Chapter 11

It’s March 12 now.

Two days until the one-month mark since you died.

Or rather, since you were murdered.

The police found your husband gambling away at a seedy casino and arrested him.

His charges were multiple counts of assault and battery, and multiple counts of manslaughter.

Why multiple counts and not just one?

The doctors found out you were pregnant when they were trying to fix you up.

Or rather, HAD been pregnant.

Apparently, you’d suffered a miscarriage before you made it to the hospital.

You were only 7 weeks along.

They also found that you’d suffered several other miscarriages before this.

All of which were brought on by some form of blunt-force trauma to your abdomen.

The medical evidence could not be proven wrong.

It wasn’t surprising when the doctor on the witness stand stated that the unborn children and their mother were tragic victims of domestic violence, most likely perpetrated by the defendant, Choi Seunghyun.

The jury only took about 10 minutes to find him guilty.

It wouldn’t even have taken them that long, according to one of them.

A few of the women had to take a short break before they could intelligibly give their verdict.

You would’ve been proud of us, _______.

I presented my phone and your texts to the police as evidence of the domestic abuse.

The others maintained that what we had was a sibling-like relationship.

And that it was ALL we had.

Sungjong didn’t even crack when the defending lawyers grilled him over that particular issue.

Now that I think about it… I don’t think Seunghyun's lawyers were trying all that hard to defend him.

They conveniently left the hearts and the emoticons out of your texts.

And the surveillance footage of us kissing in the kitchen.

Or the testimonies of the customers.
 

• “They would’ve made the perfect couple, and we kept expecting him to ask her to be his girlfriend.”
• “Even though Myung-oppa having a girlfriend would make me sad, I’d be happy if it was with _______-unni. They were perfect together.”

This from the high-school girls who came to watch us work and nothing else.

If I remembered correctly, they always pretended that we were secretly engaged, which conveniently explained away the wedding band on your finger.

• “It’s such a shame that she had to be married to that monster of a man. She and Myungsoo-sshi were one of the most compatible couples I’ve seen in my profession.”

This testimony came from an old-fashioned grandmother who kept asking when we were going to get married whenever she visited INFINITE LOVE.

Apparently, she’d been a well-known matchmaker in her village, and swore up and down that we were the perfect couple, despite the fact that you were already married.

I hadn’t realized before what an impact you’d made on so many lives.

The prosecutors brought in witness after witness, most of whom were our customers.

A few of them were your classmates and neighbors.

They all loved you, and all condemned your husband for “murdering that sweet girl and her unborn children.”

This from the elderly matchmaker, who pointed a gnarled finger at the handsome man sitting impassively at the table.

With that emotion-laden statement, pandemonium reigned.

Order in the court was far gone by this point.

The dam of propriety broke and everyone was out for blood.

Your husband was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment without parole.

Your funeral was quiet, even with the reporters hanging around.

It was a closed casket affair.

No one wanted to see you lying so cold and still in your coffin.

We wanted to remember you as you were when you were alive.

In lieu of a casket procession, they played a video montage of your time with us at INFINITE LOVE.

The music they played in the background was Yiruma's "River Flows In You" and B1A4's "Crush."

The first one... that had been your favorite instrumental song.

The second one was my message to you... too little, too late.

Much of the footage and photos came from the fangirls’ cameras and phones.

Others came from our own personal cameras when the boys decided to play random games and wanted to record it.

There was not a dry eye in the place when the final picture flashed onto the screen and lingered there for a good ten seconds.

It was a candid black-and-white profile shot of us standing behind the counter at the cafe.

A shaft of sunlight had hit us just so, lighting up certain features, making us look downright ethereal.

I had my arms around your shoulders in a back hug, and my head was bent down as though I were telling you something.

You had your hands on my forearms, leaning back against me, head resting on my shoulder.

I was smiling, and you were laughing at something I’d said.

I still remember that laugh.

I can hear it in my head sometimes, when I’m lying in my bed at night.

L-oppa...
 

INFINITE LOVE is still doing well.

If anything, customers came in even greater numbers now.

The fact that Sunggyu had set up a scholarship fund in your name for disadvantaged young women didn’t hurt matters any.

Neither was the announcement that 5% of our profits would go to the CADV (Citizens Against Domestic Violence) charity.

Where again, a fund was set up in your name.

To this day, we’ve raised over $5,000 apiece for each of the projects.

Not bad for a month’s work in a tiny cafe.

As for everyone else... you and your passing really changed some things around with us.

Sungjong isn't the childish, capricious maknae anymore.

He's gotten more solemn, more mature... he wants to focus on making his cakes and pastries now so he could go to school for it.

All for you, if nothing else.

The same goes for trickster Sungyeol.

Gone are his pranks of putting salt in the coffee and vinegar in the ice, but he still experiments with new flavors on a weekly basis.

Maybe he'd attract the attention of someone famous.

That's his goal for now.

Hoya and Woohyun have toned down their fanservice a bit, but not by much. 

They seem more sincere with their smiles and compliments, though, and act less like players and more like boys-next-door.

I have no idea why they changed like that, but I guess we all had some growing up to do.

Sunggyu and Dongwoo are still the same, though they're still a bit reticient.

Dongwoo is sticking with his classics, but he IS working on technique more now.

Sunggyu's coming out to the front of the shop to work with us more... he kinda took over your role in INFINITE LOVE, cleaning and cashiering, but he likes it.

Which leaves me, I guess.

I haven't changed at all, sad to say...

I... I miss you, _______.

I miss you so, so much.

Sometimes, I wonder what life would’ve been like for the two of us had I answered my phone the first time you called on Valentine's Day.

Or if I’d run into you sooner, before you met Choi Seunghyun and got into this mess.

Would you be with me now?

Would we still be INFINITE’s perfect couple?

I guess there’s no point in wondering now.

You’re gone, and that’s the end of it.

My 21^st birthday’s in two days, but you knew that already.

All I want for my birthday is one simple thing.

No partying, no drinking, no clubbing.

I just want you back with me.

I want us all to be the same happy family that we were so long ago.

It’s time for me to go now, but don’t worry.

I’ll come by and visit again.

Sungjong and the rest give their love.

Goodbye, __________.

I love you.