Countdown: A TVXQ Story

Chapter 03: Kim Junsu

Tap tap tap.

Kai knew she looked like a madwoman zipping through the dark hallway of the hospital, her footsteps echoing like it was a bomb repeatedly dropping on the pavement.

All the same, it was like a bomb dropped on her head that day.

"Excuse me Miss, where can I find the... emergency..." Kai asked in between short breaths as she cornered a nurse, refusing to let go of her arm as Kai filled her lungs with much needed air.

"You're in a different hospital wing. It's that way." the nurse pointed at the opposite way Kai ran from. She took off without even thanking the nurse.

This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be happy, tucked in a corner of her room reading, passing the time until the "meeting".

Now she was running for dear life down these countless hallways that smelled too clean and looked too white, with the clock on her wrist flashing. It read 0 days, 0 hours,  15 minutes 4 seconds.

The scene an hour ago flashed before her eyes.

"Kai, you need to come here. Junsu..." her mom's voice broke.

Kai felt her heart plummet down a hundred story building when she heard the news.

Her best friend, her one and only best friend, her secret love, Kim Junsu. Caught in a freak accident on the freeway.

Junsu was supposed to come home today.

Kai was supposed to be beside him, waiting for their clocks to finish counting down so they can face what happens to them together.

All her life, Junsu had her convinced that it didn't matter whether their clocks weren't in sync. That they can face whatever happens together, when the person they were both waiting for appeared before them as time runs out. That the person they will meet weren't each other.

Today was supposed to be the day that Kai was supposed to tell Junsu that she loves him, countdown be damned. She didn't care anymore.

"Omma!" Kai enveloped her mom in her arms. She was sobbing.

Kai was afraid to turn that last corner where the emergency room entrance was. It was eerily quiet, and all she can hear was the sound of her mother crying. She was panicking right then, but the tears wouldn't come.

A pair of hands pried her away from her mom. Rough. At a touch, she knew who it was.

"Junho..." Junsu's older twin brother.

Kai cried out the moment she saw what he looked like. He hadn't had the chance to change to a fresh pair of shirt. Crusted blood was splattered on various places on his chest. His lip was busted, a couple of butterfly bandages peppered on his face. He had shallow cuts on his arms, and he was unsteady on his feet, but he looked fine. Alive.

"The blood isn't mine. It's..." Junho's voice drifted off. She knew he saw how her eyes widened when she heard what he said. Junho just took a step forward and encased Kai in a loose hug.