It was raining when she ran out of the hospital. It was raining when the accident happened. She had never like the rain; she thought it was too gloomy. But right at that moment, Nayeon felt that it was appropriate; it was almost like the sky was mourning with her.

Jinyoung’s gone and it was her fault.

That thought haunted Nayeon as she ran. Her face was wet; her vision was getting blur and she had no idea if it was the rain or her tears. It was only when she reached a playground that she finally stopped running. Nayeon looked around, taking heavy steps towards the swing and sat on it. Memories came pouring into her mind – three of them playing around; them skipping school and hanging out at the playground near their place; Jinyoung asking her to be his girlfriend – they were all happy memories. His smile was carved deeply into her memory; she could pretty much still hear his laughter.

“I’m sorry…” Nayeon whispered quietly. But that was also what broke her as she cried loudly; this time it wasn’t the tears of fear or panic. That was the first time and definitely not the last time Nayeon mourned for her dead lover.

He was still smiling at her just a few hours ago.

It was their fifth anniversary and Jinyoung had specifically told her to wear her prettiest dress since they are going to a restaurant they’ve never been to. When they reached the place, Nayeon’s jaw dropped for a short while as she stared at the venue. It was beautiful; a restaurant at the highest level of the building. Jinyoung had also reserved a table by the glass window so the beautiful night scenery could be their company.

Nayeon didn’t once stop smiling the whole night. Jinyoung had made sure she feels like a princess that night and he probably succeeded. Nayeon could tell that Jinyoung had prepared this for a while, judging from how the waiters knew exactly what to do.

“How long have you been planning this?” Nayeon narrowed her eyes playfully at her boyfriend. “How did you even have time to do this?”

Jinyoung gave her a cheeky smile which Nayeon could easily read it as “I’m Park Jinyoung, I’m capable of anything”

Nayeon chuckled then looked out of the window again.

“It’s beautiful, really. Thank you.”

“You deserve it, love.” Nayeon cringed a little at Jinyoung’s rare endearment; it’s not that she didn’t like it but Jinyoung being Jinyoung was never a fan of endearment. “A beautiful place for a beautiful lady on our special night.”

Nayeon laughed again at his cheesiness. This is a rare Jinyoung and she’s definitely enjoying it. She made a mental note that she’s going to tease the hell out of him in the future and make him embarrass him in front of their friends.

Dinner was served. Again, Nayeon stared at it in awe. She did had steak before; she went to some other restaurant with Jinyoung and sometimes with the others during one of their birthdays but she had never seen anything like the one in front of her. It was exactly how she like it to be done, the presentation of the plate was somehow really sleek too. It was until tonight that she realized, food can look amazing too.

“Park Jinyoung, how much did you spend on this?” She stared at him, feeling a little overwhelmed at how much he’s doing for her.

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely within my capability.” He smiled, picking up his utensils then looked at her again. “Besides, I want to give you the best.”

Nayeon kept her gaze on him for a while. What did she even do in her past life to deserve this guy and the treatment he’s giving her?

“Aren’t you eating?” Jinyoung interrupted her thoughts, “You were complaining about how hungry you were earlier.”

Nayeon blinked, forming into a quiet “ah” and picked up her utensils too. It will be a shame if she had it cold. Dinner was great, they were smiling a lot and laughing a lot. They talked about their childhood, which was a pretty fun topic and one that they wouldn’t get bored of. They talked about how Bambam used to cry a lot. They also talked about how Jinyoung and Mark would get mad at other kids when they made fun of either Nayeon or Bambam. Then the topic moved to their high school years, where they meet Jaebum and Jeongyeon. Or how they’re worried that Mark will never find a girlfriend. He had probably rejected tons of girls during their high school years.

“Have you ever thought of our future?” Jinyoung brought it up after the waiters cleared their plates and utensils. “Like all of us. It’s so fast, we are already working adults.”

Nayeon nodded quietly at his statement. She could still remember them as a bunch of kids who skipped some classes because they hated the teacher. Jaebum initially didn’t join them but everyone else managed to drag him along. And that’s how Jaebum went from being a student who followed rules closely to a rule-breaking student.

