They say, 10 days. It will all end in 10 days. He will be able to forget and everything will be fine.

It was all lies.

At the sound of glass shattering within the confined space, Donghyuk dashed out of his room, towards the kitchen. A flicker of hope made his lips curl into a smile.

“Soojin?”

Donghyuk’s eyes met the kitchen and his grin faltered into an emotionless expression. Greeted by the empty space, the remains of the vase laid on the hardwood floor.  The person he was expecting was not there, instead was their pet cat, Chubby. It purred at him before turning to its ball of yarn. The eerie silence that followed immediately after his footsteps was something he couldn’t hear. Staring at the fallen flowers, he wondered to himself how long they’ve been withering away and that was when everything connected. The clock’s ticks and tocks finally reached his ears.

Soojin bounces on her feet grinning mischievously,

"Hey Donghyuk, look what I got you!"

The girl beamed happily as she held a box, along with a small box in her other hand

"Happy birthday!" Soojin squeaked and an orange tabby kitten peeked out of the box with a pink ribbon tied around its neck. Donghyuk smiled from ear to ear at the sight of the small creature in his hand.

"Thank you, Soo." Donghyuk pecked her cheeks and it immediately turned red.

“Anything for you.” She said shyly.

“What should we name it?” He gave it a thought. Snowy? Kitty?

“Chubby. Let’s name it Chubby.” Soojin said, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Welcome home, Chubby.” And they both kissed the small kitten.

“Now open this!” Soojin presented the little gray box.

Donghyuk looked at his silver wristwatch, wondering what time it was. His eyes only made it to the carved words on the bezel, “Always, forever. S ♥ D”

“I love you.” Donghyuk confesses with a stutter. The room was quiet. Soojin’s eyes were wide, shining in a layer of threatening tears, she smiled breathlessly.

“I love you too, idiot.” The girl mumbled as she buried her blushing face into Donghyuk’s chest. Bringing their arms around one another, they held each other in their embrace surrounded with a magically comfortable silence. Everything was perfect.

Donghyuk remembered the day he met Soojin. The girl glanced at the street light, it was green. Soojin was occupied reading a text from her friends about a movie starting in 5 minutes but immediately dropped her phone when she heard a loud thump. Soojin immediately looked up and the street light was glaring a disapproving red light at her as bystanders were panicking chaotically besides the young man lying on the pavement.

Donghyuk was hospitalized for a week, and everyday Soojin would visit, apologizing with bouquets of white hyacinths and tulips. The first time they officially introduced themselves was when Donghyuk woke up after his operation. Welcomed by a flawlessly sculpted face, he furrowed his eyebrows and smiled.

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you cross and I just--” The stranger was crying.

“Hi, my name is Donghyuk.” He cut the stranger off with a gentle introduction.

“I’m… I’m Soojin…” The apologetic girl responded, complying with the shift.

Who would have thought a saint like Soojin was texting while she drove her car right into Donghyuk’s life. Soojin’s tear-stained cheeks only made it even harder to believe she was the type of person who had such a nasty habit. Bad habits die hard.

It felt like it was yesterday, the two of them were in Donghyuk’s room filming a homemade music video of them goofing off, singing a silly song they wrote together. They used comedic props, spewing nonsense, tripping over furniture, whooping and laughing loudly into the camera as they sang wildly. Everyone who they shared that video with smiled and laughed—not because it was horrible, but because they felt the same elation those two felt for each other. Not only did that video lighten everyone’s day up, it also made listeners clap along, enhancing the joy in life.  

Bending down, Donghyuk picks up the shattered glass and the rotten, shriveled roses that fell to the floor.

Bending down, Donghyuk picks up the shattered glass and the burnt, pink and red roses that fell to the ground.

“I’m sorry for your loss…” A caring police officer squeezed Donghyuk’s shoulder, he did not respond, instead he stared emotionlessly at the collision and what was left of Soojin’s car. The explosion left nothing but ashes behind. Salvaging as many roses as he could, he stood up and went home. He was not ready for this.

