I C U | Pentagon Kino ✔

👻chapter eighteen👻

My eyes hurt from the lights when I opened them. There were people around me but I couldn't hear anything at firstㅡuntil a familiar face registered in front of me.

"Yuna! Yuna..." My father hugged me so carefully. His face was filled with tears. His voice sounded muffled, like it was coming from somewhere far away, or underwater. "Yuna, thank you. Thank you for waking up. Thanks God." Somehow, I felt tears falling from my eyes but I had no idea why. "It's alright. It's alright, sweetie." He said, wiping my tears away.

I couldn't move. I felt so weak. And my heart was aching so badly.

• •

Kino hurried home with a smile on his face. His friends loved his audition and he can't wait to show it to Yuna. He went straight to his room, expecting to find her there but she wasn't. "Yuna?" he called, looking around.

He went to the window to see if she's in the garden but it was empty. His heart skipped a beat when he saw his laptop turned on, a pen on the floor and an open notebook on his desk. He slowly walked towards it, his heart beating so fast. There on the notebookㅡwas Yuna's handwriting. It was messily scribbled, as if she was in a hurry; I love you.

His heart seemed to have stopped beating for a while, and it was like time was on a long pause. "Y-Yuna..." He tore the page off the notebook, grabbed his backpack and headed off to Jinho and his grandpa. As he drove, he couldn't stop thinking about how he shouldn't have left her alone.

• •

Kino almost banged the door to the shop, revealing a frustrated Jinho. "What the hell, dude!"

He swallowed and looked at his friend desperately, "She is gone."

The frustration wore off his face. "Come in." The business was closed for the day. Jinho and his grandpa were having dinner inside. Kino immediately apologized for the disturbance and told them about what happened.

Jinho's grandpa nodded thoughtfully. "You're saying you found out why she died?"

He nodded quickly, "Yes, we found the evidence."

"Then, she's probably back to her body. Her mission was complete and her soul was in peace."

• •

Kino shut his eyes firmly in exhausion. Jinho accompanied him outside and they walked through the streets of his familiar, old town. "I didn't even get to say good bye."

Jinho patted his shoulder. "It wasn't good bye. You'll see her again."

"But," Kino said, feeling his chest clenching tightly. "She won't remember me."

"You knew that, Kino."

"Yes, but still..." he swallowed, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I wasn't really prepared."

"Why did you let yourself get attached when you knew all along that this would happen?" he asked.

Kino let out a shaky breath. "I just thoughtㅡthat sometimes, even when we know something isn't permanent, it's still worth the risk."

• •

Two days later,

"I'm Kang Min Young, may I know if I could speak with Dr. Lee?" Kino's mother asked at the front desk.

"Dr. Lee is currently on leave, Mrs. Kang."

"Is there anyway I can contact him? I'm a lawyer and I would like to speak to him about his daughter's case."