“Are you kidding me?! You’re in a coma for three months, I composed songs about you, I put a ring on it, and all you’ve got to say to me is that I picked the wrong vase for those type of flowers?!”
The rest of the night consisted of her giggling while he ranted and vented about wanting a refund and how he was going to choke her with the cords keeping her alive or smothering her with one of the pillows on the bed. But she just winked and blew him kisses in a cheeky fashion.
Life wasn’t all bad. In fact…..it was kind of like……living in……
Utopia.
“Yah. What are you doing out of bed?”
Sungmin had went down to the kitchen located on the ground floor of the elegant French Chateau to collect lunch from the cooks; insisting that he give the butler and maid a break so that they could eat lunch as well. It wasn’t that BoA made them work themselves into the ground, but he just felt awkward having people wait on him hand and foot.
However, once he was back on the upper floor and balancing the shiny silver tray with one hand and opening the huge wooden doors with the other, he could see the tiny woman standing in front of her windows that would lead out to the balcony. All the cords now detached from her body with the heart monitor obviously flat lining. Even though he could clearly see she was okay, that eerie flat line still made his blood run cold.
A soft whine of defiance tore him from his unpleasant thoughts and he soon found himself face to face with a pouting queen. Well she wasn’t literally a queen but from what he had read on the internet, she might as well have been royalty. Paving the way for today’s Korean pop artists. She had truly been through a lot in her lifetime. Starting her journey to fame at the ripe age of 13. It was incredible to think about. He was standing in front of a legend.
“Yah. Don’t give me that look. Hop back in bed so we can have lunch. We’ll deal with the cords later.”
“But Sungminnie, I’m tired of being in that bed. Can’t we eat on the balcony or something?”
“BoA noona, you just woke up from a three month coma. You need rest.”
“That was three weeks ago, Minnie. You can’t keep using that line forever.”
A sigh of defeat filled the room and a girly giggle soon followed.
“Fine. Where do you want to have lunch?”
“The patio out back!”
“Yah. Are you trying to get me in trouble? What if the butler and maid find out I’ve snuck you out of your room, huh?”
“I’m already going to be in trouble when they have to hook everything back up. So it can’t get any worse. Speaking of hooking things back up, let’s get out of here. The heart monitor is driving me nuts.”
Instead of granting her the wish of getting out of the room, Sungmin set the tray on the nearby dresser before walking over to the bed and swiftly turning the equipment off. A soft sigh of relief escaped them both once the annoying beep stopped. With that done, he walked back over and instead of picking the tray back up, he did something that was extremely surprising.
He took his hoodie off. The hoodie that he never takes off. Well maybe to shower but that didn’t count. BoA watched with confusion and amazement as he carefully slipped the warm garment over her head and helped guide her arms through the sleeves. It smelled like him too. Feeling the heat rising in her face, she stuttered out a response,
“Wh-What? Huh? Sungminnie? Why did you do that? You never take this off.”
“All you’re wearing are your pajamas and they’re thin and short sleeved. The last thing you need is to catch a cold. The weather is still pretty chilly despite the sun being out. You need to keep warm. Here---Hold onto me while you slide into your slippers.”
Still feeling the blush on her face, she simply nodded and gently gripped his upper arm for support while she carefully slid her feet into her house slippers that were warm and full of memory foam. She blushed deeper when she felt his muscles moving and flexing under her fingers. Had he been working out? Nah. That didn’t seem like something he’d do. But it wouldn’t be the first time he surprised her.
She was almost surprised to see he was wearing a long sleeved shirt. There was always that constant wonder of what he’d look like if she ever saw him wearing a t-shirt instead. Not wanting to cause him any pain, she didn’t lean on him for very long. However, he gently tugged her close once more and explained softly with a shy smile,
“They’re all scabbing over. So it doesn’t hurt and you can lean on me if you can’t walk on your own.”
The tiny kpop queen felt her eyebrows rising as her eyes widened in surprise as she asked just as much,
“No new ones?”
“No new ones. So that means you have to try and eat all your lunch for me, okay?”
“Deal! Now let’s sneak out of here.”
“Why is it that I’m always sneaking you out of places and into places you don’t belong, hmm?”
