“Yobaseyo?” she answered after a second of silence.

“Jagiya,” Dongwoon murmured. “What’s the matter?”

He had gotten a text message from her not too long ago, asking him to call her. It wasn’t like the others. Instead of adorning the message with a cute smiley face or a bunch of exclamation points, it simply said ‘Call me’. Worried that something was wrong, he dialed her number the moment he got the text. Now that he heard her voice, he was sure that something was definitely up.

“Dongwoon,” she said in a troubled voice. “We…we need to talk.”

“Well, that’s why we’re on the phone, isn’t it?” he mused. “What’s wrong?”

“No, talk as in face to face. I can’t do…this over the phone. I just can’t.” Her voice cracked towards the end of the sentence.

“Do you wanna come over?” he suggested.

Silence again, and then, “Yeah. I’ll be there. See ya.”

Click. The line went dead. Dongwoon still clutched his phone in his hands trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Was it something he did? Racking his brains trying to figure out the problem, he came to two conclusions. One, she was pregnant, or two, she was breaking up with him. It unnerved him to think of those two things, but he prayed that it wasn’t the latter. It couldn’t be. Dongwoon decided that it was probably the first idea. Pacing the floors of his apartment, each second that passed by felt like an eternity.

When the buzzer rang, signifying that she was here, Dongwoon nearly jumped through the roof due to anxiety. Pressing the video screen button, he saw her sad but beautiful face peering into the camera lens. She wore no makeup, but Dongwoon found her gorgeous, nonetheless. He pressed the button that unlocked his door and stood about three meters away from the door. The door swung open and she stepped over the threshold, not meeting his eyes.

The silence was deafening, then after a few uncomfortable seconds, Dongwoon spoke up. “I…I guess this is really happening, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized in a hollow voice, taking small strides to the kitchen counter. “I’m so sorry, Dongwoon.”

Uh-oh. She never called him by just his name unless it was really serious. Usually, she would call him ‘Woonie’ or something equally babyish. He took stiff, forced steps towards her as he tried to ignore the heavy feeling in his stomach.

“Jagiya…” Dongwoon whispered in a low voice. “We can do this. We can do this.”

“But that’s just it,” she mumbled. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean? You’re going to abort it?” he asked innocently.

“Abort wh…?” A look of puzzlement crossed her face before realization took over. “Ani! I-it’s not like that! I’m not pregnant.”

“Then…” Dongwoon trailed, although he already knew what was going to come next.

She nodded and took a deep breath. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this…not to you. I have to break up with you.”

Those words hit Dongwoon like a bullet straight through the heart. “J-jagiya, can’t we talk about this? Isn’t this why you’re here? Why are you like this? Tell me…”

“It’s better if I don’t, Dongwoon. Can we just leave it at this? I don’t wanna hurt you more than I should.” A tear escaped her eye and was now trickling down her face.

Wiping it away, Dongwoon took both of her hands and looked down at her. Such a beautiful girl shouldn’t cry, nor should she feel like this. Still, he couldn’t understand. Why was she suddenly breaking up with him? He admit, they weren’t as close as they were before, but to have his whole world crashing down on him today…it was heart wrenching.

“Let’s just leave it at this. Please.” She added the last word with such urgency, that Dongwoon almost obliged. Almost. His curiosity, however, was getting the better of him. He had to know the truth.

“I deserve a reason for going through this, don’t I?” he questioned her as he tried to hold himself together. “Don’t I?”

“If you knew what was good for you, you wouldn’t ask…” she told him.

“Well, I’m asking now. Tell me. I’m your boyfriend, for God’s sake!” Dongwoon didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he was getting desperate.

Finally, she raised her eyes to look at him. They were filled with hurt, regret and sadness. More tears streamed down her face and onto her white scarf. Her entire body trembled as she answered him with two words that made him feel like his body imploded.

“Not anymore.”

With those two words, she wrenched free from his grasp and started towards the door. Reeling back from the shock, Dongwoon watched her figure walk away from him. No, he decided. She wasn’t going to leave him. Not like that. This was surreal. He wasn’t going to let her escape him, not after all they’ve been through. It wasn’t easy to just erase someone you loved so deeply out of your life. Crying her name out, he rushed towards her and held onto her from behind. He buried his face into the back of her neck, inhaling her familiar scent of jasmine and vanilla as he kept repeating her name over and over again.

“Kajima…kajima…” his deep voice pleaded, growing weaker after each repetition.

“No. You deserve better than this…this liar, this cheater, this…unfaithful, undeserving fool,” she whispered, then broke free from his embrace. “Goodbye, Son Dongwoon.”

