Wheein's PoV

I can see Yong moving restlessly from my peripheral a few moments when we reached the painting. I slowly turned to face her, careful not to startle her.

The first thing I noticed was that she was breathing heavily. It was obvious from her chest movements that she's trying to control her breathing. Her hands were constantly tightening and loosening in a fist. I slowly looked up to her face. Her eyes were closed and too. She wasn't crying like earlier, but I could clearly see the path a single tear created from the corner of her eye, down to her jaw.

"Yong…" I called, worried that maybe she's having one of her panic attacks.

But she doesn't seem to be drowning.

"Yong?" I called again when she didn't answer me.

Her breathing sounded more audible now, clearly getting more difficult for her to control.

"Yong" I said, louder this time.

It was useless though. It's as if she was inside a bubble, unable to hear and notice her surroundings. I slowly moved to stand in front of her, now worried but cautious not to worsen it.

What am I supposed to do now? 

My heart started to beat a little bit fast, nervous to what was happening and clueless of what I should do.

"Yong, are you okay?" I asked, my voice shaking a little bit from nervousness.

Her brows started to dipped lower and was hanging open from trying to breathe hard. She still didn't notice me and I'm definitely more worried now.

What's bothering you, Yong?

Hesitantly, I moved slowly towards her, taking my time to step closer to her. I slowly raised my hand to hold her arm while I raised a hand to cup her cheek. The moment my touch made contact with her skin, I jumped a little when her eyes suddenly opened wide, unfocused and shaking constantly.

What happened? You were just smiling so wide earlier.

"Yong…" I called her attention while I rubbed my thumb on her cheek.

Her eyes immediately found mine, slowly turning soft as she focused on my eyes. "Whee…" she breathed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, relief that her breathing went better. She was still breathing heavily but it was now better than earlier.

She shook her head and said, "Nothing. No. Sorry. I didn't mean to cry in front of you." She bent her head low and averted my gaze. 

"Don't do that" I said, tipping her chin up to look back up again. When she held my gaze, I moved my hand back on her cheek again.

"Don't do what?" she asked, raising both her eyebrows. 

"Don't say nothing when obviously there's something. Don't apologize like you did something wrong"

"I'm sorry. It's just that I felt like it's too selfish of me to ask you to comfort me when I think it shouldn't be like that"

"Then what should it be, Yong?" I asked, slowly wrapping an arm around her waist while I continued to rub my thumb on her cheek, easing her from stress.

"I—I also don't know" she said, shaking her head with uncertainty.

I slowly pulled her head down on my shoulder, rubbing my hand on her back. "Calm down. You didn't ask me. You also didn't force me to do this. I did this willingly, okay?" 

"Okay" she said softly, nodding. "Can I hug you, Whee?" she asked tentatively. 

"Of course" I said, then her arms wrapping around me followed right after. I felt her snuggling comfortably to me as she released a sigh of relief.

"Were you having one of your panic attacks?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so"

"Can you tell me what happened? What triggered it?"

I heard her sigh while she tightened her hold on me before she answered. "The memories… There's this rush of memories. They went in my head and flashed in front of my eyes. I couldn't shake it. It felt real… It felt like it just happened"

I pulled back to look at her eyes. "What memories?"

Her eyes that became soft turned back to becoming shaky and glassy while her breathing escalated a little bit. She closed her eyes again, releasing the tears held from both of them as it flowed down her cheeks. She released a shaky breath then said, her voice shaking, "The day I left you"

The day I ran to her and begged her to tell me that she didn't mean it when she told me to break up with her. The day where I was desperately hugging her and kissing her but she never returned it. She just slowly untangled me from her and then she walked away without looking back. I was left crying her name inside her empty apartment.

I lifted a hand to wipe her tears while she shook her head. She added, "That's why I said it's selfish of me to seek comfort from you when I did that to you. I'm sorry"

I see I’m not the only one who suffered because of that day. She probably had it worse.

She started to gently untangle herself from my arms but I tightened my hold on her, not giving her a chance to get away. She wanted to protest but she saw the determination in my face. She just gave in, started to relax, and went back to wrapping her arms around my shoulders while she closed her eyes.

"Do you have this often?" I asked, brows dipping as I wiped her tears.

"What? The memory flashes?" she asked, still with her eyes closed.

"Yeah, and the difficulty in breathing that comes with it too" I said, pushing her head down to my shoulder again as I rubbed a hand on her back.

"Everyday" she whispered. "When I wake up and when I go to sleep"

"We could've avoided hurting each other"

"I know and I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. It was never my intention but you became the best part of my life, Whee. You still are" she said, her voice muffled on my shoulder. "I had to do something if I wanted you to keep it that way. Even if it involved breaking up with you"

"Okay… You're really making me crave for answers now"

She pulled back to look at me. "I'm sorry", she said, smiling at me now as she caressed my cheek. "Thank you, Whee. We better finish this then"

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, still worried about her. "The next one might also trigger you"

She smiled, shaking her head. "I don't think so. I'm really okay now", she said as she slowly released herself from my embrace.

She nodded at me, indicating that she’s ready to go on. I just sighed and nodded back at her, then we walked to the next painting. 

Stubborn as always.

The canvas has a 2' x 2' in dimension, the smallest canvas among all the paintings in this exhibit. A single wilting white magnolia was placed inside a simple transparent jar. The jar, empty except for the magnolia flower, was sitting on top of a wooden round table located inside a dark room with no windows and no lighting at all. Shadows danced on the wilting flower, making it look like it’s sad and crying.

desolated.

why…

~ Flashback ~

Yongsun's PoV

All my things are already packed inside three suitcases. Majority of them are clothes since my apartment has always been empty for the last five years I stayed here for my internship. Except when Wheein came into my life. My apartment started to look lively because of her; framed photos of us in my living room, framed photos of her painting and doing random things on my bedside table, and her constant supply of sunflowers, which she always brought new ones when she noticed the ones I had started wilting. I kept them all in my suitcase, bringing them with me, except for the flowers.

Wheein has been very busy for the past few weeks that I was able to pack without her asking me questions. I also haven't told her yet that I'm leaving now. I don't intend to tell her why, not yet, until I'm ready to give her everything. Until I will come back, hoping that she'll still be there for me. 

Highly unlikely. 

I'm currently on my apartment building's rooftop, trying to find courage to call her, even though it will hurt both of us, it will hurt her more. But I have to. I have to end our relationship. I have to break up with her. It is better to say this than to simply leave. Breaking up with her without concrete reason would be better than just simply leaving her without uttering a word.

"" I hissed. Just th