You promised

♦♦♦

Jongdae’s world stopped, the time stood still and his heart froze. His chest felt empty and he himself felt soulless. Empty.

“At 12:36 in the afternoon an avalanche covered the city of San Martino, Italy, leaving no survivors.”

The room was dark, the only source of light being the TV screen, blinding the boy with its silver light.

Jongdae’s hands were trembling and shaking, as he reached down for his phone. Hot tears started gathering in the corners of his eyes and a loud scream threatened to escape his throat. His mind became cloudy and it started getting harder and harder for him to think and to focus. Adrenaline started rushing in his veins, his lips were trumbling, his teeth stuttering and his breath hitched.

The mobile phone’s screen lit up and Jongdae opened the message he had gotten a few hours before.

From: Minnie Mouse

Hey, babe, how are you doing? We’re having so much fun here, it’s a shame you couldn’t come L I really miss you, it’d be much better with you here, and defo much warmer at nights *wink * * wink* We’re going to San Martino today, it’s deep in the mountains, I’ll text you tomorrow when I’m back with a good wifi. Love you, Minnie ~~”

San Martino

He tried calling the number multiple times, but the line went dead each time.

“Leaving no surivors.”

An agonizing scream cut through the empty and quiet space of the apartment, cutting through the air like a knife cutting through a hot flesh, ripping it apart, making it bleed red.

Jongdae doesn’t know how long he screamed, but when he lost his voice, the sun was rising, and the whole room looked as if a tornado rushed through it.

It looked like Jongdae.

Wrecked, destroyed, broken.

“I will be back in no time,” Minseok had said on the airport, a few days prior, with a gummy smile on his face, “you’d be going with us if it wasn’t for your stupid retake, dummy!” he laughed then.

Jongdae felt as if someone gripped his heart tightly with an iron fist, as his ears filled with the melody of the older's laugh. So sweet and pure and full of life. Jongdae's favourite music in the world.

‘You promised to come back,’ Jongdae thought, looking accusingly in the direction of the new light of the day. How dare the sun rise, when an eternal night fell upon Jongdae. How dare the world move on, when there was his love missing. How dare everything be so peaceful and calm and normal, when he was so devastated and alone.

He was in so much pain.

“Minseok,” he whispered, “Minseok, I beg you,” he whined, looking into the bright light of a fire ball burning on the sky, “Minnie, don’t be dead.”

His phone buzzed, and his heart stopped.