All I Ask Of You - Phantom Of The Opera

Narrator's POV

After being forcefully dragged out of the room, Donghae fought back from Kyuhyun and Yesung's strong grip around his arms. Without saying a word, he shrugged away from their grasps and walked away. He didn't have anywhere to go to, actually, but he paced on the same floor aimlessly until discovering the hospital's open balcony overlooking the city -- the smoking zone -- not that he ever considered smoking.

Min Yu ran from her own bedside to look for him, regretting how her mental processes had slowed down after death. The old man was nowhere to be found in the waiting room, so she figured he must have disappeared to who knows where and that he couldn't possibly tell her where Donghae had ran off to.

Finally, she found him leaning forward on the balcony railings, threatening to jump. He looked down at the complex spider web of roads and highways, with the vehicles looking like ants from the height. The man looked up, savoring the feel of the wind on his face with his eyes closed. Min Yu walked and stood quietly beside him, not that he'll ever notice.

He lifted his hands around his mouth. "BABO YA!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. There was a silent moment as a flock of birds ascended on their flight to somewhere else, somewhere more quiet. "MIN YU YA!" Donghae screamed this time. Her name got stuck in his throat, like a fever he couldn't possibly sweat out so easily.

"What is it, Donghae?" Min Yu asked calmly, following his gaze far out and past buildings and skyscrapers. "What is it you have to tell me? What is it you have to say? What is it I haven't heard from you yet?" She sadly turned to look at him. He took a deep breath. "MIN YU YA!" he called out. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MAD I AM AT YOU!"

Donghae paused after his statement, giving time for silent crying in between. "YOU'RE SO SELFISH!" he yelled with a thick edge of scolding. He blinked multiple times, letting the hot tears fall freely down his already tear-strewn cheek. "YOU'RE SO SELFISH THAT YOU WENT THROUGH ALL YOUR PAINS ALONE WITHOUT SHARING SOME WITH ME!"

He let his hands fall back to his sides, too weak to keep shouting for the whole day. And he wanted to, at least to ease some of his sufferings. Donghae grew unsteady, staggering from side to side in his lack of sleep, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion combined. "BABO YA!" he shouted some more, holding onto the railing for support.

"YOU'RE KILLING ME!" he shouted. "How, Donghae?" Min Yu asked quietly. "How am I killing you?" She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "EACH TIME I BREATHE, I MISS YOU. AND I TRY NOT TO BREATHE. AND I TRY NOT TO MISS YOU. BUT I'M SUFFOCATING AND I'M DYING AND YOU'RE KILLING ME!" Donghae yelled in clear anguish.

"AND I LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE BECAUSE THAT'S THE CLOSEST THING I'LL EVER GET TO WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU!" he added. After panting breathlessly throughout his outbursts, Donghae cried for a little while before his voice became modulated again. "It's the closest thing I'll ever get to what's left of you," he repeated more softly.

"Remember that day in Mokpo when we ate ice cream after you learned how to ride a bike?" Donghae buried his face in his hands, wallowing in deeper remorse. Min Yu nodded. The man rubbed at his eyes and laughed a little. "You were a quick learner, anyway. You have been biking by yourself for almost an hour without you knowing."

"During that day, I got jealous over you talking to the cashier and I drank my milkshake quickly because I didn't want to use the straw you were giving me," he recalled clearly. Min Yu leaned over at the railings and rested her chin on her propped up palm. "I didn't talk to you even when we were already leaving the store and heading back home."

"And then I cried..." "You always do," Min Yu commented. "...like I always do." He agreed, as if he could hear everything she was saying, and she wished he could. "Then I told you why I was angry and I let the bike fall on the ground. Do you remember why I did that?" His voice was slowly getting thicker and rougher, hitching up in his throat.

"I told you that I would leave the bike so if you return to your senses and want to come back to me, you can bike on the way home. You can bike your way back to me," Donghae sobbed. "And so I didn't remove the ring on your finger, even if the doctor insisted that there was minimal chance of you ever waking up again. I didn't remove the ring on your finger so you can find your way back to me."

