I Need You | Seonghwa

21

Seonghwa can't breathe. After all this time inside his suffocating living room, the darkness has finally closed in on him and is choking him. His biggest fear has come true.

He begs his mind to think logically but he feels too dizzy with fear. He crawls to the TV remote and switches it off, glancing around to make sure all his lights are off too. He hurriedly switches off his radio and turns his phone off as well.

She escaped around two hours ago. Seonghwa checked the distance between all the nearby jails and his house many times and what stresses him is that two hours is more than enough time for her to reach his house from any of those locations.

After ensuring everything is switched off, he turns to hide in the same utility closet as always. He's made the decision to sit in there with his phone until he gets the news that Haerin has been caught again. But just to be safe, he won't even turn his phone on until at least a day later.

However, he doesn't even get the chance to walk one full step away from the living room. 

The sound of running feet on the pavement outside begins faint, but rapidly increases in volume as the feet get closer.

Now Seonghwa can't even stand straight. He stumbles in the direction of the utility room, dragging his body forward as fast as he can.

Tears start to flood his eyes when the steps are too loud and then they stop. It's clear that whoever this is, is right in front of Seonghwa's house now. 

He's so close to the room, he's nearly there. It's unbelievably hard for him to move right now, his legs feel like they're going to fold. He desperately waits for the adrenaline to kick in but it doesn't.

And that's when it becomes too late to run away.

Shattering glass fills the empty air with that recognisably sharp sound. The bone-chilling crunch of shoes on the glass fragments turns Seonghwa's mind off. What he was really dreading has just happened.

Haerin has broken into his house to kill him and he's paralysed with fear. He can see the utility room within arm's reach, but he can't bring himself in. At this rate, he might die from a heart attack before the girl even reaches him.

The light to the hallway he's in suddenly flicks on and his tears won't stop flowing as he forces his head to turn.

Standing at the end of the hallway is Haerin herself, dressed in a beige prison uniform. Glass shards from the broken window had cut her at various areas, leaving small splotches of blood on her clothes as well as cuts on her arms. Seonghwa's biggest nightmare flashes a small smile, eyes shining with tears.

"I wish I could say you haven't changed at all in these past three months, but you look horrible now. Has my absence really messed you up that bad?" she starts, giggling a little at the end. Seonghwa's heart drops. Has it really been three months already?

"I also wish I could say I forgot about what you said about me that day you broke my heart. We didn't even get the chance to talk things through that day, huh?"

Seonghwa glances around to try and find something that he could use as self defence but he feels his heart crush at the emptiness of his hallway.

She steps closer.

"I really wish things could have been different. I'd do anything to be with you," she sighs, now leaning against the wall.

"I-I thought I already told you everything. So why are you still here? You can't always get what you want," Seonghwa croaks out bravely.

She beams warmly at him and admires him lovingly. "I missed your voice so much. Have I ever mentioned how beautiful it is?" she begins. "And what you said...unfortunately I am painfully aware that I can't get what I want. Even when this is the only thing I've ever wanted, I can't get it. Perhaps I'm not worthy of love?"

Seonghwa chews the inside of his cheek and stays silent, fearing what will happen to him no matter what he says in response to her question.

"I think my life has just been a trainwreck. Nothing good happened to me until you came into my life, but I can't even have you. So what should I do next? You're someone I absolutely need," she complains.

"I didn't have the luck this time around. I know our souls are connected, we'll make it together no matter what. Maybe things will be better for the two of us in our next life."

Seonghwa's eyes largen when Haerin pulls a gun out from under her top after finishing her speech. She casually holds it and doesn't move her eyes from Seonghwa's for even a second.

They stand in silence for a few moments, tension thick in the air.

"Why can't you understand? There are other people in this world, so why are you stuck on me? If you like me this much then imagine how great it'd feel to actually find the person for you? Please give it a try, there's still a chance," Songhwa finally pleads, sensing danger in the air.

Haerin scoffs. "What chance? I've got too long of a long sentence to face. And no matter what you say, I'll only need you. I'm so deeply in love with you, and I know we will be perfect together. If only our luck was better this time around..."

"It's not about luck! It just didn't work out, leave it be! You can't just hop between lives like this at your own will, and you've only hurt me more than anything. Don't you see how much you've hurt me?" Seonghwa screams.

His level of frustration is at an all time high now while Haerin seems as serene as ever.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. It was necessary in the grand scheme of things and sometimes small sacrifices are needed to get what's best for us. But I'm not here to convince you to be with me. I'm also not here to hear you beg for your life, I've already made a decision," Haerin states calmly.

Seonghwa huffs and slowly backs away, returning to his original plan of hiding in his utility room. He tries to remain subtle, hoping that she won't catch on.

"We'll have each other in our next life my love, I just know it. We're connected by fate," Haerin concludes, finally aiming her gun at Seonghwa.

He clenches his fist and turns to sprint into the room as fast as he can, but is stopped right as he steps foot into the room as he hears the deafening gunshot as well as the most agonising pain he's ever felt.

He collapses onto his side and clutches his chest, squeezing out grunts and curses from his weak lungs which house a fresh wound.

He squirms and turns to Haerin, face contorting in various ways as the pain blossoms throughout his entire torso. Tears prick the skin on his cheeks and blood pools around him. This scene begins to remind him of Hongjoong and as his heart picks up in pace, the physical torment amplifies.

Haerin steps closer to him with tears bursting like waterfalls. "I love you," she whispers with a smile before lifting the gun to the temple of her own skull.

And then she pulls the trigger.

The second gunshot doesn't scare Seonghwa any less than the first, and the horrifying thud of Haerin's body hitting the ground sends tremors through Seonghwa's spine.

Now all Seonghwa can see is Haerin's tear-streaked face lifelessly looking straight at him, only centimetres away. Her mouth is now set in a straight line and blood trickles down one side of her head.

He can't even tear his eyes away from the dead body as black starts to enter his vision slowly.

Haerin's unnerving expression is the last thing Seonghwa sees before he loses his loose hold on consciousness.