“I don’t know. I just thought that all of us would be together forever. I can’t imagine living without any one of you.”

Jinyoung smiled.

“What do you think about us? Let’s be in love forever?”

Nayeon raised an eyebrow. They’ve talked about this topic a few times but never had she once see Jinyoung being so serious. It was usually them joking around and making hilarious unrealistic scenarios.

Jinyoung smiled in response then signalled to the waiter whole soon came back with a tray. On it was a bowl of ice and a bottle of red wine. But what really caught Nayeon’s eyes was that ring on the ice. She gave Jinyoung a look, which he smiled even more in response. Her gaze followed his movement as he stood up from his seat, taking the ring with him. Nayeon could feel the eyes on them as the pianist of the restaurant played a romantic Chopin piece just for them.

She watched nervously as Jinyoung got down onto one knee. Her attention was all on him; for that moment, no one else exists in the restaurant. She could feel the tears b in her eyes, which she cursed silently. What’s there to cry about?

“Im Nayeon, let’s cut this straight. You know I wasn’t one who beat around the bush. We’ve known each other since we’re kids. I’ve been in love with you for the longest time and I still fall in love with you everyday. I want to be the one to protect you for the rest of our lives. I want you to be the one I wake up to every morning. Let’s be in love forever. And, that’s where the question comes in.

Will you marry me?”

Nayeon chuckled softly, making Jinyoung slightly flustered. This was probably the cheesiest thing he had ever told her. She stared at him then finally gave him a gentle nod.

“How could I ever say no?”

Jinyoung’s smile widened as the rest of the customers clapped for their new status. He helped Nayeon put on the ring and gave her a gentle kiss on her head.

Nayeon held up her hand and stared at the ring, which Jinyoung had put it on her finger. She still couldn’t believe the fact that he’s gone. This was just a bad dream, wasn’t it? If it is, she desperately wished that she could wake up from it. So she will be able to see Jinyoung’s smiling face again.

But it’s impossible. He’s gone. That was the first time Nayeon admitted that to herself.

“You said to be in love forever.” She whispered weakly, “You said you want to be the one to protect me. I didn’t expect it to be to the extent of dying for me. What am I supposed to do now?”

The sound of the rain was the only thing that accompanied her. It was such a lonely feeling, a feeling of despair. She had no idea how it happened but the next thing she knew, she felt her body going weak.

And that was when she collapsed onto the ground; the rain hitting against her body.

-

Mark looked around, clenching his fist tightly. He’s going to find her no matter what. He should have noticed it the moment it happened; he should have known that Nayeon wouldn’t be able to handle the results. But he was only thinking of calming himself from the news and because of that, everyone had no idea where to find her.

“Any findings from your side?” Ayeon’s worried voice came from the other side of the phone.

“No, nothing here.” Mark tried to hide the frustration from his tone, “And the ing rain isn’t helping at all.”

Ayeon sighed. The fact that the quiet and gentle Mark had cursed revealed the fact that the boy was getting scared.

“Call me when there’s any update.” Mark continued after a momentary silence before he hanged up on Ayeon.

Where the hell is she? It’s pouring and Nayeon was nowhere in anyone’s sight. How could she run that fast? Why did she have to always try her best to hide from everyone when she’s having a hard time?

“Where the hell are you, Nayeon.”

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Another cliffhanger? How're these two chapters so far? I might actually have more update days for this story since I kind of have a deadline to meet! After all those light and casual writings/storylines, this is like a whole new world to me. I'm still enjoying it but I hope it's not getting boring or something bc of the details! 

This is like a Jinyeon chapter and part of a build-up to Nayeon's character. So I think the first few chapters are pretty important. I've initially wanted this to be a 10 chapters short story. However, I don't want to just focus on romance here. Friendship and kinship, I want to focus on them too. There will be different interactions here. Look forward to them!

Would love to read your thoughts and what you think will happen in the future chapters! Still, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. Did it make you emotional? HAHAHA

signing off, ddeokbxkkii (leen)

p.s. if you've got an instagram, follow my writing account (ddeokbxkki) there! there will be random quotes and writing related posts. maybe on future stories too!