“Because you love me, of course.”
While BoA carefully opened the doors and slowly peaked out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear, Sungmin stood there feeling his own face warm up in a blush. Of course he knew the woman was just teasing him......or was she? Her one hand was gripping the door and he could see the shiny promise ring he had put on her hand.
Sure it wasn’t a romantic gesture at the time. In fact, he had kind of threatened her; telling her that she wasn’t allowed to die. They were a package deal. Partners in crime. Speaking of, he felt like they were about to commit their latest crime and he couldn’t help but feel the corners of his lips turn upward. Quickly grabbing the silver tray with their lunch, he asked timidly,
“All clear?”
“All clear. Let’s move.”
“Do we get code names yet?”
“Oh my god, did you seriously just ask me that, Minnie?”
“Are we seriously sneaking around your own home?”
“Good point. We’ll discuss code names over lunch. But personally I think Stupid Face would work just fine for you.”
The male had went from grinning in victory, to pouting in defiance. He was never going to escape that nickname. However, he wasn’t going to let her have the last jab.
“Oh yeah? Well I think High Maintenance would be a great one for you. Or maybe Short Stuff.”
“I will not hesitate to flip that tray right into your stupid face.”
“And just what do you two think you’re doing?”
Both the tiny woman and young male let out a yell of surprise and Sungmin nearly dropped the tray from the shock of their sudden visitor. There stood with his arms folded and eyebrow raised in amusement was the butler. His smile reflected said amusement while he eyed the two up and down. If there was ever a guilty expression, it was all over their faces.
“Uuuhhh.....We uuuhhhh.......Hi?”
“I want to eat outside at the back patio. I made Sungmin take me. It’s not his fault we’re out here. It’s mine.”
“Child, child. Relax. I’m not here to scold you. Although you might get an earful from the wife later.”
He chuckled softly as he watched the two visibly relax only to tense back up again. Everyone knew about the sweet old maid and her motherly temper. However, the butler held out his arm and said smoothly,
“I’ll escort you both to the back patio. Hold onto me, your majesty. The poor boy has his hands full with the tray.”
Soon enough, the butler had safely guided the two to the backyard where they could have their afternoon lunch. The sun was shining and warming things up, but the light breeze caused things to still be a bit chilly. The queen was grateful for the hoodie as she watched the young man slicing the fresh loaf of bread and even buttering the slices for her.
“I’m not handicapped, Sungminnie.”
“I know. But can’t I just take care of you?”
They both weren’t sure where that question came from but they looked up at each other with nearly identical blushes. Their eyes just as nearly identical. Both showing a dark and broken past full of pain and sorrow. The vulnerability was almost suffocating. Swallowing hard, the young male cleared his throat and added,
“Let’s eat before the food gets too cold, yeah?”
“Ye-Yeah. Good idea.”
They ate mostly in silence but that was mostly because they were too busy eating. BoA had to take her time and she couldn’t help but notice Sungmin going just as slow; probably to make her feel less guilty. It was hard battling anorexia. But there was something about this time around that made it a lot easier. Her eyes caught the shine of her ring and she smiled while suddenly saying,
“You really did do a good job picking out the ring......It’s really pretty. And I’ll do my best to keep my end of the promise.”
“Same here. I’ll do my best to keep moving forward.”
They shared a small smile before going back to eating. The tiny queen had managed to eat all of her lunch so long as she had went slow. They remained out back as they watched the birds fly around the gardens and taking breaks to bath in the elegant bird bath near the rose bushes. Sungmin had to admit, the gardens were beautiful and he was shocked to see so many flowers blooming already.
After lunch, the butler had came back to retrieve them but the queen wasn’t done with her freedom from the bed yet. Even news of the sheets having been changed wasn’t enough to convince her. No. She wanted one more thing before she would crawl back into the annoying bed.
“Play your songs for me.”
“What?”
“The songs you composed while I was in the coma, I want to hear them.”
How many times had he blushed today? He honestly lost count. But there Sungmin stood staring down at a pouting and puppy eyed BoA as she tried to sway him into giving her what she wanted. However......was there ever a time when he had truly denied her? Was there any denying her? Probably not. Sighing in defeat for the second time that day, he finally agreed.
