Baekhyun opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the angelic face of the person he so dearly loved. Her eyes were still closed and she was breathing peacefully, as if there was no bad in the world.

Baekhyun raised his hand and lovingly tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. At the slight touch, her eyelashes fluttered and her wide eyes opened. At first, they were unfocused but they soon adjusted and immediately found Baekhyun’s pair of eyes.

She smiled sweetly at him and Baekhyun smiled back.

“Good morning, my angel,” he whispered as he brushed his lips against her smooth forehead. He leaned back and he stared at the beauty in front of him, awed.

Catching his gaze, the girl lying beside him soundlessly laughed. And Baekhyun knew why, he looked like a lovesick puppy.

She crawled out of the bed and motioned Baekhyun to follow. He got up and lazily followed her out of the room, into the kitchen.

As it was an everyday routine, Baekhyun automatically grabbed for the two mugs in the cupboard while the girl made the coffee.

They sat at the small table sipping at the hot beverage. Her eyes never once left his face as he vivaciously shared a memory from his childhood when he and his brother had covered the whole bathroom with toothpaste and how his mother yelled at them. She rested her head on her hand and smiled throughout the story.

Then Baekhyun moved onto another story, their love story. He looked right at her as he reminisced their first encounter, their first date, and their first kiss.

“It feels like it was just yesterday, doesn’t it?” he asked her. She nodded in response.

Baekhyun took her hand and stood up, moving towards the living room and reenacting the memories.

“I was playing the piano and singing a song at my friend’s wedding party, like this,” he started as he and the girl sat down in front of the piano. Baekhyun began playing a beautiful piece.

“I was singing when I heard someone in the audience harmonizing with me,” he said with a blissful smile. He looked over at the girl sitting down next to him, “As I am playing, I search through the crowd to find the owner of that perfect voice. And when I do, my breath is completely taken away. You looked like an angel sent from heaven. I nearly stopped playing when I found you.”

Baekhyun slowly concluded the soothing music and moved his elegant hands from the keys to take the girl’s hand. He raised it to his lips and lightly kissed it.

“After the wedding, I looked for you and when I did, I asked for your name. When you answered, I couldn’t help but also ask for your number. Now that I think about it, I must have seemed crazy, asking for your phone number after singing one song together. But I don’t regret it at all. Not one bit.”

Baekhyun walked the girl to the couch, which was a few feet away. They settled in comfortably with her head resting on his chest. Baekhyun continued his story.

“Our first date was a week later, when I finally got the courage to ask you on a date. To my surprise, you accepted it. Remember how I totally messed our date up that day?” Baekhyun laughed at himself and the girl grinned at the memory.

“We were walking along Han River, talking. But then a biker sped past us which caused you to become unbalanced. I tried to catch you from falling but instead we both ended up falling and landing on a patch of mud. It was probably the only mud that existed in that area and it was just our luck to land there. We got up, covered in mud, and laughed it off.

 I apologized about a million times and you replied just as many times that you were fine. I didn’t stop until you made me promise to cease the apologies if you went on another date with me the next day. At that idea, I stopped instantly. I walked you back to your house, watched you go through the door, and stayed there for a minute, unable to believe that I would be able to see you again tomorrow. I completely fell for you and I knew it.”

Baekhyun tilted his head down to look at her. Her large, innocent eyes met his.

“I love you so much,” he declared softly.

It was at that moment, the front door opened. Three people came into the house and spotted Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun, how are you feeling?” Joonmyeon asked cautiously. His eyes were fixed on Baekhyun and his awkward body position.

“You do know that you interrupted something here, right?” Baekhyun replied with an eye roll. “And what do you mean how am I feeling? I feel absolutely amazing. I have my girlfriend right next to me and it’s been a really good morning.”

Alarm flashed in three sets of eyes.

“Baekhyun, what exactly did we interrupt?” Jongdae inquired quietly.

“Use your eyes, guys! I’m sitting here with my girlfriend and you three just decided to barge in the moment I confess my love for her.”

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol said with a shaky voice. Tears were filling his eyes and threatening to spill. “Baekhyun, your girlfriend isn’t sitting next to you.”

Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol, “What are you talking about?”

He looked over to his side to confirm that his love was there, resting her head on his chest. But confusion was written all over his face as he found empty space.

“Where did she go?” Baekhyun whispered. He whipped his head from left to right, trying in vain to find her.

Was she sitting by the piano? No, she wasn’t there.

The kitchen perhaps?

Baekhyun stood up and nearly ran to the kitchen, praying that she would be sitting at the table, waiting for him. His knees almost gave out when he only saw two coffee mugs on the table, one empty and the other filled to the brim, showing no sign of consumption.

In desperation, Baekhyun dashed to the bedroom. She has to be there. She had to be.

But she wasn’t. Baekhyun found the bedroom vacant.

The blankets and pillows were tossed and misplaced on only the left side of the bed, Baekhyun’s side of the bed. The right side, her side, was untouched. The pillows and the covers looked like as if no one had slept there last night. 

This can’t be true.

He returned to the living room where Chanyeol, Joonmyeon, and Jongdae were waiting, their eyes red. He walked up to Chanyeol, grabbed his arms, and shook him hard.

“Where is she? What did you do to her?” Baekhyun shouted, his voice was raw with pain. His eyes darted from side to side, trying to dig out answers.

“I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I’m so sorry,” was all Chanyeol could say. He looked away as a few tears escaped his eyes.

“Where is she?” he yelled, desperate to receive an answer. “Tell me now, where is she?”

The three of them hesitated and there was a moment of silence, none of them wanting to be the one to give him the news. Reluctantly, Joonmyeon spoke up.

“She died two weeks ago, Baekhyun. Please accept that,” Joonmyeon pleaded. “You’ve been living in denial for two weeks now.”

Baekhyun staggered back as if he had been hit physically. His whole body started trembling and he shook his head, refusing to accept it.

“Let her go, Baekhyun.”

“No….”

“Baekhyun—”

“No, no, no, no…”

“Please just –”

“No! She isn’t dead! She can’t be dead! She should be right here next to me! She isn’t gone!” Baekhyun cried hoarsely.

“Baekhyun, can you—”

Baekhyun shook his head violently. He turned and started punching the wall.

“SHE”

 thud

 “IS”

thud

“NOT”

thud

“GONE!”

thud

Chanyeol ran up to Baekhyun and put his arms around him, stopping him from punching the wall and hurting himself in the process. Baekhyun struggled to break away from him but Chanyeol just tightened him grip, refusing to let go of Baekhyun.

He screamed, he thrashed, he cursed, and he clawed at his captor.

He had to find his angel.

Where was his angel?

Where was she?

Where?

Where?

Baekhyun grew weaker as he continued to resist. And eventually, he just collapsed onto the floor, his leg unable to support him any longer. And a sob broke out.

It was a sound of pure emotion.

Pain

His body was shaking. His head was throbbing. His heart was hurting.

Seeing Baekhyun so small and fragile, Jongdae sat down next to him and gathered him into his arms. Jongdae placed Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder and let him cry on it, his tears soaking his shirt.

She was gone.

His angel had left him.