She woke early that morning with the heat of the sun. She pushed herself up softly and slowly moved his arms away from her. She recalled the events of last night and could not help but want to cry. She felt so disgusted with herself and she hated him but she hated herself too, for wanting what he did to her. She felt her tears blurring her vision as her shoulders slowly trembled and shook from the unshed tears. She felt sick - mentally and physically. This marriage, this love was in no way healthy for her. And as she gazed at his peaceful sleeping figure, she knew she needed out despite her love for him. She needed out because she could no longer stand this loveless marriage and one-sided love. She knew that he had told her he loved her - multiple times in fact, but did he really mean what he said? She saw it all, the hesitation in some of his movements with her when they had intimiate moments - moments where they simply cuddled and talked about the future together, a future she thought would have the picture of both of them. It was weird, very weird how their marriage had progressed. Weird and funny how she had simply and wholeheartedly accepted him as he proposed the chance for this marriage to actually work. Funny how all the promises she made to herself to stay away from him became empty.Funny how she loved him despite all that occurred between them.

Was this love?

Was love when someone willingly and selflessly subjected themselves to pain in hopes of not inficting any pain upon the one they loved?

Was love this painful?

Was love what caused her to be so blind?

Was love what made her so desperate, so clingy, so embarrassing?

Was it? 

She was so lost and blank, wanting to runaway from reality - from him to be able to finally clear her mind and breath in air that could hardly reach her suffocating heart. She was suffocating from loving someone. She had from the beginning, for almost four years. Yet it was now when she finally felt the suffocation break her, eating her away, draining her mind and soul. And she knew that she had slowly let go of the love she wa so lost in. She was finally willing to let go.... 

 

She moved softly away from the bed to get dressed, feeling her headache and back pain acting up on her again. She needed to see the doctor and she knew that. She walked clumsily yet quietly down the stairs, drained of any energy as  she reached the last step and looked up to meet the eyes of her unnie as the door opened. She smiled tiredly at her unnie before fainting in her arms. Bom panicked and called Minji’s name in an attempt to wake her up. She groaned, calling Butler Yoon to prepare a car immediately to take them to the hospital and to not inform Taemin of the events that occurred. Butler Yoon frowned at Bom’s request but agreed when Bom shot him a glare. He prayed silently that nothing was wrong with his mistress.

Bom held onto Minji tightly and frowned. The younger looked pale and thinner than before. What happened within a span of two days? She sighed and rubbed her face as she waited for the doctor to attend to her. She contemplated on informing anyone of Minji’s unstable state but decided against because she was sure Minji wouldn’t want to have anyone worry about her. She waited impatiently for the doctor to step up, tapping her feet against the floor, earning looks from people in the room. She ignored their glances and jolted upright when she saw the doctor come up. He told her of Minji’s state, shocking the elder of the younger’s conditions. She walked into the room and saw that Minji was awake with wide eyes, an arm over her stomach, rubbing it softly.

“Minji-ah” Bom called out softly.

“Unnie……I’m going to be a mother” Minji smiled sadly.

Bom, who saw how broken Minji was, rushed over to her and held her hand tightly in hers.

“Nothing’s going to happen. Everything will be fine. The baby will be fine alright okay Minji?” Bom mumbled with tears blurring her vision.

The Advil pills and the fact that Minji was slightly malnourished did no good to her or the baby with the scans showing that the baby may be born with problems. She was given two optiona by the doctor to either abort it or keep it. The probability of the excess water within the head of the baby going away was slim but she knew from the moment that he had given her the two options, she would chose the latter one no matter what. In fact, her baby was strong itself with the doctor informing her that the pills would've normally killed the baby, especially with her consumption. But thankfully, the strong mother and strong baby had only a fairly light consequence. The baby was a symbol of him and her, of their love, of her love for him which she refused to remove.

Minji who now knew that Bom knew, sobbed uncontrollably. What would she do if her child did have problems?  The fact that she could've killed her baby also shocked her. She would never ever forgive herself if the ungrateful event had occurred.

