Una't Huling Pag-ibig-Yeng Constantino

…

"Taehyung, Taehyung, quickly, take a picture of me!"

 

Joohyun excitedly ran to the fences at the very end of the park, where there was a playground for children, and also the sunset that Joohyun has probably witnessed only now, since her release from the hospital.

 

Taehyung ran up to her and quickly, Joohyun gave him his camera. "Picture! Take a picture of me, Taehyung!"

 

He smiled softly at the twinkle in Joohyun's eyes before positioning himself, "Of course, anything for you, Joohyun."

 

She grinned and made a peace sign, and after a few posts and signs, she jumped on him and hugged him very tightly.

 

"Thank you. This means so much to me." Joohyun whispered, and Taehyung gritted his teeth and hugged her tightly.

"I love you..."

 

"I love you so much."

 

"Hm."

...

 

Taehyung wore his spectacles while he read a book called, "Every day," and he wonders how could the heroine live with a person that changes every day? A was A. But he had different bodies every time they meet.

 

How could the heroine put up with someone that changes every day for a long time?

 

Creaaaaak!

 

And when Joohyun, smiling from ear-to-ear, came inside their shared apartment, wearing a pretty white dress that looks kind of like a wedding dress, Taehyung understood the girl in the book.

 

"Taehyung, how do I look?"

Even without hair, she looked absolutely-

 

"Stunning. You're so beautiful." Taehyung laid the book down face-front and stood up from the sofa and walked towards Joohyun, giving her a big hug. "What took you so long, Joohyunnie? I was bored." He buried his face in her petite shoulders and she giggled.

 

"I'm sorry. At least I came back, as promised, right?"

 

"You did."

 

Taehyung smiled.

 

"Taehyung, take a picture!"

 

"Again? You took 100 yesterday." He chuckled, as Joohyun pouted.

 

"But I'm wearing a pretty dress, and you said I'm stunning! We must celebrate!"

 

"Okay, Baeby, okay."

"What?"

"Nothing, Hyun-ah."

...

 

"Taehyung!"

 

"Hm?"

 

Joohyun came back from the hospital. It's been two weeks since her last appointment.

 

Taehyung noticed a slightly dimming of Joohyun's smile when she saw him, but he waved it off. "Welcome back, Hyun-ah."

 

And Joohyun smiled softly, "I'm back, oppa."

 

She had a large box in her hands and quickly, Taehyung took it from her hands and placed it on the table in the living room.

 

"What is this?"

 

"Clothes!"

 

Joohyun opened the box to reveal different styles of clothes, "Jessica unnie made them for me!"

 

"Really? What're you going to do with them?"

 

"Wear them, obviously."

 

And then she pointed to him, "And you have to wear them with me!"

 

"But these are all dresses!"

 

"Exactly! We have to take a hundred by the end of this day!"

 

And Taehyung sighs, but he would do everything to make the girl happy because it made him happy as well.

 

Taehyung wore light colored dresses and skirts that were too short for him because the height differences between him and Joohyun, and there's the fact that he's 6 inches taller than her.

 

5:47 p.m.

 

They were about to take their last picture, the 100th one. Taehyung wipes off his sweat, while Irene beamed and checked the pictures in her camera.

 

"Hyun-ah, shall we take our last picture?"

Taehyung wanted to get over with it, but looking at Joohyun made him want to take more, if she was going to smile like that.

 

'Please smile like that every day.'

 

"Oh, right! I asked Jessica unnie to design our last clothes!" Joohyun went upstairs to their bedroom and took out a slightly smaller red box back down and placed it next to the larger one.

 

"Ta-da!"

 

And Taehyung almost choked.

 

It was an expensive looking maroon tuxedo-it was for a wedding.

 

And a white long gown with a veil.

 

Joohyun tugged on his arm and smiled, showing her teeth, "Let's wear this for our last photo!"

 

"Anything for you." Taehyung answered.

 

When he saw how Joohyun looked even without hair, she looks like she was shining with a golden aura around her. She was holding a fake bouquet of flowers in her hands and Taehyung felt happy.

