Chapter 30
He was tired of running. She was clearly there, right in front of him and yet, she didn’t want to stop running. With every step that he took, it seemed that she was just getting farther and father away from him. Did she want to avoid him that badly? Were things really over between them? But she was crying, too, when she saw him. Wasn’t that a sign that she missed him as well? Or was he the only one? He stopped abruptly and stared at her figure getting smaller and smaller down the hallway. So this was how it was. It seemed that promises were really meant to be broken.

Kyuhyun woke up with a shock. He sat up, breathing heavily, sweat lining his forehead. Looking around, he realized for the first time that he was in the hospital. His brow was furrowed in confusion as he wondered how he got there.

“You’re awake!” a voice chirped from the foot of the bed. It was Zhoumi. He flashed the magnae an encouraging smile.

“You’ve been asleep for nearly two days,” another voice added. It was Eunhyuk. His eyes were on the magazine he was flipping through.

“Hyung—,” Kyuhyun rasped, clearing his throat.

Zhoumi stood up from his seat and brought him a glass of water. He watched as the magnae gulped down the full contents of the glass. 

“We brought you in after the performance,” Eunhyuk told him as he watched Zhoumi refill the glass with water then placing it on the table beside the bed.

“Jin Ri,” Kyuhyun managed to ask, his voice still hoarse.

Both Zhoumi and Eunhyuk nodded to Kyuhyun’s left side. Kyuhyun saw for the first time that Jin Ri was actually seated by his bedside, asleep, her hand clasped with his. The magnae closed his eyes as he let out a very relieved breath. He had caught up with her. He kept his promise.


He kept on stumbling over his own feet, but he never stopped running. He didn’t even stop when a couple of other members tried to make him so, some for reasons of his health, some for reasons of anger. He knew that there were still a lot of them who were upset with Jin Ri for breaking up with him. But he couldn’t do anything about that and he certainly wasn’t going to let that stop him from going after her. Not when she was so close.

“Princess,” he called when he was only a couple of feet away from her. He stopped and rested his hands on his knees, feeling out of breath. He looked up and opened his mouth to call out to her again when she suddenly stopped.

Princess. He still considered her his princess. Slowly, she turned around and faced him, even though she was afraid of what she would see and what could possibly happen.

“Kyuhyun,” she began, taking a step back when he began to approach her. “Stop,” she sputtered. “Stop this.” She was tired of running, but she wasn’t ready for what Kyuhyun wanted for the both of them.

“Princess,” he repeated when he was close enough to touch her.

“Stop calling me that,” she retorted, biting her lip to stop more tears from flowing from her eyes. “I’m not your princess anymore. I broke your heart remember?” She couldn’t understand why he was still coming after her, even when she broke his heart so cruelly and distanced herself away from him and everything connected to him.

He shook his head, his hands touching her face, thumbing her tears away. “You’re always going to be my princess,” he earnestly and firmly stated. “Always.”

“Kyu, stop it,” she whispered as he moved even closer to her, one of his arms wrapping around her waist. But she couldn’t stop him. She didn’t have the strength to push him away, not when he was this close to her that she could inhale his scent.

Kyuhyun knew—he just knew—that Jin Ri missed him, too. It was the way she responded when he called her ‘princess’, the look in her eyes when they finally met his, the way she didn’t push him away when he held on to her.

“Princess,” he whispered as he leaned his face towards her, his eyes meeting hers then moving onto her lips.

“What—what are you doing?” she stammered, her voice only above a whisper as their noses touched, their breaths mingling together.

“I’m reminding you,” he responded in a deep whisper as his lips nearly touched hers, “of us.”

Jin Ri closed her eyes tightly, her hands in fists, as she forced herself not to be affected by his kiss. But as she lifted her arms to his chest to push him away, Kyuhyun only pulled her closer, wrapping both his arms securely around her waist. He was so afraid that this was all a dream. He was so scared that she would disappear any second that he kissed her zealously. If she was going to leave again, he wanted her to know just how much he still loved her and just how long he was willing to wait. Even if it took forever, even if he followed her to the ends of the earth… he would do anything. He just wanted her back. He just wanted her to love him again. Slowly, he felt her resistance dropping. Tentatively, lifting a hand to place on his cheek, she kissed him back.

