"So, you're basically hiding here rather than go out and actually talk to her?" Haechan sat down next to Mark, watching as his guest just sighed and slumped further into their seat. Hearing Haechan talk just made Mark feel more of a loser than he already was feeling.

"Look, what really happened?" Haechan took another sip from his drink before he folded his legs and turned to Mark. "You have to lay out everything that happened - and I mean, everything."

Mark took a deep breath, rubbed his palms together before he began to talk.

He started on how he was just really easily agitated the past few weeks, being tired over how he was getting small gigs here and there and had to stay at home most of the time while Jieun was usually busying herself with mountains of orders from clients, how both of them had less and less time to spend together and talk things out, unanswered calls and unseen messages that kept on piling and piling and excuses that kept on building and building, a lot of lonely nights and cold empty beds, seeing each other probably only a couple of minutes a day despite living in the same place. It was just a lot of little things he thought wouldn't matter that much but when his glass became full - he just couldn't take it anymore and just burst and the same thing happened with Jieun.

"I just... Felt so much anger and I didn't know how else I should have dealt with it," Mark groans, feeling terribly stupid now that he said everything he wanted to say, "All I should have done was talk to her about everything whenever they popped up. I kept pushing them and telling myself that it was okay, that we were okay and that I could deal with it alone when in reality, I needed to talk to someone about it."

Haechan nodded his head, smiling at Mark, "See how much of a genius I am? I don't even have to talk and I just solved your problem. Congratulations, now go get the girl - I'm going back to sleep." He stood up and started to head for his room when Mark grabbed onto his arm. 

"I... think Jieun needs to cool down for a night and so do I," he admits, "If I go back there now, she'll probably scream at me or something. I'll just crash for one night and call her first thing in the morning. Crashing on your couch if it's cool with you?"

"... Just don't be noisy," Haechan waved him off, "First thing in the morning, you call her, alright? Jieun will probably send a hundred messages to me if she doesn't hear anything from you tomorrow."

Mark chuckles and looks down to his phone, catching the date on his screen. It was already way past midnight so technically, today was their official 4th year anniversary. He lays down on the couch and pulls out a picture of Jieun from his gallery - he'll make it to her when he wakes up and they'll reconcile and they'll be alright.

"Just wait for me, Jieun..."




Jieun wakes up with puffy eyes - a clear sign that she had been crying all night. She turns to the other side of the bed and reaches an arm out, disappointed to only find it empty but not surprised. A hand goes up to her head, feeling slightly dizzy and groggy from waking up so early despite going to bed so late. She didn't know what time she finally had fallen asleep, probably due to the mental tiredness of crying so much.

The first thing she does is grab her phone and sends a quick text to Haechan, she already knew that he would be the first person Mark would go to. She heads to the bathroom to get a quick shower, hoping to look fresher than before but who was she kidding? She could only fake how she looked on the outside but on the inside, she was hurting too much.

Was this their end?

That was the main thing that was going through her mind as she made herself her cup of coffee, realising midway that Mark was always the one who got up earlier and would make her breakfast while she got ready for work. 

"And I never even said thank you..." she scoffs at herself - maybe she had really taken him for granted after being with him for so long. However, that didn't mean she didn't love him any less than she first did. She takes a sip from her own coffee and nearly spits it out before forcefully gulping it down - Mark always made better coffee than she ever could.

She sends another quick text to her team, saying how she was going to take the next few days off because she was sick which wasn't a total lie. She had been working a lot for the past couple of months ever since she got that promotion she had been aiming for so this was an overdue needed break. Jumping into work and distracting herself wasn't going to do anything good to either of them and she was not going to let this thing between her and Mark get delayed any longer than it needed to be.

They needed to talk - really talk. 

Haechan replied with a, 'He's at my place. I'm not saying anything to him so you better get your here and start dealing with him.'

Jieun proceeds to take her purse and quickly heads down to the bus station just as the bus was arriving. There weren't many people on the bus so she decides to sit at the back seat with a window view just so she could distance herself from the other passengers on such an early ride. She plugs in her earphones and goes to her contact list - searching for Mark's name. She presses the call button and lets out a quick silent prayer that he would pick up.

It rings once.
Then, twice.
Then, thrice.

"..."

The phone is picked up but Jieun doesn't hear Mark's voice. 

"Minhyung?" she says, "Hey... It's Jieun." God, she wants to hide inside a hole over how awkward she sounded right now but she takes a deep breath - she wasn't going to let her cowardice come in between her and her relationship. 

"Look... I don't know just how angry or disappointed you are with me," her eyes look out the window, watching the quiet streets filled with a small number of people, "I did a lot of things that I should have thought out more and I took you for granted, didn't I? I was so used to having you by my side and I didn't even think about saying 'thank you' or 'i love you' or 'i miss you' and a lot more words that I should have said to you more often than I used to." 

Her fingers start playing on the ring she has - the ring that they picked out during their first Christmas together. 

