✧*･.Terrible Things .*:･ﾟJunhao

.5.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I hold a book in my hand as I sit contentedly in a wooden chair near the very back of the air conditioned room where no one goes but me. No one ever treads this deep in the library, not even the librarians.

I see Myungho walk towards me, smile bright as the midday sun of a summer day. In his hands he holds a book which he drops on the table between our seats.

"Whatcha' got there?" I glance over the soft colours of the cover curiously. His eyes sparkle with interest. "Do you know what a white chrystanthemum stands for?"

Suddenly, the walls around us collapse. Not collapse per se but they dissolve into powdery dust then into nothing. Myungho is on his knees, cheeks tear-stained and smile genuine yet nervous.

"It means devotion and loyalty. This is my promise to you. Ever since that day in the library, I prayed that, please, let this mysterious boy stay."

Wait, this is... He isn't supposed to be here.

I drop the bouquet of flowers (since when was I holding that?) onto the grassy lawn and kneel with him. I lay my hand on his neck and cheek, softly and gently. He leans into the touch.

"I missed you." Tears escape my eyes, and I let them. A sad smile tugs at the corners of my lips, and I obey. My nostrils fill with his lavender cologne, and I pull him closer. A thought nags at the back of my head that this cannot be happening, but I push it away. "I missed you so much."

Myungho takes his hands up to wipe my wet cheeks. His gaze travels to my lips, and I move so our foreheads are touching and noses nearly a centimetre apart. "When was the last time we kissed, Jun?"

My heart aches as I realise I genuinely can't remember. I leave the question in the air between us, the lack of a reply an answer on its own. "I'm glad you're okay, so I can kiss you again."

"But Jun," he begins, "I'm not okay."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I blink. The ground crumbles beneath us, the flowers have vanished, and the trees have turned bare. Myungho still smiles that nervous smile and tears continue to stain his soft pale cheeks.

"I'm dying."

Cracks form under our knees. I'm losing my balance, falling to the soil and barely catching myself with my hand. The earth doesn't stop shaking.

"No. You're here, right now."

"Open your eyes, Jun. I'm not going to make it."

I let the quaking push me downwards as sobs pulse through my body in waves. I shake my head. He will make it.

"No. No, you can. You will. For our daughter, for your promise."

The ground stops shaking. I look up and see the destruction the earthquake has caused, but my attention is with Myungho, with my husband. He isn't smiling. Slowly, he opens his mouth to speak in a low voice. "Wake up."

***

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I jolt awake in the stiffest seat I have ever sat on, but once I lay my gaze on Myungho's body and see his chest rise and fall in a rhythmic pace, the pain in my back fell from my thoughts. I'm overcome with worry and hope. I take his limp hand in mine and notice how pale he's gotten. I kiss his knuckles.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'll say it anyway. I miss you. I know these past few months haven't been our best, so I'm sorry. I've probably said that a lot since I arrived, but I just feel so bad for not trying to understand your side of it all and for overall being an asshole husband. When you wake up, I'll make it up to you. I promise." I kiss his fingers and run a thumb along the back of his hand. "I promise."