Soon after, the young male found himself in one of the cozier rooms of the house and sat perched in front of the grand white piano; his fingers swiftly gliding across the pearly white keys as he played song after song for her. The songs that were about her.
He would occasionally glance over and he couldn’t help but smile in amusement as every time he did, the queen was slipping further and further into dreamland as her eyelids slowly became too heavy for her to keep up. She looked twice as small as she laid there half sitting up and half laying down in the large, oversized armchair.
He could get used to days like this. Never before had he expected to be living such a wonderful and pleasing life. Compared to the live he was living before.....
For @grxnadxs
Mun’s Notes: I needed tissues before I could even continue finishing this freaking thing.
TRIGGER WARNINGS!!: Brief mention of self harm.
Sungmin knew better than anyone how unfair life could be. But this.....this was just.....well.....not fair.
He stood outside in the elegantly decorated hallway of the French Chateau. It had been three days and things weren’t looking up. In fact.....they were getting worse. His ‘partner in crime’ had fallen seriously ill upon arriving at her home away from home. Paris. At first it appeared she’d be okay. Just extremely weak and in need of some good food and rest. But three days later and Sungmin now found himself standing outside in the hallway listening to a maid sobbing her eyes out while her husband, the butler, tried to comfort his wife.
Life support. BoA Kwon was now on life support; fighting for her life.
Or was she?
After everyone had left the queen’s room, the doctor pulled the younger male to the side and gave him some words of advice.
“Even though she’s in a coma, they say the patient can still hear what’s going on around them. Talk to her. Have conversations with her. No one likes to be alone, even when they’re in a coma.”
Sungmin wasn’t sure what world the doctor lived in, but the younger male had no issues being alone. That’s for sure. However, the hoodie clad male had every intention of talking to the comatose female. He had a bone to pick with her.
After everyone had moved downstairs for tea and to discuss the affairs of the kpop queen, the young man walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind him. Honestly, he didn’t really understand why they were getting her affairs in order because she wasn’t dying.
Not if he had anything to say about it.
Huffing and puffing, he took the elegant chair that was perched in front of her humongous vanity mirror and dragged it over to her bedside where he flopped down and folded not only his arms, but he swung one leg over the other as well. Glaring at her frail form with the tube stuck between her lips...... She looked so small. Almost like a child rather than a young woman. But that didn’t make him any less miffed with her.
“Hypocrite.”
He had spat out the single word before continuing. Now that he was started, there was no stopping him.
“You’re a real hypocrite. You know that? Telling me on that stupid bus that I’m not allowed to die. So what the hell is this then, huh? I’m not allowed to die but you are? Leaving me here with all these strangers and not knowing how to speak a single drop of French. How do you say ‘screw you’ in French? Because those would be my first French words to your stupid face.”
Taking a deep breath to try and collect himself, he realized that he had kept all of that bottled up for the last three days. While it felt good to get it off his chest, he realized he was talking to a woman who was truly inching towards death.....what if her ghost came back to haunt him? Clearing his throat and thinking better about things, he added with another huff and puff of his chest,
“We’re a package deal. This whole not dying thing goes both ways. If I’m not allowed to die then you aren’t either. Got it? So you just need to open your eyes. Besides, you’re scaring the hell out of your folks downstairs. And this whole tube down your throat thing is really freaking me out.”
He wasn’t sure why, but half of him expected her to really, actually wake up. To start choking on the tube so that he could rip it from her mouth and allow her to breathe on her own. But.....that image never came true. The tiny queen of kpop just continued to lay there motionless; relying on a tube to keep her alive.
That night, Sungmin locked himself up in his bathroom in the room just next to the queen’s and went to town on his body with the razor blade.
Nothing changes, but it gets easier as the days go by. After the night in the bathroom, the only time Sungmin uses a razor blade is to shave in the mornings. He feels pretty much like a moocher with how he’s just making himself at home in the queen’s Chateau.
But then again.....she really had kept her promise. It was bittersweet to think about. Once upon a time, not all that long ago, the young man had nearly accused her of bamboozling him into helping her with nothing in return. But here he was; living in what was basically a French castle.