It wasn't their wedding, but he felt that this was a special moment to them.

 

...

 

After the end of their 'photo shoot,' they were chilling on the couch, with Taehyung's head laid down on Joohyun's lap while she was playing with his hair and singing a Red Velvet song.

 

"By the way, how was your appointment today?"

 

Suddenly, Joohyun froze but quickly masked her expression, and thanking God that Taehyung wasn't looking at her.

 

She forced out a smile, "It's going great! The doctor said I'm finally recovering!"

 

And Taehyung shot up and he widened his eyes and grinned, "Really?! That's great!" He hugged her tightly and kissed her all over her face making Joohyun giggle.

 

"Thank God." Taehyung muttered and he tightened his hold onto Joohyun who returned the gesture.

 

...

"Taehyung! Taehyung! Taehyung!"

 

Taehyung chuckled when Joohyun ran towards him in the middle of the streets wearing jeans and a large black sweatshirt, and Taehyung let go of his bag and was attacked by Joohyun with a bear hug.

"Oof!"

 

He realized there was something different about Joohyun.

 

"Do you like it?" She asked him hopefully.

 

She was wearing a wig, and it looked so natural that she was a brunette.

 

She was beautiful.

 

Taehyung smiled gently and opened his mouth, "You're beautiful, Joohyun. But..."

 

He gently took off the wig on her, surprising her. "I prefer you like this. You're gorgeous."

 

And Joohyun became silent and looked down, making Taehyung frown, thinking he said something wrong.

 

"Hey, did I say something wrong?"

 

"No..." Joohyun gazed up at him and she was crying. Taehyung panicked and wiped the tears from her eyes and he kissed her forehead, "Please don't cry, Joohyun!"

 

"...D-Do you mean it?"

"Hm?"

 

"Do...Do I really look okay with no hair?"

 

Taehyung captured her lips, gently breaking it and tilting his head.

 

"You're beautiful the way you are. I'll like you no matter what, as long as you stay yourself."

 

Joohyun sniffed, and realized that they were still on the floor. She quickly got off of him and flushed before getting the wig and throwing it at Taehyung.

 

"Woah, what do I do with this?"

 

"Wear it, we're taking pictures!"

 

He sweat dropped but smiled nonetheless. "As you wish."

 

While he was readying the tripod, Joohyun called out to him. "Taehyung?"

 

"Yes, Joohyun?"

 

"I love you."

 

"I love you more."

 

'So please don't leave me.'

...

 

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Bae."

 

The doctor lost his stance and knelt in front of Joohyun's hospital bed, while Joohyun gave him a solemn look.

 

"Things...don't look so great, I think?" Joohyun chuckled bitterly.

 

The doctor looked at her helplessly. "I'm so sorry...Your parents-they told me to do everything I can-"

 

He threw his stethoscope to the ground in frustration before continuing with a hoarse voice, "-I called all the greatest specialists globally but...."

 

Joohyun waited.

 

"They...They said it was a hopeless case..."

 

The doctor really was sorry. Joohyun was his patient since 2 years ago and he became her friend. "I'm sorry..."

 

"It's okay, Doctor." He looked up to see Joohyun looking at the window expressionless.

 

"I knew I didn't have any more time anyway..."

 

"I'm so sorry."

 

"But I got to do the things I wanted to do, with someone!" She smiled brightly and the doctor wondered,

 

'How can someone who everyone gave up on still smile so brightly?'

...

Joohyun hummed softly to herself.

 

Everything hurt.

 

Breathing hurts so much.

 

Every inhaling made her tearful.

 

Three steps she takes, and she falls.

 

Everything hurts.

 

"Just a little more..."

 

She went back to doing what she was working on for 2 years.

...

 

It was three weeks.

 

Three weeks since Joohyun last came home.

 

Three weeks since she last called him, saying that she was going to stay over at her parents.

 

Taehyung has been anxious since then.

