“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing.”

– Anais Nin.

The telephone next to her rang, pulling Jeon Hyosung's attention away from the screen and out of the latest instalment of Secret Garden. If by just staring at the screen was considered as watching TV, then that was she had been doing for the past two hours.

"Hello?" She answered, rubbing her neck tiredly. It was past midnight, and she was still waiting for him. They were supposed to have dinner together before he leaves tomorrow, an Asian tour awaits him. And here she was, looking pathetically alone with the untouched dinner she made on the table.

"Hey, I'm sorry. The meeting is longer than I expected and it's still not done yet. We'll meet up tomorrow all right?" He hung up before she had the chance to reply, and the line went dead. She should had known better even without the need to wait for an answer, but she didn't even know why she bothered trying.

She hung up the phone after staring at the receiver for a long while, and quickly gathered up the dishes to the sink. Mindlessly scrubbing the plate with her minds elsewhere, she felt something snapped hard within her, like a strung up wire being cut. Her breath caught in and her gut clenches, she closed her eyes shut as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. The turmoil of pain inside her heart was no longer new, so why was she still crying over this?

*Crash*

The sound of broken glass startled her. She snapped her eyes wide open when she felt a sharp piercing pain, only to find out her hands was drenched with blood. Pieces of shattered glass were in the sink and on her hand, causing a visible fresh wound on her palm under the running tap water. Her entire being frozen at the sight and smell of it.

Blood.

Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.

She quickly ran for the first-aid kit, and tended the open injured flesh. She couldn't stand the smell of blood as it reminded her too much of the horrifying memory even after all those years; the shattered glasses, the piercing painful screams, the horrifying sight. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook off the memory, shuddering at the thought.

I’m cool, I’m calm and I’m collected. She chanted her usual mantra, and finally calmed down minutes later. She busied herself doing last minute packing; all the boxes were already nicely arranged at the corner, just waiting to be moved tomorrow. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the end; she'll pull herself out of his life once and for all, there was no use in holding on to something that wasn’t there anymore. He had changed, and there seemed to be no place for her in his new life.

She wanted to cry again, she felt like crying, but for some reason she couldn't do that anymore either. She realized a part of her accepted this, her sensible side. Her choice had been for the best, for both of them.

She understood, hence she'll back off and find a new life ... without him.

The two of them stood in silence as they watched just another plane took off through the glass window of the VIP waiting lounge, announcements after announcements blared across the terminal reminding passengers and those who waited about the take offs and arrivals.

"I'm sorry about last night. They wouldn't even give a chance for me to excuse myself to the toilet," Lee Kikwang said, eyes wandered to the busy ground-crews loading heavy luggage into the cabin. He couldn't bring himself to avert his gaze to her. For some reason, her being so cheerful today irked him.

They hadn't been in a good term for the past weeks and he was to be blamed honestly; he had neglected her and he knew it was hurting her yet he couldn't be bothered to patch things up between them. She had been his girlfriend for the past three years, and he loved her. But the intense love he felt for her seemed to waver for the past months, and he was tired of pretending.

"What happened to your hands?" he pointed to her bandage.

"Cut myself accidentally last night. It's nothing. But anyway, it's okay. It's not your fault." She turned to face him and smiled. "Let me say goodbye to them first, okay?" He just shrugged as she made her way to s.

Her actions surprised him. She would usually just waved them off, but today she hugged each and every one of them for the longest time when she said her goodbyes. She even hugged all the staffs that she knew, even Doojoon gave him a questioning glance. An uneasy feeling surfaced inside, but he just brushed it off by assuming she would be missing them for the next three weeks.

"This is it then," Kikwang said as she stood before him, her eyes b with tears, so Kikwang pulled her into his embrace. "I promised I'll be back soon, all right? I'll give you a call whenever I get the chance to. Don't cry."

"Let me look at you for the last time," she pulled away from his embrace and cupped his face in her soft palms and stared into his eyes. There was unexplainable intense emotion behind them, and it scared him. It was as if she was trying to tattoo his face in her memory for the last time ... as if this was their last time seeing each other. She then tilted his face down and gave a tender kiss on his forehead. "There."

"Can you promise me something?" She stared into his eyes once more, and his heart skipped a beat when he stared back. Suddenly, the almost forgotten feeling he had for her before appeared out of nowhere with that look she gave him. He gulped and nodded.

"Promise me, whatever happens, you'll always take care of yourself, don't skip your meal, eat your medicine on time and ...  remember I will always love you. Okay?" A lone tear trickled down her cheek before she hugged him again, tighter this time. "I'll miss you. Goodbye," she whispered one last time before releasing him in an instance and ran away, disappearing behind the closed door, leaving him to stare after her.

"Goodbye ..." He whispered, his heart uneasy as he made his way to board the plane.

"Dae Hyun, come honey. It's time to go." Hyosung ushered to her brother to her side as she picked up their hand luggage. Announcement for their flight to Japan had just blared through the speaker, and they made their way to the check-in counter. Dae Hyun, her special eleven years old brother, was really excited as it was his first experience in flying.

"Noona, will we come back here to see Kikwang-hyung again?" Dae Hyun asked excitedly as she fastened his seat belt on. The mention of Kikwang's name tugged her heart, but she ignored it.  Hyosung smiled at him. "We will see, okay? Now sit still."

She cried silently as the plane took off the runaway, as it will mark the beginning of their new life abroad. Away from Korea, away from all the pain it had brought to her and Dae Hyun.

This is it, and there's no turning back.