Bucket List

Bucket List -(n.) a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.

“But unnie --”

“Soojin” Rani gives her a warning look. She frowns and lets out a sigh, sinking back in her pillow as she lied back down. She turns to the side making her back face her sister. “It's New Year... for all I know I could be gone tomorrow”

Rani gives her sister a heavy sigh “Soojin, you know I can't let you out of here...” “Just go to your stupid party” she mumbles, suppressing the tears in her eyes. The next thing she hears was a mumble of a 'Happy New Year' and the door opening then closing. The moment her sister was out, she sat up in bed and pulled something from underneath her pillow

Sigh. She gives me a ticket to SNSD New Year Concert ticket and confines me in this dumb. Tch. She slaps down the ticket infront of her and puffs out a breath.

“Stupid sickness” she mumbles, looking around the room.

Her eyes glance at the window; hm... she pushes away the covers and hops off the bed, grabbing hold of the dextrose stand and pulls it with her towards the window.

She pushes the curtains aside and slide the panel open, air hitting her face as she does so. The view of downtown Seoul could be seen from where she was. A dreamy sigh escapes her lips as she stood there, admiring the view at the same time sulking over the face that it was all she could ever have.

“Yeah right...” a mischievous grin comes across her face.

Meanwhile...

Sehun hops off the cab and zooms straight for the ticket booth of a certain theater “Wait, wait, wait!” he yells; the female on the other side puts up a sign and his eyes widen as he read it: SOLD OUT

“Wait!” he calls out to the girl –who then rolled her eyes at him- “Sir, I'm sorry but tickets are sold out” “No, there's got to be one last ticket left in there” he cries out hopefully but the girl just took it and stomped on it. She points to the sign once more and leaves the ticket booth.

Sehun's world seemed to have crashed down onto the ground. His plans for the New Year were ruined. He had worked his off all year just so he could afford the V.I.P. Tickets to the concert that he so wanted to see and his money did reach the cut however, the problem now was... it was sold out.

Such a cruel world. He sulks, sitting on the sidewalk outside of the venue, drawing figures on the white ground with a stick.

“Hey” he hears a voice and looks up to meet the eyes of a girl “Huh?” “Are you okay?” she asks. Sehun gets to his feet and pats off his back side “I'm fine... who are you again?”

The girl smiles wryly at him and all of a sudden, he had this churning feeling in his gut that she was not as open as she seemed to be; there was something dark about her “I couldn't help but see how miserable you looked after finding out that the tickets were sold out”

Sehun raises a brow, burrying his hands inside his coat's pocket “So?”

She digs her hand in her back pocket and pulls out something swiftly, waving it in the air infront of Sehun's face. Something yellow and shiny too. His eyes widen.

“Is that --” “Yup” the girl nods “A V.I.P. Ticket to SNSD's New Year concert which will take place in a few hours” he reaches out a hand, hoping to just atleast get a nice touch of it, just to see what it would feel like... but she pulls it away and tucks it back in her back pocket.

“I'll give it to you on one condition” she says. Sehun snorts a laugh “Yah, are you kidding me? Who the hell would give out an SNSD V.I.P. Ticket to a random stranger? For all you know, I could be a ”

The girl laughs “Well you're not because I know a bad guy when I see one and you, sir, are far from it”

Sehun clicks his tongue and taps a finger in the air at her “Good point” she smiles “I know, now do you want the ticket or not?” “Wait, why are you giving it out?” he asks, looking displeased. It did seem like a waste after all, V.I.P. Tickets were no joke at all and for her to just be giving it with only one condition as a price seemed rather... stupid.

“Because unfortunately, I'm not a fan and I already checked it off my bucket list”

“Bucket what?”

“Bucket list!” she pulls out a piece of paper from the inside pocket of her jacket and hands it to him. Sehun takes the piece of paper and goes over the words written down; “If you help me fulfill those, I'll give you the ticket... that is, if we finish it before the concert starts which is at midnight”

Sehun thinks for a moment. There wasn't much to do on the list, some of it already had check marks on their boxes so all he had to do was fulfill the ones that weren't which was around... five. Hm... should be easy enough.

“Alright, deal”

Her eyes widen and she clasps her hands together in excitement “Really?!” Sehun nods his head. She throws a triumphant fist in the air and bows at him, thanking him for agreeing. Sehun waves of a dismissive hand gesture and turns to the list “Let's get this over with... by the way, I'm Sehun” he holds out a hand, not looking up from the paper.