He went to Joohyun's house, but the guards won't let him in.

 

He went to the hospital, but they said that there was no patient named, 'Bae Joohyun.'

 

He was anxious.

 

Until he finally pulled through and ran inside his girlfriend's house. "Where is she?!"

 

That was the first thing he yelled and it seems like people were expecting him. It was Joohyun's parents and they looked apologetic to him.

 

"Where is...Where's Joohyun?"

 

"Taehyung..."

 

"She's hiding from me, right?" Taehyung clapped his hands and smiled, "Yeah! Maybe that's it! She must be-" He looked around and yelled, "Bae Joohyun, I'm going to get you-Hey what the heck!"

 

The guards have finally caught up to him and held him until Joohyun's father stomped his foot, "Stop that! Do not treat my guest like that!"

 

And they immediately let go of Taehyung who helplessly stared at the feet of his girlfriend's parents.

 

He hasn't eaten in a week. He was too worried, he couldn't sleep.

 

Has he gone insane?

 

"Taehyung....She's gone."

He's gone insane, alright.

 

"What're you talking about, Mr. Bae? Joohyun said she won't leave me!" Taehyung chuckled weakly.

 

The mother sighed and looked at him with sympathy. "I'm so sorry..."

 

Sorry?

 

Sorry for what?

 

"She died 2 days ago."

...

 

And he ran.

 

He ran to the smallest cemetery in Daegu, where they told Taehyung where she was.

 

'Hyun-ah, it can't be true! You promised not to leave, right?'

 

'Joohyun!'

 

'Joohyun, I love you so much.'

 

And reality hit him hard.

 

 

As he stood face-to-face with a grave with something engraved,

 

" R.I.P.

BAE JOOHYUN

March 29, 1991-March 27, 2016"

In his whole life, he has never screamed so hard to the heavens.

 

He has never kicked and punched something until his fists bled.

 

He has never cried until evening.

 

He has never hit his head hard enough on a tree trunk until now, that it bled.

 

Screaming, "WHY?!" over and over again.

 

...

 

By night, he started to calm down.

 

That's when he noticed something behind Joohyun's tombstone.

 

It was a rectangular thing-covered by a gift wrap.

 

He crawled towards it and laid behind her grave and took the gift in his hands.

 

'Happy Birthday to me! I hope my parents didn't give this to you while I was still alive.

 

Hi, Taehyung! I hope you didn't cry that much, because I would be watching you, and that would hurt more than my disease, y'know?

 

I'm sorry...

 

I'm sorry that I told them not to let you in during those three weeks. I heard you cry, I heard you swore, even when you promised never to, and I'm sorry for being the reason for all that.

 

Please....I love you so much, I spent 2 years working on this for the both of us.

 

I have nothing more to say but only one more thing.

 

143.'

 

"You pabo!" And Taehyung was crying again.

 

As he opened the gift, he sobbed louder when he saw what it was: A scrapbook.

He opened the pages only to see the pictures of Joohyun he took.

 

 

From their very first picture.

 

There were captions here and there, "Remember when...," "This is what we did that day..." "I counted our I love you's..."

 

And when he went to the last page, he dropped the scrapbook and held the tombstone, hugging it tightly.

 

On the very last page:

 

The wedding picture with the caption:

 

"Maybe next time perhaps, I'll see you soon."

..

 

 

"Happy birthday." He mumbled when he saw the time. 11:45.

 

It was almost the end of Joohyun's birthday.

 

His back laid on the tombstone and he stared lovingly at the scrapbook placed neatly again on his lap.

 

He felt a shiver run down his spine and something.

 

He must be hallucinating because he heard a voice in the small breeze that passed by, "Hi, Taehyung..."

 

"Hi.." He voiced out.

 

"I love you."

 

And Taehyung bowed and smiled. Crazy or not, he answered. "I love you too, Joohyun."

 

una't huling pagibig ko

(You're my first and last love)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This is one of my favorite songs, and also, the english translation was done by me.

I thought of the story while reminiscing about someone very special.