Just This Much

40: Dark

Just like that, his demons are back. Darkness crept into his heart like poison, silently killing the hope he held onto for seven short days. The world spun and blurred around him, as his arms and legs started losing strength. 

He reached out to hold onto the newspaper stand whilst trying to blink away the dizziness. He knew he needs to calm down and do something—that is, go back to his apartment and smash that damn hourglass to smithereens.

Going back to his original world is not an option anymore. If severing his connection to the other world is a way to prevent Lilac from dying or getting hurt, then breaking it or not shouldn't be a question.

Though that can wait for a day or two. He needs to see her now. Just reading a text or seeing her in the small screen of his phone won't be enough to silence his nightmares. He doesn't care if the old man is still standing beside him, or if he had vanished into some other universe to torment some other version of him. Without hesitation, he whirled around and walked back to where he parked his car.

He didn't bother informing his manager or his members. The second he sat on the driver's seat, he brought his phone out and booked a one-way ticket to China.

Driving into the VIP entrance of the airport feels like déjà vu. This was the exact place he also found himself in, the second day he arrived in this world. He remembered disguising as one of her fansites, just so he could catch a glimpse of her.

Crazy. It sure feels like that happened years ago when in truth, only a couple of months passed.

He told the security personnel that he booked a flight for personal reasons, which is none of his company's business. Like what happened back then, they asked for his ID and were even momentarily confused by his lack of luggage. But they eventually let him pass and gestured for him to pay for a parking slot, good for two days.

He is seated in the VIP lounge, waiting for the departure announcement, when his phone rang. He expected it to be one of his managers and was about to decline the call, but once he saw Hei-won's name, he did the opposite.

"Hei," he bowed his head, further hiding his face under his cap so he could pull his mask down a bit.

"We heard about what happened to Lilac. Where are you? Aera and I are on our way to your apartment."

"I'm at the airport."

There was a pause, like the older guy is trying to digest what he just uttered. Then there's a defeated sigh, "you should have called her manager first, I'm sure that's what Seo-mi told you. Maybe she's fine and it's not serious."

His jaw instantly clenched, and without noticing, he snapped; "How can it not be serious? She collapsed! What if there's something they didn't tell us? What if she got into some accident?!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down! Christ... I'm just saying, maybe there's no need for you to go! Did you even bother texting Yohan about this?"

"Hei-won, please. I don't need this right now. I'll be there for only a day or two. I need to see her with my own two eyes."

"Look, I know. I know about what you experienced back in the other... side. Maybe that's the reason why you reacted this way. But if you keep acting like this and be too overprotective of her, it can be too much for the both of you. Try to control it as early as now, will you? You can't always go to her whenever something happens. Lilac might find it excessive and feel—"

"I know that too, okay?," he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, trying to ease his growing headache. "I know. But I can't help it. Either I go to her now, or go crazy and call her every hour just to check."