“Soojin... Park Soojin” she shook his hand.

The two found themselves sitting down inside a small coffee shop as Sehun tries to think over how he would fulfill the five things that were on the list.

See everything in Seoul.

He reads the item over and over again, closing his eyes every now and then and occasionally running his tongue over his upper lip in thought. He taps his finger on his cheek as Soojin sat across him, sipping on her glass of milk, waiting for him.

Is this even possible? He puffs out a breath and reaches for his cup of bubble tea, taking a quick sip. He sets down the paper for a moment and diverts his gaze elsewhere

“You know, if you can't do it, I'll just --”

Sehun's eyes beam at something, he slams down his cup, cutting her off and stands up. He grabs her by the hand and drags her out of the coffee shop with him.

“Yah, what the --” “Come on” he hails a cab and they both get in.

“Where are we going?” “You wanna see everything there is in Seoul, right?” she nods her head despite the 'are-you-on-crack?' look on her face. Sehun smirks “I'm gonna show you everything there is to see in this city”

But won't it take the whole night? She questions herself. This guy... must be crazy. His hair says so. She smirks, looking out of the window as the driver drove them to their destination.

Good thing everyone was gathered down town, it meant less traffic on the way to the place that Sehun planned on taking her. Past bridges and buildings, the driver drove and Soojin enjoyed the quiet little time she had in silence. She missed the feeling of being free from the confinements of a four walled room.

She missed just being able to go around and do what other healthy people do. She missed the feeling of not being sick.

“We're here” Sehun pulls her back to earth. Before she knew it, the door on her side was opened and a hand was held out. She quietly took it and stepped out of the cab. Soojin looks around her then turns to Sehun, he pays the cab driver and sends him off. “What are we doing here?”

He searches his pockets for something then takes out a handkerchief and hands it to her “Put this over your eyes” he tells her. She raises a brow at him, questioning if this guy was seriously sane or insane; despite his blunt aura, blunt facial expressions and blunt –but attractive- features, he was in some way entertaining.

Weird dude. She puts on the blindfold and afterwards, Sehun grabs her hand, leading the way. Gulp. Soojin feels her face fluster upon the skin contact but made no protests, she kept mum.

“Stand still” he tells her as they come to a stop. Sehun moves behind her and unties the knot of the blindfold, taking it off. Soojin opens her eyes and opened them to see the breath taking view of Seoul. A complete 360-degree view of the city.

She was seeing everything, indeed. Sehun takes out the list and a pen “See everything in Seoul, check” he marks off the box. Soojin's jaw drops in a smile as she takes in the whole sight. It was simply...

“Amazing”

Sehun chuckles “Good, you're amazed too! Check” he marks off the second item. Soojin turns to him with a bright smile on her face; all of a sudden, she glomps him, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace catching Sehun by surprise “Thank you!”

He blinks his eyes in surprise, trying to absorb the fact that a girl was actually hugging him. He swallows hard, feeling his face burn up; it's been a long time since he's had any female contact, last time he remembers was with his friend who ended up burying him in the friendzone. He clears his throat and gently pushes her away “Eherm... right, you're welcome, anyway” he turns back to the list “Next up...”

Have rainbow hair

Sehun laughed as they sat outside of N. Seoul Tower; Soojin pouts her lips “Yah ~ what's so funny?” He snorts to the side “Why would you want to dye your hair, rainbow?”

“Don't question my bucket list”

“Tch” he rolls his eyes at her “Well first of all: salons are closed for the New Year and second: if I were you, I'd think it over. I wouldn't get caught dead having rainbow colored hair”

“Well, I would and besides...” she looks away “I don't have anything else to lose”

He turns to look at her; something seemed hidden behind her words but he didn't question it. A cough escapes her lips, she excuses herself and coughs to the side. Feeling sorry, he reaches out a hand and rubs her back, helping her drown the coughs.

“Sorry” she apologizes. “C-can you get me a bottle of water?” he looks at her for a moment, his eyes glancing down at a small orange tube that she took out of her jacket's pocket. He stood up “Yeah, sure”

Soojin takes out a tablet and pops it inside , keeping the bottle immediately. Sehun arrives with a bottle of water and she thanks him for it; he sits there for awhile, a weird feeling creeping on his shoulder. He breathes out a sigh and stood up “Come on”

“Huh?” “I'll dye your hair, myself” Is he for real? She questions her thoughts but nonetheless stands up.

