AU plot (inspired by 춥다 It's Cold feat. Lee Hi)

Eunhye walked down the lane of the park with her hands in her pockets. It had been some time since she had walked out of the house and she felt, rejuvenated, in the least. The cool winter breeze blew past her and she let her eyes drift past the snowy scenery. Had it always been so beautiful? Her lips curled at the mention of the word beautiful. It reminded her of a piece of memory she had tried so hard to bury beneath the soil of her heart.

“Ah~ She’s so pretty!” Eunhye pouted as she pointed at the television, wondering if her boyfriend would leave her someday for someone better looking than she was. Eli came out of the kitchen, with a spatula in hand. “Dinner’s ready, baby.”

Eunhye grinned as she jumped off the couch, running into the kitchen as she then ran up to Eli, kissing his cheek. “Thank you~”

Her smile only seemed to widen as Eli leaned down, pecking her lips. “Anything for my baby.”

Half an hour into the meal, Eunhye gave up on eating with a simple question that had a significant weight on her mind. She lifted her eyes from her meal to her boyfriend of 4 years who sat across her. “Why me?”

Eli was just about to put a spoonful of food into his mouth as she spoke, his mouth still open as he looked up at her. “Huh?”

Eunhye’s lips pursed as she placed her fork next to her plate. Sighing, she folded her arms. “What do you see in me, Eli? Why did you choose me to be your girlfriend?”

Eli’s eyebrows rose at that question and he chuckled. Ah, he should have expected his girlfriend would have asked this question sooner or later.

“Well, you’re beautiful.”

An automatic eye-roll was Eunhye’s response.

“Eunhye, I’m serious. You’re beautiful, not in the way that everyone might think, but beautiful with the way your thoughts shape. Sensitive and yet independent. Beautiful when you love, because it’s the way you love that is almost like the way you think.”

Eli reached for Eunhye’s hand and grasped it, the back of her hand with his thumb, a soft expression on his face.

“And, I choose you because, well, it’s like you’re my other half. The half that I know will be irreplaceable.”

Eunhye’s face was flushed with colour, she honestly never expected such a reply from him.

“Eli… I…”

“I know, I know.” Eli grinned, giving her a light chuckle. “You love me?”

His teasing words made her roll her eyes yet again, but nod. “I really do, I don’t know what to do without you…”

Eunhye bit her lower lip as the memory filled her mind with thousands of emotions, she struggled so hard not to cry but tears flowed down her cheeks. Soon, the feeling of pain and regret filled her heart. She squatted down in the snow, a hand covering to keep her from screaming out her pain. “Eli… Eli…”

Her sobs soon quieted down to breathless gasps and she brought herself up to sit on the nearby bench. She clutched at her chest as the memories of him became too overwhelming. Her mind spun and tears continued to flow. She closed her eyes shut, but all she saw was his warm smile, his curved eyes as he smiled.

Her tears somehow managed to drop to the ground, staining the snow in small circles. She remembered the last time she saw his smile. His lips were smeared with blood; so was his entire body. He had only enough strength left in him to reach up to her face and cup her cheek and whisper his last words. “Be happy, baby, mm?”

A few minutes before, Eli was chasing after Eunhye, wanting to pacify her because of an argument that they had. The green man was on when they both crossed the road but a car at the far end dismissed the red light and drove ahead, hitting Eli who was just a step behind Eunhye. Eli flew a distance before landing on the ground, his hip and leg bone shattered, from the impact.

Eunhye turned around just in time to see a scene what would be edged into her mind for the rest of her life, and helplessly stared at her boyfriend on the ground before a burst of his name awoke her from her helpless trance. She shouted his name again as she started to cry, rushing to his side, cupping his face as she cradled his head to her chest. She was on the verge of screaming and soon, a small crowded gathered beside the road to look at them. Someone approached her to tell her the ambulance was on the way but somehow, she knew, and he knew, that he wouldn’t make it.

As Eli’s hand fell from the side of her face, his eyes closing as his head slacked to the side, Eunhye finally let out a scream of his name before crying harder than before, hugging him closer to her. She kept mumbling apologies while crying. Some of the onlookers were also in tears as they tried to move her to the side, away from the dead body.

At his funeral, her eyes were constantly red and puffy, her appetite for anything was gone and she was practically a lifeless doll. Her friend, family and even Eli’s parents, tried to help, but her sanity was long gone. All she wanted was the boy who saw through her, back. She wanted Eli back. She wanted him to open the front door and be all, “Surprise!” She would hate him of course, for pulling such a nasty prank, but she would be happy because she had him.

A month passed, he was still gone. A year passed, nothing changed. Eunhye looked at the kitchen from the couch and she smiled, there he was, standing there was a bowl and a spatula singing, “Making a cake for my special baby~”

Eunhye smiled, sitting up. Her now frail frame made it impossible for her to stand up without a stable support and it look her a minute before she was on her feet. As her eyes lifted upwards, ready to meet Eli’s, she saw nothing but an empty kitchen, the light illuminated from the window making it so much more lonelier, and it made her feel so, cold.

Eunhye fell back onto the couch, her eyes were now literally empty.

One day, Eli’s parents made a visit together with Eunhye’s parents. They painfully watched Eunhye shakily bring them their drinks on a small tray. Her cheeks were sunken in, dark eye bags coloured the underneath of her eyes and her body was thin and frail.

They tried to lighten the atmosphere by sharing some new stories from both sides, but it was of no use. Eunhye would smile politely, but after a few minutes, she zoned out. Her mind was far away, her heart was heavy and spoken the fewest words.

It had been 4 years since then, and Eunhye was finally able to eat a full meal, carry out a normal conversation, and most importantly, her sleep was getting better.

Eunhye took deep breaths, her feet shifting slightly as the snow under her shoes crunched. She opened her eyes and stared out into the open. She watched the light snowfall gradually grow into a steady flow and she raised her hood over her head to protect her from the cold. Her gloved-hands entered her side pockets as she sat back in the bench, leaning against the back-rest to relax her body.

Eli would have loved this, she thought. She smiled a little as she mind was consumed yet again by the memories of the both of them playing in the snow.

Ah, cold, so cold, was the heart that had once love so much. Memories would fill that heart and consume it for as long as that heart lived. As cold as the season that the heart loved, as cold as the other half’s heart was.

A/N: In honour of having had departing closure. 

        This version is not proof-read.