Browsing through the handful of photographs, Shinhye carefully laid out a few on the table, smiling specifically at the face that stared back at her with his reserved but caring gaze in his blue and white plaid shirt. How young were they back then? She remembered that year perfectly—their second year of university in a sloppily managed building where troublemakers and hopeless children were sent to continue their education. Adults considered it a second chance at academics, students knew that the fact that they attended that garbage excuse for a university meant that everyone had lost hope in them. It was a wonder now, that Shinhye was now a well respected music teacher in urban Seoul, South Korea. Hesitantly, she picked up the one photograph among many that caught her eyes the most and examined the back drop that was not only known as the ghetto, but her home. Shifting her gaze, she allowed her eyes to fall on the one face that always sent her off into a mystifying trance, the face of a man she loved with all her mere human heart could. How long had it been since they last stood face to face? That, she couldn’t remember, but what she could never force herself to forget was the day heaven tore them apart. Their mortal promise of never leaving each other had been broken for what her mind felt like an eternity. Sniffing quietly she remembered they were only human. Now Letting herself succumb to her quiet reminiscing, her right hand slipped a rose stem from a tall glass vase, the rose blossom blooming scarlet red with not a petal out of place—exactly how it had been so many years ago.

            Since they first met, there had been many painful days but none could compare to the evening of the day they went to visit Jung Seunghyun’s grave. She replayed it in her mind like a nightmare she couldn’t overcome. With her fingers she fiddled with the plastic stem of the fake rose, petals of fine fabric as she spun it around with one hand. She kept that rose stem in a separate vase on her desk at all times. It helped her remember the short-lived but ecstatic days she had back in university. Shinhye had always kept the fake rose safe as the eleven others withered away, remembering the promise he made her on her birthday.

“I’ll love you until the last one dies.”

Since then, nothing seemed half exciting to her anymore though she did love her new job. It had been years since she left the ghetto neighbourhood she had grown fond of and she was able to transfer to a proper post secondary arts school in a separate area of Seoul and graduated not too long ago. Though she had become more successful than she ever dreamed, there was still an irreplaceable void in her heart that ached uncontrollably, leaving her in an emotional mess every now and then—and she knew exactly the reason why.

            She missed Yonghwa more than words could ever express. From the bottom of her heart she wanted to be with him again, or even see his face up close would be more than enough for her. Heaven was cruel for finally bringing them so close together only to tear them apart so easily. It was a cruel game played with her emotions, and even more pathetically, she could never get over it let alone find a new guy to date. She was twenty two years old, still respectably young to be thinking of marriage or engagements, but all girls dreamed of a valiant wedding day. Sadly, she didn’t see one in her realistic future.

Shinhye slipped the fake rose back into its vase and slid it to the corner of her desk with a tired sigh. She had no more classes to teach for the rest of the day, so she decided to get off work early. Today seemed like a perfect day for just reminiscing. Actually, she had a lot of those days lately, but she ran out of pictures to dwell with and wanted to feel the hype first hand, so unexpectedly she drove back to the neighbourhood she was finally able to escape. In the end her heart still seemed to be trapped here, but not unwillingly. It was as if she belonged here more than anywhere else. She parked her car outside of her old house she had sold a long time ago when she moved into a higher class apartment closer to the school she worked at and took a long walk in the path she remembered so clearly when heading to school.

One mediocre thought popped into her head though. She had never seen Yonghwa’s house, not even the outside, but she knew he lived not far from her own home and she’s heard descriptions of it quite often. Though it was obvious he didn’t live there anymore, she felt an adventurous drive to explore. With her bag slung over her shoulders, she held onto the strap to prevent them from sliding down to her elbows as she walked in her classy heels down the uneven pavement. It was obvious she was better off now, but that didn’t mean she was any happier than she could’ve been.

            When she saw his vacant house, she rushed onto the lawn and her heart tore in two when she saw the large stacks of newspaper stuffed into his unchecked mailbox. She grabbed a few pages and looked at the years, dating back to when they were in second year university together. That’s right—no one had been here since then. And the landlord made no efforts to find this home a new resident.

            “Bogo shipeo…” She sighed, expressing how much she really missed him again. Somehow she wished that he would be able to hear her voice wherever he was, but at the same time she knew that it wouldn’t be possible and even felt a little embarrassed for having said it out loud. Just out of curiosity, she twisted the door knob and to her disbelief, it opened. The door wasn’t locked, and when she pushed it open there were boxes all over the place.

