A/N: Listen to Naul's Memory of the Wind while reading this. The story was inspired from the song.
A wooden photo frame sat on the edge of the table while the whole room was left in a mess. Clothes were thrown around and a sobbing was heard. Like the howling of the wolves through the night, the cries echoed in the room. A woman leaned against the pale wall, using a wooden chair to support herself up. The man, dressed in plain black tees with baggy faded jeans, that was standing in front of her, grabbed the wooden frame and smashed it on the cold hard floor.
The glass shattered across the floor and the photo was definitely covered with large shards of broken glasses. After he threw the frame, he left the room, slamming the door hard against the wooden frame. The woman, with tear stained face, crawled close to the broken photo frame and carefully slid the photograph from the broken glasses. She looked deep and stared at the photo with fresh tears streaming down her face.
“If you loved me, then smile.”
Those words lingered in her mind for 5 years already. During the first few months after he left this world, she was down with depression. She still couldn’t accept that she had left her all alone in this world. He knew she needed him. It was cold and cruel of him to leave her when she needed him the most. She hugged the photo close to her chest. During the past 5 years, she tried hard to be happy. To put on a sincere smile. They said time would heal all scars and wounds but she guessed that it needed longer than 5 years to heal hers. Meeting a new guy was still hard for her. Just the thought of replacing pained her that it killed her throughout the relationship. And her recent relationship just ended few moments ago. The night was darker than usual. The sky was bare but there wasn’t any star around to illuminate the light.
“You promised me! You promised me you’ll be here. Forever!” she screamed.
Her voice cracked as she hugged the photo hard. Her tears never stopped coming out. That night, she was broken.
“You.. broke your promise.. Jiyong-ah! Why did you leave me?... I need…you.. here.. I feel cold.. and empty.. You told me to move on.. I couldn’t Jiyong-ah… I couldn’t even..smile.”
She struggled with her words. Her tears choked out her words. Her eyes became swollen and her dark circles were more visible than ever.
“You left me like the first autumn breeze.. You never came back.. And you didn’t even say goodbye.. How could you, Ji?! How could you?!” she shouted even more.
Her voice became hoarse and her energy depleted rapidly as if it was drained out of her body.
The night ate her alive. Her visions darkened and became blurred. All she could remember was, she was falling. Deep into an endless abyss. A genuine smile slowly crawled on her face. But that was the last thing that she would ever remember. And finally, she could smile again.
