past, present, and future | hwang hyunjin

t h i r t y - f o u r

c h a p t e r   t h i r t y - f o u r

-Hyunjin's Point of View-

"I love you! No, no, no!" I screamed, despair filling me. I shook her again, desperately trying to get her to wake up. People turned their gazes to us immediately, but I didn't care. Blood stained my hands. I didn't care about that either. I didn't care about anything besides the fact that Areum was now dead. 

Fuck my life. My girl was gone, and I couldn't bring her back. 

My grief slowly turned into anger, rage. I turned on the other, fucked up girl who was still putting away her pistol. "You motherfucking bitch!" I yelled, running towards her and slamming her to the ground. The look of utter shock and terror crept up onto her face. "How could you do this to Ari? You don't deserve a life!"

Karma was going to get me later in the form of public criticism, but did I care? No. This girl needed to know that she would never, ever be forgiven by me.

"Woah there, my Hyunjinnie," She cooed, the fake voice dripping with faked sweetness. It was nothing at all. Nothing compared to the real sweetness of Areum's lovely, beautiful voice. "Easy now."

"Never. You thought you could be with me by killing off my girlfriend? Maybe should've thought a little more before using that plan," I whispered angrily into her ear as I kept her pinned down. Her fingers couldn't reach her gun either. "Maybe I should kill you myself. Sorry about my stupid fucking public image, but murdering my precious girl is a step too far."

I really thought about it for a second. I could strangle her right now, and I knew how to do it based on the amount of movies I'd watched. But I didn't. Why?

Because the police had finally arrived.

I released her, and she as gasped for breath, her fingers started snaking towards the gun. But before she could reach it, two men came up from behind her and handcuffed her, while another took her gun.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you..."

Yup, she's been dealt with. But now what for me?

I would not be able to continue my idol activities without anything reminding me of Areum. Her presence in my life had been too much for me to ignore. Memories from dancing together, singing together, being at music shows together, performing together, hanging out together, god, was there anything I hadn't done with her yet?

Suddenly, I felt a rush of panic and protectiveness. Looking back at her dead body, I found... two people bandaging her up?

It was a girl and a boy. They looked to be complete copies of each other in the different genders.

"Y-you two..." I started, staring in awe. "Are helping me?"

"Yes, of course we are," The girl said. "What else could a true STAY do?"

"And I'M WHYs. We go to medical school," The boy added. "So we know what we're doing."

"Based on our checks, Areum still has a chance to live," The girl noted. "She's... in the realm between living and dying. There is already an ambulance on the way that will be of more help. The most we can do right now is stop the bleeding."