contents: established relationship, handong has a terminal disease, reader has mind manipulation powers, i’m crying in the club
warnings: terminal disease, also just like... angst
synopsis: You and Handong don’t have much time left. Even if it kills you, you’ll make what you have the best time of your lives.
a/n: THIS IS SO SAD HUH
word count: 1.2k
The air smelled deeply of roses.
The sky was an impossibly bright blue, the pure color of sapphires, only broken by the pale clouds that floated peacefully about the warm golden sun.
The ground was absolutely covered in roses of every color, every size, every type-- and yet, none of it could compare to the girl standing in the center of it all.
“Do you like it?”
Beaming, Han Dong spun to you. She was dressed in the finest, softest silk possible, and jewels glittered all over her like fat beads of rain. “I love it, Y/N.”
You smiled, and reached down to pluck a rose off of the ground. The pink bud looked beautiful tucked just above the girl’s ear, and her blush matched it in a way that could only make you smile. “I’m glad.”
“I think this is the most real one yet,” your girlfriend continued. She bent down and stuck her hands into the pool of flowers, laughing in amazement when not a single one glitched or disappeared. “Really. You’re getting so much better at this,” she gasped.
“Do you want anything else? Some animals, something to eat?”
Han Dong shrugged. “I don’t know. This is... it’s beautiful already. I don’t think I need anything else, but... here. Come sit with me.”
You obeyed. Flower petals crunched under your weight, releasing even heavier of the sweet smell into the air; as soon as you turned your face to Han Dong, she smiled mischievously and cast a handful of petals into your face.
Sputtering, you reached for her, and pushed her down into the flowers by her shoulders. Han Dong giggled when she found your nose brushing up against hers; your hands sunk into the soft bed beneath you gradually, until your lips met and your eyes fluttered closer.
It was blissful. Just the two of you, the feeling of her hands scrunching into the back of your shirt and the taste of her smile against yours; you couldn’t imagine any moment that had felt better.
But when you pulled apart, Han Dong let out a sigh, disappointment creasing her brow as she reached up for your face. “It’s happening again.”
Reaching your hand up, you sighed out in exasperation as you felt the sticky warmth to your nose. You scrunched your face up in concentration, putting all of your energy into sustaining the blissful world that you wanted nothing more than to remain in-- but to no avail.
You opened your eyes again to find your girlfriend in the hospital bed, her hand on your arm just like in your dream world. Only here, she was hooked up to a machine that beeped steadily, and her silken gown was replaced with the cotton one from the hospital.
“It’s okay,” she said immediately, sensing your apologies. Han Dong handed you a tissue to hold to your nose, offering you as sweet of a smile as she could. “It was beautiful.”
“It wasn’t enough,” you muttered, springing up from your chair. It had been morning when you started to conjure up the world, to imagine every little detail of it as Han Dong watched-- it was already nearly night, stars twinkling between the window’s blinds.
“It is, Y/N. You only started using your gift these two months, you can’t expect yourself to hold it for weeks,” Han Dong assured you, reaching out for your hands. You allowed yourself to be pulled closer to the bed, to the love of your life.
“We don’t have that much time left, Dongie.” You bit down on your lip, hard, and said again, “We don’t have much time. I need to make it perfect before you before you...”
“Before I go?”
You shook your head immediately, reaching up to wipe yet another droplet of blood from your face. “Before I can’t anymore,” you clarified.
As if simply talking about it had brought it on, you scrunched up your face at the pain that jolted through your head, like a lightning bolt contained inside your skull. The pains were getting worse, and according to your doctor, if you kept using your powers for hours on end each day, they would create something catastrophic.
Han Dong brushed a kiss across your knuckles and squeezed your hand. She promised, “You’ve made me so happy already. I don’t want you to do this to yourself, I might still have a few months left.”
“Don’t say that,” you interrupted, sinking into your chair. The pain that wracked your heart was honestly worse than the aches in your head; you couldn’t bear the thought of only having a few months left with the only person you’d ever loved. “Please.”
“You said it yourself, Y/N. We don’t have much time.” Han Dong smiled weakly; she was wan in the weak light of her hospital room, despite all the rich blankets you had piled onto her bed. The disease was sucking the very life out of her, even though the brightness in her eyes had never dulled.
“I didn’t... I didn’t mean it.” You shook your head rapidly, squeezing tightly onto her hands. “I swear. Look, you should... you should go to sleep. The doctor said that rest might make it better, right?”
“I’m not in pain. You are. Because of me.”
You only came to a stop when she grabbed onto your face, one hand on either side of your neck, and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I’ll be okay,” she whispered. “You’ll be okay too, as long as you stop.”
Exhaling, you kissed her again, as hard as you could without making it painful. “One more time,” you promised fiercely. “But you’ll make it. I know you will.”
It wasn’t the answer Han Dong wanted, but she must have sensed that you wouldn’t let it go. She nodded, and gathered her knees up to her chest as you closed your eyes again. “Okay. This time... how about a mountain top? High enough that we’re above the clouds.”
The clouds formed first, bubbly round forms of white that started to dapple pink and gold when you commanded them to.
“And... it’s sunset.”
The sky brightened to a deep orange.
“There are comets everywhere.”
“That’s not realistic,” you muttered even as you saw the blue and pink lights streak across your dream world.
Han Dong laughed, but continued with her descriptions. “We can see the city below us, getting ready for the night time. Busy, but we’re peaceful.”
And that was enough. When you felt a squeeze on your hand, you woke to find the exact scene your girlfriend had pictured, and the girl herself with a sad smile beside you.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered before you even asked, bending over to brush the softest of kisses to your lips.
You accepted it, even as you could feel the tears starting to sting at your eyes. The comets blurred in your vision, but you could see that Han Dong was crying too, crystal-like tears slipping down her face onto your shirt.
“It won’t be the last time,” you promised her, sucking in a shaky breath. “I promise.”
“I love you so much, Y/N,” she answered, her body wracked with her sobs. “I always will.”