His knees fell to the cold hardwood floor. Gathering all the roses he could fit in his hands, he cradled them in his arms, suffocating them with his embrace. Donghyuk felt like he was just as vulnerable as the flowers, and just as broken as the crystal vase.

Coming back home, he placed the colorful roses in a crystal vase on the kitchen table. Retiring to his room he picked up his abandoned guitar from the cold floor. Settling down in front of the laptop, he began filming. Strumming to the frivolous song they wrote together, he sang. Donghyuk only sang his parts, leaving Soojin’s parts filled with silence accompanied by the guitar. At the end of the video Donghyuk smiles brightly at the empty space beside him, “Good job, Soo!”

For how long Donghyuk was playing that song, he never realized how unharmonious it sounded without the melody, because in his head, he could still hear Soojin. The song was no longer uplifting and enthusiastic, instead it was heavy-hearted and wistful. All it took was one song to bring back a thousand memories. Like a drug, Donghyuk was addicted and didn’t even realize he was hooked. He thought if he sang that song, maybe those memories of Soojin will come to life.

“Donghyuk… Soojin is gone.” His friend tries to bring him to reality. “Who?” Donghyuk had always thought everyone was talking about a different Soojin. Somehow, Soojin’s death was erased from Donghyuk’s memories. Every day, he’d come home and sit in front of that laptop, singing that same song. Some would say the definition of insanity was doing something over and over, expecting different results. Did Donghyuk really go insane?

Donghyuk’s vision became blurred. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he clutched onto the lifeless roses. Sobbing and crying for Soojin as he bawled his eyes out, he whimpered and cowered in fear because he had finally processed that he had lost everything. He was living in denial for so long, he realized Soojin’s departure was the birth of his insanity; hoping that Soojin would materialize before his eyes if he tried hard enough. This was not the reality Donghyuk wanted.  

“I’m so sorry, Soojin! I got stuck in the traffic.” Panting, Donghyuk reach out to Soojin who has her back turned against him, arms crossed.

“You know what I hate the most. It’s breaking promises and being late.”

“Come on, Soo. I promise there won’t be next time.” He straightens his back and lifts his hands to his shoulder about to read the oath when Soojin turned and slapped his hands down.

“Silly, I don’t need you to swear.” She still sounded a little mad.

“ Don’t be mad at me. Dongdong will be sad.” He pouts and whined, tucking her sleeves lightly.

“Okay, okay. But you have to buy me lots and lots of ice cream.”

“Anything for you, babe.” Donghyuk kisses her on the cheeks.

The shards of glass dug into his knees through his jeans. The thorns remaining on the stem of the roses wedged into his skin as he clutched it to his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Donghyuk couldn’t feel the physical pain because the wrenching pain in his chest hurt him far more than glass and thorns. It was tormenting, every teardrop that fell, that heartache never ceased. He felt incredibly silly for not realizing sooner that his world already collapsed. When did time freeze for him? How much time did he waste?

“Soo, I miss you so much…” He called his paramour’s name in agony. He felt miserable--he felt lost. The emptiness he experienced was more than discomforting. His heart was gone--his sunlight--everything, everything that belonged to him was gone. Donghyuk felt , and the void in his heart was excruciating, he couldn’t breathe.

He realized that he can’t continue to hold onto those painful memories anymore.  He took out his phone from his pocket and sent a text message. He dashed out into the rain and everything went black. It’s over.

His phone laid on the cold cement floor, message not read nor delivered.

September 10, 5.43 p.m : Sender, Soojin –  I’ll be there in 5 minutes.

 September 20, 5.48 p.m : Recipient, Soojin – Sorry, I’ve came too late. I’ll be there in 5. I love you, Soo.

“Victim’s name: Park Soojin. Cause of death, distracted driving.”

Five minutes, Soojin was only 5 minutes away.

“Victim, Kim Donghyuk. Cause of death, hit and run.”

10 days, Donghyuk was 10 days late.