Two weeks have passed since BoA was put on life support. While some of her numbers were improving, she still wasn’t strong enough. Her brain activity was still sketchy but the staff in the Chateau were staying hopeful despite having funeral arrangements already made. Which kind of ticked Sungmin off. She wasn’t dying.
He refused. He forbid it.
“Here. I got you these.”
It was one beautiful afternoon, honestly. The sun was shining. Some of the staff had suggested that perhaps by opening the curtains, the sun might shine through the queen’s room and the sun might revive her. It was foolish but the maids and butlers of the Chateau were desperate. So there the curtains were pulled back and sunlight flooded the huge bedroom.
Walking to the foot of her bed where there was a table full of get well soon items, Sungmin scooted over a box of the most expensive chocolates money could buy and set down a large vase full of flowers along with some water to give them some continuous life. Sitting back down in that same cursed chair as before, he was a lot more relaxed this time but he still didn’t look all that happy with her.
“Still not gonna wake up, huh? Tsh. Typical woman. You females are all so stubborn. I swear, if you die, I’m gonna die too just so I can freaking kick your ghostly butt. I ain’t gonna give you time to haunt me. I’ll haunt you first.”
Just like a child, he stuck his tongue out at her while huffing and folding his arms. While it was nice not having her talk back to him, there was a small sliver of him that wished she would. That her eyes would just open and glare daggers at him. And her mouth. That stupid tube would be pulled from her mouth so she could cuss him out. But alas, none of that happened. She just laid there. Lifeless as she was before two weeks ago.
That night, Sungmin fussed over the flowers in the vase trying to make them look perfect before heading to bed.
Things are really starting to change and the poor boy doesn’t know how to feel about it.
One morning, Sungmin was groggily padding into the tiny queen’s bedroom to check on her. It was something he had started doing every morning. Not sure why but he just felt the need to. Before even using the bathroom, he’d first climb out of bed and immediately walk down to the next room to check on her. Sounded ridiculous but he never claimed to be a genius.
He’d never forget how scary the sounds were. Opening the door, he was hit with sounds of her choking. Choking on the tube! Which meant she was finally breathing on her own! A mixture of different feelings washed over him as adrenaline rushed through his body, helping him to spring into action. His hands had shook so much when he was ripping the medical tape from her cheeks so that he could get the tube as far away from her mouth as possible.
“BoA! You’re awake! Boy are you in trouble, girl. I don’t----”
But his rush of.....happiness? Whatever he was feeling was short lived. She may have been breathing on her own now, but she was still in a coma. It was like he had won the battle but lost the war all at the same time. His bunny-like smile instantly faded and he couldn’t......he couldn’t understand what this feeling was that settled heavy on his chest. Was that......disappointment he felt? He just stared at her as she laid there; her tiny chest now rising and falling on it’s own.
That same night, Sungmin had grabbed his favorite blade but instead of locking himself in his bathroom, he threw the thing in the trash. Instead, he walked down to the first floor of the Chateau where there laid a grand piano. Black as the ace of spades. He wondered if the queen even knew how to play. Probably. From what he had gathered from the chatty staff, she was truly a jack of all trades. She could do anything because she was BoA Kwon.
The days that followed, he began to compose. Song after song. The staff would even sometimes stop what they were doing so that they could listen. The melodies were so strong that they could be heard throughout the whole place. Whenever he wasn’t spending time with the woman upstairs, he’d be downstairs fabricating song upon song. His muse?
The woman upstairs.
And now a month and a half later, he’s made it a religious habit to swap out the old flowers with fresh ones. Whenever one bouquet would start to wilt, he’d go out, have the driver send him into town, and he’d pick up a fresh bouquet of the same flowers. No other bouquet would do. It had to be the same one each time.
The queen’s health was improving slowly but surely. The IV was still providing her with nutrients needed to survive, but she still wasn’t truly living. Not yet. But Sungmin still wasn’t giving up. She still wasn’t allowed to die. Just because it wouldn’t be fair. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
“I’m hurt. Here I am making all these songs and you haven’t commented on a single one. Don’t come crawling to me begging to use one on an album cause I’ll say no.”