“I missed you,” he told her as they pulled away to take a breath. He looked at her, waiting for a response.

“Kyuhyun,” she hesitantly began.

“Don’t,” he interrupted, kissing her again, afraid of what she was going to say. “Let’s… let’s just stay here, like this, for a while.” When she hesitated once again, his hand cupped her cheek. “Please. Let’s stop time for a bit. Let’s forget everything else and just be.”


“She only just slept. She was awake for the entire time you were like a corpse,” Zhoumi informed Kyuhyun, answering his unasked question. “She hasn’t left your side. She was so worried about you.”

“You also made her promise not to leave,” Eunhyuk added, smirking a little. “Only when she promised and when we got you sedated, did you finally agree to sleep.”

“You got me sedated?” Kyuhyun repeated, shocked.

“It was a unanimous decision,” Zhoumi shared, smiling a little.

“By whom?” Kyuhyun demanded.

“Your entire family,” Eunhyuk detailed, chuckling. “That includes Hangeng hyung. Heechul hyung called him up.”

“Hangeng hyung,” Kyuhyun repeated, a new softness in his eyes. He opened his mouth to ask some more questions when Jin Ri shifted in her sleep and mumbled a name.

“She’s been muttering your name for the past hour she’s been asleep,” Zhoumi told him, sighing quietly as he watched the mentioned girl shiver.

“Hyung, could you…?” Kyuhyun requested.

Eunhyuk tossed the magazine aside and stood up. He easily carried Jin Ri and carefully lifted her onto the space on the bed Kyuhyun had made for her. The magnae covered her with a blanket as she snuggled closer to him, muttering his name once more. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

“Please don’t leave me again,” he whispered to her before falling asleep with his head resting on hers.

~ * ~

A couple of the members were hanging out outside Kyuhyun’s hospital room. It was just after 1 o’clock in the morning. Eunhyuk and Leeteuk had just arrived from their radio schedule and were resting on the seats, being handed with hot drinks by Ryeowook and Donghae. Heechul was on the phone with Hangeng once more, relaying to him that their magnae was already awake and was doing fine. Zhoumi, Kibum and Siwon, were talking quietly to one side, while Shindong and Sungmin were both playing with their phones. Yesung stared at the door.

The boys decided to leave Kyuhyun and Jin Ri alone in the room, seeing that they both needed the time to rest and to just be with each other. All were wondering about the current status of their relationship as some of them had witnessed the teary and passionate reunion. They hoped it meant that she was staying for good and not just because Kyuhyun was sick. It was just tiring for all of them, walking on eggshells around their magnae and ignoring the girl they had begun to treat as their sister.

Unexpectedly, the door opened. All activity stopped as Jin Ri walked out, her hair tied in a neat bun on top of her head. Her face was clear, seemingly having washed before coming out. Heechul snapped his phone shut, slipping it into his pocket as she closed the door behind her.

“Is Kyuhyun okay?” Heechul worriedly asked.

“He’s asleep,” Jin Ri answered after finding her voice. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she came face to face with all of the members. She never really got the chance to talk to them after bringing Kyuhyun to the hospital. They all just sort of left her alone to be with their magnae most of the time.

“Are you leaving then?” Ryeowook demanded, a bite in his tone. Donghae’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist as a warning.

“I’m…” she stammered, hurt with the anger in Ryeowook’s voice despite expecting it. “I just need to take this call.” She lifted her vibrating phone. “Please excuse me.” She bowed and walked away.

“Wookie, that was unnecessary,” Donghae immediately stated, glaring at him, as soon as Jin Ri turned a corner and was out of earshot.

Ryeowook pried his wrist away from Donghae’s and crossed his arms on his chest. “Well, it doesn’t seem like she’s going to stay.”

Leeteuk sighed, feeling a bit annoyed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know none of us really have any right to be mad at her,” he announced, staring at the wall in front of him.

“Hyung,” Sungmin started to speak to counter him, but Shindong shot him a look.

“Kyuhyun’s clearly not upset with her,” Leeteuk went on, ignoring him. “And it doesn’t seem like Jin Ri’s very happy with the situation as well.”

No one spoke as this seemed to ring true. Each of them had witnessed the look of distress in her face when Kyuhyun practically couldn’t hold himself together as they brought him to the hospital. She never slept a wink and insisted on looking after him so they could all rest in turn. They just knew she still cared a lot about their magnae a whole lot. But, at the same time, it didn’t make sense. Why would she break up with him?

