~ Chapter Twenty Four ~

"Eunhyuk, can you please come for a walk with me…I really need to get something off my mind…” I said as I shook Eunhyuk who sat fast asleep in one of the chairs in Donghae’s room. Eunhyuk slowly opened his eyes, “Ah of course Singing Angel, let’s go” replied Eunhyuk rubbing the sleep out of his eye, I began walking towards the door trying to warm up my arms as the evening had grown immensely cold. Eunhyuk came up from behind me and put his arm around my shoulders, “Yah~ why are you wearing so little? You had a jacket with you just yesterday, it’s very easy to get sick in this sort of weather!” said Eunhyuk in a worried tone. I just smiled and replied “Ryeowook came in this morning and brought me clean clothes to change into, he took my jacket with the rest to get washed” I explained. Eunhyuk began taking off his jacket, revealing that he was only wearing a white singlet underneath, before insisting I put it on. “Oppa you’re going to be cold! I can’t take your jacket…put it back on!” I said as I tried to give his jacket back to him, but Eunhyuk really aegyo-ed at me this time…so I eventually gave up and put the jacket on.

The main doors of Seoul Central Hospital slid open and a huge gust of wind ran into us, I shivered even though I was wearing Eunhyuk’s jacket, I looked up Eunhyuk and he looked frozen “Oppa…? You’re not frozen are you?” I said waving my arm in front of his face to gain his attention. He looked down at me and pinched my cheek, “N…no, I’m ok! R…really!” he said through gritted teeth. I sighed and shook my head, “Here, I’ll warm you up before we go out” I offered as I wrapped my arms around him tightly. I felt Eunhyuk put his arms around me too, as we stood there in each others’ warmth. “Oppa…” I said as my voice was muffled against his chest, “Hm?” replied Eunhyuk. “Thank you for always being here for me like this, I really don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re like a brother to me, so never leave me ok…?” I said gratefully. Eunhyuk just smiled and nodded, “Yah, do you remember our first day at EverLasting Springs High and it was raining that day? I remember you were waiting outside for your mother to pick you up but all the erted guys walked past you, staring at you because your school blouse had gone see through in the rain...I couldn’t stand them taking advantage of such a pretty girl like you so I went over and scolded them for being so immature. Then I took off my school blazer and gave it to you to wear” recalled Eunhyuk. “Hyukkie…I’m pretty sure you looked THERE as well…” I reminded him. “Well…well you made me look! Anyway I was the one who gave you something to cover up with” said the now flustered Eunhyuk. “Yeah ok…you’re my oppa, and nobody else’s alright?!” I said, claiming ownership. Eunhyuk hugged me even tighter and whispered softly in my ear, “Of course…”

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” I asked Eunhyuk, hugging his bare arm as we walked the hospital gardens. “Well I was…but it’s not so bad anymore. It’s quite…quite refreshing actually” admitted Eunhyuk, I laughed and shook my head in amusement. “So what did you want to talk to me about? I’m listening now” he insisted. “Oppa…I’m confused about something, it’s been on my mind for a while now” I began, “can you ever forget about your first love?” I asked, Eunhyuk looked up into the starry night sky before answering me. “To be really honest, I don’t think it’s possible. I’ve never been properly in love someone before, but learning from other people’s experiences, it’s hard to completely forget about someone you loved” replied Eunhyuk. I nodded and casted my eyes down to the pebbled stone path that we were walking on, there was a space of time before either of us said anything. “Singing Angel, was Donghae your first love?” Eunhyuk asked after the delaying silence. I slowly looked up at Eunhyuk, he was serious. “I...I think he really was…now that you say this, Donghae is the first person that’s ever made me experience so much pain yet right now…I still feel like I love him…” I said softly. “You can’t forget about him huh? But you don’t want to hurt Kyuhyun either…” added Eunhyuk, taking the words right from my mouth. Tears began to fill my eyes, I felt like my heart had been torn into two…I can’t forget about Donghae, but I have to because I know I’ll end up hurting Kyuhyun too…I stood in front of Eunhyuk and grabbed both his arms, looking up at him with sodden eyes, “Oppa…I’m horrible aren’t I? I’m just a selfish idiot that I can’t even make a proper decision because I’ve been so spoilt by love…” I said in a shaking voice, as more tears streamed down my cheeks, Eunhyuk shook his head as worry spread across his face. He grabbed my hands, “No! You’re not selfish at all! It’s not your fault that two guys love you at once…you’re like a little sister to me and I can’t have you like this” said Eunhyuk, defying everything I had just said. He pulled me towards a nearby bench and sat down next to me, “I’m going to sit here with you until you think things through, we’re not leaving this bench until you do” said Eunhyuk stubbornly. I shuffled a little closer to Eunhyuk because I could feel him shivering again, I gently put my head on his shoulder and threw myself into my own deep thoughts.