"... God, Minhyung - I'm just so sorry. I really really am. I promise I'll make more time for us, to listen to you and just be around you if you'd just forgive me. You're the most important person in my life and I love you so much but I failed to appreciate just how lucky I am to have you in my life. How you always make sure my clothes are arranged and washed, how you keep the apartment squeaky clean without a single speck of dust in sight, how you always stock up the kitchen with my favourite drinks and snacks and how you always always waited for me. You're always there for me and along the way... I just got caught up with my own things that I forgot to be there for you, to listen to you or just to hold you."

She wipes away the tears that run down and tries to keep her sniffs to a minimum.

"You were always the one to come to me first whenever I needed you so this time - this time, I'll come to you instead, alright?"

"..." Mark sits down on the sofa and runs a hand through his hair, "Jieun... Jieun, I'm so sorry. But, we'll figure things out - alright? We're going to be okay, just as long as we're together then everything will be fine. Right?"

She nods her head up and down, the tears finally going down her cheeks, "Just you and me - that's all we need."

Mark smiles and chuckles, "Where are you right now? I'm at Haechan's place."

"On the bus," she hugs herself tighter, feeling the cold of the morning air, "I should be there in 11 minutes or so if this bus is running on schedule."

"I'll wait for you at the bus stop then," he quickly stands up, heading towards the door to put on his shoes before he hears Jieun's soft laughter. 

"There's no need," she pulls away from the phone for a second to look at the time, "By the time you're down there, I'll probably be at the bus stop. It's cold, just stay inside and wait for me."

"You're 11 minutes away! As the minutes get closer and closer, I'm getting more and more impatient," he slips on his shoes, "I'm waiting for you at the bust stop - end of discussion."

Jieun shuts from trying to insist him to stay inside so instead, she changes the topic. "It's so cold today. We should eat something warm... Does Haechan have any instant ramen in his apartment? We could pick some up from the convenience store near the bus stop."

Mark scratches his head, "I don't think so... I'll check real quick." So, he stands up - slipping off his shoes - and opens the cabinets in the kitchen. There's a couple of packets but they aren't her favourite.

"Jieun, he doesn't have the ones you like," Mark closes the cabinet and heads back to the door, "We should get those and anything else. His kitchen is bare and I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Jieun bursts out laughing and it feels like she hasn't had a good genuine laugh in a long time, "God... Minhyung, I love you so ing much."

"I love you a lot too, Jieun," he laughs at the sudden confession just as he's about to open to door, "So, ramen?"

"Yeah, we could buy some and -"

All Mark hears is a mixture of glass breaking and screaming as Jieun's voice is cut off mid-sentence. He can hear the phone hitting the whatever it is hard before the line disconnects and all he's left with is a terrible void in his stomach. He still yells her name into the phone, hoping he can hear her voice as he runs down the staircase - leaping through a couple of them at a time.

He's still shouting her name as he pushes through the doors and looks out to the road.
Her name echoes through the morning air as his heart beats faster when he sees the familiar bus laying on the road.
It's her name that he shouts as he's held back by other people when he tries to get closer to the bus.
It's the name he shouts when he sees the paramedics bringing out a figure onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.
It's the name that he whispers out when he holds her cold bloody hands, the ring still on her finger.

"Jieun..." he cries, still holding tightly onto her hand as the ambulance moves fast to move her to the hospital. All he can hear is the paramedic trying their best to stabilize her condition while Mark's hands are stained with her blood. 

"Don't leave me, please - don't leave me like this, Jieun-ah," he holds her hand up to his cheek and he can feel how cold it really is against his warmth. He feels her hand slowly respond to his grip, her eyes struggling to stay open as she sees him in her view. A smile forms on her lips, as if she's glad that Mark is near her.

"You're going to be okay, Jieun. Just hold on for a little longer, alright? Just a little more," he begs her, "I can't lose you right now - we were going out for ramen." He wipes his nose, trying to smile just for her,

"You'll be fine and we can go down to the store and get all the ramen you want, okay? All of it - we'll buy the entire store, just for us. Then, we'll go to Haechan's and eat with him and Johnny and Jaehyun and it'll be awesome. We'll celebrate our 4th anniversary and we'll take a trip to Japan like you always wanted. I'll finish that song that you sang in and it'll be our very own background music. You still have some lines to sing so you can't quit now, Jieun - you can't leave me now," he's so close to breaking down as he sees the pale colour of her lips and how she's blinking at a slower rate. Both of his hands hold onto hers, "Please, please, please, Jieun. I need you with me here."

The paramedics have to hold him back when Jieun is quickly taken to the surgery room - their hands being forced to let go from one another.

It's only her that he thinks about as he sees her being wheeled away to the surgical department, doctors rushing after her.
It's only her that he can say anything about when the nurse comes to try and calm him down.
It's only her name that he can cry out once their friends and family come to accompany him.
It's only her name that he asks about once he sees the doctor come out of the surgery room after hours and hours of painstakingly long waiting.


Unfortunately, it's her name that he cries out when the doctor shakes his head and leaves that very same ring into the palm of the boy with a broken heart.