He was sitting there pouting like a child. Typical for him these days when speaking to her. It was odd.....Even though she wasn’t awake and able to talk back, it still seemed like all they did was bicker. But.....it was nice. Talking to her even though she couldn’t respond was.....Oddly comforting? It made no sense to him but he just went with it.
Sungmin had never been one for touching. Skin-to-skin contact and skinship were not in his vocabulary after everything that had happened to him in his short lifetime. However, over the span of a month and a half, the boy has been.....itching? Was that the right word? There’s been this urge to hold her hand. Which was stupid because tsh, why would he want to hold her hand? That was stupid.......Right?
Before he knew what was happening, he was reaching out and carefully----as if she might break into a million pieces if he wasn’t careful enough----took her hand in his. A small frown fell on his face when he felt how cold her fingers were. But he knew she wasn’t dead because the heart monitor said so.
That night, the boy fell asleep with his head resting on the side of the queen’s bed; her hand still safely tucked into his own warm one. The sound of the beeping heart monitor telling him she was still alive being his lullaby.
The boy was growing into a routine. A routine that he was surprisingly okay with. One that he could, dare he say, live with.
Every morning he’d go check on her like usual. Once he saw the rising and falling of her chest and the strong beeping of the heart monitor, he’d use that as his cue to get ready for the day. His day would then proceed with more composing; asking the staff for opinions from time to time whenever he wasn’t feeling one hundred percent confident in a string of lyrics or a score of musical notes.
Then he’d check on her before lunch. Talk to her a little. Bickering of course. Always bickering. Telling her she needed to bath because she was starting to smell ripe or she needed to do something with her hair. Something like that. Still in a coma, but it was getting easier to talk to her. To tease her. To.....hold her hand. One night, he even got the guts to press his lips to the back of her hand before wishing her a good night. But not before teasingly wishing her bad dreams of him twerking in her face.
He still changed her flowers whenever they needed it. Having now thrown the stale boxes of expensive chocolates out and trading them for.....well......a book. A book full of all the songs he had been composing. Some of her balloons were falling flat too. It had been three months after all. So he decided today he’d make a trip into town with the butler and maid. The two had become like a mother and father to him and they treated him like their son in return. The rest of the staff felt like his aunts and uncles, honestly. And.....it felt really.......nice. Yeah. It felt nice.
“I’ll go pick out some fresh balloons for our little phoenix. You boys go find us a good spot of lunch, okay?”
“Okay, darling. Call if you need us.”
However, the moment the two males were alone, Sungmin swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to the butler who had practically become his father figure. Seeing the look on the younger’s face, the butler said in a questioning tone, “Yes, Sungmin?”
“Sir.......would you........help me with something? It’s for BoA noona.”
He didn’t usually call the woman noona but since he was speaking to the man who was practically a father figure to her as well, he felt the need to make himself look good by using the honorific. He was relieved to see the butler nod his head in agreement despite how curious and confused he looked. Smiling brightly, Sungmin nodded curtly and said happily, “Thanks, sir!”
It was an extremely awkward conversation at first, but it ended beautifully. And definitely in the boy’s favor. He had went into town that day a nervous wreck, but left it feeling relieved. In fact, he kind of felt like he was on top of the world. It was a high that he wasn’t familiar with but loved all the same. It was a healthy kind of high. One he could get addicted to.
Upon reaching the chateau, the young man nearly threw himself out of the car and was already running up the stone stairs to the front door two at a time. The maid who was carrying the fresh set of balloons looked from the boy in confusion, to her husband and asked,
“What’s gotten into him?”
The butler just smiled a knowing smile with a very puffed out chest full of pride.
“Oh you know young men these days, honey. Full of energy for no reason at all.”
Taking more stairs two at a time, Sungmin screeched to a halt just outside the queen’s door. It had been three months. Three long months of talking to someone who was and still is a complete stranger. And yet.....he felt so close to her now. Much closer than when he first met her the day she almost hit him with her car. And now? He could admit that he was glad she hadn’t hit him. As odd as that was to think about.
Opening the door, his heart was hammering. No change. But that was okay. He’d wait. He’s waited three months. He can keep waiting. However long it takes. Because again----
She’s not allowed to die.