--

"Don't take too long. I don't want you to catch a cold. Then brush your teeth well, just like how you taught me to. Our Lee Donghae has to smile brightly for the cameras~ Take care of yourself when you leave, okay? Look after your dongsaengs well, especially our Kyuhyun. And if you're going along with EXO on your tour, tell Joonmyun and Wufan to look after our maknaes as well, especially our forgetful Jongin and Yixing..."

The concerned people turned their heads as their names were specially mentioned. But since the original source of the voice was lying on the hospital bed and hooked on the beeping life support, they were somehow glad Donghae hadn't deleted the voice recording from his phone. In all actuality, it was his lullaby, his last piece of whatever was still living during that time.

And Donghae didn't know what he liked more -- receiving the news of his father's death without him hearing the last words or playing the voice mail again and again with desperate hopes that maybe these weren't Min Yu's last words, after all. Speaking of whom, she sat beside his dismantled figure by the floor of the cold waiting room.

She watched closely as he replayed over and over again the voice recording she had left for him. She ran her fingertips through his hair as he laid his head to rest against the wooden bench. "Has he eaten anything yet?" Min Yu asked Yesung, who shook his head microscopically. "As in nothing for the whole week?" she pressed.

"He eats, like, once a day," Yesung muttered under his fist as he pretended to cough. Donghae weakly lifted his head up to glance at his hyung, whom he thought must have been speaking to him. But he rubbed his sore eyes and resumed his previous position by the floor. "Tell him to eat," she ordered silently, even though it was only Yesung who could see and hear her.

"Hae, let's go downstairs and eat," Yesung invited immediately, shifting in his seat next to her to give off an air of cheerfulness. "No thanks," the younger could only mumble faintly that Yesung couldn't almost hear it. Yesung arched his eyebrow ever so slightly, an I-told-you-so towards Min Yu's direction. She shrugged. "Tell him if I was here, I would have wanted him to eat."

"If I was--I mean, if Min Yu was here, she would have wanted you to have something to eat too," he stated confidently, exactly mimicking her words. "If she's here to tell me that, I would have wanted her to kiss me instead," Donghae whispered quite inaudibly. And as loud as her sighs went by, she knew she couldn't convince him anymore, so she kept shut.

The silence didn't last long, however, as in came the Park family, loudly exiting the elevator doors. "Don't tell the reporters everything, okay? I don't want press people flocking in here. Even if that's the way it goes, I don't want people to act and pretend all concerned about my daughter now than when she was..." Min Jae stopped in midsentence, finding the right word to say. "...than when everything was still fine."

Jungsoo only nodded, not in defeat, however, because he had the same thing in mind and that she didn't need to tell him that. He kept silent because he didn't want to start a fight. Not now. Not when they, too, were acting as if Min Yu would continue to live if the life support was turned off. But they weren't hypocrites. Just hopeful.

"True, isn't it?" The old man appeared from behind Min Yu's seat. She wasn't startled by his presence more so now, since she had quite grew a certain fondness of him. But the girl had long swallowed the thoughts that surge in her mind from time to time about the man's identity because she is certain she has seen him before. She just couldn't pinpoint where and when.

She didn't have to turn around to see him there. But he leaned on his forearms over the backrest of the chair and observed the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. "See, it's what I always used to tell my children. I know they'll soon grow up and meet people they find interesting. And so I just tell them the same thing. If the girl you love is so smart you get a headache, you can study really hard."

"If the girl you love is far, call her constantly and go there whenever you have time. If the girl you love doesn’t have a car, you can just buy her one. If the girl you love can't cook, you can try making your stomach stronger. If the girl you love doesn't have money, buy her the things she wants in a subtle manner. If the girl you love acts too hard on you, you can become weaker."

As he spoke, Min Jae continued telling Leeteuk everything running through her mind while the man only nodded his agreements and responded when it was required. Min Yu and the old man could only watch them from a distance. "And," the elderly man quipped as-a-matter-of-factly. "If the girl you love talks too much, you can just smile and listen to her quietly."

