LIGHTHOUSE ° you . kth

epilogue

ʽ MESSAGE ʼ ˑ ₁₁
━━━━━ 〈 再生 〉 ━
「 two months later ▴ sunny 」

TWO MONTHS had passed since you woke in the hospital. You supposed most people would've been sent home by now, but of course, your situation differed. Survivor's guilt was what the doctor's called it when they pushed hours upon hours of therapy onto your frail body. Days passed slowly as you were transferred from psychologist to psychologist who attempted to tell you that there was nothing wrong with living, and that self-harm was not the remedy for heartache.

You felt like a fragile piece of china - something that would shatter into a million pieces at the slightest touch. With how everyone sidestepped the blatant truth that flourished through their thoughts like a malignant cancer, you were starting to feel like a porcelain doll. Only to be admired from afar. (Because apparently surviving was a skill in and of itself, and you were the miracle child of Pohang.) You would've scoffed, knowing what Minah's response to the situation would've been. She would've joked and called you South Korea's Harry Potter.

And that was how your life continued. Every single thing - every image, item, thought - served to dredge up memories of your departed friends. You had no idea how much your life had revolved around your classmates, but with all of them gone, it was impossible to fill the gaping hole left in your chest. The doctor's could try with softspoken words of encouragement and  saccharine subtleties, but flowery words did nothing to bandage the wound impaling your soul.

Closing your eyes, you tried once again to fall back into the world of dreams. The world where your friends awaited you - where Taehyung held you in his arms. It had seemed so strange back then, but now all you wanted to do was return.

But you couldn't.

Not after what Taehyung did to guide you back to reality. Simply giving up would've meant that his death, everyone's death, was for nothing. And as much as you wanted to play the damsel in distress - the weak coward - you knew that wallowing would not bring them back.

Granted. It was so much easier to say than do. Living through it, remembering it, was another story and you didn't know if your body would ever have enough strength to confront the horrifying events that occurred.

A shiver prickled against your flesh. One that so often afflicted you as soon as your thoughts drifted to the past, and your tired eyes travelled to a small cloth pouch resting on your bedside table.

An item that was retrieved from your school uniform on the day you were rescued. An item you couldn't bear to unwrap as it laid on the dresser, untouched, for weeks. It was as if it was Pandora's box and opening it would've plagued your world with unknown terrors.

An apprehensive huff left your lungs as your fingers reached out for bag. Perhaps the first step to healing was confrontation. Or perhaps your curiosity had finally won out against your fears. You weren't entirely sure, but you knew that you couldn't live in anxiety for the rest of your life. You had to live - for your friends.

Carefully opening the silk pouch, a necklace with a glass shell slipped into the palm of your hand. The very same present you had gifted Taehyung the day prior to the accident. Your unspoken confession.

So why had they found it in your uniform pocket? Had he returned it to you?

Confused of the duplicate that had found it's way onto your person, you took a closer look at the necklace, inspecting every inch as if it held all the answers you were looking for. That's when you noticed - though it looked similar to the accessory you had bought for Taehyung, the delicate gift held minute differences. The shell seemed smaller, daintier. And the color, reminiscent of warm sunsets, was a beautiful gold instead of the sterling silver you had handpicked - believing it glittered as brightly as the male's eyes.

But what stood out the most was the tiny tag fastened at the end of the chain.

Black ink bled through the slip of paper, and though the card was crinkled and yellowed from water damage, you were still able to make out the message scrawled messily on it's surface.

Laughing bitterly, you recalled the words Taehyung had uttered that night.

"When we get back home, you'll know my answer..." You repeated between heavy gasps, and as falling tears blurred your vision, you couldn't tear your eyes away from the four words seared onto the paper.

'I like you too.'

THE END.
12/30/2017
▃ ▃ ▃
AUTHOR'S NOTES

thank you for reading this till the end! if you are still confused, basically what happened is that on the way back from their field trip, the school bus veers off a cliff and crashes into the ocean. thanks to taehyung, seonhwa manages to escape but falls into a coma because of the lack of oxygen. tae goes back to try and help the other students escape, but he and the rest of the class don't make it out.

so, the majority of the story takes place in the 'afterlife' (while seonhwa's in her coma) seonhwa's friends want her to stay with them forever and they treat her extra nicely in hopes that she won't remember what happened. taehyung is the only one who acts differently because he doesn't want her to stay amongst the dead. when she realizes that she's not a part of taehyung's world, she finally wakes up from her coma. 

in the epilogue, seonhwa discovers a shell necklace in her possession and she realizes that taehyung had also bought a necklace for her on the field trip. (and if yall forgot, the necklace was a way for students to confess to each other.) he had snuck it into her pockets, knowing that she would find it when she gets back home. this is why he tells her in ch 2 that she'll know his answer when she returns.

if you have any more questions, please let me know! ; A ; i'm sorry this story was so confusing lol.

DID YOU SEE THE HINTS?

lol there weren't many but in ch 4, i wrote that minah's eyes were lifeless. IT WASN'T FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. lol.

also the japanese (and chinese) numbers in the headers were a hint too!! the character for 4/shi (四) was replaced with its homophone 'death' (死, also pronounced shi). 9/ku (九) was also replaced with its homophone, 'suffering' (苦)

♡