Annyeongz One-shots

51. Divorce (2)

Wonyoung's silence stretched on the line, heavy and suffocating. Yujin's ragged breathing filled the gap, his voice barely above a whisper, "Baby... please... just say something. Please..."

Then, almost like it slipped out before she even realized, her voice-calm, cold, and heavy with something he didn't recognize-cut through the quiet.

"Divorce."

The single word hit him like a bullet. It didn't just pierce his chest-it shattered his world entirely.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe. His grip on the phone tightened until his knuckles went white. The word echoed in his mind, repeating, twisting, making the air around him feel impossibly thick. Divorce.

"No..." His voice cracked, small and broken, almost a whisper of disbelief. "No, baby... don't... don't say that. Please... don't say that."

But there was nothing but silence on the other end, her cold detachment pressing down on him like a physical weight. His heart throbbed violently in his chest, stabbing pains racing through his chest-not just the disease, but the raw agony of her words cutting through him.

"Baby... please," he gasped, voice trembling with despair, tears spilling again despite himself. "I... I'm... I can't... I can't live without you. Please... don't... don't do this. Don't leave me..."

The word "divorce" repeated itself in his mind like a cruel chant, making every part of his body ache. The panic of losing her, the fear of a life without her, the emptiness that had already started to consume him-he felt it all crash down at once.

"Wonyoung... please..." he whispered, voice breaking entirely. "I'll do anything... anything... I'll fix it... just... please... don't... don't say that... I love you. I love you so much..."

The tears streamed down his face unchecked, his body trembling, his chest aching violently, the disease in his heart flaring again from sheer emotional pain. His world-the one he thought he could always rely on-was stopping, dissolving, crumbling before his eyes.

"Baby... I'm begging you... I'm begging you... please..."

She didn't answer.

And in that unbearable silence, Yujin sat on the floor, shaking, sobbing, and gasping for breath, the word divorce looping endlessly in his mind like a cruel, merciless echo that threatened to break him entirely.

For the first time in his life, he truly felt powerless-not against the world, not against anyone else-but powerless to keep the woman he loved from leaving him, powerless to stop the sharp fracture that threatened to tear their life apart.

Yujin dropped the phone after the call ended, his knuckles white around it, and for a moment, he just stared at the wall, shaking violently. The word divorce still echoed in his mind, each repetition like a hammer pounding at his chest. His heart ached painfully-not just from his disease but from the fear, the grief, the sheer terror of losing her.

Then, almost instinctively, he sprang to his feet. He didn't think. He barely breathed. He didn't even notice how soaked in tears he was. His movements were mechanical but desperate: he stripped his clothes, stepped into the shower, letting the scalding water cascade over him, washing away everything but the raw ache in his chest. Each drop of water felt like fire against his skin, mirroring the panic inside him.

He dressed quickly afterward, choosing his clothes with the precision of habit but the urgency of a man whose heart was about to break. Suit, shirt, tie-everything in place, sharp and tidy-but his hands still trembled. He ran a hand through his hair, staring at himself in the mirror, eyes red and swollen, tears still streaking down.