"What if the girl you love is dead?" Min Yu tried, tracing the length of Donghae's arm as he stared blankly at his phone's wallpaper. The old man heaved a sigh and stood upright. "Define dead," the old man ordered quietly. The girl, seeing how he was serious, sighed. "Not eating. Not moving. Cold. Lifeless. Dead," Min Yu muttered, all the while staring at her body lying on the hospital bed.

"If that's how being dead is for you, then don't you think he is too?" The man motioned to the not-eating, not-moving, cold, lifeless person by her side. "If the girl you love is dead," he continued when she didn't respond. "You can just sit on a waiting room, eat once a day, stare at old photos, and think of her as much as you could until she probably realizes that she isn't really dead. She just thinks she is."

Min Yu threw him a questioning look. "I mean, you ARE dead in every sense of your perspective and the general definition of the very word," he explained. "You're dead but you aren't." He walked towards the viewing window and to the open door. "See this? This has been open ever since you woke up from that seven-minute dream. What do you think does that mean?"

The girl shrugged. "You really are stubborn," the old man heaved a sigh. "As I told you the first time we met, you woke up too soon. It isn't time for you yet, Min Yu. You shouldn't have left. You should have woken up. You should have had your eyes operated. Donghae should have held your son. You should have seen how happy he will be. But you sat up. You woke up too soon."

Min Yu's POV

Preparing to lie back down on the hospital bed, I waited for the old man to say something as he stood by the foot of the bed. When he remained silent, I scratched my head. "Thank you," I muttered unsurely. He smiled warmly, but the joy on his face was quickly replaced with shock as I stood up to embrace him. He laughed afterwards, patting my back. "You're really something, aren't you?"

I beamed brightly at him before resuming my sitting position by the bed, sighing and bracing myself for the possibility that I might not wake up, that it had been my time after all. But pushing the negativity to the farthest back of my mind and taking a deep breath, I fell back slowly, feeling the newfound weight brought about by the regained life.

I remained still and immobile for a few seconds, waiting for the first breath to arrive. Creasing my forehead in worry, I figured maybe I couldn't redo it anymore. But with the tensing of my hands, there came the hopeful sting of the needles stuck under my skin. The ECG came back to life, beeping ten times faster than when I last heard it.

The door burst open, and more footsteps sounded across the tiled hospital floor. I lifted my hand up and brought it up my eyes to shield from the immediate brightness. An attending nurse froze by the heart monitors, too stunned to say anything. "B-bu-but..." she opened to say something but only ended up stammering.

I tried sitting up, but was only left to fall back down after Eunhyuk already greeted me with his gummy smile, which was wider this time with tears to match. "Ah Hyukjae, you're so heavy," I pretended to complain while he crushed me in his arms. "I hate you but I love you~" he cried as a reply, to which I just laughed.

Everyone came rushing in one by one, even Kyuhyun, whose dependence on his console even while I was unconscious never left my attention. "Best friend~ I thought you were going to leave me," Jongin exclaimed as he kissed me on the forehead. "Don't tell me you've found a new playmate while I was gone?" I tried, but he just smiled cheerfully.

"I checked in on her, like, an hour ago and my findings were that she was still unconscious but now she's..." the nurse tried explaining to the doctor. He, in turn, pushed his eyeglasses far up the bridge of his nose. "P-Park Min Yu?" he took a closer look at my face. I rubbed at my eyes and nodded, despite my confusion. "It's Lee Min Yu now," I corrected.

The doctor let out a hearty chuckle. "Don't you remember me anymore, Mrs. Lee?" he asked, to which I just shook my head no. He held his hand out. "I was your doctor way back when you had your car accident!" he exclaimed, and I opened my mouth to shriek and screech but no sound came out. "It's no wonder!" he exclaimed, pointing to me.

