TWO; ficlet

Sensitive subjects; suicide; fluff

Tears streaked down Sooji’s face as she stood on the roof of the school. The wind blew her hair around her face as Youngjae, her younger brother, tried to reason with her. He clenched the note she had written earlier that day in his hand which she had left on her bed for her mother and father to see, but Youngjae had foiled her plans once again.

“Why do you want to do this?” Youngjae asked angrily, tears streaking his face by now, too, as he looked at his elder sister.

“I’m tired of this life, Youngjae. I’ve tried so hard for years to keep up with it all, but I’m just tired,” she replied to him as she looked up to the sky, looking for any kind of liberation which she had decided could only be obtained by taking her own life.

“You really want to leave me and mom and dad just because you’re tired of this life? Sooji, I don’t understand. I know home life is hard, but you have me, and you have Mark, a guy who loves you so much more than anyone can fathom—you’re really just going to throw it away and hurt him like that?” Youngjae asked, his knuckles turning white the tighter he gripped his sister’s note. 

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t even imagine what he would do if he lost you, especially like this,” Youngjae reasoned as he pulled his phone out quiet enough for her to not notice as he sent a short text to not only Mark, but to Jaebum and Jackson just in case.

It read: Roof, now.

Jaebum received the text first, and despite being in class, whipped his phone out to read it and check who the other recipients were. He eyed Jackson who was looking down at his phone, but Mark was dazed, busy taking notes as he was every class. Jackson whipped his head around to look at Jaebum who made clear and serious eye contact with him before he shifted his gaze to Mark.

Jackson noticed Mark's phone blinking in the top pocket of his backpack before Jackson turned back to his desk. What was the best way to get Mark’s attention without completely disrupting the entire class? He looked down at his desk and scribbled a note on a piece of paper before folding it into a paper football and flicking it at Mark to hit him in the arm. He snapped out of his zone and looked to Jackson who motioned for the piece of paper.

Mark looked back towards the front of the class and snatched the paper off the floor to unfold it. The note read: Look at your phone, dude. Youngjae needs our help. Mark’s phone lit up again and he quickly pulled it out of his backpack to read the newest message from Youngjae: Sooji’s in trouble.

Mark knew exactly what that text meant. Youngjae told Mark that if there was ever a possibility that Sooji would go down that dark road—and it had been the topic of discussion many times before—that would be the only thing Youngjae would need to say and Mark would race across the earth for her. 

Without so much as a glance at the other two, Mark flew out of his chair with his phone in hand but everything else left behind as he left the room. He raced down the hall, praying that it wasn’t too late before making it to the stairwell to the roof.

“Sooji, please don’t do this!” Youngjae yelled, bound to his spot or she swore she would jump as she stood at the ledge of the building. At this point, Youngjae was more afraid the wind would knock her off balance. The tears carved down his face as he fell to his knees, yelling in utter despair and agony as she stepped off the ledge with Mark in tow diving off the side of the building after her, Jaebum and Jackson barely catching the elder male’s legs.  

Youngjae shook, feeling his stomach flip over completely as he sat there but eventually managed to make it to his feet at the sound of Mark’s voice.

“Hold on to me,” he pleaded, bracing himself against the building with the hand that wasn’t her life-line. Her hand was limp as he held onto her wrist as she moaned in pain. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if the sudden jerk had dislocated her shoulder, but that could be fixed—her death could never be fixed.

“Sooji, make a fist, do something to help me help you,” Mark asked her. Sooji wouldn’t reply; she wouldn’t even look at him as she dangled there, tears falling down her face in both physical and emotional pain, but his grip on her wrist was unrelenting.

“Please let me die,” she whispered, barely audible to Mark who then became frantic.

“Grab my damn hand, Sooji,” Mark demanded as he held on to her wrist, the two of them dangling part way down the side of the building.

“Save her!” Youngjae tried to yell but it came out quietly and weakly as he looked over the ledge.

“Just let me go, Yien,” she muttered, contorting her hand to try and slide it out of his grip on her wrist.

“If you go, I’m coming after you,” Mark threatened, causing her to look up. She looked straight into his eyes, knowing he was serious. “There is not a thing I have loved in this world more than you. If you leave me like this, I’m coming after you. I will forever be by your side. Give me your other hand and we can talk about this,” he told her calmly, reaching his other hand out for her.

