The flowerbed - Aespa's Giselle x M!Reader

The empty room

Consciousness returned in fragments, each sensation fighting through layers of fog. For one delirious moment, I expected to see her there. To feel her hand in mine, hear her soft voice. But the chair beside my bed sat empty, reality crashing back harder than the accident had.

They couldn't be here. Would never be allowed near me again. The thought sent a wave of pain through my chest that had nothing to do with my injuries.

The empty room felt fitting somehow. Everything I loved, everyone I cared about - all gone in the space of a day. Maybe the crash should have...

I pushed that thought away, but it lingered in the shadows. Would have been easier, maybe. Than living with this hollow ache where my heart used to be.

Memories kept flooding back - her smile this morning, how she'd felt in my arms, the last time I'd see her through the practice room window. Gone. All of it gone.

Movement in the hallway caught my attention - voices approaching that seemed familiar somehow. Not her voice. Never her voice again.

"He's still sleeping," someone whispered. "The doctors say-"

"I don't care what they say, I'm checking on him."

The door opened quietly, revealing two figures I hadn't expected: Chaewon and Sakura, still in practice clothes, looking exhausted but determined.

I couldn't meet their eyes, shame mixing with the overwhelming emptiness in my chest. They shouldn't see me like this. No one should.

"You're supposed to be resting," Sakura scolded softly, but I barely registered her words. My mind kept drifting to other hospital rooms, other voices. Wondering if she'd heard about the crash. If she was worried. If she was allowed to be.

"How..." my voice felt rough, unfamiliar. Like everything else about this new reality.

"How?" Chaewon's voice cracked with emotion. "How about because we watched you try to wrap your car around a truck? What were you thinking?"

The force of her anger should have affected me, but it felt distant. Everything felt distant except the ache of loss.

"Do you have any idea what it was like?" Her voice rose. "Watching that crash? Seeing them pull you out?"

"I'm sorry," I managed, but the words felt hollow. Sorry for worrying them. Sorry for failing everyone. Sorry for not being stronger.

"Sorry? You could have died!"

Maybe that would have been easier, I thought but didn't say. Than living in a world where I couldn't protect her. Couldn't even see her. Where every morning would be this empty.

Chaewon must have seen something in my expression because her anger suddenly shifted to concern. "Don't," she said softly. "Don't you dare think like that."

"Like what?" My voice sounded dead even to my own ears.

"Like this is the end. Like you have nothing left."

But I didn't. Everything that mattered - my job, my family, her - all gone in the space of a day. The weight of it felt crushing, making it hard to breathe.

"She's okay," Chaewon said gently, reading the pain in my face. "They all are."

The mention of her sent fresh agony through my chest. Images of the threats I'd seen flashed through my mind. The hate she was facing. The damage I'd caused to her career, her life.

"I ruined everything," I whispered, voice breaking. "Her career, her reputation... she trusted me and I..."

"Stop." Chaewon's voice was firm but gentle. "This isn't your fault."

But it was. All of it. The threats, the scandal, the pain she must be going through. Because I hadn't been strong enough to stay away. Because I'd been selfish enough to love her.

"You should go," I said quietly, turning away from their concern. "Being here... it'll cause problems if anyone finds out."

"Look at me," Chaewon demanded. When I didn't, she moved to my line of sight. "Look at me."

I did, though it hurt to see the care in her eyes. I didn't deserve it.

"You don't get to push us away," she said firmly. "Not now. Not ever."

"I can't..." my voice cracked again. "I can't lose anyone else. Please."

The words came out more broken than I intended, carrying the weight of everything shattered in the past day. Chaewon's eyes filled with tears as she pulled me into a careful hug.

"You haven't lost us," she whispered fiercely. "And you haven't lost them either. Not really."

But I had. The empty chair beside my bed proved that. The silence of my phone. The knowledge that I'd never again see her smile in morning light, hear her laugh during practice, feel her hand find mine under meeting tables.

Sakura moved to my other side, her own tears falling silently as she took my hand. But even their presence couldn't fill the void where my heart used to be.

Sleep pulled at me again, probably from whatever they'd put in my IV. Part of me hoped I wouldn't wake up. The other part knew I didn't deserve that escape.

"Rest," Chaewon ordered gently. "We'll be here."

As consciousness faded, I caught fragments of their conversation, but none of it mattered. Nothing did anymore.

The rain kept falling outside, matching the emptiness inside.

Some endings came suddenly, leaving only silence in their wake.

And some pain couldn't be fixed, even by those who cared enough to try.