ii. catastrophe

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There is a picture frame lying on Kyuhyun's desk. Inside is a picture of his family.

On the right side is his sister, Cho Ara, who is an accomplished violinist, along with her husband. Both are smiling lightly as they look forward.

On the left is Kyuhyun himself, who also has a fair share of his own accomplishments. Beside him stands Joohyun, who is already considered part of their family.

And in the middle, seated on the couch, are Cho Younghwan and Kim Hanna, their parents. Both are already retired, yet one can see the affection in their eyes as they hold each other's hands. They are the very definition of everlasting love.

Truly, Kyuhyun's family is an ideal one.

Yet that happy picture is shattered one evening, when Kyuhyun's father suddenly collapses.

They are in the middle of their dinner, when Father suddenly clutches his chest, finding it hard to breathe. Mother and Kyuhyun hurries to his side, helping him up, while Ara calls for an ambulance.

The doctors and nurses wheel him into an operating room. Mother and the others continue to ask the staff the current situation of Father, and all the nurse can tell them is to wait in the lobby and that she will get back to them later. Ara holds Mother and seats her on one of the chairs, before calling her husband. She tries to reassure her mother, saying. "Let's just hope he's fine. Mom."

After seemingly forever, the operating room light turns off, and the door opens, revealing the attending surgeon. Mother quickly stands up and approaches him, asking for Father's health.

He says Father suffered a severe heart attack, and is currently in a comatose state. "We've done all that we could. It is up to Mr. Cho now."

Father is then transferred to the ICU, where Mother stays beside him, holding his hand and praying for his health.

Ara also prays, but in the hospital chapel. Her husband arrives, along with Song Qian, a family friend.

Qian finds Kyuhyun in the admitting section of the hospital, seemingly handling the papers on autopilot. She waits for him outside to finish, and when he does, she approaches him and says, "Do you need some help?"

"I have to get back home to pack some clothes for us." Kyuhyun replies monotonously.

Qian merely nods and puts a hand on Kyuhyun's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

As they exit the hospital, Kyuhyun spots Joohyun getting out of a taxi. He freezes on his toes and locks eyes with her. Qian notices this and says, "I'll wait for you in the car."

On the outside, Kyuhyun looks like he is calm in the midst of the situation, but Joohyun knows better. His eyes are screaming with worry and helplessness. It is obvious to her that he is trying to be the strong one in the family, for his mother and sister's sake, who are too emotional at that moment.

She approaches him cautiously and takes his hand. "I went here as fast as I could."

"What are you doing here, Joohyun?" Kyuhyun whispers. seemingly at disbelief.

Joohyun shakes her head and makes a move to embrace him. Despite the current status of their relationship, Kyuhyun is still an important person in her life, and this person is in desperate need of a friend at that moment. Holding back her tears, Joohyun tightens her hold on him and says, "I'm here."

She doesn't say it's okay or it's going to be alright. Joohyun would be lying if she said those words. Kyuhyun doesn't cry, but the telltale sign of his emotions threatening to spill is evident as he returns her embrace. She cries in his stead and repeats, "I'm here."

--

Father never wakes up.

His funeral is attended by hundreds of people, both friends and colleagues alike. Even old business rivals come and expresses their condolences to the widowed family, especially to Mother. She especially took Father's death worse than her two children. Mother does not even acknowledge the visitors and just sits in front of Father's portrait.

Ara and Kyuhyun are the ones attending to the guests, accepting their condolences on Mother's behalf. During the entire service, Joohyun stays at his side, holding his hand when he needed it.

After the wake, Joohyun accompanies him to his condominium.

Kyuhyun spots his family's portrait by his bedside, and takes it in his hands. He caresses his father's smiling image and says, "I promised him I would give him and Mother the best retirement gift. He always told me to make the best of any situation, no matter how bad it is."

"Tell me, Joohyun, how should I do that now that he's gone...?" With his words, tears finally fall from his eyes, as he clutches the picture frame in his hands. "How should I make the best of this situation? How do we go on without Father?"

Joohyun quickly walks to his side and lets him sob into her shoulder. Completely forgetting the state of their relationship, Joohyun resolves to share Kyuhyun's pain, and be there for him as he finally mourns his beloved father.

--

A month has passed ever since.

Kyuhyun's company is currently holding their annual company party in a hotel rooftop. Kyuhyun himself can already feel the effects of alcohol in his system, but he is still sober enough to talk to someone rationally.

"So, what's the deal with you and Joohyun? I thought you guys broke up." Lee Donghae, a friend and his partner, casually asks while downing a shot of whiskey in one gulp.

