You woke up with a start. It was already bright outside and you found yourself sitting on your bed, tucked comfortably under the covers. “Oh no!” You buried your head in your hands and flopped back onto your pillow. You covered your face your pillow and screamed into it. You flailed your arms and legs around for a few seconds before rolling over and groaning in frustration.

You had intended to stay awake so that you could say goodbye to Kibum when he came in to say goodbye to Minhyuk. You knew that he wouldn’t be able to leave without seeing Minhyuk one last time and you were right except for one small little detail– you were supposed to be awake.

A few hours earlier….

Kibum had sneaked into the room to see Minhyuk, only to find you curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed. He sighed softly and went over to your bed and pulled the covers back before bending down, scooping you off the floor bridal style, and placing you on the bed. You shifted a little but only to snuggle deeper under the covers before settling back into deep sleep. He brushed your hair away from your face and knew immediately that you had been crying from your still damp cheeks and puffy eyes.

“I’m sorry for leaving this way. This is the only way I could. Please don’t hate me.” He whispered before going to Minhyuk, gently picking him up from his cot. “Minhykkie, appa is going to have to leave you for a while. Be a good boy and don’t give your mommy any trouble ok? I’ll be missing you every single day but I’ll definitely come back. I promise.” He placed a soft kiss on Minhyuk’s forehead before placing him back down into his cot. He took one last look at you before leaving the room with a sad smile. “Goodbye.”

Back to the present….

You rolled out of bed, stilling groaning to yourself. You still refused to believe that you had actually slept through the night. You carefully picked Minhyuk up from his cot, cooing a greeting to him and held him against your body with one hand before walking out of your room and straight to Kibum’s to check if he really was gone.

You carefully opened the door to his room and saw that it was empty. The room was extremely neat and the vanity table was cleared of all products. You sighed and stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind you. Even though you were the one who had told him to go, a small part of you still hoped that he had somehow chose to stay. You quickly shook your head to clear those selfish thoughts from your mind.

You walked into the living room and was greeted by the same sight as in Kibum’s room. The space, where Taemin’s and Minho’s luggages used to lean against the wall, was now empty and the living room no longer looked as though someone was living in it. Even the magazines were placed neatly on top of the table.

You went to the kitchen to prepare Minhyuk’s bottle and saw that there was breakfast on the dining table. You sat at the table and fed MInhyuk his bottle first before you lifted the food cover to see what was prepared. You saw an American-style spread with scrambled eggs piled on a slice of toast, sausages, bacon and baked beans, just like the first breakfast he made for you. You felt your tears filling your eyes again when you saw a small wooden box and an envelope off to the side. You carefully strapped Minhyuk into his bouncy chair before you opened the envelope and read the letter inside.

Dear ---------,

I know I must seem cliché now to leave you a written letter (and I wasn’t going to) but I realized that it would be incredibily selfish of me to leave without a word. So here I am, penning down my words to you (literally).

Ever since our argument, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what you said and I’ve come to realize that you were, for most part, right. Even though I had good intentions for saying what I did and I still have every intention of staying true to those words, I do see now that they sounded very foolish to you.

I may sound naïve and even rash but let me say again that I do want to take care of both you and Minhyuk. Having met you on that plane was nearly the best thing that has ever happened to me (my grandma and family being the most important of course) and right now, I would actually consider you to be as important as my band members which was why it was so painful for me to have to choose one over the other.

In the end, I chose to stay with you because of my own desire to spend more time with you and Minhyuk but at that time, I couldn’t admit it to myself or everyone else so I just said that I would stay because you needed my help. I didn’t know that things would turn out this way and that you and the members would end up getting hurt and being troubled over my decision. I can see now why you had to do what you did that day and for that, I cannot be more grateful. Without you giving me that ultimatum, I don’t think I would ever be able to leave both you and Minhyuk and return to Korea with my members.

The small wooden box on the table is my gift to you. I had initially planned on giving it to you on New Year’s Day but seeing how things did not turn out as I planned, I thought I could give it to you in this manner. It represents the promise that I made to you and it also holds an earnest confession. I know that I sounded insincere not and that I should have done this in person but I was afraid that if I did so so soon after our argument, you would think that I wasn’t taking you seriously and get angry. I was also afraid that if you did accept my confession, that I would find it impossible to leave.

All I can say right now is, please give me a chance. I know I don’t have anything to offer you right now. But I will work hard and when I achieve success, I will definitely fulfil my promise to you. I have come to love you and Minhyuk so much that it hurts to even think about leaving. I don’t know whether you’ve gotten over him completely but if you have even the tiniest of feelings for me, please just give me a chance.

I would know you answer if I see you wear it. I would be unbelievably happy if you chose to wear it but if not, I would respect your decision and do my best to move on.

Love always,

Kibum

PS: I won’t regret this ever, just believe me on this.

You looked at the small box sitting on the table and reached for it. The wooden box was inlaid with an etched gold pumpkin design. You flipped the lid open to reveal a silver band with intricate patterns engraved into it. You carefully pulled the ring out of the soft velvet cushions that it was wedged in between and tried it on. To your surprise, it fit your ring finger perfectly. All of a sudden, the door bell rang, giving you a start. You quickly took the ring off and placed it back into the box before going to see who was at the door. 

=====================

This is how the gift looks like :) The ring is the one on the right!