Zhoumi stood up, breaking the tension. He walked into the room. Shortly after, Donghae, Heechul, Shindong, Yesung, Kibum, and Siwon followed after him. Sungmin and Ryeowook stood up as well, but didn’t go in. Both decided to just go out of the hospital for a while.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do about those two,” Leeteuk revealed wearily.

“They just care about Kyuhyun,” Eunhyuk responded, reaching for his hyung’s hand and squeezing it. “Anger is the only way they know how to express it at this point.”

“You should’ve seen her cry, Hyuk,” Leeteuk relayed, thinking back to where Jin Ri sobbed on Heechul’s chest. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so troubled before.” He paused for a moment, as if thinking. “I think there’s something wrong.”

“Something’s not right,” Eunhyuk agreed. If Jin Ri had really wanted to break up with Kyuhyun and not see him again, she wouldn’t risk seeing him again by going to the concert, nor would she insist on staying by his side in the hospital.

At that moment, the door opened once more and Donghae poked his head out. He looked around then looked at Leeteuk and Eunhyuk.

“Jin Ri’s not back yet?” Donghae asked. When both shook their heads, he stepped out and closed the door. “Kyuhyun’s asking for her. She hasn’t left, right?” he worriedly asked.

No one answered since no one knew the answer to the question. 

Donghae, his hands in his pockets, walked down the hallway, deciding to look for her. He prayed that she hadn’t left. He couldn’t quite forget the look on the youngest member’s face when he woke up to find her not beside him. He promised to bring her back and he didn’t want to break his promise to him and break him in the process. As he neared the entrance, he spied Ryeowook and Sungmin standing side by side near a corner. Both were standing stiff and looked stricken.

“Hey,” Donghae called when he neared them. Both males just looked at him, expressions of dismay and suffering mirroring their faces. “What’s wrong?”

Sungmin turned his head towards the corner and Donghae took it as a sign that whatever it was that they were worried about was just right around there. Peeking, he bit his lip to stop the surprise he felt from leaving his mouth.

Jin Ri was on the phone, tears streaming down her face.

“…but, appa, you promised,” they heard her say. “That’s not what you said you would do. We didn’t talk about overworking or anything like that. You just said—appa, please…I did what you requested of me…I am marrying Shin Jae,” she stated sharply, clearly interrupting him. “I have broken up with him…Being here doesn’t mean I’m getting back together with him so just leave him alone…He’s been working so hard—don’t take any of his work away from him…” She was quiet for a long time as she listened to what was being said to her over the phone. Shortly after, she covered with her free hand to stop herself from sobbing loudly. “Don’t hurt him,” she then pleaded, her words getting caught up in as she continued to sob. “I’ll stay away, I promise. Please…”

The three boys stood there, unmoving. It seemed that there was so much more to the story than what appeared on the surface. It hurt that things had to be revealed this way. It hurt that they had doubted her in a time when she really needed their understanding the most. Donghae swallowed, Sungmin clenched his fist, while Ryeowook covered his mouth as they heard Jin Ri choke back another sob. Her pain was so raw that they felt it right through their bones.

Sungmin lifted his eyes to meet Donghae’s. Without a word, Donghae moved and that corner. Jin Ri pushed herself off of the wall and hurriedly wiped her tears away.

“Oppa,” she greeted, bowing. “I was just about to go back. Is Kyuhyun awake?” As Donghae nodded, she gave him a bright smile. “That’s good to hear. We should get back.”

She stopped in surprise when she saw that Sungmin and Ryeowook were there as well. Bowing and smiling tentatively, she told them, “I haven’t left. I was just about to go back to Kyuhyun.”

She smiled once again and continued walking ahead of them. Donghae was contemplating on what to say, while Sungmin wondered when and how he should apologize to her. But Ryeowook beat them both to it.

“You don’t have to go back,” Ryeowook called after her. Slowly, she turned around and faced him. There was a confused look on her face as there was something different in his tone. “We’ll just tell him that you needed to go. We’ll make him understand. He’ll be fine.”

