The ceiling tiles in Jimin's room at St. Mary's Psychiatric Hospital formed patterns that her mind kept tracing, hour after hour, day after day. They were lifeless but somehow felt alive, shifting with every passing second, almost like breathing. She hadn't spoken much in the days she'd been here, hardly eaten either, and when someone tried to engage her, she'd give nothing back. She was too tired, too shattered. How could she share pieces of herself when she felt she was already hollow? There was nothing left but memories of Minjeong.
The nurses called her Jimin, but she rarely responded. It was as though she were someone else, someone she didn't recognize. She kept turning inward, replaying every word, every touch, every quiet smile that Minjeong had given her. Minjeong was gone now. They kept reminding her of that fact as if she could ever forget it.
---
Flashback
They met on a dreary Thursday afternoon in autumn, one of those days where the chill had just started seeping into the air. Jimin had been leaving her favorite café, and just as she pushed the door open, she collided with someone rushing in from the rain. A small gasp escaped her lips as a girl with short, messy hair looked up at her, dark eyes sparkling despite the cloudy day.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" the girl said, hurriedly wiping rain from her forehead. She seemed embarrassed, but there was a smile tugging at her lips.
"No, it’s... it’s okay," Jimin managed, feeling her heart race. There was a quiet confidence in the girl’s gaze, and yet, a softness, too.
They exchanged numbers, hesitant smiles lingering between them, and just like that, Minjeong entered her life. As days turned into months, Jimin found herself more and more captivated by Minjeong’s presence. The world felt brighter when Minjeong was around, her laughter like a spark that brought color to Jimin’s monochromatic days.
---
Present
"Jimin?" A soft voice echoed in her room, and she flinched. It was Nurse Lee, a kind woman who often brought her food and talked gently, though Jimin never responded. "Would you like to join us in the common room today? They’re painting."
Jimin’s lips parted as if to speak, but she stopped herself. Painting. Minjeong used to paint. The hospital had a way of making the memories twist and sink deeper into her skin, like the hollow feeling of being stuck between worlds. She shook her head, and Nurse Lee sighed, quietly shutting the door behind her.
Left alone, Jimin sank back into the memories, letting herself drift once more.
---
Flashback
The two of them had shared a small apartment on the city’s edge, the walls filled with Minjeong’s art. Jimin had always admired how Minjeong could turn even the simplest things into beautiful images, like the sun glinting off rain-soaked leaves or a child laughing in the park.
One night, as they lay side by side, Minjeong turned to her with a mischievous grin. "What would you do if you could go anywhere, right now?"
Jimin laughed. "Anywhere? I'd stay here. With you."
Minjeong rolled her eyes, though her cheeks turned red. "You're so cheesy."
"And you love it," Jimin replied, reaching to brush a stray strand of hair from Minjeong’s face. The world outside ceased to matter. They were everything to each other.
---
Present
It was the echoes of that quiet happiness that haunted Jimin now. They clung to her like ghosts. She couldn’t stop replaying the day she lost Minjeong, the day everything fell apart.
She remembered walking into their apartment, the air thick with a silence that felt wrong. She had known something was off the moment she stepped inside, but nothing could have prepared her for what she found.
The words from the police blurred in her mind: "A burglary gone wrong." Minjeong had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A senseless, random act of violence. Jimin had arrived moments too late, only to find Minjeong lying on the floor, blood seeping into the wooden boards, her body cold and still.
---
Flashback
It was supposed to be a normal day. Minjeong had promised to cook dinner, and they had planned a quiet night together. When Jimin entered their apartment and saw the broken glass, her heart had stopped. She had called Minjeong’s name over and over, her voice breaking with each unanswered cry.
Then she saw her.
Jimin fell to her knees, numbness taking over her body as she cradled Minjeong in her arms, her tears mixing with the blood on her hands. She remembered begging, whispering, "Please, please don’t leave me." But Minjeong’s eyes remained closed, her beautiful smile gone, her warmth forever lost.
---
Present
"Do you want to talk about her?" Dr. Park asked one afternoon, her voice gentle yet persistent.
Jimin stared at her, hollow eyes barely focusing. She didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to give words to the ache in her heart. Yet, as the silence stretched, something inside her cracked.
"She...she was everything," Jimin whispered, her voice barely audible. "And now she’s gone."
Dr. Park nodded, as though she understood. "And you feel as though it’s your fault?"
Jimin’s breath hitched, guilt swirling through her. She had replayed that day a thousand times, each memory twisting the knife deeper into her heart. She wished she could turn back time, stop it from happening. But she was powerless, trapped in a cycle of what-ifs and maybes.
"Sometimes, in the face of unimaginable loss, we blame ourselves as a way to make sense of things we can’t control," Dr. Park said softly.
"But it doesn’t make sense," Jimin whispered, the weight of her grief pressing down on her. "I couldn’t save her."
---
Flashback
There was a time when Minjeong and Jimin had gone to the beach, the sun setting in brilliant hues of orange and pink. Minjeong had laughed, her hair blowing in the wind, her face lit with joy. She had turned to Jimin, taking her hand, and together they danced along the shore, their laughter blending with the waves.
In that moment, Jimin had felt invincible, as though they could conquer anything as long as they were together.
---
Present
The days turned into weeks, but time had lost meaning for Jimin. Each day, she sat in her room, her fingers tracing the fabric of Minjeong's favorite scarf, the only piece she had left. She kept it close, a fragile thread connecting her to the past.
One evening, Nurse Lee brought her a canvas and paints. At first, Jimin had stared blankly, the colors bleeding together in her mind. But then, as if possessed by a force she couldn’t control, she dipped her brush into the red paint and began to move it across the canvas.
She painted their memories — the beach, their apartment, the café where they’d met. Each stroke was a goodbye, a final attempt to hold on to what was already lost.
And as she finished, she realized something: though Minjeong was gone, her love was still there, etched into Jimin's heart forever. She could never go back, never change the past. But perhaps, somehow, she could learn to carry it, to keep moving forward with Minjeong's memory guiding her way.
---
In the quiet of her room, surrounded by shadows and paint-streaked memories, Jimin finally whispered, "I’ll keep you with me, Minjeong. Always." And for the first time in weeks, a small, bittersweet smile touched her lips.
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WINRINA ONESHOTS
FanfictionThey'll be a lot of kinds oneshots of Winter and Karina. Hope you enjoy each one of them.