She dismissed any negative thoughts and smiled at her unnie.

“I’m going to keep the baby. No matter what happens to the baby, I’ll keep it because it’s my baby”

Bom smiled brightly at Minji’s declaration and felt a sigh of relief course through her. Minji looked at Bom, feeling the need to share with someone her plans and so she did. She told Bom of her plans to see several disapproving looks from her but nevertheless, Bom stated that she would support her and that she would help raise the kid together. Minji cried as she told Bom and cried even more when she found how supportive her unnie was of her. She had initially  hesitated herself on leaving now that she had a baby forming within her abdomen.

“I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing unnie. Will the baby hate me when they find out that they don’t have a father? Will he hate me?” Minji asked with worry and Bom sighed.

“I won’t say that it’s the right thing to do, especially in our society and culture where single mothers are especially looked down upon but hey, sometimes you have to be a little selfish to achieve your happiness. At this moment, you are being selfish but you’ve sacrificed a lot for him, it’s time you do something you deem right for yourself. I just want one simple thing, for you to walk out of your relationship with him happy. If you are not happy, then there is really no point. I mean, you will miss him and want to see him but that’s the after effects of letting go of someone you love so deeply. But you have to tell me, do you think you’ll be better without him? Would you be happier? If you would then let go because if you two are fated, yes, I believe in fate, then no matter what happens, you two will meet again and be together. Let go, be selfish for your happiness”

Minji thought over the words of Bom intensely before smiling and whispering, “Just once, I want to be selfish”

Bom nodded at the younger and watched as her  trembling hands, reached for her phone and dialled an unknown number. Yet as Minji spoke, Bom slowly realised who was on the otherline and sighed. So their relationship was really going to come to an end now.  

As the phone call ended, they both talked about the future, avoiding the topic of Taemin. Minji also forced the elder to promise that her plans and current condition would not be known to anyone else but her to which Bom unhappily agreed to. Their peaceful banter and future talk was interrupted with a knock on the door by none other than the Gong representive lawyer himself, Kim Myungsoo. He greeted the two ladies and handed Minji the documents to which Minji scanned through and nodded.

“I don’t want anything from him. No property, no money. All I want is for the business deals to still be in tack after the divorce. That’s all I want”

Myungsoo nodded, gathered the documents and ran back to change the details before coming back to give her the final print out. Her fingers trembled as she picked up her pen and Bom who saw this, told her that she didn’t need to force herself if she did not want to but she was only met with a soft smile and the sound of pen to paper. There, near the bottom of the divorce document was her beautifully scribbled signature. She took off her ring and gave it to Myungsoo, telling him to please kindly return it to Taemin as he went to give the documents to him. Myungsoo frowned and hesitantly grabbed the ring and documents, asking Minji if she was really positive about this because he saw her hesitation and confusion in her.

“Please Minji, don’t let any confusion get to you. I want you to be clear about this. If you regret this later, I can do nothing about it” he frowned when she merely smiled at him and nodded at him, telling him that she was absolutely clear of what she had put herself into.

“Very well then. I’ll be taking my leave” he replied and his heels to leave.

As he left the room, he pulled out his phone and called his cousin to inform of the situation to which his cousin reacted with surprise and confusion.

“I’m sorry for meddling with your affairs Minji, but I don’t want to see you make a mistake”


Taemin awoke with the ringing of his phone, groaning in annoyance, he reached for it and answered the call, ready to curse the person out when he found himself getting the curses himself. His Jaejoong hyung was talking in rushed sentences, telling him of Minji’s plan for a divorce. His eyes went wide as he scrambled off the bed, ignoring Jaejoong’s loud voice. He slipped on his clothes, ended the call and rushed out of the house. He drove along the road of Seoul in search of her. Calling all of her friends and his friends if they had seen her, his heart pounded in his chest and he groaned. He had at one point, hesitated with what his hyung had said but knew that it was true when he answered an unknown call which turned out to be by none other than the Gong lawyer himself wishing to meet with the man. Taemin refused to meet him to which the lawyer agreed easily. He groaned, hitting the wheel out of frustration. He felt so confused and lost. Why was she leaving him?

