C h a p t e r  F i  v e

Since that day, you have been living with Kris again and spent as much time as possible with him. You spent so much time with him that Kris had to ask for Su Min’s help to bring you out for some shopping. It was not your fault that you acted that way. Even though his eye doctor said that he would lose his vision by the end of the year, you still did not want to take any chances. This sort of thing is very unpredictable. 

You also managed to thank Mrs Wu and you could not help but feel extremely grateful towards her. If it was not for her, you would have still been in the dark. And when you do actually find out about it, you know that no words could describe how devastated you would feel. You were glad that you knew about it before Kris permanently loses his vision.

***

You and Kris were doing some advance Christmas shopping. The due date was coming soon and each day, the first thing you would check would be if Kris still had his vision. You could not help it. The thought of waking up to find Kris not being able to see anymore is something you feared most. You have been giving yourself prep talks but it was not of much help. Kris did not want you to worry about him and there were times whereby the both of you had mini arguments regarding it - you constantly being worried about him and him being too laidback about the whole situation.

"Have you made your choice?" Kris asked, obviously looking bored already.

You ignored his question and asked him, pointing at a specific Christmas tree, “How about this one?” 

“Hmm, honestly? I don’t really mind any. I mean, it is just a Christmas tree,” Kris shrugged.

“It isn’t just a Christmas tree, alright?” you huffed.

Kris grumbled, “Fine.” He looked around the shop and randomly pointed at a small-sized one. “That one then.”

You cocked an eyebrow at him, fighting off a small grin, “Seriously?”

“Well, you asked,” he said smugly and chuckled.

You just rolled your eyes and a smile etched across your face. Only Kris could act all childish and you would not be annoyed at him.

You placed your order and the both of you left the shop. Hand in hand, the both of you walked along the street. You were looking inside the various shops, trying to see if there was anything that would catch your eye.

Suddenly, a pair of shoes caught your attention. It was the perfect shoe for you. It was as though the shoe was calling you, telling you, tempting you. You knew right away that the shoe was meant for you.

“Oh my God…that is the most beautiful shoe ever!” you said, fighting the urge to squeal.

You let go of Kris’ hand and hurriedly walked to the shop window. You placed your palms on the window and stared at the shoe with wide eyes. You let your eyes roam the shoe and absorbed every single detail of it.

“Kris, look at it!” you said, thinking that he was behind you.

When he did not respond, you furrowed your eyebrow in confusion. You turned around and realised that he was not there. Your heart started to race. ‘Crap, where is he? Oh God, why had I been so distracted! What if something happened to him?’

You retreated your steps and searched for him. Luckily for you, you found him not too far off from the shoe shop. But unluckily for you, Kris was heading towards the busy road. 'What in the world is he doing?!' You immediately ran towards him and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the road.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" you screeched at him.

"I-I'm sorry," he said, apologetically. "My vision dimmed and everything went blurry. I couldn’t see anything. I called out to you but you did not reply. So I just walked forward."

"Well, I thought I was walking forward. Apparently not, I guess," he said, chuckling nervously.

You bit your bottom lip and looked at your feet. You could not help but feel bad. It was your fault for getting too distracted easily. It was your fault for being too careless. It was your fault that Kris nearly got himself injured or worse, killed. ‘And it was the shoe’s fault for grabbing my attention,’ you thought childishly. You sniffed and looked up to face Kris. You stared at him with big eyes and apologised. He shook his head, saying that it was not your fault.

"Is your vision back?" you asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I kept blinking my eyes. But my vision was still blurry. So, I decided that maybe I should close my eyes to try and make my vision come back. Then, I felt someone tugged my right hand and it shocked me so my eyes flew open. That's when my vision became clear again," he said with a smile. "So, thank you."

"Are you mocking me?" you asked seriously.

"No!" he said and shook his head vehemently. "Of course not!"