Jin Ri glanced at Donghae and Sungmin before proceeding to study Ryeowook. His tone was one of complete understanding that it caught her off guard. She knew that he hated her because she hurt Kyuhyun so why… It was then that she realized that he knew. He knew, understood and didn’t begrudge her for any of it anymore. She let out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding.

“I’ll talk to him,” she finally said. “I’ll make him understand myself.”

~ * ~

“Kyuhyun, stay in bed!” Heechul sharply directed as Kyuhyun was about to plant his feet on the floor.

The magnae ignored his hyung and stood up, grabbing a robe that hung on the chair. He put it on himself and walked towards the door. Shindong immediately rested his back on it, blocking his way.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Shindong pointedly told him.

“Hyung,” Kyuhyun whined. “I have to go and see Jin Ri.”

“Kyuhyun, she said she was going to come back,” Kibum tried to reason with his friend. “Don’t exert too much effort. You’re only starting to get better.”

“What’s the point of getting better if she’s going to leave again?” Kyuhyun retorted sadly, staring at the door.

“Are you saying that you’re going to stay sick just so she stays?” Siwon asked in disbelief.

“If that’s what it takes,” Kyuhyun answered without hesitation. He knew he was being stupid and childish, but he was running out of options. He didn’t know what else to do to make her come back. It seemed that him being sick was one thing that was making her be by his side. He could be sick for a while longer, long enough for him to convince her to come back to him.

“Kyu,” Zhoumi began, his heart aching for the younger. “It’s not going to help if you’re going to be this way. She wouldn’t want you to get yourself sick for her.”

“But nothing else is working!” Kyuhyun argued, tears suddenly springing to his eyes. The thought of not seeing her again, of losing her the second time around was just too unbearable. He couldn’t he grasp the idea. He didn’t know what he would do if she left him once more. 

He walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge, his head hung low. Heechul was just about to go and comfort him when the door opened. Kyuhyun’s head snapped up with expectancy. When Jin Ri walked in, followed by Sungmin and Ryeowook, he hopped off the bed, crossed the room in one stride and wrapped his arms around her. The members averted their eyes at the heartbreaking sight. They’d never seen Kyuhyun need someone as much as he needed Jin Ri.

Jin Ri managed to chuckle, despite her heart hurting. She knew that Kyuhyun thought she had already gone, like she should have done hours ago. “Hey,” she greeted lightly. “How are you feeling? Better?” she asked when they pulled away.

“Where did you go?” Kyuhyun queried, his voice wobbly. He held her hands.

“I had to make a phone call,” she calmly explained. “Kyuhyun, we need to talk.” She paused and glanced around the room to the other members. They immediately got the hint and turned to leave.

“No,” Kyuhyun stopped them. He was afraid of what she was going to say. He had an idea of what it was going to be and he didn’t want to be alone when she told him. Maybe if everyone were there, she wouldn’t leave him a second time. “We can talk with them around.”

“Kyuhyun,” Zhoumi started to protest, but Kyuhyun merely glared at him to be silent.

Jin Ri met Kyuhyun’s eyes once more when she realized that she would just have to tell him what she wanted to say with everyone around. Taking a deep breath, she reached to her neck to the piece of jewelry that hung there. Kyuhyun’s eyes followed this movement. He immediately looked at her, his breath hitching.

“You’re still…” he trailed away.

She smiled a sad smile. “Eternity, right?” The necklace that he got for her from Japan never left her neck once he had put it on her.

“But you…” he began, but stopped not wanting to finish the sentence.

“I’m sorry for what I did and how I did it,” she spoke once more, her voice soft. “I shouldn’t have…” She stopped for a bit and took a deep breath, bowing her head. It was harder this time around and she didn’t know if he would understand that all she needed was some time.

“Look at me,” he requested, touching her chin and lifting her head so she would look at him. At that point, he didn’t care so much about what had happened in the past. The break up, the heartache… it was all done. All he wanted now was to fix things and to get back what they had before. And there was only one way he knew how to do that. “I love you. I still love you,” he confessed.

Tears filled her eyes at his words. He really made things hard for her at times. She really didn’t deserve him and his love for her, especially not after how she threw that love back in his face. “Kyuhyun,” she began, at a loss as to what to say.

“Do you still love me?” he asked, interrupting her. He waited for her answer, but she just started to cry. “What’s stopping you, princess? What’s wrong? Why can’t you tell me?”

