warnings - fights, loss, I don't think there's anymore!
That’s what makes it worse.
Taesan’s apartment smells like instant ramen and printer ink. His laptop is still open on the coffee table, some half-finished paper glowing against the dark room. Y/N stands near the door, arms wrapped around herself like she’s cold, even though it isn’t.
“You’re here,” she says softly, “but you’re not with me.”
He rubs a hand down his face. “I have three deadlines this week.”
“I know.” Her voice cracks. “You always make sure I do.”
The kind that stretches too thin.
“I just miss you,” she whispers.
“That’s not what I mean.”
He exhales sharply, frustration bleeding into his tone. “Then what do you want me to do? Drop everything? Fail my classes?”
“That’s not what I’m saying Taesan.”
“Then what are you saying?” he shoots back. “Maybe you need someone who actually has time for you.”
The second the words leave his mouth, he wants them back.
Her face falls, not dramatically. Not angrily.
“I don’t want someone else,” she says. “I want you.”
The silence answers for him.
She nods slowly, as if something inside her has settled.
“Maybe we both just need space.”
The rain outside grows louder.
She grabs her jacket. Her fingers shake slightly as she pulls it on.
He tells himself she just needs to cool down. That he’ll text her in an hour. That they’ll talk tomorrow when neither of them are this tired.
The apartment felt off without her.
Taesan stared at his phone as it lit up.
Y/N: I didn’t mean to start a fight.
Y/N: I know you’re stressed.
Y/N: I just miss us.
He reads the previews without opening the chat.
Y/N: I don’t actually want anyone else.
Y/N: I just want you.
His chest tightens painfully.
He flips the phone face down.
“I’ll answer later,” he mutters to himself. “I just need to think.”
The rain is pouring now. Heavy. Relentless.
His phone vibrates again.
He doesn’t look this time.
He forces himself back to his laptop, but the words blur together.
He squeezes his eyes shut.
Y/N: Can we talk tomorrow?
Y/N: I love you. Please don’t let this be the end.
But pride is a stubborn thing.
He tells himself she’s just emotional. That they’ll talk in the morning. That everything will feel smaller after sleep.
His phone lights up one last time before the screen goes dark.
He falls asleep on the couch.
The ringtone at 2:13 A.M cuts through the silence like a blade.
He didn’t know why he answered.
“Are you… Taesan? You’re listed as Y/N’s emergency contact.”
“There’s been an accident.”
The words don’t land at first. They hover somewhere above him, meaningless.
“Car versus pedestrian. She’s at [redacted]. You need to come. Now.”
For a moment, he just sits there.
Then he grabs his jacket and runs.
Hospitals are too bright at night.
He became used to loud places ever since meeting Y/N.
He’s pacing the hallway when a nurse approaches him with a clear plastic bag.
“I’m her -” He stops. The word boyfriend felt too fragile. “Yes. Her family.”
Inside the bag is her phone.
The screen is cracked down the middle.
He takes it with shaking hands.
It lights up from the movement.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor says in a soft tone.
The words don’t register. He doesn’t want them to.
Taesan just stares at the doctor like he’s misheard him. Like maybe there’s another sentence coming. Something that fixes it.
The hallway hums with fluorescent lights. A cart rolls somewhere in the distance. Someone laughs faintly at the nurses’ station.
“What?” His voice comes out hoarse. Small. “No. You - you just said she was in surgery.”
The doctor’s expression doesn’t change. That gentle, practiced sympathy makes something inside him twist violently.
“We did everything we could.”
Taesan’s knees give out before he realizes what’s happening. The plastic bag with her phone slips from his hands and hits the tile floor with a dull sound. He barely feels the impact when he lands.
“She texted me,” he says, like that means something. Like that’s evidence. “She was fine. She was texting me.”
The doctor doesn’t answer.
Because texting someone an hour ago doesn’t stop headlights.
His hands are shaking so badly he has to press them against the floor to steady himself. The tile is cold.. He focuses on that instead of the roaring in his ears.
“I didn’t answer,” he whispers.
It slips out accidentally.
The words echo louder in his head than the doctor’s apology.
“I was going to,” he chokes. “I was going to answer in the morning.”
Morning was only a few hours away.
The doctor says something else. About paperwork. About the time of death.
Taesan doesn’t hear any of it.
All he can think about is how the last thing she felt was rain.
He curls forward slightly, clutching her phone against his chest as if it can bring back warmth.
Sometimes you don’t lose someone when they leave.
You lose them when you think you still have time.
A/N - WE'RE BACK WITH THE SHORT STORIES (THIS IS A SORRY BC RECORD TO LOVE IS TAKING A BREAK RN😳) THANK YOU SMSMMSM FOR READING!!
TL - @ivehan @tinybitofhope @elysianssoul @w3willris3 @myungmyng @waldorfiles @beomtomie @kikiwuvsu @chiyxru @enhypenlvrsstuff @coergene @started-with-f-ends-with-uck @mukieissukie @llv119 @sugarydahyun
