제목 | 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 : 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘

작가 | 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑

𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘎𝘈𝘜𝘟 𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘖𝘐𝘕𝘌𝘛𝘛𝘌 𝘚𝘈𝘕𝘋𝘖𝘝𝘈𝘓

부인 성명 | 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴

경고 | 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵; 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦

𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭© 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

Minjun watched Hana’s running figure getting farther away from him.

His world was broken because only Hana held it up.

As soon as Hana was out of his sight, he fell down on his knees, his head hanging low. He put his hands on his face, wiping away the overflowing tears. 

And not long after, were droplets of rain that fell on him.

He stayed there for a while before forcing himself to stand up and head home. Walking along drenched in the rain, he could only think of Hana, zoning himself out of reality. 

Minjun finally made it home. 

Mostly dragging himself to the front door. The recent event really broke him, and it's tearing him down. He rang the doorbell, and knocked as well. A figure stood in-front of him as the door opened. He looked up to be met with his mothers eyes, filled with concern. 

“Kim Minjun, where have you been? And why are you soaking wet!?”

He ignored her and headed for the stairs “Minjun!” she yelled at him. “What.” He said, turning around with a blank expression, mainly annoyed.

She signed, “I don't have time for this. Go up and shower. We have visitors coming over. Look presentable.” 

But before he took another step, his mother spoke up once again.

“You broke up with her, right?” No, she basically broke up with me. He poked his inner cheek and clicked his tongue. “Yeah, I did. Are you happy now?”

His mother looked at him and hummed.

He then turned to go up the stairs. As he reached the top, he walked towards his room, and into the bathroom. 

Minjun was finally ready and looked “presentable” as his mother wanted. He took a look at the mirror one more time before heading down. He kept on walking, and down the stairs. Chatter and laughter could be heard as he neared the living room. As soon as he arrived, the chatter died down as his parents and the guests turned to see him.

“Ah, he’s here!” Mr. Kim exclaimed. He walked up to his son and held his shoulders patting his back. He neared his son's ear and whispered, “Put on a smile Minjun. I don't care if it's fake or not but you better not mess this up.”

Upon hearing what his father told him, he sighed and forced a smile on his face. An acceptable one at most. 

“Why don't we start then?” Mr. Kim said, heading back to his seat, Minjun following.

“Well, we both know that the Kim Company is successful and highly respected, and so are the Lee’s. But as we’ve talked about in the past, the merging of these two companies is just what we need to make it unstoppable. And so, as we’ve agreed, our son Minjun, will marry your daughter, Minyoung. If that's acceptable for you Mr. Lee.”

“Yes, of course! A wonderful idea proposed!” Mr. Lee exclaimed.

“Then it's settled.” Minjun's father said with a smile on his face, which Mr. Lee reciprocated. 

The parents continued to chatter, but Minjun couldn’t bear to stay any longer. He stood up and exited heading to the kitchen for a drink. Minyoung, who was in the same room, noticed and followed him. She wanted to talk, and properly this time.

As Minjun sipped from his drink, he heard a soft voice, almost like a whisper calling out for him. 

“Minjun,” 

It was Minyoung.

“What do you want?” Minjun said, sounding displeased. 

“I just wanna have a talk.” 

“What’s there to talk about?” 

“I’m sorry you had to break up with her. I tried convincing my parents to stop but all they cared about was business. I’m so sorry.”

“Just stop Minyoung. There's nothing we can do now.” MInjun said as he walked over to the sink, placing his cup down.

“But Hana, I feel bad, she’ll hate me..what if she finds out..”

“For god’s sake Minyoung, we broke up! She’ll hate both of us when she finds out! Your parents will make sure to announce it. You tell me how she’s not going to find out.”

Minyoung looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I’m sorry” She mumbled. “I truly am Minjun. I know how much she means to you.”

Minjun took a second and sighed, “Yeah, she did, she still does. So much that it hurts, Minyoung.” 

Minyoung felt guilty. She blamed herself for Minjun being like this. For causing her own friends pain. Hana was one of the only people Minyoung could truly rely on and now she’d lose her too. 

Minyoung wanted to comfort Minjun, but she didn’t move an inch and decided to keep to herself. She didn’t want to get pushed away by Minjun. 

“Minyoung! Minjun! Get in here!” Minyoung turned to one of the adults voices and released a breath she’d been holding. Minjun put his glass down and walked towards the living room, and so did Minyoung. 

