Broken Melody

BOM's POV

It was a beautiful Saturday night. As usual, I sat on my favourite bench, playing the piano in my room as I waited for my husband, Choi Seunghyun to arrive. The clock struck at exactly 12 midnight and my maid, Stella, who had been standing by my side, kept begging me to get in bed. Being persistent and stubborn, I ignored her and continued playing another song - Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. A minute later, I heard a familiar sound of footsteps closing in and I was sure that it belonged to my husband. Excited, I quickly stood up and headed downstairs, finally catching sight of my beloved husband. I ran to his side and wrapped my arms around him, embracing him tightly.

"I miss you, Tabi," I pouted cutely.

"Yeah, whatever. Get away from me! You're hugging me so tightly that I can die for being out of breath!" Seunghyun snapped roughly as he pushed me away from him.

We had been married for more than a year and for the first three months; both of us were living their lives together happily. But things started to change drastically after Seunghyun succeeded his father as the company's President. His attitude changed out of a sudden and my friends kept telling me how bad he was as a husband. He was always late from work and much worse, he became a workaholic, prioritising his work first instead of taking care of me. Yet, I still loved him so much.

Broken-hearted, I returned back to my room and locked myself inside. Two months ago, Seunghyun had requested that we sleep separately in different rooms, reasoning that he could not concentrate on doing his work with me being so noisy. I threw myself on the bed, hugging my favourite teddy bear that Seunghyun had given me back when we were still dating in high school. A bright idea suddenly came into my mind. Knowing that Seunghyun was still working in his study room, I rushed into the kitchen and personally made a mug of hot chocolate for him. I knocked the door of his study room twice and stepped inside silently, tiptoeing.

Seunghyun was sleeping silently with his head rested against his arm on the table. I placed the mug on his desk and took a blanket from his bedroom, covering him warmly under the blanket. Just then Seunghyun suddenly woke up in shock, and he looked surprised to see me standing beside him. He noticed the hot chocolate that I had made for him and drank it. Thinking that he was in a good mood, I took all of my courage to ask him," Tabi, wanna visit the park tomorrow? We can eat ice cream together~"

"Why can't you go by yourself? Are you still a child for needing me to remove the ice cream stain off your mouth?" he sarcastically replied.

"B-But tomorrow is a special d-" I complained.

"Can you get out of here?" he shrugged. "I need to work,"

"Y-Yes, I'm s-sorry," I stammered.

I felt my eyes being flooded with tears yet I held them in, only letting them out once I've exited his room. Seunghyun noticed my watery eyes earlier and he quickly dashed outside, grabbing my arm before I could run away. He pulled me closer into an embrace, gently caressing my head as I cried on his chest.

"Sssssh. Don't cry," he hushed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted so rough,"

"I-I th-thought you f-forgot my b-birthday," I sobbed.

"Of course not! Okay, now I want you to go back to your room and have a goodnight sleep," he replied. "We'll go the park and eat ice cream together tomorrow,"

"Really?" I asked him to make sure.

"Yes, I promise," he answered as he kissed my forehead deeply to assure me.

But he didn't come at all. The next morning, he left me a note to Stella, addressing it to me.

Bommie,

I'm sorry but I can't go to the park with you. I'm flying to the States for an urgent work. I'm terribly sorry and I love you.

Tabi

XXX

P.s I will be attending a seminar in London as well, so I won't be back for two months.

Another promise broken and another lie made. He never did return back home after two months.

TOP's POV

It was a normal Thursday morning and as usual, I was busy preparing for a big meeting later. I took a glance at my watch; I have two minutes left, and sipped some of my morning coffee. My iPhone vibrated once, indicating a new message. I pressed the home button and a photo of Bom appeared as usual. Although I really missed her, work still had to come first. Besides, we could meet each tomorrow since it was my last in the States.

-KNOCK-KNOCK-

"Enter," I called out.

Dalton, my Secretary entered my office, informing me about the meeting. Without wasting any time, I galloped off my seat and left my office, bringing my briefcase along. The meeting, unexpectedly, was more intense and serious than usual. The President of the company that I was having a partnership with didn't seem to like the idea proposed by his company's workers. Annoyingly, my phone started to vibrate out of a sudden. I quickly switched it off without looking at the caller ID and proceeded with the meeting.

-------------------------------------------------

I was finally back to Korea after the long 14 hour-flight. I took a taxi back home and noticed how much the neighbourhood had changed. Yet our house still looked the same, ignoring all those dead leaves left lying on the ground. I rang the door bell twice, eager to meet Bom since it was our 2nd anniversary that day and moreover, I had prepared something special for her. The front door burst open and Stella appeared, looking quite untidy with her wrinkled uniform and messy hair. She stared at me with much disgust and hatred, and didn't even bother to greet me back.

I stepped inside the house and quickly ran upstairs, looking for Bom. It was strange that I couldn't hear her playing the piano that time like she always did. Her bedroom itself was empty, but her smell was apparently lingering inside. I checked everywhere around the house, my bedroom, her favourite hiding place, the attic, the balcony, the garden and all, but she wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Where's my wife?" I asked Stella.

