Taeyeon's POV.

"F**k." I cursed whilst hanging up madly. I stormed through the flat, and the floor started to creak. The pendulum on the wall swang. Once... twice.

I grabbed my wallet and keys, and I started running. The night breeze ferociously sliced my bare face. I didn't care. It was just another night for most people. For me, it wasn't.

I strode into the hospital, made quick turns at the maze-like corridors, and finally arrived at her ward. She was submerging into the sheets. Her eyes and her drained lips hung recklessly on the ridiculously pale face. I gasped.

With staggering steps, I dragged myself to where she lay and grasped her hands. They submissively fell into mine, and for some time, neither of us spoke. There was silence, but not serenity.

Our hearts found their ways into each other's as they gently traced an invisible path, leaving a familiar scent that led to a pair of colliding sighs.

Just as I was about to speak, she mumbled, 

"I want to sneak out with you again, like we did when we were young. I want to go to the beach at midnight, and we would run into the sea before the tides tried to swallow us."

"I want to gaze at the sta..." She frowned a little and started to cough. I anxiously glanced around for water at once, but the girl on sheets gestured and gently shook her head. I watched her as the muscles on her cheeks contracted every time she struggled with her exhalations. The cough had almost been endless, I thought, until she continued wearily, "And you'd tell me about the different constellations, the space, your theories..."

"We've got time. Years. Decades. We can do all these together..." I assured, my voice was shaking. I squeezed her small palm as the corners of my lips twitched, fighting a smile.

Looking elsewhere then back at me, she smiled, too. A faint one. Her most hideous one.

"Listen Jung Soo-yeon! You're definitely gonna make it okay? Trust me and by the time you leave this damn room, we will do everything together. Me and you. We can run to the waves..."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I angrily brushed them away without letting go of my grip.

"...and we can witness the clouds gleaming, painting themselves pale tints of peach. We can dance to the radiant beams by the oceanside, and we can..." 

"Taeyeon-ah..."

She mumbled as her pupils buried themselves deeper. Her smile didn't fade.

"I...I'm tired..."

The pendulum on the wall swang. Once... twice.

"...I... I love you. I love you. I love you. I lov..." 

Caressing her soft hair, tracing her cheekbones, staring at her features, I whispered shakily. Like a recital. Like a litany. 

Her smile spread wider now.

"I... I love you too."

Her words travelled through my ears, jumbling my entrails as it reached my heart where it proceeded to crumble it with its four pleasantly tragic syllables.

"I...I won't ever forget you... us." She started to cough again, "Tae...Taeyeon-ah..."

"Remember me... please?"

She slowly flashed me my favourite smile of hers. It was her most beautiful one. 

"Don't..." I let my voice out as it rasped into fractured pieces. I begged and tightened my grip even more.

Yet hers loosened.

The corners of her lips gently lifted as her eyes fastened. Her composed smile lingered. The stars continued to shimmer as she slipped into eternal slumber.