Days ticked by one by one, each felt longer than the last, and as those days passed, the boy grew more and more worrying. As each day went by he became merely a shell of what he once was. He was no longer himself.
He was never the quiet type, much the opposite. He was once animated, talkative, and a smiley boy, that was gone. Lost in the flurry of feelings created by a tragedy, he rarely talked. The people who surrounded him could do nothing but watch as he withdrew from his former self, that wasn’t Dongpyo.
Time had passed, and he could only smile sadly at his thoughts. Anecdotes of the two of you overflowed his head, the heartbreaking view of the boy letting his tears fall as he laughed was enough to make even the toughest cry, he didn’t know what to do anymore. Each day he could only ponder the what if’s racing through his head,
“What would be different?” A whole lot a would be different.
♡ ༄
The sixth month came, and he couldn’t forget. He was haunted, tormented, by the endless memories of you both, he couldn’t sleep, not in the slightest. At nights when he’d lay down with intentions to sleep he was met with dark sleepless hours. Each hour went by slowly, the dark room provided a scarily empty atmosphere. In that dark room all that developed were dark thoughts.
Darkness, that’s all he saw. Darkness, that’s all he felt.
As the hours passed, his thoughts only worsened. He turned helplessly, he longed sleep, for just one second he wished he could stop thinking of you. Then when reality hit, everything hurt more. He didn’t long for sleep, he wanted you. Deep down in his heart there was only one thing he truly wanted, to see you again. To see you laugh, smile, blink; to feel a hug, just anything, from you. He let himself cry just this once, he let himself be enveloped in his endless thoughts of you. He wanted one thing he couldn’t have, and that was you.
As each night passed they shared one constant, thoughts of you.
♡ ༄
Another six months passed, making it a year since you had passed. Dongpyo was still lost, without you he was directionless, but with time he had somewhat been able to bring himself back to life. The night you had died, a part of him died along side you, but as he sat at his desk writing away a final letter to you he found himself going down a place he hadn’t been down in a while. A place that formerly brought him pain, now provided him with a sense of comfort.
Thinking back at memories of you both used to bring a suffocating feeling of heartache. Each formerly joyous memory hurt more than the last. At a year since you had passed he now looked back at his memories and could rest peacefully knowing one thing, you knew he loved you.
Maybe that was enough for him.
♡ ༄
Dear darling, it’s been a while.
I miss you a lot more than I want to admit, but it’s getting better. How are you? I hope you’re doing well, because that’s all you’ve ever deserved. Life without you is so dull. Everything seems so empty here. Days have all kind of blurred together, and the past year is one big chunk of time I don’t really remember. I promise I’m getting better Y/N, I know you wouldn’t have wanted me to be sad about it forever. It’s just hard without you.
Seungwoo and the others have been so protective of me since last year, I can’t go an hour alone without having someone checking in on me. It’s nice though, being alone hasn’t done me any well in the past year, having their company makes everything a lot more bearable. Dohyun has grown so much, it’s kind of scary how tall he is, I’ve grown a little bit too! You always said I’d grow a bit more, you were always right with those kinda of things.
My grades in school have gotten better, I promised you the last time we talked I’d study harder, and I didn’t break my promise this time. I miss talking to you Y/N, your voice always made me feel better. I still look through all the pictures I have of you sometimes, you seem to get prettier every time I look back at them. I had my first birthday without you back in September, it was so weird not hearing you sing happy birthday for the first time, you were always the loudest when singing.
Wherever you are Y/N, please remember how much you mattered to me. How much you mattered to everyone. Please remember how much you will always matter to me, because you always will. I love you Y/N. I want to be at peace with the fact you’re gone, so I can live happily, for you.
hello again! so following the release of “many summers past” i got the uRGE to write the second story I mentioned in the first post. before that though i’d really like to thank everyone who read it and said such nice things, i’ve never gotten such a response for ANYTHING i’ve ever written and i’m just so thankful and so happy everyone enjoyed it :)). this is still inspired by @asdfghjilysm , hope you enjoy this continuation of the story <3 (this only makes sense if you’ve read “many summers past” so please read that before this)
@x1-imagines (hey bub I know you’ve been waiting for this ♡)
𖧷𖧷𖧷
Junho’s eyes crinkled slightly as he sat on the grass of our backyard playing with Cocoa and Brownie, the two dogs we had adopted not long ago. I smiled gently cradling Cocoa on my lap as brownie played excitedly with Junho. “You told Yunseo the story with Eunsang?” Junho said suddenly.
I smiled softly, “She was bound to find that photo one day love. I did tell her, poor girl started crying after I told her.” I said gently chuckling at the girl. Junho softly laughed along with me knowing Yunseo cried at pretty much anything remotely sad.
“I still miss Eunsang some days.” Junho said his eyes looking up at the sky a sad smile present on his face.