Soojin looks around the small flat as she sits down on the floor, Sehun on the couch, dying her hair. There were still a few hours left before twelve o'clock.

“Say, Soojin-ah...” “Hm?” he continues gently rubbing the dye on a bundle of her hair “Don't you want to spend New Year with your family or something?”

She falls quiet at the question, biting back her lower lip as her face turns a gloomy. It's not that she didn't want to, in fact, it was all she ever wanted but unfortunately... her sister was all she had left but then again, the two never got along so well. She always thought that her sister's way of showing concern was... suffocating.

“Sehun...” she mumbles “Can you keep a secret?”

He pauses for a second then nods his head “Yeah, sure”

Soojin closes her eyes for a moment, calming her heart before she goes on with the words. Once calmed and relaxed, she spoke “I... kind of, escaped” “Escape?” Sehun raises a brow. She nods her head “Yeah, from the hospital”

He stops what he's doing, his brows narrowing and he looks at her “What do you mean?” Soojin just sits there, her back facing him. She slouches forward “I didn't want to spend my last New Year being confined... you know?”

Sehun was quiet.

“The doctors gave me two more months and I just wanna finish the list before I go” she mumbles. Sehun didn't know what to do, how to react, what to say. It's the first time he's been in such a situation; he just felt frozen.

This girl by the name of Soojin, who was now sitting in his apartment, had openly admitted that she escaped from the hospital and is actually sick with God-knows-what kind of disease and only has a few months to live.

Gulp. Pursing his lips together, he puts on a small smile and his hands return to her hair “Ah, I see... then we should finish the list quickly, huh?”

Strange. Soojin thinks. He's not bothered by it? Truth was, he was... but it's not like he could just scold her to go back to the hospital despite the risks. This was a dying girl, after all and he understood her wishes. If he were in her place and he had the same wishes, he would've done the same thing.

“Done!” he takes off the gloves, putting them aside.

Sehun puffs out a breath, slumping back on the couch and checks off the list. He pockets the paper and pen; Soojin climbs up, sitting down beside him with her wrapped up hair. Three down, two more to go.

“After this, are you going back to the hospital?” he asks her. She nods her head with a smile.

Experience a miracle

Her newly colored rainbow hair danced in the cold night air, Sehun hold her hand, pulling her along as they ran through the crowded streets. A smile painted on their faces, snow falling from the sky. He pulls her inside a small shop, flickering on the lights and leads her to the back.

She hears faint sounds of whimpers. Sehun opens the door and leads her inside; a gasp escapes her lips as she sees dogs and cats everywhere. It was a pet day care and she presumed that since he had keys, he must be working here. “Come here” he pulled her along and they both stopped infront of a furry white dog, who seemed to be...

Soojin's eyes widened “I-is it giving birth?!” Sehun checks his watch for a moment before bending down “Yeah, we made it just in time...” he digs his pocket for the list and checks off the item “Experience a miracle: check. Behold” he gestures with his two hands “The miracle of giving birth”

She sits down next to him and they sat there, watching. Her eyes were wide the whole time, too amazed, too weirded out, too... lost in the moment. Sehun diverts his attention from the dog to her; he began to take in her image.

Pale... totally unhealthy. He keeps looking at her. Long straight –now rainbow-colored- hair... pretty though. Soojin chuckles and turns to him and their eyes meet. Her smile slowly fades away and Sehun looks away, he clears his throat.

The tired mother lies back in relief as she ends the painful labor. The two get up from the floor.

Soojin and Sehun stand outside of the shop. Soojin holds out her palms to him, as if asking for something and he looks at her “Huh?”

“The list? I need it back”

He blinks his eyes at her but takes out the list. His eyes catch a glimpse of the last thing on the list and he flusters; Soojin takes away the list, folds it and keeps it. She reaches into her back pocket and hands him the promised prize to which he accepts.

However, the feeling of having that small piece of paper in his hand didn't feel as good as he had thought. Deep down, he was feeling... disappointed.

Soojin bows “Thank you, Sehun” she smiles at him. He swallows the lump in his throat, he didn't want her to go just yet but he doesn't do anything at all.

“I'll go now! Happy New Year!” she leans in and pecks his cheek before running off, leaving him there just as fireworks went off afterwards.

And my New Year's Eve of 2012, ended just like that.