✓ IF YOU STAY | HEESEUNG

6 - Gone Too Soon

Rose sat in her wheelchair as Heeseung stood next to her, waving goodbye to Harin and her husband as they got inside their car. Her grandmother was supposed to come back for her, but Rose told her not to. 

It was a small town, she could manage to go back home alone. Or maybe not alone, after all.

"Can I... help you?" The same familiar voice asked again and she turned to look at him. His hands were resting on the handles of her wheelchair and she had to think twice if it was a good idea to let him help her go back home.

However, she realized that it might be the best idea because they'd get to talk on the way. She would get to ask him why he ran away, and maybe she would be able to get some answers. Because until then, she couldn't understand.

"Thank you." She muttered and before she knew it, he was pushing her wheelchair as she showed him the way. "So... your name is Heeseung."

"Yes." He nodded, staring at her with a sad smile. "And you're Rose. It's... a beautiful name."

"Yeah," She smiled, lowering her head as she stared at her fidgeting fingers. "Mom loved roses a lot, so..."

"Ah." The conversation was so awkward. She couldn't really ask her question. He couldn't ask him either, but she answered it anyways.

"I got into an accident... I stopped feeling my legs since," Rose muttered and he didn't say anything, he just listened. "Then I lost mom and dad, and now I live with my grandmother."

"I see." She expected him to say he was sorry to hear it, but he didn't. "My family lives far away... so I don't see them much." It was too good to be true. She couldn't ask her question because she couldn't afford to lose him once again.

"So... you're a dress designer." She smiled, slightly turning around to look at him. "That's amazing."

"Thank you." He smiled back, yet his eyes didn't. "My mother used to have so many beautiful dresses and I was just mesmerized by them all. Then I found myself wanting more than just looking at them."

"It's such a beautiful talent, to make people happy with the dresses you make."

"You paint, right?" He muttered, looking at the night's dark blue sky. "You stop time and make memories remain forever."

His words warmed her heart and made her lips form into a soft smile. She never saw it that way, nor anyone told her that. Yet he managed to put words together and make her smile. It seemed that he was much more talented than she realized.

"You're new in town." She spoke after a moment of silence and he froze, stopping right in the middle of the road. Rose had to look back to see if he was alright, and maybe he was. Or not. He looked confused, perhaps even scared. It took her off guard. "I never saw you here before."

"Yes..." He started pushing her wheelchair again as she glanced at him repeatedly. "I have only been here for a while now."

"If you were from this town, maybe we could have seen colors earlier." Her words ached him and she had no idea about it. "I've been waiting for you for such a long time."

"I..." He looked down before he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I ran away that day. I was... surprised. Yeah."

"No, I was surprised, you were shocked." Heeseung knew exactly what she was talking about because that day he saw the happiness in her eyes the moment they met for the first time ever. Then that happiness slowly faded away and was eventually replaced with betrayal and heartbreak.

"I wasn't expecting to meet you... there. I just-"

"Because I'm in a wheelchair?" She asked, slightly raising her head to look at him and he shook his head as he frowned. If she knew... if only she knew.

"I never really expected to meet you this soon."

"Soon?" She repeated, smiling weakly. "I guess I was the only one eager to find my soulmate." 

It seemed that Rose was joking but she was hurt. Her soulmate wasn't happy or excited to finally meet her, and maybe it would have been better if she didn't meet him. Perhaps longing for him was better than having him right beside her, because either way, they were distant.

"We're almost there."

"Hm." He hummed as she pointed at a house a little far away. "That's your house?"

"Hm." Never in her life had she thought that having a soulmate would hurt as it did right then. She wasn't happy or excited anymore. Everything was so... wrong. 

Then they arrived in front of her house and he stared at it with eyes she couldn't describe. Was he sad? Was he upset about something? She couldn't tell. He just felt so far away.

"Thank you." She muttered. "I-"

"I don't think I can do this." His words were sudden and sharp, cutting through her heart like a knife. She just stared at him with glistening eyes without saying a word because she knew he would say that. She knew he didn't want to be her soulmate, it was obvious.

"But... why?" 

Heeseung was silent for a while as he just stared at her, then he sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't think I can love you."

Right then, Rose felt a wall between the two of them and her heart broke. "You didn't have to say it like that-"

"You know what? This whole soulmate thing is just bullshit." He admitted, looking at her as she glared at him. "What if I don't like my soulmate? What if it's not the one I'm looking for?"

Her lips quivered as she stopped herself from crying in front of him, but it hurt to hear those words. She knew no one would like her the way she is, but hearing it from him was something else.

"I-"

"What if my soulmate is dead?" Tears were falling down his cheeks and she just stared at him with wide eyes as her heart raced inside her chest.

"Well, I'm not!" She slightly raised her voice but he just shook his head.

"You don't understand..."

"Heeseung." She called and but he took a step back. "Don't-"

"No, I don't want this..." He shook his head and she could see his eyes under the dim light of her house. They were holding so much anger and she couldn't know why. "I'm s-sorry."

A stranger, that's all she could see as he took another step back. There were so many feelings struggling to leave her mouth, yet she just watched him walk away. Again.

This time, she knew for sure that the two of them were so similar yet so different. So much that they couldn't stick with each other. 

After all, not all soulmates were meant to be.