6—Reckless farewells.

“The worst part is that I haven’t gotten a ring yet. But,” he smiled softly, running the back of his finger down her flushed cheek. “Dania Oh, will you marry me?”

The girl froze, but she knew she couldn’t. She wanted so badly to simply lean in and bring their lips together, but she knew she couldn’t. To be his girlfriend was good enough—she couldn’t possibly ruin his life that way.

“I’m touched, Jung Daehyun. But I can’t.” She wondered why the words were so hard to say. To her own ears, they sounded forced and the wind began to get stronger. The despair that she’d tried to keep hidden away set in, and she tried to be strong. She tried to pretend it didn’t affect her. “I’m losing my hearing in a month. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to be upset. I didn’t want you to have to make me feel better all the time. I don’t want to… to burden you.” Despite the solemn expression on his face, she simply had to continue, because it was the truth, and he deserved better.

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life with someone who—?” The words broke off. It wasn’t because of her cries, or the pain gnawing at her chest. His hot, dry lips pressed against hers and she tried her very best to not respond yet she knew Daehyun was a stubborn boy. He always had been one. He simply nibbled softly on her bottom lip, putting a hand on each cheek. The sweetness of his gentle actions made her heart warm, and she sobbed even more. As he pulled away, the boy smiled while wiping the tears off, kissing each eyelid and put his forehead against hers.

“Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve spent 19 years of my life, only knowing to follow the norm. I had everything planned out. But then you came, knocking all the chess pieces over like it was nobody’s business.” He laughed, an embarrassed one then made her stomach clench. “But then, it all became clear. Will you, Dania Oh, marry me?”

And this time, the answer was simple. He was too stubborn to be shaken away, and she knew she wanted it.

“Yes. I’ll marry you, Jung.” Then their lips met again, with her returning his earlier gentleness before the kiss grew stronger. As she pushed Daehyun back into the grass, his ferocity made her gasp into the kiss and he smirked into it too. This was what she wanted.

A while later, the two lay in the pouring rain with their eyes closed, and she suddenly turned her head, realizing something.

“Wait, you recorded that?” The boy froze, before grinning at the sky. The rain was strong, washing all their worries away and he swallowed.

“Yes. I mean, why not?” Over the past four months, he’d grown a lot more talkative and she found herself missing the quiet, cautious boy, if only a little. The boy next to her was cheeky, corny, and annoying and she blew air out of one side of .

“Whatever, I would have done so as well.” She didn’t have to look to know he was smiling again, but she turned her head anyway. She wanted to see the soft smile. “Four years ago, there was a little girl. She thought that everyone would be happy forever, and no matter what troubles there were they would solve it together. But one day, she realized that was not the case.” Dan snorted, keeping the tears in as the boy’s thumb rubbed over the back of her hand. It was calming, and she sighed. “There was a car accident, and the girl lost both her parents. The doctors said she was fortunate, and she grew to realize that was the case too.”

She bit hard on her lip, and sniffed. “I miss them.”

Suddenly noticing the boy had pulled his hand away from hers, and that she wasn’t feeling much of the rain, she opened her eyes to come face-to-face with the boy. He seemed shocked to have been caught, and grinned.

“In the future, Dan, I’ll protect you like this too. If the rain were to be your worries, and all problems you had to face, we’ll solve them together.” He brought his hand down again, lacing their fingers together and she silently marveled at the sound of raindrops splashing off the thin blades of the grass.

“Three years later, she received a call from a doctor, and knew about her condition. Four years later, she met a stupid boy… Thanks, Jung.” Before he could feign hurt at her words, the girl pushed herself up and pecked his nose.

“You’re welcome. My… wife-to-be.” The words rolled off his tongue in such a sweet yet playful manner and she blushed, not wanting to look into his eyes yet finding it impossible to pull away. His dark brown orbs seemed never-ending, and it appeared the same applied to him. As the boy leaned in, lightning flashed in the sky and a loud clap of thunder made both of them grin.

“We should go, or our belongings may get stolen.” They didn’t want their phones and wallets to be waterlogged, hence left their bags in the abandoned shelter. Hardly anybody came to this place anymore hence it was safe to leave both his and her things there. Smiling, he pulled her up and she suddenly remembered something.

“I need to do something, so can you go get our stuff first?” She put her lips together and the boy frowned before nodding his head.

“Wear your mask, or someone may take my girlfriend from me.” He was cheeky and a sweet-talker, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Fine, you little—” He leaned in, capturing her lips in an all too short kiss but when he pulled away, the heart-pounding effect was there anyway. She blushed and took her red mask out of her pocket, waving.

Dan knew she was going to lose her hearing soon, and that recording the sound of a train in the rain was hard to get. The thing was, if she truly lost her hearing it would pretty dangerous, yet she didn’t want Daehyun to have to constantly be aware. Playing near the trains was always dangerous business, and she didn’t want an innocent boy to end up hurt because he had to protect his deaf girlfriend.

The train tracks were slippery, and she was extra careful not to fall. She didn’t want to make him worried. ‘Deaf’. Huh. She wondered what Mrs. Jung would say about his sudden proposal, and smiled. The old woman always acted like she didn’t want the boy there, but whenever he left she would always tell Dan to invite him over soon.

Suddenly, she realized it was too quiet. The sound of rain falling and hitting hard on the train tracks was gone, along with the sound of thunder scaring people in the sky, warning people about the rain. It was eerily silent, and she didn’t like it—not one bit.

She almost hadn’t noticed the way the train tracks were vibrating, as though something was coming and realized that it wasn’t just ‘something’. The train was coming. And it was close. Losing her hearing was something she’d expected, but she never expected for that to come so soon. No! I don’t want to have it taken from me! I want it back!

The fear that gripped her came a second too late, and she floundered about before falling to her knees. The train was coming, and she remained frozen on the tracks. The sudden beep in her ears, the way it dragged out made the girl drop her recorder, pressing her hands against her ears and she whimpered, her loss finally settling in.

She never imagined going deaf. She never wanted that accident. She never expected getting inflamed eardrums. She never believed that the world would be silent for her, forever. It finally dawned on her that her hearing was never coming back.

She had to go back to Daehyun. Turning her head, she froze for just that second.

The pain hit her, hard and fast. Then—nothing. 

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The last chapter is coming! Love all of you!