“Ah, Minyoung. My soon to be daughter-in-law.” Ms. Kim said. Minyoung looked up and plastered a fake smile on her face, and could only look down afterwards.

“We’ve dealt with everything already. We’ll all be away from Seoul for a bit on some business, and the merging of the two companies will be announced soon.” Mr. Lee said. 

“If we’re done, can I go?” Minjun asked, in a cold manner. “Go ahead, Minjun. I think we’ve dealt with everything.” And with that, Minjun left the room and went towards his own. As soon as he got there, he sat on his bed before looking at his side table. There, he found the picture he had taken with Hana. 

He took it in his hands, holding the frame with trembling hands. Tears threatened to fall, and they did, continuously. 

And so, for the rest of the night, Minjun was a crying mess until he fell asleep and could only reach out his arms in hopes Hana would be right there laying next to him.

[AUTHORS POV]

It’s been two years?

Minjun’s learned to cope, not completely but it was a start. Piling himself up with work ever since he’s taken over both the Lee and Kim company, Minyoung running it alongside him. They got married, not the most dreadful day ever, as Minjun had thought. Though they may not love each other, they’ve learned to get along for the sake of their family’s business and to keep their own sanity. 

A man sits at his desk, typing away at his laptop as he’s indulged in his work. He silenced the other noises around him trying his best to finish up more work before having to go on his break. “And done.” the man said finishing the last file he had planned to do. He shuts his computer down and heads out of his office heading down to the main lobby entrance. As he arrived he spotted a figure sitting in the waiting area, legs crossed on her phone oblivious to the man approaching her. 

“Hey, I’m here.” the man says smiling, as the lady looks up from her device returning the smile. “Did you wait long?” the man asks. “No, I just got here a few minutes ago. Don’t worry.” She says smiling at him, while getting up and giving him a hug. As they pull away, the man speaks up and says, “Let’s go up, yeah?” The lady nods and they both head towards the elevator to meet up with a few people.

The man stands in front of a double door and knocks. Not long after, the door was opened by someone who greeted the man and turned to do the same to the lady, but paused. Her eyes could be seen slightly widening. She muttered a quiet hi before glancing away and allowing the two to come in, missing the small smile the lady gives her.

At the desk seated on a chair is a dark brunette man. He's so indulged in his work that he only looks up to the cough that the lady who opened the door gave out. “You should’ve told me, Minyoung.” The dark brunette says to the lady, getting up from his seat and heading over to the visitors. “Didn’t wanna interrupt your work, Minjun.” Minjun hummed and looked intently at his visitors. Though his gaze lingered on the lady. 

The one he's been looking for..

Kang Hana.

“Thank You for coming, Jimin.” Minjun says to the man who stood alongside Hana. He was truly grateful for someone as Jimin to help him with something so important. “Yeah, it's no problem. Why don't you two catch up, yeah?”

Minjun leads Hana to a more private area in his enormous office. Hana was quiet. Who knew what was going on in her head. They both sit down and Minjun speaks up. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well. What about you Minjun? It's been a while.” 

Minjun takes a second. Should he tell her the truth? The way he missed her. Looking so drained whenever he had to work. How he looked for her, so desperate, just for any information about her. Numerous breakdowns in which he had to lock himself up, and cry himself to sleep. But this was his first encounter with Hana after such a long time, he didnt wanna be selfish. So he chose a simpler response. “Could be better.” 

And silence filled the atmosphere. Though Minjun broke it.

“Where did you go?” He asked.

“America.” In which Minjun hummed as a response.

“Why did you leave.. us?” He said the last word in such a quiet voice Hana could barely hear it.

Hana was silent. She was afraid he would ask, but it was bound to happen. It’d been a couple of years since they parted and yet none of them came to look for each other. They just went their own ways.

“Korea was filled with too many memories. And us.. I just needed to go.”

Minjun looked at her and sighs. He takes her hands in his and she lets him. “I know it was my mom Hana. She apologized. Seeing her own son so, so broken.”

And this time, she looks at him, her gaze unidentifiable. “I’m sorry, Minjun. I’m sorry for being so gullible.”

“I missed you, Hana. And I still do every day.” Minjun tells Hana. His eyes show genuine concern and Hana believes him, because she does too. But she pulls her hands away from him. “I.. I do too Minjun. But I think I’ve let go.” At this, Minjun nodded with a sad smile on his face. “And I know I need to as well.”

[A COUPLE MONTHS LATER]

“HANA! I really need you, please come.” Minyoung says over the phone, sounding like she’s been crying? It’s nearly the middle of the night and Minyoung is calling inconveniently but it must be an emergency, in which Hana hurries to her car and drives to the location Minyoung had sent her.