“I told you once that I know and that I’m sure,” she finally got out, taking a deep breath to stop herself from crying. “Just… I can’t. I’m sorry.” She pulled her hand from his grasp. She didn’t want to give him false hope.

“Are you still going to marry Shin Jae?” Kyuhyun spat, the anger rising in his chest. When she didn’t answer, surprised at his outburst of anger towards her, he angrily continued, “Then what was all this about?” He gestured to the room. “Why did you kiss me? Why did you promise to stay with me? Why are you here?”

Leeteuk and Eunhyuk, followed by Donghae, entered the room at the sound of Kyuhyun yelling. The leader saw the other members looking everywhere but at the two people in the center of the room, one angry and one crying.

“Tell me,” Kyuhyun snapped, clenching his fists.

Yesung immediately stood up and restrained the magnae. He was afraid that, even though it was impossible for him to hurt Jin Ri, he would get too angry and do something he would regret.

“That’s enough,” Yesung declared. “Jin Ri, you should go.”

“No,” Kyuhyun stated, untangling himself from Yesung. He grabbed her arms. “Tell me you don’t love me anymore and I’ll stop. I’ll stop bothering you.”

The members looked up at them at this. Zhoumi worriedly looked at the two people he cared about and wondered how it got to this point. Sungmin and Donghae exchanged a look, knowing fully well what she was going to say. Ryeowook clenched his fist, willing her to not say anything. Leeteuk took a step forward to stop what was going on when Jin Ri spoke.

“I don’t…” she began, biting her lip and forcing herself to meet his eyes. “I don’t love you anymore.”

“You’re lying,” Kyuhyun whispered, his hands still on her arms. His heart ached even more than it had in the past two months if that was even possible. He never knew how breaking up could be so painful. “You’re lying!” he repeated, shaking her a bit.

Jin Ri, angry with herself for saying what she said, angry that things hadn’t gone the way she planned it, pushed his hands away from her and wiped her tears on her face. “What part of I don’t love you anymore don’t you understand? I. Don’t. Love. You. Anymore.”

“Jin Ri!” Sungmin and Donghae sternly chorused.

She came to her senses when she looked at them and almost instantly she knew how broken her heart was. She glanced at Kyuhyun and almost instantly looked away as if she was burned. He was standing still, his fists unclenching, tears streaming down his face. She had broken his heart all over again. She had broken his prince’s heart. Turning around, not looking at the other members who had stood up, struck by what she said, and hurriedly left the room.

Outside, she leaned her back on the wall and covered with both hands to silence her sobs. She apologized for breaking his heart the first time and yet she did it again in a much worse way. He was never going to forgive her. He was never going to look at her the same way or love her the same way. It was never going to be like before. Taking a deep breath and trying to dry her tears, she forced herself to believe that it was better this way.

“It’s better this way,” she voice out, fresh tears springing on her cheeks.

“It’s not going to be better,” Leeteuk, who had stepped out of the room after her, countered. “Not after what you did.”

“Oppa,” she started, but he cut her off.

“You underestimate Kyuhyun,” he continued. “And you underestimate just how much he loves you. You are the most important thing in his life right now. You. Nothing else really matters to him, nothing makes sense if you’re not with him.”

She shook her head. “I can’t… I’m not going to allow him to give anything up for me.”

“He loves you so much that he doesn’t care if he doesn’t sing or perform ever again,” he went on. “As long as he has you. He’s willing to give everything up in his life just so he could be with you and love you the way you want him to.”

“But it shouldn’t have to be that way,” she insisted, looking at him, willing him to understand. “He shouldn’t have togive anything up to be with me.” She paused for a second. “I don’t want that. I don’t want anything to happen to him because of me. Even if he did give up his singing for me—.” She stopped when she realized what she had been about to divulge.

“I am going to talk to management about this,” he suddenly told her. “If someone’s playing around with Kyuhyun and his schedules, I’m going to make sure that I remind them of their contract with him.”

“Oppa,” she replied, surprised. “I…”

“You don’t have to do things alone,” he assured her, reaching out to wipe her tears away.

“Oppa, I’m so sorry,” she contritely said, bowing. “Kyuhyun… I…”

“We’ll talk to him,” he assured her. “Just make sure you don’t allow yourself to get married.”