Coldplay - The Scientist

  My vision goes in and out as I hear muffled voices. I can make out white uniforms, a stethoscope, and an IV fluid. Turning my head to the side, I see metal bars and blue padding while a familiar face is looking down on me with worry. "Jaebum?" I manage to croak.

  His mouth is moving, but I can't make out his words. My head is hurting and my body is numb. Another face is there, staring at me with sad eyes, and I knew immediately who it was. "Daehyun," I repeat before blacking out again.

  When I wake up, I find myself laying in a hospital bed with an IV fluid dripping through. I turn my head and see my family next to me. I want to call out to them, but my voice is hoarse and nothing comes out.

  They notice me waking up and all lean towards me.

  "Youngjae," my mom cooes. She takes my hand and kisses the back of it as tears fall down and tickle my skin.

  "What happened?" I don't remember anything before the accident, and I surely don't remember why I left the classroom so early and in a daze. All I can recall is being mad at Jaebum for unknown reasons.

  "You were hit by a car, Honey. I don't know what is going on, but I'm just happy you made through the surgery alive."

  I try to sit up, but every part of my body is in pain. I notice my leg is in a cast while the rest of me is bruised and cut. It looks like I barely made it. "Where's Jaebum?" He's the last person I saw, so maybe he has an idea of what happened.

  "The boy who was with you when you came in? He's waiting outside. You've been asleep for a whole day and we told him to leave so he could rest, but he refused to. We can call him in."

  "No. Not yet. I want to spend some time with you." As I'm laying here and listening to my family talk about this things that I've been missing since I got into college, I can't help but feel like something is missing. The more I think about it, however, the more confused I get. My memory is complete with all my friends and family beside me, but I can't find the reason why I left campus so early. I decide not to dwell on it and enjoy the moment with my family. I guess I'll be seeing them earlier than intended. I just hope I get out of here in time for my finals because I can't afford to fail my classes now.

  After quite some time, my family decides to leave for lunch. Of course, reluctantly, but I told them that I'll be with Jaebum and the nurses will be checking up on me anyways. When they leave, Jaebum comes in with his hands in his pocket.

  "Hey," he greets.

  "Hi." Why did I run away from him?

  "I'm glad you made it through the surgery. Everyone was so worried." He looks up and his eyes turn sad. A small smile creeps on his lips. "It looks like he made it," he whispers loud enough for me to hear.

  "What?"

  Jaebum shakes his head and steps closer to me. "Nothing. I was just talking to myself." He looks me up and down, but his eyes linger to my cast. "Looks like you'll be a cripple for a while, but on the plus side, you get special services while going to class. You get to be transported by our oh-so-special, luxurious golf cart," he teases and lets out a laugh.

  I roll my eyes. "Shut up." Don't get me wrong. It's a good service because I can avoid the traffic students cause when they're walking so slow. I just didn't feel like listening to his jokes. "Since finals are coming up, can meet up at the cafe with-" I pause. With who? It's always just be Jaebum and I, and occassionally I would go by myself. I shake the thought off. "We need to study as much as we can in order to receive all our credits."

  "True. We just need to make sure you're out of here before we can do so. For now, we'll be stuck studying in this bland place. It's nice that you get your own room. You even have a huge TV right in front of you and people will bring you food. It's almot as if you're getting special services."

  Again, I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

  We laugh, but his doesn't last long as he lets out a sigh.

  "What's wrong?" I ask.

  "It's nothing," he says once more, "I'm just glad you're okay. We'll be able to get through the rest of the semester with ease. For the most part anyways. And then, we'll come back for Spring semester and experience the same pain again, minus the moment right now. Next thing we knew, we'll be sophomores, then juniors, and then seniors, and then graduates."

  "Alright. You're moving way too ahead right now."

  "Sorry." He sits on the couch by the widow. "From now on, I'm not going to let you out of my sight. Even though we go our separate ways after we graduate, you better not stop communicating with me."

  "Don't you think you're sounding a bit too possessive right now? I can do whatever I want. Plus, we still have four more years. A lot can change. What if we don't end up being friends anymore because our classes differ so much."

  "Just keep in contact."

  "Fine." I know I should feel comfortable in this situation. I'm laying here and talking with a friend as if I didn't get injured. It's just, I find myself glancing at the door our out the window as if I'm hoping for someone to turn up. No one does, and I'm a bit disappointed. Ah, what am I thinking about? There's no one else who I'm closed with other than my family and Jaebum unless I'm hoping for Himchan to show up? No, that can't be it. We're not that close and I'm sure if he sees me right now like this, he'll make a huge deal out of it and keep asking me questions about what happened and how I feel right now. I didn't want to deal with it. For now, I'm satisfied with talking to Jaebum.

  I recovered just in time for my finals. Even with the cast, my school life was back to the way they should be. I studied hard with Jaebum, got annoyed by Himchan, and passed all my classes. However, it's always as if I'm missing something or someone. I find myself glancing at empty seats as if someone was supposed to sit there, but I know no one has since the beginning of the semester. A few times, I found myself touching my chest and grasping onto air. When I look down, there's nothing wrapped around my neck, and there shouldn't be because I don't own neckalces.