“I do too love.” I responded looking down at Cocoa gently rubbing the top of her head as she settled further into the warmth of my thigh. There was a moment of silence before it was interrupted suddenly.
“Grandma! Grandpa!” Yunseo came walking in excitedly from the house. Her school uniform wrinkled slightly, the bow tied around the neck of her shirt pretty much undone by now. She walked towards us and plopped herself down in front of Junho and I, shortly after she was tackled by Brownie.
“Hey honey!”Junho and I responded in sync prompting us to look at each other before laughing. “How was your day at school?” Junho asked turning his attention towards Yunseo.
“It was fine, extremely tiring but otherwise I’ve had worse days.” She said while petting Brownie who laid over her lap. The petite girl almost getting engulfed by the decently sized dog.
“What made you stop by today love? You usually only visit on weekends.” I asked as I watched Cocoa move towards Junho where she decided to settle on resting against his leg.
“I came by cause I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the other story.” She paused as Brownie began to bark for seemingly no reason what’s so ever. As her barking ceased she finished her statement, “The story about you and Grandpa.”
Junho watched me begin to adjust myself again on the grass where we both sat. “This story’s a little longer, are you sure you want to hear it today?” Junho smiled slightly beginning to relive the events. Yunseo smiled at the smile the grew on her grandfathers face, she nodded her head quickly.
“I’m sure.” She stated confidently. I smiled at her, as I gently took Junho’s hand in mine and began to fiddle with his wedding ring, a habit I’ve had for more that 4 decades.
“Alright then.”
𖧷𖧷𖧷
Summer 1969
Y/N sat on her bed unable to do anything other than cry. Being unable to comprehend the gravity of what her mother had just told her. Her mom sat at the edge of Y/N’s bed, hand on her back in a failed attempt to comfort you. He wasn’t gone. He couldn’t be. You had seen him just yesterday. It wasn’t real.
Her head hurt, a pounding sensation at the back of her head as she sobbed. Your hands gripped onto a pillow tightly, your face buried into the pillow trying to make yourself believe that he was still here with you, that maybe you’d wake up and it’d just be a really bad nightmare. Yet deep inside, you just knew it was true even if you desperately hoped it wasn’t.
𖧷
Just two weeks ago Y/N and Eunsang had been running around the park joyously, now not even a month after you were watching him and his mother being buried. It was painful to say the least, your body trembled as you tried your hardest to suppress tears. The bouquet of flowers clutched tightly to your chest fell. Right as you realized you had dropped the flowers you looked down to pick them up, but before you could someone else had.
You looked to your left to see Cha Junho, Eunsangs best friend, and one of your decently close friends. He gently handed you the bouquet of flowers offering a very obviously forced smile. His eyes, nose, and ears were tinted red as he solemnly stared at the floor trying his absolute hardest to stop his tears. Standing side-by-side you both stood there quietly waiting for the burying to be comeplete so you could place your flowers and finally try and part with him.
You watched as his sister looked up from the grave to see you, she could barely muster a smile before she ran up to you tackling you in a hug. She buried her head in the crook of your neck as your arms wrapped around her frame beginning to cry with her. She pulled a small photograph from her purse as she pulled away and gently handed it to you along with a delicate bracelet, your tears only fell harder looking at the two objects.
“Eunsang had these with him till the very end, and he wanted you to have them.” She said in a choked out whisper. You smiled softly at the picture she handed you, and through her tears she also smiled. “Do you want to say goodbye?” She asked knowing very well that you had been standing nearby waiting for it to be cleared out so you could say goodbye without anyone hearing what you had to say.
You nodded, sniffling before turning to look at Junho who now stood with another one of Eunsang’s friends. Turning away you walked towards where the fresh dirt layed, you gently placed the bouquet of white roses onto where his body layed. You crouched down in front of the grave beginning to whisper, hoping that Eunsang could hear you.
“I’m sorry, I’m really really sorry. Thank you for the bracelet Eunsang. I really love it. I’m sorry we won’t be able to see eachother anymore, but just know you’ll never been forgotten. I love you.” Eunsangs sister sniffled and you breathily laughed through tears.
𖧷
You and Junho walked towards a nearby cafe. Not talking to eachother if anything barely acknowledging eachother. You were going to be picked up by your mom there and Junho’s parents owned that cafe. It was pretty much unavoidable. When you arrived at the cafe Junho opened the door and let you walk in first to which you mumbled a quiet thank you before moving to sit with your mom at a table by the large window.
“How are you honey?” She said smiling, in some way trying to console you. Your voice hoarse, lips quivering, and eyes threatening to overspill with tears once again you mumbled out ‘im fine’ but it was apparent you weren’t.