“You’re mom’s got fresh balloons for you. But I um.......I wanted to see you first. So......here I am.”
Wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Hopefully he could get this over with before the maid would come up with the balloons. This was something that he really didn’t want to get interrupted or disturbed. Not till he said what he had to say and do what he wanted to do.
Sitting down in the same chair he’d been sitting in for the past three months, he cleared his throat and placed his shaking, sweaty hands on his shaking knees. Eyeing her up and down, it calmed his frazzled mind a bit seeing how some color was coming back to her face. She was still breathing on her own too. No need for life support. The staff had been holding off on any further arrangements for her funeral and had called off the lawyers for her will to be completed. Hope was building within the house but they were still cautious.
“I see the maids trimmed your hair. Bout time. You were starting to look scraggly. And they cut your nails. Good. You don’t need claws either.”
He always had to get that jab in there. It wouldn’t be a typical conversation between the two of them if he didn’t. Looking down at her hands with her perfectly trimmed nails, he grew even more nervous; a lump forming in his throat. He could do this. He had to do this.
“I’ve been telling you this for days, weeks, even months. You’re not allowed to die. I keep telling you this. But since you don’t seem to be listening, I’m gonna have to use some drastic measures. You’re not the only one who can keep promises, little miss queenie businesswoman lady person.”
He’d never forget the day at the bus stop when she bout knocked his head off over being ‘accused’ of not keeping promises. She was certainly a woman of her word. But now it was his turn to make a promise. A promise that would hopefully keep his dignity intact without ruining his broody moody image.
“So I got you this ring, right? They call them promise rings. So the guy puts the ring on the girl’s hand and makes her a promise. It’s really cheesy and honestly it makes me gag but I’m making you a promise and you’re gonna help me keep it, got it?”
With a huff, he took out the little black box. Of course it was the classic crushed velvet box but it was nice all the same. Opening it up, he showed it to her and asked, “You like it?” Fully knowing he wouldn’t get a response, he let out a soft sputtering sound and added, “Of course not. You women are all the same. Can never be satisfied with anything you’re given.”
Taking her hand all the same, he took the ring in his other shaking and and gulped. He was really doing this. He was going to do this. He, the boy who had no heart and no will to live, was going to put a ring on a girl who had almost killed them both with her car. It was quite ironic. Life truly worked in strange and mysterious ways.
“I’m putting this ring on your finger and you’re gonna like it. I’ll super glue it to your finger so you can’t take it off. Now listen closely cause I’m only going to say this one more time. You’re not allowed to die. We’re a package deal. Partners in crime. If I’m not allowed to go, then you aren’t either. So you just need to stop being stubborn and open your eyes. Got it?”
There was a split second where he actually believed it would work. That all the talking and all the flowers and the songs composed....and the promise ring......he actually thought it might work. That he could believe the words of that stupid doctor all those months ago. But nothing changed. She still laid there motionless. The only difference now was that she wore a ring.
That night, Sungmin padded into the queen’s room and bout had a heart attack; shouting in surprise and nearly dropping the glass of water he had brought with him to water not only the flowers, but himself as well. Yes he liked water before bed.
Awake.
She was awake.
She was.........awake!
There she was, sitting up in bed like it was no big deal. Her one hand was carefully lifted as it still had the IV in her while her fingers carefully twisted and turned the shiny new ring on her finger of her other hand. A smile that was small but full of amusement. Looking up at him, she smiled wider and said casually,
“The ring’s nice. But you picked the wrong vase for those types of flowers.”
Silence.......
It was silent throughout the whole house. That was....till the boy snapped and flailed comically while complaining loud enough for the whole chateau to hear.
"Are you kidding me?! You're in a coma for three months, I composed songs about you, I put a ring on it, and all you've got to say to me is that I picked the wrong vase for those type of flowers?!"
The rest of the night consisted of her giggling while he ranted and vented about wanting a refund and how he was going to choke her with the cords keeping her alive or smothering her with one of the pillows on the bed. But she just winked and blew him kisses in a cheeky fashion.
Life wasn’t all bad. In fact.....it was kind of like......living in......
