red.
red.
"Ahn Daniel," Minsoo whispered into his ear. "Will you marry me?"
I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close, breathing in his sharp scent. His arms pressed against my waist as he buried his head in the crook of my neck. I could feel his smile as soft lips moved across my bare skin and I sighed, a long sigh that held within it the pleasure I'd been feeling.
"I love you so much." I breathed, tangling my fingers in his short brown locks. My lips pressed against his neck, brushing it gently and enjoyed the shiver of please that shook his whole body.
His mouth opened, and I waited for him to reply with the words that I'd been aching to hear.
"I-"
He disappeared.
All of sudden I was clutching at nothing.
The room stank of stale air instead of his sharp cologne.
And then I was lost.
I picked up the blade once more.
***
He held my hand tightly as we ran through the park, stopping in front of a majestic oak that towered above us. He stepped onto the trunk, finding hidden footholds and pulled himself onto the lowest branch. When I looked at him in wonder, he reached down with an invitation that gleamed in his eyes and beckoned to me with his fingers.
I laughed and held onto his hand, feeling the strong muscles tense as he pulled me up next to him, steadying me with both arms around my waist. The thick foliage hid us from any onlookers and he brushed his lips against mine, a gentle greeting and a welcome.
Wordlessly, he climbed another branch and offered his hand once more. When we sat atop the highest branch, he parted the leaves with his hand and gestured for me to look upon the small park.
It was beautiful. The disappearing sun hit the grass at amazing angles, making it seem as though the greenery was bathed in a sheen of orange. Birds fluttered as they sought refuge from the incoming night, their voices filling the otherwise silent space.
"Do you like it?" He asked me, a small smile on his face.
"Of course," I replied, "It's beautiful."
"I'll buy it for you." He said quietly as I turned to him in surprise. "I'll build a house right in the middle. It'll be our's, and only our's."
I kissed him. A deep kiss that threaded through our hearts, moulding our souls into one. We kissed, hidden in the beautiful oak, savoring how we were able to be together, and be happy together.
We carved our names in the trunk with his pocket knife, framing them with a careful heart.
When it was done, I turned to him and smiled. "I love you." I said.
He turned to me too, pausing in the middle of carving something else. "I -."
He disappeared.
I was alone on the wide trunk, holding the knife that he'd always kept in his pocket. I traced the words that he'd stopped me from seeing, insisting that he would show me when the time was right.
Will you marry me?
A small dent beneath it was empty, a dent big enough for the ring that remained on my finger at all times. A ring that never left the fourth finger of my left hand.
My face remained expressionless as red stained the bittersweet carving, filling the gaps with a colour that shimmered as rays of light stole past the leaves. It was Autumn. There weren't many leaves.
The red stemmed from his precious pocket knife, straining the intricate carving on the wooden handle.
My arm embraced the blade willingly, for it had already gotten used to it.
***
I sat on the small leather couch nervously, fiddling with my tie and the stiff tuxedo jacket. My friends congratulated me with genuine smiles as we waited for the small ceremony to begin.
It was held in our backyard, for we could only be married in our hearts. The friends we'd invited came happily with accepting hearts. They loved us, as we loved them.
We waited for a long time that day.
We waited for someone who never showed up.
As I sat on the floor in the motheaten tuxedo, recalling the hope in my heart, the red began to flow again.
Minsoo got off the bus, his tuxedo attracting glances from all directions. He bore the white gloves proudly, announcing his marriage to whomever looked his way. The red flower in his pocket, however, stayed in there. He was not that much of a romantic.
The traffic refused to move and he shouted in frustration, deciding that perhaps running was the only option. He checked his watch and winced at the realization that he was already late. The thought of Niel waiting for him pushed his legs a little faster as he raced towards the small house that they had lived in for the past year.
As he ran past their park, he looked at it wistfully, knowing that his wage as a lyricist and designer wouldn't be able to achieve what he had wanted to give to Niel for so long. He'd wanted to present it as a wedding gift, yet both of them had gotten impatient.
'I just need to save up, I'll definitely buy it for Niel.'
The traffic light at the intersection sounded and Minsoo stepped forward, his mind filled with Niel in the tuxedo that he had picked out himself. He wondered if Niel would like the honeymoon that their friends had planned for then. The thought of a room filled with rose petals and the scent of romance made him smile.
But it seemed that it was not to be.
By the time that he realized that the traffic light which had sounded was not his own, it was too late. A car horn blared and he turned back towards the curb, his chest tightening in panic as his legs prepared to flee.
He didn't make it.
An enormous force rammed into him from the side, throwing him onto the road. The ring slipped from his finger as he fell, the landing driving all conscious thoughts out of his mind.
Only one remained.
Niel.
He reached for the ring desperately, trying to ignore the blinding pain in his body. Tongues of flame seemed to at his skin, scalding their way towards his chest where his heart was beating rapidly, desperately trying to save him for another day.
He never reached the ring.
Lying on the road, covered in a red blanket as though someone had scattered rose petals upon him, a single tear slid from Minsoo's eye.
It was there that he took his last breath and whispered his last word.
"Sorry."
***
Niel sat on the petal covered bed, not seeing and not hearing. Hands brushed his shoulders and rubbed him on the back. Arms held him and lips whispered soothing words.
He wasn't aware of any of it. Instead, he was still. He didn't move, didn't speak. He stayed frozen, unable to do anything. Only one word replayed in his head and every time he heard it he fell into a deeper and darker despair.
Dead.
It was as though the one who lay still was him.
Perhaps he could make it that way. Perhaps if he stayed really still, Minsoo would come back.
That night was the first time he met the blade of Minsoo's pocket knife. "There's so much blood," he whispered, as the pain he felt inside began to diminish in the presence of the intense physical pain. "If I can still breathe, why can't you?" His voice turned to a pained scream, the knife slashing his skin as he wielded it without thinking.
He didn't think much anymore.
"Maybe if I let enough of it out, I'll be able to follow you."
***
Minsoo had written a will. He'd wanted to give everything to Niel.
'Build a house with my money, Niel, if we haven't already.'
Niel didn't touch that money. He would never let anyone touch that money.
He wore two rings on the fourth finger of his left hand.
The pocket knife was in his right. He lay in the place where their house would've been and looked up at the dark sky. There were no stars.
He laughed bitterly.
Even the stars had given up.
In his bloodstained tuxedo, he smiled at the dark sky and sought his beloved's face.
"I'm going to come for you now." Summoning his precious memories, the knife pressed against his scarred skin. Before the red began to flow, he thought he'd heard a faint call shouting for him to stop, and it echoed in his head.
He didn't stop.
When his consciousness faded, his vision was blotted with red. Soon, it was all he could see.
As much as he yearned for his precious other, only red blinded his vision even in death.
begs you to ignore all crappy writing and grammar or spelling mistakes. I wrote this in the hospital and im far too exhausted to edit it now. anyhow, enjoy~
140127 edit: I will come back and edit this once in a while, change around the sentence structure and rewrite bits I feel flow inadequately, but none of the storyline will change, not that there is much to change :3
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