"But, why are you thanking me? You very well know that I wasn't the reason why your vision became clear again. This kind of thing is unpredictable. You should be angry at me for leaving you!"

"Hey, don't say it like that. I'm not angry at you alright. See, I'm fine. You came just on time!" he said, twirling around to show that he was not injured.

"But you could have either gotten yourself injured or even killed if I hadn't gotten here on time. Either way, it's still my fault," you told him, pouting slightly.

You sighed inwardly. You would not know what you would have done if anything were to happen to Kris. It was bad enough that he was losing his vision. If he were to get injured, it was only going to make things more difficult for him.

"Baby, stop it. I could have gotten injured but I didn't right? Everything's fine now and I'm not angry with you at all," he said reassuringly, before giving you a chaste kiss on your forehead and grabbing your hand. "Now, let's go and see what shoe was it that was distracting you."

***

Christmas came and left. It was nearly the end of the year. A few days before Christmas, you asked Kris to write down all the things he wanted to do before he lost his vision. He had quite a number of things on the list but most of it were not exactly realistic. Within the short period of time, from after he wrote the list to now, you managed to fulfil some of Kris’ wishes. By the end of each day, he always had a bright smile on his face and you could not help but smile too. Your heart fluttered in delight at the fact that you were partially the reason why he was smiling that way.

“What is one thing you would really like to see right now?” you asked him as the both of you snuggled in bed together. It was in the afternoon and the both of you were preparing to take a short nap.

“Hmmm, you?” he said cheekily while playing with the tendrils of your hair.

You rolled your eyes and smacked his chest playfully. “Be serious!”

He chuckled and said, “The sunset. I want to watch the sky shift from pale blue to dark blue, to navy and violet and something as close to black as the sky can get. I want to watch the pinks tinged as the sun goes to bed another night. I want to watch as all the colours blend and mix in the sky to look the same. You know, like paint on a white canvas."

You smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “That was absolutely beautiful. Well then! I guess that’s what we will do this evening. We shall take a short nap now and then wake up in time to go see the sunset at the nearby hill!”

He let out a playful growl and pulled you even closer to him – if that was even possible. He placed his lips against your cheek and mumbled against it, “And this is why I love you so much.”

***

You woke up before him and you were so excited for the trip. Just like Kris, you have always wanted to see the sunset. Now, you were finally given the chance to do so. You helped pack Kris' backpack for him and prepared some food for the trip. You wanted everything to be perfect.

"Kris, honey, time to wake up," you whispered to his right ear while one of your hands played with the hair behind his left ear.

"Is it time yet?" he said quietly without opening his eyes, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

"Yes. Come on, get ready, alright?" you said and gave him a quick peck on his lips.

His eyes fluttered open slowly. You observed how he blinked once and his brows were furrowed. He his bottom lip and sighed heavily. "Erm, can you get my phone. I need you to help me call someone."

"Who? Is it important? You can call that person later. We're kind of in-"

"I can't see anything."

Those words shoot straight to your heart. 'No way, that's not possible. There's still time. No, no, no. Not now!' You gulped and you rubbed your palms that were starting to get sweaty on your jean shorts.

You chuckled nervously, "D-don't joke with me. You're joking, right?" 

Silence.

"W-what? That's not possible. I'm sure it'll come back again," you said, trying to sound reassuring.

"No, I really can't see. My vision isn't dimmed or blurry, like how it usually is. I can't see at all. All I see is darkness, everything's totally black."

With that, your world started to spin and you find it difficult to swallow the bile working its way up your throat. Your heart constricted and you urged yourself not to let your tears flow down your cheeks. Your worst fear finally came true. No matter how you try to keep thinking that his vision will come back, you know that you needed to stop being delusional. Nothing's going to change.

That evening, Kris lost his vision permanently and he never got to see the sunset with you. 

[A/N] Dun dun dun! *cues dramatic music* Haha. So, anyway, I decided to upload this chapter earlier because I'll be busy later. Anyway, leave a comment? :)