Reporting early!

Andy tried to ignore the tightness in his chest and the teeth that were clenched firmly together. He watched the cloud decorating the clear blue sky through the tiny window. It was no use in calming him down. He turned when his manager rested his hand on Andy’s stiff fists and held them supportively. The manager gave him a sympathetic look. Andy tried to smile at the man, but his lips refused to curl upwards.

“Andy-ah, it will be alright.” His manager said understandingly. Andy nodded and mumbled a faint “thanks”. They were on their way to China, Ningbo. It was in the name of a fan meet. The date clashed with Junjin’s fan meet which was planned months ago, but the older man had shifted his own fan meet for Andy. It was near the happening of an unfortunate event in Korea, but his hyungs pushed for him to continue with the fan meet.

Because it was more than just a fan meet…

***

Andy filled one of the lunch boxes with kimchi before cutting the fruits he wanted to bring over to Dongwan’s house. The older man had agreed to open up his house for the Shinhwa gathering happening that day. Andy’s phone rang. The maknae wiped his hands on his apron and glanced at his phone - an unfamiliar overseas number. It was tempting to just ignore as Andy was still secluding himself from the outside world, but something in his heart whispered for him to answer it.

 “Hi, may I speak to Jason?” An unacquainted female voice asked in fluent English. Andy let out a relief breath, shaking away the ominous feeling he got earlier before picking up the call. It appeared to be just a wrong number.

“Sorry, you got the wrong number.” He causally pulled the phone away from his ears, but the lady started to panic and frantically tried to stop him.

“No wait! Is this Lee Sun Ho?! This can’t be the wrong number! I got it from Sylvia’s phone!”

Andy’s heart skipped a beat and placed the phone against his ear again.

***

After a few hours of being edgy in the air, the plane finally landed in Ningbo. After clearing the custom, Andy did as he promised and called the oldest member of Shinhwa while his manager went to retrieve their luggage. The leader took some time to muse about coming over after receiving the news about his childhood friend, but his final decision was to let Andy come alone.

“Andy-ah, hwaiting!” Eric said, trying to sound cheerful. Andy nodded even though Eric wasn’t able to see. He inhaled and tried to blink away his tears. It was as if the older man sensed him crying, the leader continued, “Andy-ah, don’t cry. It might not be the worst news. ”

“Hyung…no matter what, I will bring her back.” Andy said determined.

***

Dongwan was in the kitchen preparing dinner when he heard Minwoo shouting for him. “Dongwan come over quickly!” Minwoo’s exigent voice sounded again when Dongwan ignored the older man. Dongwan exhaled forcefully through his nose as he removed the apron and place them on the kitchen counter.

 “What is it Minwoo-ah? I am cooking dinner!” He yelled. If Minwoo had decided to come before the scheduled time for the Shinhwa gathering and not help Dongwan with the cooking, he should at least let the owner of the house prepare the dinner for the members peacefully. Dongwan hurried into the living room and narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. Minwoo was so near to his television that a few inches more he would be kissing it.

Minwoo whipped around hearing Dongwan’s footsteps. “Does your tv happen to record programs?” Minwoo interrogated.

 “Minbong-ah, this is the news channel! Why would you want to record it?!” Dongwan questioned.

“I don’t want to record it now. I want to rewind the news!” Minwoo explained exasperated. His expression was unusually graved, making his friend know that he was not fooling around.

“I did not set it to be recording. Why is it Minwoo?” Dongwan asked, concerned.

“Wannie, I need your laptop.”

Dongwan obediently fetched his laptop for Minwoo and waited patiently while Minwoo searched through all the news channels, videos, youtube and streaming websites. Minwoo finally gave up and turned to Dongwan, “I can’t find it…”

“Find what?”

“I thought I saw someone that looks like Sylvia just now…” Minwoo replied.

Dongwan gaped at his friend, remembering the last glimpse of the news he caught was a natural disaster in China.

***

“We could not find Sylvia after the landslide. The soil buried the whole clinic…but we managed to retrieve her phone. That was how I got your number.” The female who had introduced herself as Dr Chie Wang, Sylvia’s co-worker and classmate told Andy. The chill travelled all the way down the man’s spine. He gulped down the lump that had form in his throat.

“We are still trying very hard to locate her, Mr Lee.” The female said.

“Dr Wang...is there any chance that…” Andy stopped, unable to continue.

“We are still hoping for the best. All the survivors and bodies we managed to retrieve will be sent to Ningbo hospital…”

***

Andy walked solemnly towards the help desk in the hospital after alighting from the cab. He had requested for his manager to let him come alone after the fan-meet. Dr Wang had told him they found Sylvia, but nothing more.