Stella, strangely, remained silent and turned her head down, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Are you trying to be rude to me?" I questioned.

"Forgive me for saying this, but if you want to fire me this instant, I won't mind," she replied.

"Hyun Yee! Where's my wife?" I exclaimed.

Hyun Yee, the head maid, turned her face up, bravely facing me. She hesitated for a moment and stuttered, "S-She-,"

"She's what?" I asked again, annoyed at her slow response.

"She's going out," she answered, catching a quick breath as she blinked her watery eyes a few times. "Haha, s-sorry, but I'm not feeling well today, that's why my eyes are watery!"

"Where exactly?" I asked again.

"Oh, she's, erm, she's at a beautiful sacred place right now," she continued, with her voice slightly pitching down into a sob. Her tears were starting to flow down non-stop and I knew that something wasn't right. Heaving a sigh, she let out all of her emotions out and finally added, "She's dead,"

The word 'dead' echoed in my mind, along with the constant flashback of her pictures in my head. My knees felt weak almost immediately and I stumble down, sitting on the floor hopelessly as my brain tried to accept her death.

"Yes, she's dead!" Stella yelled, finally awoke from her silence. "She's dead because of you!"

"B-Because of m-me?" I stammered.

"Stella!" Hyun Yee gasped, pulling her into an embrace. "It's not your fault, Master,"

"C-Can you bring me to her grave?" I begged. "Please, I want to meet her,"

Hyun Yee brought me to the Church's cemetery just a few metres away from the house. The tablet clearly stated Bom's name - Park Bom, deceased on 12th February 2012- and inevitably, I broke down. She just died two days ago. If only I could stay by her side until her last breath and held her hands tightly, that would simply be the best anniversary gift for me at the moment. Crouching down on the ground, I grab hold of the edge of her tablet, closing my eyes tightly as I pray to God, hoping that He would protect Bom in the heavens. 

A sudden file of questions flashed into my mind. Why did she die? How? Did she say anything about me when she was about to die? Was she crying? How did she look like? Sad? Happy? Or was she crying?

"W-Why wasn't I informed about this?" I asked them.

"We did try to call you using the Mistress' phone, but you rejected the call," Hyun Yee explained. "I've texted you as well,"

Stupid of me. So that call during the meeting was actually...Gosh. I didn't even switch my phone on back after the meeting.

"But the Mistress did leave a letter for you," Hyun Yee added as she handed me over a small, green envelope. "The Mistress really missed you a lot. She played the piano most of the time and day by day, the melody got worse,"

Enthralled, I tore the envelope open and pulled her letter out. The letter looked messy and it was full of wrinkles. She was clearly crying when she wrote it.

Dear Tabi,

Do you remember the time when you first confessed to me? We were in high school, remember? I was a new transfer student and you told me about how you fell in love with me at first sight. Truthfully, I had liked your best friend, Ji Yong, before I started to fall for you. Don't worry, you're the only one in my heart forever and always.

On Christmas Eve 2010, you proposed to me and I gladly accepted your ring. The next year, we got married on Valentine's Day. We had our first together that night, remember? You always protected me and cared for me, until you suddenly changed. Yet, even if you had changed, I still loved you. To me, you are my one and only soul mate, Tabi.

When you left, of course, I was really heart-broken. I don't expect you to stay there for more than two months, well to be exact, more than 7 months. You left exactly on the morning of our first anniversary, Tabi. 14th Feb. I'll remember that day forever and you know what? I wanted to tell you that I was pregnant if we really did go to the park, but...

And also, sorry for not telling you this before, but I'm actually suffering from leukaemia. That's why I can't go out much since I'm always weak. You may be wondering why I had been acting needy recently before you left, well that's because I only had 9 months to live. My doctor told me that once I give birth to our baby, I'm going to die since my bleeding won't stop considering I'm leukemic.

I know it's only 7 months, but sorry, I need to go earlier. I really really love you, Tabi.

Bommie,

XXX

P.s Sorry, our baby went to the heavens earlier before me. Just for your information, our baby is a girl.

Carefully, I fold the soaked letter into half and kiss it deeply, knowing that it had once been touched by her. If only I knew all of these, I could save myself from becoming the most stupid and heartless man in the universe. Hyun Yee bent down beside me and patted my shoulders to placate me.

"The Mistress took lots of depressant pills everyday and that was the reason why her disease worsened," she explained. "She was extremely depressed because you left her and she was forced to abort the child after an over-dose case of the pills. Her bleeding couldn't stop and so she knew her time was coming. She wrote this letter exactly an hour before she died,"

"Stella was right. I was the cause of Bom's death," I sobbed.

"Ania, don't blame yourself, Master," Hyun Yee replied. "Erm, do you want to know her last words?"

I nodded twice, wiping away my tears.

"She said, 'One day, I'm sure that Tabi and I will be eating ice cream together in the heavens.'"

THE END

Okay, yeorobeun. It finally ended. I'm sorry if my story is sooo boring and cliche. I'm not good at making sad love stories.

Anyway, will be updating Love Bites sometime this week!

PPYONG!