            “Huh? Strange…” She muttered, wondering if the landlord had been here but was too lazy to finish what he started. The boxes had respective layers of dust on top, but she couldn’t bring herself to go inside.

            “What are you doing?” A male voice questioned from behind. He was so close she could feel his warm breath against her bare neck, and she squealed. Turning around and without thought, she smacked the man behind her with her purse, the metal zipper getting a good slice at his cheek as he tumbled backwards onto the grass.

            “Wait…” She was out of breath and shocked, but when the man moved his hand from his cheek and opened his eyes again she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Is it really you?! Yonghwa?” She was scared that who she saw getting up and wiping dirt off his clothes was just a hallucination. Was she becoming delusional from depression? It wasn’t too unlikely that her heartbrokenness left her with a newfound mental disorder.

            “Yah! When did you become so violent?” He complained, responding to the stinging he felt as his cheek bled. He tried to stop the blood from flowing with his pointer finger, and for a long while, Shinhye couldn’t believe who she was seeing. Even if it was just an illusion, she hadn’t felt this happy in forever and impulsively tackled him with a hug, almost causing him to fall over again. He returned her gesture by placing his left free hand on her back and chuckled a bit. She could feel him—he was real.

            “I hate you for leaving.” Shinhye pouted, unwilling to move her ears away from his chest, listening intently to the sound of his heartbeat.

            “Mianhae,” He sighed, and patted her comfortingly on the shoulder, “But I’m back now—to stay.” Shinhye felt tears starting to well up in his tearducts, but she didn’t care that they would make strange soak marks on his shirt. She was lost in a mystifying trance that she wanted to last forever. This moment was one she had waited for since he had left, but now that he was back all her doubts and fears washed away.

            They came back from the cemetery early in the morning the following day with bad news for Shinhye. Yonghwa and Yongguk’s clothes were covered with dried blood stains, and it seemed that the entire time they had only a chance to wash the blood from their hands. Unfortunately, Sunhwa did not come back with them. She made the ultimate sacrifice for the son she was unable to nurture by taking the bullet, and coincidentally, it hit her right in the heart. She didn’t have a chance, and that night, the rain poured non-stop, covering the tears that poured down their faces and diluting their screams among the thundering clouds. It took a long time for Yonghwa to accept what his mother did, and every day that he lived he swore not to take it for granted. After Sunhwa died, Yongguk and Yonghwa had to go to America and sort things between the two families. Minjung was imprisoned and Minhyuk was charged as an accomplice, but his father in America did not know of such schemes. Yonghwa agreed that he would also finish his education in America out of convenience, leaving Shinhye alone to fend for only herself in Korea, waiting for the hopeful day that he would return—if he returned. Hyomin always that America had prettier, smarter girls, and that Yonghwa seemed like the type to go for the tall blonde ones.

None of that mattered anymore though, because Yonghwa had come back for her. Nothing felt warmer to the touch than Yonghwa’s arms wrapped around her, andwhen she finally decided to pull away slightly to get a good look at his matured face, he smiled that captivating, unique smile that she loved. That moment she knew that he was definitely the only one she ever wanted and would ever want, and on his front lawn, as unromantic a scene as it was, he decided that they would share their first kiss of many to come.

A/N: THE END! It is currently 4:55 a.m. and Roses are Red has now officially come to an end. I really hope the ending was to your liking. (sorry if the romance at the end wasn't like... so intense... I just can't write rated stuff, sorry. But I tried my bess. I swear even kiss scenes are hard for me to write O-O) Anyway, Please let me know if you thought Yonghwa died in chapter 18 xP! I'm just curious to know ^^ I hope the plot didn't become too predictable at the end. I actually had SO much fun writing each and every chapter as well as the planning stage, and I'm satisfied with how it all turned out at the end. The number of subscribers and comments doesn't affect my pride in the plot/story I was able to create, and for everyone who enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing, THANK YOU!!! I have a new idea for a fanfic coming up (still in the early planning stages) Which will probably include B2ST and U-KISS so look out for it (even though I'm not sure when i'll start it). Right now i'll sift through school while writing my only other pending fanfic "Confessions of an Anorexic" based on a true story (It'll be quite a short fanfic though). If it sounds interesting, please check it out (: THANK YOU ALL READERS, EVEN THE SILENT ONES ^_^ This has been quite a fun adventure, and perhaps I'll try mystery/horror again in the future. This goes to show how good things can come from venturing out of your comfort zone (:

God bless!

~SkyeLin