He turned to the nurse by his side, who was still as shocked as ever. "When she was fourteen, she met a car accident and she was brought here. The poor little girl was dying -- internal hemorrhage, broken bones...it was a fatal case!" He lifted his arms up in the air as he spoke with clear conviction. "We operated on her for six hours. SIX HOURS!"

"By that time, she was losing too much blood and the blood transfusion went by so slowly. It was too late when we discovered her liver, like her lungs, was internally bleeding. And she had less than ten percent chance of surviving. It was clearly the same as this case!" His voice was of a louder tone. "The most amazing case of my entire medical experience yet again!" The doctor held his hand out once again.

I smiled at him, shaking his hand more firmly this time. "It's my pleasure," I told him. Soon after, the people entered and exited, in and out they went and I just watched as they go. Finally thinking there was no one else to enter, I laid back down on the bed, closing my eyes and catching up on some rest. It was a tiring comeback.

The door creaked open and then closed. Someone must have entered, I thought. But then no one did talk to me. No one said anything. No one checked on the IV tubes. I let a whole minute pass by in silence, waiting for whoever the person is to make the first move. But by then, it was a different kind of silence with tension hanging heavily in the atmosphere.

Feeling overwhelmed with instincts, I opened my eyes, not that surprised to see Donghae sitting beside my bed. I opened my mouth to say something, but I pushed myself up on my elbows first before yanking the breathing tubes out of my nose. "Can you help me up?" I held my hand out, and he snapped out of the silent treatment he was giving me.

He hoisted me up, assisting as I let my feet dangle off the edge of the bed and stood up. "Easy there," he reminded, holding me by the shoulders while I tried regaining balance. I held onto his strong shoulders, my feet standing on either of his feet. Before he could say anything, however, I had already clasped my hands around his neck, pulling him closer.

Donghae seemed taken aback by my actions, but he soon eased into it soon after, placing his hands hesitantly on my waist. Slowly, we got into a steady rhythm, his feet leading mine across the cold floor. I buried my face deep into his skin, feeling more alive by the second. "Took you a long time," he commented, to which I giggled.

His lips landed on my forehead, kissing me softly. "I missed you." And he breathed in on me, before he pressed his damp cheek on mine. I clung to him tighter. "Don't EVER try that again. It's not funny. It's not amusing. It's not cute," he scolded, his voice hoarse from all the crying he has done. "You didn't even take a bite of the breakfast I made for you," I whined.

He my hair gently. "I never left. I never came back home," he explained. For a while, we need not say anything. But we went around and around the hospital room, with him protecting my feet from the coldness of the floor. "Have you seen him yet?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Have you seen our son yet? Have you visited him downstairs?" I tried.

"Not yet," Donghae muttered in reply. "I heard he looked an awful lot like me. Then he must be perfect too," he thought out loud, to which we both laughed. "Ah, babo," I smacked his arm weakly. "From now on, no more secrets, okay?" he pressed his forehead against mine. "What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine," he said softly.

"Do you know how many lives it has been?" I asked out of nowhere. He glided to one side of the room smoothly. "It's my fifth life, do you know that?" I held onto either sides of his face.

"I loved you in my first life." I kissed his smooth forehead.

"I loved you in my second." I kissed each of his red-rimmed eyes.

"I loved you in my third." I kissed the tip of his nose.

"I loved you in my fourth." I kissed either of his tear-stricken cheeks.

"And I love you in my fifth." I inched closer, pressing my lips on his.

"Sorry to ruin the moment," Yesung barged in without knocking on the door. Donghae groaned and smacked his own forehead. "I'm sorry but Teukie hyung wants to see you," he told Donghae.

The latter led me to the bed before putting his arms around me and kissing me some more. "I'll be back, promise," he bid and left, jogging towards the door. Yesung entered, sitting at the edge of the bed. "How did it feel like to be a ghost?" he asked, tucking my hair behind my ear. "You were the only one who saw me, right?" I asked. He nodded and asked, "But you do know that the old man was Donghae's father, right?"

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