A plate of food was put in front of you, there stood Junho. “It’s on the house.” He said quietly, before walking off to the back most likely to change into his work uniform. You looked down at the food realizing it was your favorite. For a moment, just a moment, it felt like you weren’t totally alone.
𖧷
End of Summer, beginning of Fall 1969
Starting school was horrible. Over what was left of the summer you and Junho had become friends. It started off with talking to eachother about Eunsang, sharing how hard it was without him, then slowly you both opened up to eachother about your more personal lives. You weren’t best friends, but you knew quite a lot about eachother,
Everybody knew about Eunsangs death. They rubbed it in your face, constantly asking questions, and pestering you with it. It was horrendous. Everyday when lunch time came around you’d sit on the floor of the biggest bathroom stall and couldn’t help but cry. It was a horrid feeling being pestered about a lost love when your not even ready to talk about it to the people closest to you.
Then it happened. The one day that would change everything.
The day was normal, you got up, got ready, ate, walked to school, and waited on a bench before school started. You mostly sat quietly thinking about anything at everything. When they came around. The three girls you hated most. The girls who made it a point to make your days so bad you had seriously thought of switching to a school 4 miles away from your house. There they started with their daily taunts, except this time someone kept them from finishing.
“Will you three shut up?” A voice rang, you knew that voice, it was Junho. It always seemed to happen like this. Something happened and Junhos there for you before it could get worse. The girls of course flashed their long eyelashes, twirled their hair around their fingers, and tried to flirt their way out of a confrontation with everyone’s dream boy.
“But Junho, we weren’t doing anything!” Kyunghee whined, gently pouting at him. He scoffed rolling his eyes before moving past them to stand in front of you holding his hand out to you.
“Hey Y/N, would you like to sit with my friends and I?” You placed your hand in his and started to stand up, before nodding and walking off with him.
𖧷
Summer 1971
Oh my, things sure had changed. Over the last two years you and Junho had become best friends. Every week you both took weekly trips to visit Eunsang and his mom’s grave, to place flowers, clean up, and just talk to him and keep him updated on how you two had been. Your love never wavered, but it was different now.
You both sat cross legged in front of his tombstone, telling him about how recently you’re niece had been born, and how one of your older sisters had recently started dating Sihoon, one of Eunsangs friends. Junho laughed and brought up how Sihoon had practically almost fainted the day he planned to ask her out. You laughed, gently moving to rest your head on Junho’s shoulder.
“I miss him.” Junho said his arm moving around your shoulders, his right hand resting on your shoulder. You smiled before replying. “Me too.”
𖧷
Fall 1971
It was a breezy autumn day and you had forgotten a sweater. Typical. Junho, Dongpyo, Minhee, Hyeongjun, and you had headed out for a day to the beach, it was much colder than you expected. You sat on the blanket placed over the sand shivering as you watched Dongpyo and Minhee battle it out on who got to eat the last cookie that you had baked while Hyeongjun was looking for seashells on the wet sand by himself and you had no idea where Junho had went.
You laughed at Minhee’s face as you watched Dongpyo run off with the cookie quickly followed by Minhee who yelled out, “Come back you twerp I want that cookie!” Mid laugh you felt a sweater being draped over your shoulders and someone plop themselves besides you.
“I can’t believe you forgot your sweater.” Junho said laughing at you. You looked up at him pouting, “The forecast didn’t say it’d be nearly this cold.” He smiled looking down at your face. Your cheeks flushed and you looked away as you slipped your arms into the sleeves of his jacket.
His eyes examined your face and his heart fluttered, keeping his feelings from you had been so hard, but he was willing to give you as much time as you needed to heal. You turned to look at him, his face being shined on by the sun as it began to switch places with the moon. He looked gorgeous. You smiled shyly your eyes never leaving his. He found himself leaning down, his nose bumping against yours, he smiled shyly. Your face leaned forwards and your lips connected. Everything felt so right.
𖧷
Winter 1972
Christmas time, a very joyful time of year. You and Junho smiled as you watched your niece excitedly wait for you to hand her the gift you had gotten her. Your eldest sister smiled watching Hyunjoo excitedly smile at the box wrapped in decorative paper. She hurriedly ripped the paper and was very happy to see a doll. She smiled and instantly ran throwing herself at you, pulling you into a hug, a long string of thank you’s coming from her mouth.
The gifts from beneath the tree began to lessen until there was none. Your mom began to start picking up the wrapping paper scattered across the floor and putting it into a trash bag. Until Junho interrupted, “There’s still one more gift.” He said.
You turned around shocked to find Junho knelt on one knee. Your hands flew up to your face, a rush of emotions overcoming you, tears beginning to prick your eyes. “L/N Y/N, I know how difficult the past few years have been for you, and I’m so incredibly glad you’ve let me come onto your life. I want to be with you and love you for the rest of my life, and if you’d like to, Will you marry me?” Tears began flowing from your eyes and you gently laughed, falling to your knees and wrapping your arms around his neck, “Of course I will!” His arms snaked around your waist pulling you closer as you cried softly. His lips gently landed on your forehead.
