"Ouch..."
Minjeong hissed in pain as her body felt the cold floor touching her skin. She gritted her teeth and supported herself on the floor with her elbows, trying to lift up from the floor. However, her legs wouldn't help her.
No matter how much she tried, she knew she couldn't lift up from the ground. Her legs were useless. Completely useless.
"Minjeong noona!" A young male, namely Kim Sunoo, the physiotherapist that was helping her to recover her mobility, rushed towards the older female and helped her to get up from the floor.
"Minjeong noona, I already told you not to try to walk by yourself when I'm not here! You could get really hurt," She helped the older female to sit above of a bench in the hospital recovery room and sighed, "You know perfectly th-"
"I know, I'm sorry," She gave an apologetic look to the younger, "I know I should have tried it by myself when my legs still can barely move," She chuckled to herself and slowly shook her head, "How more idiot could I get...?"
Sunoo smiled at her and paused his hand above her shoulder, "Noona, it's not your fault. I know you are impatient to walk again, but you have to take things in an easy way. You were in a coma for 5 years and your muscles are somewhat cramped," He smirked, "Yah, how do you want to get back to your old girlfriend if you still have to work on your six pack?!"
Minjeong laughed softly, "Idiot."
Sunoo offered his hand, "C'mon, let's walk a little. Treadmill?"
"Fine..."
______________________________________________________________________
"Eomma! Aren't the penguins so funny?"
A little boy, around 4 years old, asked his mother, making weird noises and trying to walk like a penguin. His mother could only laugh at her son's cuteness, and bent down on the floor to give him a hug.
"Yes, I know they are sweethearts, I know they are...They're funny just like you!"
The woman began tickling her son's tummy and the child giggled non-stop.
"Eomma! That tickles! Stop...please...!" The boy pleaded, trying to grab on his mother's arm. A man came over to them and the boy extended his arm to him, "Appa, please! Help me!"
The man whispered in his wife's ear and she stopped. She lifted up from the ground and kissed her husband's lips shortly, before they walked away together with their son.
"Unnie, what do you think about Zayra's baby? They seem healthy to me, what do you think?" Danielle asked her senior, after observing a female penguin and her baby. Danielle was a new biologist; she admired her senior Jimin a lot and was learning all she could from her. However, she couldn't help herself but frown as she saw the older woman staring mindlessly at the happy family that had just left that zone of the aquarium.
Jimin tried her best to ignore the happy family, but she just couldn't.
"...Unnie?" Danielle called out for her again.
Jimin turned to the younger.
"Huh?"
"I was asking you if Zayra's baby seems healthy."
Jimin looked at the penguins for a moment, "Yeah it is," she then looked down, absorbed in her feelings.
Danielle touched Jimin's shoulder, "Unnie, is there anything wrong?" She asked worriedly.
Jimin took a deep breath, "I need to go to the washroom," she blurted all of a sudden, and went away from Danielle. The younger one stood there, confused with her senior's reaction.
Jimin quickly entered the female staff's bathroom and closed herself inside of a cubicle. Soon, sobs came out from her throat and tears flowed down her cheeks. She hugged herself and sat down on the floor, feeling absolutely numb.
Something stirred inside of her after she saw that family. That boy was around her son's age and his parents seemed so in love, just like how she used to be with Minjeong.
She, Minjeong and Jeongwoo could be like that right in that moment.
But all she had from her son and Minjeong were memories.
Painful memories.
Sometimes, when she felt lonely, she still could feel her lover's strong arms enveloping Jimin tightly against her chest. But that was a mere illusion. She was dead for over five years, and she knew perfectly that she wouldn't come back. She was dead and there was no way she could resurrect from the dead world.
But what could she do, she just missed her so much.
"W-Win..." she sobbed, "Why did you leave me...?!"
She sobbed once more and ran her hands on her hair.
"W-Why...?!"
She closed her fist and began hitting the cubicle's wall, infuriated with herself, before leaning her head against the wall, sobbing heartlessly as her cheeks moistened with her ears and her hair stuck to her face; but she could care less of how she looked.
She opened up her eyes and her sobs calmed down as she heard her cell phone ringing, indicating she had just received a text message. She took in a deep, yet shaky breath and hurriedly wiped her tears away with her trembling hands, rummaging through her belongings so that she could make out where her cellphone was at.
From: Jeno
Meet me at Kong Restaurant today, 8 PM.
Dress up nicely, Jimin ah ;)
______________________________________________________________________
Jimin arrived at said restaurant ten minutes late. She had tried her best to not be late but she had gotten too engrossed into her maid's words when she began talking to her about her late mother.
Jimin's interest to understand her late mother's mysterious death had been increasing considerably. Her father would always be silent and he would never tell her anything about that. She had always thought since she was little that such a thing was because her father loved her mother too much.
She bowed apologetically when she arrived at Jeno's side, holding her stilettos in her left hand. He chuckled and smirked. No matter how many years went by, Yu Jimin still wouldn't feel a little least sympathy towards high heels.
"You came bare footed?"
Jimin blushed in embarrassment and smiled nervously,
"...No, it's just that my feet are aching from running so much."
"Even after all those years, you're still the same," He said to her and sipped on his rosé wine as she sat on her chair and put the heels back on her feet.
