Chapter Forty-One
Angel Vessel
I woke up and Myungsoo was still asleep. He had kept his distance. Giving me the space I needed. I felt another pang of guilt. I crawled out of bed slowly and went to put on the coffee maker.
When I turned around I saw Woohyun standing in the kitchen doorway. I turned away from and started to make breakfast. "Why are you even here?" I asked, emotionlessly.
"To give you the explanation you deserve." He replied. I looked up after I put the bread in the toaster. "Why now? You seemed hard pressed not to tell me anything for so long." I questioned. "This is what you wanted right, Woohyun? For me hate you. To leave you be?" I asked pouring myself a cup of coffee. "That is true." He finally replied.
I felt a pressure building in my chest, like it was getting harder for me to breathe, but I smiled with a sigh. It was a fake one. "Then I'll grant your wish." He was speechless at that. He had no right.
"Don't you think this is an afterthought? After all I did and said, you didn't want to tell me. You didn't want Sunggyu to tell me and you didn't want me to find out on my own. Now you are going to be forthcoming? Why? I don't get it. I don't even know if I want to get it, at this point." I said shaking my head.
"You have to understand, this was never easy for me." He said and I looked up at him. "Not easy for you?!" Anger surged. "Yes! Not easy!" We started to raise our voices.
"Well if its so hard for you then forget it. Just g-."
"How was I going to tell I'm going to die!?!" He shouted angrily with tears gathering in the corners of his eyes and I stared at him. I felt the cup of coffee slip from my hand and fall. My heart beat so loudly that I could hear nothing else. My brain couldn't register his words. He had said he was leaving and that he could never come back. My mind could not wrap itself around the thought of him dying.
My mind flashbacked to our endless tug-of-war conversation.
"Are you going back to Heaven?"
"No, far from it."
He had meant it literally.
"Do you want to burn your foot?!" Woohyun pushed me back, but none of my limbs would move. The mug hit the floor and shattered. The steaming dark liquid pooled and spread through the spaces in between the tiles. But, I could only stare at him. I grabbed the front of his shirt roughly. "W-What did you say?" I asked my voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Now do you see why I couldn't say it? Saying it makes it real." Woohyun said looking me in the eyes. The pain reflected in the was real. Because I felt the same.
My grip loosened and I dropped to the floor. I was meant to be punished. There was no way someone like me could have happiness in her life. I fell in love with my guardian angel. I was hunted. And to save me, every person in my life got hurt.
Woohyun crouched down to my level. "I don't need you to forgive me. I've done something awful to you, but you were right. I realized that too late. You deserve the truth. Even if-" I cut him off when I grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands, my fist tightening until I couldn't hold on any tighter. I felt my nails dig into my palms through the fabric. My knuckles turned stark white.
"You're going to die because you saved me, is that right?" I asked quietly.
"It's not like that Minji." Woohyun said, gently.
"Liar. You ing liar!" I shook him. "This is the price the reaper spoke about. What Sunggyu hinted it. You are dying because of me."
"I was doing what I was born to do. I will protect the person who means more than my life even at the cost of my own." He grabbed my hands.
"That's all I needed to say."
"Then it is my turn." Myungsoo's voice said and I looked up. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The expression on his face told me he had everything we said. "Minji, can I talk to you?" He asked, face serious.
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