“May I know how do I get to Dr Chie Wang’s office?” Andy asked the nurse with his limited mandarin. He followed the directions of the nurse and knocked on the door. A lady in her mid-thirties opened it.

“You must be Mr Lee. Dr Chie Wang.” The lady spoke in English as she offered Andy her hand for a hand shake.

“Please call me Andy.” Andy took the hand. “Dr Chie, is Sylvia…”

Dr Wang nodded and cut Andy off, “Call me Chie. That is what Sylvia calls me.” Chie turned over and ploughed through the drawer underneath her desk. “I know you as Jason though. That was how she refers to you when we were chatting.” Andy’s heart clenched. Chie turned over and handed Andy a small box, indicating for Andy to open it. Inside was unmistakably the ring that Andy had given Sylvia when they were still young. Andy stretched out his trembling hand and took the ring out of the box.

“She used to wear it with another ring when we were in school.” Chie said, observing Andy’s hand. “I believe that was the other ring. She never brought it back after going to Korea.” Chie pointed to Andy’s hand.

“How could I be so dense?” The tears escaped Andy’s eyes.

Chie sighed and patted his back gently. “She was still wearing this ring when we found her. Are you ready to see her now?”

Andy nodded and Chie led him through a long stretch of corridor. Andy’s fear rose with every step. It was obvious Chie was avoiding his question, and he was afraid what he would see and bring back for Eric. They finally stopped outside another room. Andy looked at Chie, the doctor nodded at the door, prompting Andy to go in.

Andy inhaled, braced himself and pushed the door open…no matter what, he will bring Sylvia back…

“Chie! Where is my ring?” The familiar voice drifted into his ears. Andy stood paralysed on the spot, staring at the familiar lady with her back facing him.

Sylvia paused her packing and turned over, expecting to see her friend, but she froze seeing who was in front of her. As if time had stopped, neither of the two persons moved.

Chie let out a relief sigh and slowly release the door letting it shut. She hadn’t planned to deceive Andy and led him to think that Sylvia died in the landslide. When she first called the Shinhwa member, they really hadn’t find Sylvia. And when they finally found her, Sylvia had been in a comma until a day before Andy arrived in Ningbo.

Andy and Sylvia only regained their senses when Andy’s phone rang. Andy ignored it and rushed forward to embrace Sylvia. “I thought I lost you forever.” He cried.

“Andy…” Sylvia managed, still in shock. Andy felt her hands went around him and for the first time since forever, he smiled.

“Jason.” He whispered into her ear. “Jason Lee Sun Ho.” He let go of her and looked longingly at the face before him. Without much warning, Andy dropped to his knees.

“I know this is not the kind of ring many would use for such an occasion, but it is a ring that holds an important promise I made. Sylvia Kim, will you let me fulfil my promise and let me be there for you forever?” Andy stretched out his hand and offered Sylvia the ring he bought for her when he was still a teenager. “Sylvia Kim, will you marry me?”

Just like the times we spent together, 
Just like the days when everyone smiled 
Step and walk together, always go together 
Make new stories in a longer time 
(We'll be together, and forever We can do it 
We'll be together, and forever) 
It's your eyes, it's your hand, it's your heart, it's 
your love 
We will stay by you 
Now, let’s be together 
Together, forever

And the poor guy whose call Andy ignored - Eric Mun xD

Finally it ended. T.T My very first fan fic.Thanks everyone that had been reading this despite my novice writing skills.<3

I was tempted to let Sylvia die in the story a few times =X Especially after reading the lyrics of the song attached in the last chapter. But this follows real Shinhwa events so how can I be so mean to my baby Andy?!! Plus he looked so frail during the fanmeet but was practically glowing during the the promotional videos in August, so how can any thing bad happened in between right? =P

The proposal part shocked me. I only planed for Andy to bring Sylvia back to Korea but the character in the story whispered to me he wanted to propose there and then xD so he did it with the most perfect ring!

I will move on to "Angel" and "Soulmate" now to get away from my Sylvia Andy paring feel. Hopefully one day I will get back to this for the 2nd version which I love very much too =) But that version may shock most people =P If it is too much to cope and I can't write it eventually, I will still post a summary of that story idea. But for now, story shall be marked completed!

Oct 9, 2014

Edit: I removed the "complete" because I am still feeling too emotional. LOL. Will mark complete when I am done with the 2nd version =X

2nd Edit: Btw if u guys remembered, there was a rumour Andy continued with the fanmeet because of a certain Miss Wang in China. Explained the surname of Sylvia's friend in the story.

Dates of Shinhwa's 2013 concert