“Lee Minyoung’s room, please?” Hana asks the lady at the front desk. “What’s your relation?” the lady asks. “A close friend.” Hana says looking a little frantic. The lady looks at her and scrolls through her computer. “Room 901” Hana thanks her and heads towards the elevator. 

She walks around the hallway looking for the room. She finds it and knocks multiple times. It’s opened by Minyoung, looking pale and as if she’d just finished crying. “Minyoung, what's wrong?” Hana asks, concern written on her face. Minyoung sniffles, “It’s Minjun.” Hana furrows her eyebrows and then finally looks behind MInyoung. There behind glass walls are doctors huddled around Minjun. Hana sees someone using a defibrillator on him, and she shakes her head. “No, no that's not Minjun.” Hana looks at Minyoung once again and Minyoung just looks away. 

Hana walks up to the glass wall, touching it, but it doesn't lessen the distance between her and Minjun. You see the monitor, and its lines stop from its up and down motion, now into a straight line. “Kim Minjun, failed to survive. September 12 at 12: 09 a.m.”, Hana hears a doctor say. 

She watches as the doctors leave the room, and she uses the chance to enter. Slowly nearing Minjun, she sees how pale he is. He isn’t smiling anymore, the smile that brightened the entire room when he was in it. No one would do that anymore. 

Someone places a hand on Hana’s shoulders and she turns around to see Minyoung. Minyoung holds out a folded piece of paper to Hana and says, “He left this, for you. He told me to give it because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to.”

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to.. Come on Minjun, stop making it harder, Hana thought.

She takes it and mutters a soft thank you as Minyoung leaves the room. Hana looks at Minjun once more before settling herself in a corner of the room.

Hana,

My star,

The love of my life,

I had always been told what to do. With my life, future, and who I will end up with.

When I joined class, someone caught my eye. She was good looking, I had to admit. 

And that was you, Hana. I never admitted it about anybody, but you got me to. I wanted to be friends right away and I didn’t wanna lose an opportunity to be with someone like you.

I risked everything, just to be with you, even though I knew it wouldn’t last.

And all those moments I spent with you felt like euphorical, like I was free. 

It was that day we went stargazing that I realized all of these complications going on with myself.

 I had fallen for you. I liked you, Hana. No- I loved you. 

You’ve been hurt by the past. And I never intended on hurting you, but I did. I loved the stars, You didn’t. You despised the stars because your mom died under their watch. I didn’t want to force you, but you insisted. And I was glad you did.

Because you were the only person that made me smile, the only one that made me forget my problems. You lit my world up, Hana. And I never regretted becoming friends with you in the first place.

But I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I never meant to hurt you. I distanced myself from you, because I thought it would make the feelings go away. 

That you’d forget about me. But you kept on approaching me, being by my side, which made it harder for me, and I didn’t wanna keep on pushing you away.

All those words I said were for the better. But every word sent a shattered glass to pierce through my heart. 

Sometimes, I ask myself if I shouldn’t have been friends with you. If I shouldn’t have made an effort to be anywhere near you. I knew the outcome, but I want you to know that I never regretted anything. 

I have leukemia. I found out during senior year. I never wanted to tell you, because there’s nothing I could do about it. All I wanted to do was enjoy my last moments with you.

I didn’t know how much longer I could live, but I made sure that every day with you was special. I’d be getting surgery, but who knew if that would work out.

I know that I’ve told you this many, many times. But I wanted to write it down this time. Because the ink will last longer in your memories than my words.

I love you. I love you so much. And I wanted to tell the stars about you. I wanted them to know how wonderful and amazing you are. 

I hope that you find someone, Hana. Someone better than I was, because you were too good to be mine. I’m a bad person, a stupid one. I hurt you, and I hate myself for that. I wish that that person was me. So bad. 

But I’ll be one with the stars now. I’ll finally get to tell them about you. Remember me, okay? Whenever you see a star shine, think of it as a sign that I’m watching over you. That I’m protecting you. 

You deserve the world, you don’t deserve pain and guilt. I hope to meet you again someday, baby.

Your love,

Minjun

And Hana knew that it was finally time to truly let go. Because holding on to the past, and something you can't change will only continuously break you. Minjun wouldn’t want her to be broken, so she chose to slowly move on, keeping Minjun close to her heart. He wouldn’t be completely gone, just one with the stars that she will never be able to reach or hold once again.