She smiled lightly.
"I think people never change."
"They do change...a lot, believe me."
______________________________________________________________________
"Damn, I'm exhausted," Minjeong said, laughing softly as she pushed the crutches forward, moving her body along.
She had been in exhaustive physiotherapy for a while now, but she still was unable to move her legs in a way that would enable her to walk. She knew she had a tough road ahead; but she was recovering very fast; even faster than what her doctors had predicted for her; so she had her hopes high and she expected to recover the best she could soon.
Her sister laughed, pointing her chin at the bus station just ahead of them, indicating to her sister, "I think it's time for us to ride a bus back to the clinic."
Minjeong moved slowly, smiling softly as she looked at her sister with an affectionate smile.
"...I'm sorry that you have to go back home so late because of me," She muttered, smiling at her. Ning Ning shook her head, walking close to her, halting her steps for a brief instance.
"It's okay, it's not really that late," She looked at her, "Needing help?"
______________________________________________________________________
"So, what are your plans for the future?"
Jimin took another sip of her wine and smiled, before she held her small fork and brought a small piece of cake to her mouth. Having that dinner with Jeno had surely been a great idea. She knew Jeno well, as they had been an almost married couple before; so it made the situation way much more comfortable for the both of them.
"Keep working in the aquarium."
Jeno chuckled.
"Don't you want to start a family? Like, getting married, and having kids..."
Jimin stopped munching for a moment and swallowed down her piece of cake, before pursing her lips and breathing out a soft smile.
"...I don't want to have kids."
Jeno looked at her and nodded silently, before leaning down and taking something off of his pocket.
"Well, I do have my plans."
Jimin could only stare at him as he put a black, square velvet box above the table; and it wasn't too long before he opened it up, revealing a diamond-clad engagement ring. Her eyes blinked at the sight, as he put the box right in front of her, and she just couldn't take her eyes off of it.
"Jimin, please...marry me."
...
Suddenly Minjeong stopped next to a field full of flowers and began to run on it. Jimin soon reached it, climbing off of the bicycle, mindlessly leaving her down on the floor and chased after her right away.
"Don't go!"
"Aigoo I have such a bad girlfriend~" She kept complaining cutely, spinning around.
"YAH!"
Jimin took advantage that Minjeong was still spinning around and doing foolish things so she just ran into her and both fell to the floor because she hit her rather harshly.
"Yah! You're dirtying my clothes!" Minjeong, who was under Jimin, whined cutely.
"That's what you get for calling me a bad girlfriend." She then stuck her tongue out playfully.
Minjeong smirked and hugged Jimin tightly, as she began to roll them both on the floor, making Jimin squeal.
"Yah! Win!"
She finally stopped rolling from one side to another and was now above her. Minjeong lowered down and kissed her softly on the lips, making her smile.
"See? Such a good girlfriend you are."
Jimin giggled and Minjeong kissed her face gently. Then she looked at her seriously and motioned her to do something that she wanted Jimin to do.
"Close your eyes."
She did as she said to her and closed her eyes, unsure on what was going to be her next move. Jimin bit her lip in curiosity, not knowing what was going to happen after.
Minjeong discretely took something out of her pocket. She playfully blew air on Jimin's face.
"You can open them now."
Jimin slowly opened her eyes and gasped, covering her mouth with both hands, when she saw her holding an engagement ring right in front of her.
"Yu Jimin, will you marry me?"
...
"Marry me, Yu Jimin. Please."
Jimin stood flabbergasted on her seat. She surely couldn't be hearing that well. She could only be deaf, for sure.
"W-What...?" She asked, almost speechless
"I have loved you for a long time already, Jimin. When we were dating I really liked you but when you left...I realized how much I loved you. I've been hiding my feelings for a while because when I was going to confess to you I found out that you were engaged to Minjeong...but she died five years ago...I know it was a tragedy Jimin, but-"
"-Let me think."
Jimin took in a shaky breath, looking around confusedly.
"Please..." She looked around for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes. They weren't tears of happiness. They were tears of longingness. She felt so bad hearing that question again...
...More if it didn't come from Minjeong's mouth...
Before Jeno even realized it, Jimin was already leaving the restaurant running under the starry and rainy night, tears streaming down her face.
She stopped on her tracks and sobbed loudly, approaching her car hurriedly, looking for a brief moment at the bus that had just stopped in the bus parade just across the street. She opened the door of the car but just as she was going to enter inside of it, something caught her eye.
She saw a black haired, pale skinned female sitting by the window, looking to her front just before she turned her face around, facing the landscape around her.
Jimin's bag fell to the floor, her eyes widening and her lips parting as she saw the female staring back at her, with the same expression.
"...M-Minjeong..."
She took in a shaky breath, watching in disbelief as the bus took off, the female still staring at her.
"Win!"
She closed the door of her car and started running in the bus' direction; but she soon tripped and fell down on the road due to her high heels. She stared at the bus as it left with tears in her eyes, her knees scratched from the harsh fall.
"Jimin! Jimin!"
She could feel Jeno covering her up with his blazer, but she could care less.
"God! You're bleeding-!"
Jeno looked at Jimin worriedly, noticing her emotionless expression.
"Jimin-"
"-I need more antidepressants."