“You leave behind a broken family if you do this. You’ll destroy your brother who not only cares deeply about you, but will have witnessed you take your own life. Is that how you want to go to him? You’ll leave him, your mother, your father, your friends—you’ll leave me, and remember how you promised me you never would, no matter how hard it got,” Mark reminded her, but it only caused more tears to sting her eyes.

“Remember when I first asked you on a date and you asked me why you should give me a chance; do you remember what I told you? I told you that I was always going to be there to help you, to support you, to be the shoulder you would cry on when things got hard because I knew they would. I told you there would never be a guy on this earth besides your brother who treats you better than me. I’m still here for you now, hanging off the side of a building for you, telling you it’s going to be okay, telling you how much I love you, how I would go to the ends of the earth for you, how nothing will ever replace you, how I need you to take my hand because I know you love me enough to stay here with me,” he told her tenderly, reaching his hand further out for her.

He waited a few moments before she spoke to him. “I love you, Tuan Yien,” she told him before swinging her other arm up to grasp his hand, her other hand clenching into a tight fist to give him a better grip.

“And I love you, Choi Sooji,” he replied before calling for the others to lift them up, her feet scaling the building to help. When Mark was safely back on the building, Jaebum and Jackson took Sooji’s arms to pull her up until Mark could take her waist, which he did without hesitation and spun her around before falling to his knees after her legs wrapped around his waist. She sat in his lap, limbs tightly around him as she sobbed hysterically into his neck. His hand comfortingly over the back of her head, the other hand holding her close.

Nearby, Youngjae was being held up in hysterics by Jaebum and Jackson as he looked over his sister in the arms of her savior. He wanted to thank Mark until he couldn’t breathe anymore but he could barely keep himself on his feet.

Mark pressed his lips into her cheek before whispering into her ear. “Promise me you won’t ever do this again. My heart cannot take the thought of losing you to yourself,” he asked her, kissing her sore shoulder which, thankfully, was still intact.  “Go hug your brother before he falls apart,” he told her, helping her to her feet with a slight laugh.

Youngjae gathered his sister in his arms, wiping his tears on her shirt as he held onto her for dear life. He looked at Mark over Sooji’s shoulder to thank him profusely.

--

Mark’s eyes shot open as he woke up in a cold sweat, his chest heaving for air as he looked around the dark room. He sat up, the sheets of his bed falling down his chest to pool in his lap. He looked to his side with a heavy sigh; the back of his baby girl clad in a loose tank top was there to comfort him at least just a little.

He rolled over onto his hip to rub his hand down her back before taking her hip softly as he leaned over to kiss the nape of her neck. “I love you,” he whispered before nuzzling his nose against her neck.

She stirred slightly, replying her love for him as she stretched, arching her back away from him before rolling over to face him. Her glossy brown eyes opened to look up at him but they fluttered closed again when he cupped her cheek gently.

“I had that dream again,” he told her and her smile immediately faded and her eyes opened again.

“Mark,” she whispered, looking at him with sad eyes.

“I know,” he said, taking her waist before rolling onto his back, bringing her atop of him. She tucked her arms underneath her, propping herself up on his warm chest as he tucked one arm behind his head as his other hand found the small of her back. “I know, I’m okay now,” he whispered, touching his nose with hers before brushing them together.

One of Sooji’s hands came up to touch his jaw before her lips touched with his. Mark’s eyes closed as his lips puckered into hers, his hand moving from her back to cup the back of her head. He sighed into her lips; nothing felt better than having her in his arms to him. He slightly readjusted the kiss, kissing her deeper as his head lifted from his arm as his tongue flicked over her lip before he was allowed entrance. His tongue dashed over hers quickly before giving it a loving . Their lips closed in meeting before pulling away with a quiet pop.

He looked at her with a grin as he pulled away before speaking. “Will you be big spoon for me?” he asked, his hand sliding under her shirt to touch her warm back.

“I will always be big spoon for you,” she whispered back with a smile before rolling off of him. He turned to his side to get comfortable before she was there, pressed up against his back, arm hooked under his and onto his shoulder as her breath hit his neck. He shivered with a smile as her legs entwined with his, his hand reaching back to pull one of her legs over his hip so he could rub it as he closed his eyes.

“You’re my favorite, not that there’s a second place,” he told her, that grin never leaving his lips.

“And you’re my favorite; you always have been, and you always will be,” she replied to him, hugging him tighter to her before she listened to him doze back to sleep.