Kyuhyun shrugs while letting his friend fill his cup with beer. "I actually don't know, Donghae. All I know is after my father died, she has been there for me. We actually never talked about it. She keeps stressing that we will talk about it when it's the right time."

"Wow, that's not Joohyun at all."

"I'm just happy she's still with me, regardless of what we are."

"Since when are you so sappy, Kyuhyun? Clearly something's not right here." A drunken voice quips.

"You're one to talk, Song Qian." Donghae raises an eyebrow. "Whoa, you're dead drunk! What happened to the guy you were dancing with anyway?"

Qian just ignores Donghae's teasing and kept her attention to Kyuhyun. "You should totally have a serious talk with her about this, alright?" She says before finishing up her beer. "I'm gonna get more booze."

After Qian leaves, Donghae chuckles. "I have no idea what just happened."

"Qian is always like that when she had one too many drinks. She gives her so-called life-saving advice that she couldn't apply to herself." Kyuhyun muses.

"Well, for once, you should listen to Qian, even if she doesn't remember what she told you." Donghae chastises.

Kyuhyun just rolls his eyes and continues with his beer. And the rest of the night goes by in a blur.

"How did I end up being your babysitter again?" Qian mutters as she accompanies Kyuhyun back to his condominium after the party. She directs him towards his room and lets him flop down his bed.

"I swear, if you weren't my friend, I would've left you in a ditch somewhere." She scoffs, standing up to get some clean clothes for Kyuhyun.

But as she stands up, she feels a hand grasping her own tightly. "Don't leave me, please."

"Kyu, you're drunk. You definitely need a change of clothes." Qian tries to free herself from his grasp, but Kyuhyun only holds on tighter. Sighing, Qian situates herself on his bedside, running her free hand through his hair. "You okay there?"

"No, I'm not." Kyuhyun says, surprising Qian. "Not for the last few months anyway."

Qian stays silent as she listens to what he's saying. "Ever since Joohyun and I broke up, nothing has ever been the same. I'm perfectly aware that it's my fault that she left but ever since then I couldn't sleep. I ended up being dependent on sleeping pills just to get some rest."

"Then father left as well. It was all so sudden. He never told us he was sick. All he said to me was that he was getting old, and yet to me, he was perfectly healthy. Then he suddenly dies and leaves my mother. Why?"

Kyuhyun sits up and rests his head on Qian's shoulder. "Why do the people I love leave me alone?"

"Kyuhyun, you're not alone." Qian presses her free hand on his nape, running a hand through his hair. "I'm still here, okay?"

Her words triggered something within Kyuhyun. Whether or not his actions are controlled by his drunken state, as of that moment, he did not care. All he cared about is the fact the she is there with him.

He finds himself cupping her face and crashing his lips to hers, and throughout the night, their clothes end up scattered on his bedroom floor.

--

Sunlight trails in through the bedroom window, waking Kyuhyun up from his sleep. Kyuhyun winces at how bright the room is. What time is it? He mentally questions.

He closes his eyes again briefly and tries to remember.

Yesterday, the company had its annual party celebrating its anniversary. He vaguely remembers talking to Donghae and Qian about something, and the fact that he had drank more alcohol than he should.

Kyuhyun tries to sit up, and the motion has him groaning as his head throbbed. At least he knows how he got this hangover. Normally, he held his liquor rather well unless someone goads him into drinking more than he should.

Slowly, memories from the night before started trickling in. He vaguely remembers someone volunteering to take him back home to his condo, then he bares his heart to that someone, and then he had...

His eyes widen as he turns around, seeing Qian asleep on the other side of the bed, her body barely covered by his grey sheets. There he realizes he's also equally devoid of clothes, as they are now scattered on the floor.

The sound of glass breaking snaps him out of his reverie, and also wakes Qian up in a snap. Kyuhyun looks at the door in horror as he finds Joohyun's figure breaking out into a run.

Frantic, Kyuhyun puts on a pair of shirt and pants, and runs after Joohyun without a second glance to the female on the bed.

All Qian can do is only watch as she is left alone, heartbroken.

--

Joohyun swears she could hear ringing in her ears. All she cares about at that time is to get away from that place, away from him.

She feels someone taking her hand to turn her around, then the same hands are on her shoulders, shaking her.

She could see Kyuhyun trying to say something to her, but Joohyun cannot hear anything, except the same ringing on her ears.

Her body suddenly feels numb, and the last thing she sees before everything goes black is Kyuhyun's face.

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A/N: This was supposed to be published yesterday, explaining that false update haha. I lost most of what I wrote and ended up publishing the outline (Note to self: do not open chapter editors in two separate tabs because they will autosave!). So here's the revamped version. Thanks for the support so far. :)