He refused to believe everything. He didn’t want to believe that she was leaving him. He didn’t and he refused to do so. It hurt, hurt him so much that she had finally given up on him when he had started to slowly fight back. As he continued with his search with no news, he drove wearily back home, dismissing everyone and flopped on the couch where he cried himself to sleep as he clung onto a pillow filled with her addictive yet alluring scent. He found peace with the scent and fell asleep as he did so. He jolted awake that next morning because of the ringing of his phone again, answering with a hoarse voice as he rubbed his swollen eyes to stay awake. His ear drums hurt with the screaming and yelling of his mother regarding the news of the divorce which was exposed to the parents by none other than Minji herself. He felt so tired, so sick when he heard the word divorce. He would never allow her to divorce him because she was his and his only. He loved her and if she was not willingly to fight for them, he would. He quickly asked of Minji’s whereabouts from his parents and he felt delighted to know that she was still with them at the Gong’s mansion.

He ended the call without a goodbye and rushed out the door, jumping into his car and speeding his way to the house, only to find their parents and the lawyer. She wasn’t there and as soon as he realised this, he collapsed onto the floor and sobbed. His mother who witnessed the scene, cried along with him as she embraced her son, listening to his sobs and the words he muttered. “I love her. I love her mum. I love her” he chanted. The elder’s heart clenched at the scene but knew that Minji was more than positive and firm on her decision, telling them to keep her plans of going away from the country a secret from him. Minji who had heard the phone conversation between Taemin and his mother, immediately left the house despite the constant pleas for her to stay. She would’ve but she knew that seeing Taemin would make her change her mind, she knew but she also knew that she needed out and to do this, like her unnie said, she had to be selfish.

Minji cried silently on the plane herself, ignoring the looks she was casted because she was grateful to this marriage. She had learnt so many things with him and with the people tied to him. She was going to miss everyone and was sure that when she returned, she would have a lot of explaining to do but for now, she could at least avoid it, that’s if her parents and her Bommie unnie didn’t say anything. She smiled as she recalled the memories they shared, how it started off with mutual feelings, to the feelings of hatred on one side and love on the other and finally to love on both sides. Their marriage started a new chapter in her life but everything always comes to an end, like an hour long movie, a three minute song and a person’s life. Nothing lasts forever, it can only last until whenever.


And within her heart, she knew that this was the end yet within his heart, he knew that this wasn’t over.
 

Despite their own thoughts, within their hearts, they knew that at some point, they had genuinely cared and loved each other during their marriage.
 

But for now, it was farewell.



Author's Note
Within Their Hearts has finally ended after 2 years! HAHAHA. THANK YOU TO ALL MY SUBSCRIBERS, COMMENTERS, READERS AND SILENT READERS! It has been a great pleasure for me share this story of mine with you. It's not the best piece of written work out there and there's a lot of mistakes but I hope you have enjoyed it. I'm sorry if you felt like it was kind of rushed, I'll admit that I tried to rush things myself because I really wanted to give an end to this story to solely focus on my studies. I hope I have not disappointed. I will not rule out the possibility of a sequel or epilgoue for this, however, that will really depend on my leisure time. But I hope to write more one shots to which you guys can enjoy. THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN GUYS FOR BEING PATIENT WITH THE UPDATES AND FOR LIKING THIS STORY! I HOPE TO MEET YOU WITH A NEW STORY SOON! (which probably means next year D:)
 

P.S WE SERIOUSLY NEED MORE TAEMINZY INTERACTION! AND 2NE1 STYLISTS SERIOUSLY NEED TO LET MINJI GROW OUT HER HAIR. I HATE IT SHORT! /endofrant

FAREWELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! :DDDDDDDDD