Love and Forgiveness. Hang Time: A Mystic Messenger Story: Part 15 END

Chapter 15 Love and Forgiveness

"No matter what happens. We will always be there for each other. I'll protect you, no matter what. And I know you will do the same. Remember that you are loved. You are so loved. Bad things happen. But you must keep moving forward. Hm? What if you can't? Well who says that? You? Well I think you can. Because You are human and humans, no matter if girl or boy, big or small, they all have one important thing in common: determination. And you are just like me so you'll be fine. So please, take care of yourself. Love yourself. Forgive yourself... alright?"

...

How many times have I fainted in the past couple of months since I've been in this world? I completely lost count. All I know is that I've never been so scared to open my eyes. Scared of the news I will receive. But I have come too far to be cowardly now. I use the bit of energy I have left and I open them slowly. I'm in a hospital bed. Besides me is a familiar face. Eyes closed, sleeping in a chair besides my bed lies Jihyun; who hasn't removed the sad expression from his face.

"Jihyun?" I ask in a low voice. I feel weak and tired. My lower back particularly feels achy. He opens his eyes as well. Even f blind he is still able to express his soul with them. Guilt. Fear. Regret. All emotions that I know too well are swimming in his eyes. That's a pain that I don't want to see in anyone that I love anymore. I hold out my hand to grab his. He starts whimpering at first and then completely bursts into tears. Like he has been holding back for so long. I wish I could tell him to come into bed with me so I could hold him or get up myself to wrap my arms around him but alas I'm not in a physical state that lets me do that. All I can do is hear him cry and hold his hand tightly, but with care. He sobs. Clearly wanting to speak. It feels like there's so many things that he wants to say but doesn't know where to start. "What happened?" I ask to help him.

"They... you..." He says in between sobs; trying to calm down by taking a deep breath. Finally, he is able to speak. "They call came barging into the building. They apprehended the followers and Rika... everyone talked about it very carefully to decide what was the best course of action to do with her. Hyun and Yoosung don't know. We decided it was for the best. Specially for Yoosung. Even though its cruel to keep the truth from him. The followers were all unfortunately put into mental hospitals. The police is trying to find their families so they take the best courses of action. As for Rika..." He presses my hand tightly, trying to contain the tears. "Jumin send her to a facility with the best mental doctors for means to treat her... what should have done long ago. I.. I was too blinded and selfish. I was so wrong. I wanted to do and fix everything on my own but I kept making things worse and worse. I don't want to bother anyone. Ever. This fear of being a burden doesn't let me ask for help. I want to be the one that helps. I want to be the one that gives... but this pride and selfish way of thinking has brought nothing but misery." Tears start to drip from his face again. I'm nothing but a bother after all. All I wanted was to give beauty and show it to the world. But it was clouded and only brought pain. I...I don't deserve anyone's kindness towards me. I feel like... I don't even deserve to li..." With the little strength I have I cover his mouth as quickly as I can. "I don't want to hear It. Don't ever say that. Ever! Do you understand?" I look at him. Feeling pure desolation. He looks at me. Tears start falling from his face. At this point I don't care about the pain on my lower back right now. I get up and embrace him around his neck, caressing his ocean blue hair tenderly. He gasps in surprise. "Please... no! you are standing up aren't you? Please go back to bed! You must still be in pain from the surgery..."

"At least I had surgery. There's no treatment like that for the wounds in your heart. It's ok Jihyun. You don't have to be alone anymore." He tries to push me away from him. Begging me to go back to bed but I refuse to budge. "Why... why are you so kind to me? You barely know me. And the things you do know come from nothing but the horrible things I've done to you and everyone else. Why...?" I smile and hold him tighter. "You are mistaken Jihyun. I know your heart. All the wonderful things everyone told me about you and Rika. They all make up for the person you are. Unfortinately, Rika's truer, darker nature got a hold of her. She made the wrong choices in her life. And so did you. But, the biggest difference between you is your heart. your character, your morals and most importantly, your choices. The thing that makes you different is that you knew when you where wrong and wanted to fix things for the better. Even though you couldn't have done it in a most stupid manner." I shake his hair a bit and sit on the bed holding one of his hand and caressing his face with the other. He looks at me. Melancholy in his expression and closes his eyes. "My sun...my love... I'm so sorry... so very sorry!" He cries more but I continue caressing his face and holding his hand. Everyone of us as really had a tough time. I just wish it could go away for him and...