With a heavy heart, Dongwoon watched the love of his life walk out the door and out of his life. She hadn’t even bothered to shut the door. Her name was still on his lips; he repeated them one last time. At this, she started running down the hall, trying to get as far away from him as possible. For a few minutes, Dongwoon just stood there as his heart tore into pieces.

Leaving the apartment door open, Dongwoon made his way to the couch and plopped down. He felt like melting into the couch. Everything in this apartment reminded him of her. He laid eyes on a framed photo of her, the sun bouncing off her shining hair and her carefree smile lighting up the backdrop. What was once a bright reality was now a haunting memory. Tilting his head back, Dongwoon shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He wasn’t going to cry; he’d make sure of it.

Minutes, hours, even days could have passed and Dongwoon wouldn’t have noticed. Finally, he got up. He couldn’t even bear to be inside this apartment anymore; everything in it seemed to be screaming her name out to him. Shuffling down the halls of his apartment building in a zombie-like trance, he almost didn’t notice the white scarf on the ground next to the stairs.

His fingers clenched tightly around the scarf as he looked at the door leading out of his apartment building. No matter what she said, he had to have her back. Bursting out of the doors, he looked around him. The bustling streets of Seoul moved about around him. Everywhere he looked, he saw her face. On billboards, bus stops and restaurant ads; she was following him.

Walking down the busy street, his eyes scanned the crowds that walked by him. He knew that it was pointless to look around; she was probably elsewhere already, but his near-delusional state of mind forced him to look anyway. Every time he saw a head of long, dark hair or felt the swish of a jacket, his heart skipped, hoping to see her again. Dongwoon didn’t even know where he was going; all he knew is that he had to find her.

Then, as if in a dream, he saw her. She was standing next to the crosswalk about twenty meters away with her fingers in her jacket pocket. Looking down at the scarf in his hands, then back to her, Dongwoon couldn’t believe his eyes. She looked so cold and lonely; all he wanted to do was hold her and never let her go. He didn’t care if she would try to push him away or tell him that she wasn’t good enough. She was the only girl he ever really loved and he wasn’t letting her slip away. He called out her name, never letting his eyes leave her beautiful but sullen face.

Her gaze rose to meet his and her eyes immediately widened. Parting her lips slightly, she blinked a few times as if she were in shock. Dongwoon quickened his pace, determined to reach her before she ran away again. Thankfully, she never moved from that spot. He took her into his arms when he reached her, letting her body sink into his.

“Dongwoon, I thought I…” she said, muffling her voice into his chest.

Pulling away, he shook his head to silence her. “I don’t care. You’re my girl and I’m not going to let you leave me. Whatever you did…it-it doesn’t matter; we can sort it out. Don’t leave me, baby, don’t leave…”

Dongwoon heard her sounds of quiet sobbing as she leaned into his body. Taking her scarf, he wrapped it around the two of them tightly. Although they was in the midst of the city’s rush hour with hundreds of people surrounding them, he felt as if they were the only two in the world. His lips planted soft kisses on the top of her head, to assure her that everything was going to be okay.

She finally pulled away from him and looked up to meet his eyes. “I don’t deserve a guy like you, Dongwoon. Why do you want me to go back to you so badly?”

“Because,” he breathed as he leaned in closer. “I love you.”

He moved slowly to close the gap between the two of them. Right before their lips met, however, a bright flash of white blinded his eyes. Dongwoon couldn’t see nor feel a thing. Everything was gone. He didn’t know where he was. All he could do was scream her name out over and over again. As quickly as it came, the white flash began to fade away.

Opening his eyes, Dongwoon found himself back at his apartment, seated at his couch. Looking around frantically, he saw that everything was kept the way it was before she had left. The door was still ajar and her perfume still wafted faintly in the air. Pinpricks of hurt began to ebb into his heart again as he realized that he was all alone. As the sunset’s glow trickled in through the living room’s window, it cast a soft glow upon the empty spot next to him on the couch. Letting the tears cascade down his face, Dongwoon stared at that same spot until the beam faded away, just like the girl who forever holds the key to his heart.

 

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I got the inspiration after listening nonstop to my favorite song on the Fiction and Fact album. Then, I did eeny-meeny-miney-moe on who got to be the star to this sad little fiction and maknae was the winner (loser?). So, if you liked it, please comment! Even if you didn't like it...comment and tell me what I could do to make my writing better. :3 I haven't written in so long due to school, but this song was just so powerful and emotional that I had to just write something about it. Anway, until next time, annyeong(: mystery signing off.