body lying on the bed. He gazed at Daehyun’s face and realized that he would never see those eyes looking at him anymore. He would never hear the honey voice anymore. But Daehyun seemed so much more peaceful as if all burdens he had been carrying were lifted from his shoulders. Daehyun’s face was glowing, like the sun that was about to set.

                Yongguk slowly Daehyun’s hair. He caressed Daehyun’s cheek, the wounds were not even that visible anymore. Then he leaned in to brush his lips with Daehyun’s cold ones.

                “Goodbye, my love, my angel. Goodbye my sunshine,” He muttered while staring at Daehyun’s expressionless face, making his tears fell onto it. He then placed a kiss on Daehyun’s pale forehead, muffling his quivering voice.

                “I love you… I’ll never stop loving you…”

###

My love, leave yourself behind

Beat inside me, leave you blind

My love, you have found peace

You were searching for relief

You gave it all, gave into the call

You took a chance and you took a fall for us

You came thoughtfully, loved me faithfully

You taught me honor, you did it for me

Today you will sleep away

You will wait for me, my love

Song: My Love by Sia

A/N:

told ya this would be up soon :D

reminder for you guys, this is purely fictional. don't condem me too much ^^'

Thanks to upvoters, subscribers, readers and comments! Love love love <3