“Yah Hyuk…how long have we been sitting here for?” I asked as I finally reemerged from my own thoughts. Eunhyuk looked at his endorsed Adidas watch before replying, “About…about half an hour now, have you made a decision yet? Because we could sit here for longer if you’d like”. I shook my head, “I’ve made up my mind now, I’m-“ I paused as I felt my cell phone vibrate once in my pocket. I pulled it out and it was a text message from Kyuhyun, “It’s Kyu” I said to Eunhyuk. “Ah well I’m glad you’ve finally made up your mind to stay with Kyuhyun” he replied in a pleased tone, oblivious to the phone I had in my hand. “No oppa, I mean Kyuhyun just sent me a message. He’s waiting for me outside the hospital doors now” I explained, waving the screen in front of his eyes. “Ah sorry…well I’ll walk you back ok? I don’t want you hanging around alone at a time like this, you don’t know how many erted men are around these days” Eunhyuk offered in a concerned tone. I just laughed and pulled him up from the seat, “Alright then, come on!”

“Oh there he is, I see him” pointed Eunhyuk, I looked in that direction and saw the handsome figure of Kyuhyun in the distance. “I’ll leave you two to it now, I need to get back to the dorm because I promised Yesung I’d feed his turtles while he visits his parents tonight” continued Eunhyuk. I nodded, “Yeah sure, I’ll be fine now. Here take your jacket with you, it won’t be cold inside the hospital” I replied as I took off Eunhyuk’s jacket and helped him put it on. “Thanks Singing Angel, see you tomorrow!” Eunhyuk yelled back as he waved goodbye. I smiled and waved back before turning around to meet Kyuhyun, who was now leaning against one of the pillars at the entrance of the hospital. “Kyu!” I called as I approached him, he smiled and waved. “Oh wow, aren’t you cold? You’re not wearing much, here put this on. Ryeowook wanted to deliver this to you himself, but I offered to bring to it you instead” Kyuhyun explained as he wrapped the coat around me. “Ah thank you~ you really didn’t have to!” I exclaimed. “Well I care about you. I care about you a lot…” Kyuhyun said softly as his smile was wiped off his face, there was a sudden pang in my stomach as I knew where this conversation was going. “Singing Angel, there was another reason why I wanted to see you tonight…” he continued. “Kyuhyun, I-“ but he reached for my hands at the exact moment, my hands were frozen cold from being outside for so long. “There’s one question I want you to answer, was Donghae the first person that you ever loved?” I looked up into Kyuhyun’s eyes, they seemed empty. I could feel tears prickling the back of my eyes, I knew this meeting would not turn out well. “Kyuhyun, I love you…but…but…” as I stuttered through my choking voice. “But you can only love once right?” said Kyuhyun, finishing my sentence. I became confused, what did he mean by I could only love once? Kyuhyun reached into his back pocket and pulled out an origami star. My mind flashed back to the night where I had encountered the old lady with the jar of fortune stars. He placed the fragile thing into the palm of my hand. I looked up at him, but quickly looked away, as the tears building up in his eyes strained my heart. I unraveled the origami star to reveal its fortune: “Angels only love once…” I bit my lip, what Kyuhyun had said made sense. “You’re my angel, but you can only love once…I’ll let you go so you can live…” as Kyuhyun said this, a single tear rolled down his cheek. No words could describe the pain I was in…I was torn between two worlds and was forced to decide who I truly loved; Donghae or Kyuhyun. I threw myself at Kyuhyun and wrapped my arms around him tightly. I didn’t want this to end, but it had to. “Kyu…I really believed I loved you, you brought me so much happiness and you were there when I needed someone most…I will never forget the time we were in Japan together, it will be something I will never forget…do you remember the night that you left me? The pain I felt that night was extraordinary and I didn’t think I was capable of living without you…but now I know I’m just an idiot…you’ve done so much for me yet here we are saying goodbye…” by now my tears stained Kyuhyun’s coat. It seemed like this was just a reenactment of the night Kyuhyun left me but this was no nightmare, this was real. I sobbed into Kyuhyun’s chest as he held me in his arms tightly, this was our last embrace. His light breathing soothed my pain slightly but no one could deny the fact that these were the last few minutes we would spend together. “Kyu…can you please do one more thing for me?” I asked in a whimpering voice. Kyuhyun kissed my forehead before replying, “Yes…what is it, Singing Angel?”, “I want you to sing one last song to me…just like you did the first time we met…” Time stopped as Kyuhyun began singing*. As this melody ended, so did we…as Kyuhyun sealed our memories with a final kiss. 

*Click for embedded link (Kyuhyun singing to you)