  I remembered returning to my apartment when I was released from the hospital and saw a big jar of lucky stars. I don't recall making this many, but I do know I made them and dropped them in that jar. I guess the accident took parts of my memory. Sometimes, when I walked to campus, I found myself staring at the little ice cream place I went to when it was much hotter outside. Strange, I never took Jaebum there, but I felt like I took someone. I even look above people's heads when I first meet them, but I don't know what I'm looking for. Weird.

  My whole life was filled with empty voids. There were so many habits that I did and have no reason behind it. I even asked Jaebum about it, but he didn't know the answer and just said it's probably me overthinking things. Maybe. But there's just something natural about the things I did.

  After we graduated, I continued my life as a teacher. I found myself teaching Literature which was a surprise to me and everyone around me, but there was just something about certain books that attracted me, especially mythology. I wanted to share my interest to my students, and it seemed that my passion was working because they were interested in what I had to say.

  I was single my whole life, not because I couldn't find potential suitors. There were plenty and some even asked me out, but I was not able to return their feelings. I couldn't give them false hopes and fake love, so I kindly denied their advances. Every time I go home, I always look at the jar filled with lucky stars. I even counted them one time because I wanted to know how much I made and why. I counted 1834. I didn't think I would have the time or patience to make that much, but here it was. At first, I thought Jaebum gave it to me, but he said he didn't, so I was even more confused. When I looked up the meaning behind lucky stars, I found that 1834 stars indicated enternal love because according to Chinese number readings, 520 means I love you and 1314 means forever, so if added together, it means eternal love. Did I really have that much time?

  My life over all, was everything I hoped for. I had a loving family and plenty of friends who had my back when I needed them. Jaebum was also there through text since he moved and was constantly busy wiht his job. I never knew what his job was, but he always teased me how he was a spy that's always on top secret missions. The fact that he told me that clearly indicated that he was not a spy. Oh well, it didn't matter. At least I have a friend who I know will travel the world for me.

  We both grow old together. After out retirement, Jaebum decided to live with me because I didn't have anyone except my brother who was being taken care of by his grandchildren. A person never knows when they die, but for me, I just have a hunch.

  As I'm sitting in the livingroom and looking out at the snow falling gently to the ground, Jaebum sits next to me with a box in his hands.

  "What's that?" I ask as I stare at the golden box with a pink ribbon on top. Pink. I've always liked that color, but I don't know why.

  "It's for you."

  "It's too early for the holidays and my birthday is not until next month."

  "Actually, it's not from me."

  I furrow my brows. Who else could it come from? "Is it from your grandchildren?"

  Jaebum shakes his head. "Just open it."

  I take the box. As I hold it in my hand, the wieght of whatever is inside is familiar. My heart is beating and my breathing is ragged. My skin tingles as I lift the cover. There, I see a gold chained necklace with a gold paper airplane attached. Everything returns in an instant and I find myself tearing up. It all makes sense now. All those empty feelings I felt were all because of Daehyun. He was part of my life. He was a part that I had forgotten.

  "How?" I choke.

  "I took it while you were taken in the hospital the day Daehyun saved you."

  I can't stop crying. "How? How did he do it?"

  "He bargained. Every memory of him as a human was erased. It was if he didn't existed. And he was never allowed to set foot as a human on Earth ever again."

  I clutch the necklace close to me. "Thank you, Jaebum. Thank you."

  He grins. "I have to go. My children wants to have dinner with me. I assume you want to be left alone for now."

  I nod.

  "Goodbye, Youngjae," Jaebum says before leaving.

  I hold the necklace close to me as all the memories are flooding back to me. "Daehyun. Oh, Daehyun. I wonder where you are right now." I look up at the ceiling.. Is he watching me? Is he standing in front of me? Is he sitting next to me? I close my eyes and imagine his face. Even after all these years, I still remember those thick lips, those deep brown eyes, and that mole under his eye. How could I have forgotten him. "Daehyun," I breathe.

  "Youngjae." That familiar, deep voice calls me.

  I open my eyes slowly and meet those brown orbs. A smile is plastered on my lips. "It's about time you came to see me."

  He chuckles. "I'm sorry it took so long."

  "I'm sorry for forgetting you."

  "Don't worry. All I wanted to see was your happiness. That was enough to keep me going." Daehyun reaches out his hand. "This is my final task."

  I take his hand. A warm glow emits from our hands, letting me know that Daehyun will take care of me. A light engulfs me and I close my eyes. I am finally at peace.

Author's Note:

  Done! I hope you enjoyed and I hope the pacing was enough. I was planning on making it 20 chapters, but a lot of what was on my plan merged together. Thank you for being here with my on this journey! I hope to see you readers again!

  With Love,

                LokiCraze123