You families clapped exitedly at the news of your engagement. At just 20 years old they watched you two knowing, just knowing, that maybe it’d actually be forever
𖧷
Fall 1973
Junho’s arms wrapped around your waist pulling your body closer to his. He rested his chin on your shoulder quietly standing there with you. You smiled gently, giggling at the face he made when you turned your head. Your hands continued washing the dishes as his lips placed gentle repetitive kisses on your right cheek.
“How was your day at work love?” You asked him as you put dishes onto the drying wrack before moving to get a towel to dry off your hands.
He sighed as his arms loosened around you allowing you to turn around to face him. His hands reattached themselves tightly to your waist pulling you up against his chest before leaning to place a chaste kiss to your lips. “It was tiring as ever. I’m just glad I’m home with you now.” You smiled slightly, your forehead resting against his shoulder, you lifted your head up to place a kiss to his jaw. He smiled shyly.
“I ate dinner a while ago, but I left some for you in the fridge. I’ll reheat it.” You said as you pulled yourself from his warm embrace to go reheat his food. He leaned against the counter smiling to himself, “I love you Y/N.” You giggled quietly to yourself as you put the soup you had made earlier in a pot, turned on the stove, and placed it onto the burner. You walked to him again and looked up at him, “I love you too.”
You both now sat together at the table talking about your day. You listened as he complained about a co worker who had been especially irritating today. There had been a very important topic your mother had been pestering you about. The doctor’s visit. You began fiddling with one of the rings you wore on your left ring finger.
“What’s making you nervous?” Junho questioned, very aware of the habit you had when you got nervous. You crossed your legs a let out a long sigh. Your hands sweaty you rubbed them over your legs before you finally gathered your courage to tell him. “I went to the doctors today.” He nodded waiting for you to fully finish what you had to say.
“I’m pregnant.” You said wincing at the words you had finally said out loud. Your eyes shut, you weren’t sure what to expect as a response. He stayed quiet. You opened your eyes to see him begin to tear up. He blinked rapidly before he gave you the biggest smile he had ever given you. He stood up and let his head fall, his hands going up to cover is face as he cried. You instantly shot up, your hands gently cupping his face and wiping his tears.
His hands fell down to your waist and he pulled you into a kiss before he practically fell to his knees. He leaned his forehead against your stomach where the baby was growing and just gently smiled as he began to press kisses to your stomach. Your hands moved to his hair, you gently carded your hands through his brown locks and smiled.
“I know you don’t know me yet, but I’m your dad. I just wanted you to know I already love you.”
𖧷
Spring 1979
You watched happily as Junho sat on the floor playing with Sunghoon. It was Sunghoons birthday and you were but a few months away from having your third child. Your five year old boy stood up excitedly, Junho followed suit running around with the action figure chasing after Sunghoon. Miyoung, your two year old girl, was curled into your stomach while sat on your lap.
“You’ll never catch me!” Sunghoon exclaimed as he dashed across the living room, Junho very nearby replied, “Yes I will!” In an instant Sunghoon had been lifted up off the floor and into his dads arms, he squealed as Junho moved to sit cross legged on the floor and began to tickle him. You giggled along with them, Miyoung quickly began to ask to be let go which you did. She ran towards her brother and dad and began to softly hit her dads hands trying to save her brother.
Once Junho let go Sunghoon quickly scrambled away from him, but hugged Miyoung closely smiling and saying, “My savior!” You smiled fondly as Junho came to sit besides you, his arm wrapped loosely around your waist as he kept his eyes on his two children. He smiled, “I can wait for our last.” You giggled softly leaning your head on his shoulder, “Me neither.”
𖧷
Summer 1982
Sunghoon ran straight towards you, Miyoung following closely behind as they ran towards the bench you were sat at. Eunju, your youngest child, smiled as she reached out for Sunghoons hand, which he instantly took. Sunghoon had a special space in his heart for his sisters, he really loved them.
“Where do you want to go Eunju?” He said softly, Miyoung was crouched in front of Eunju gently adjusting her hair before standing up and taking her other hand.
“Slide.” Eunju replied, her eyes set straight on the slide in the near distance. Sunghoon and Miyoung giggled slightly at their younger sisters lack of words, but walked towards the slide instantly after hearing her request. You smiled happily, you watched Sunghoon sit behind Eunju and Miyoung sit besides them on the slide next to them. They went down and you could hear Eunju’s quiet giggling.
Junho plopped down besides you on the bench holding out a small flower he had found. He took your hand and gently placed the flower into your hand following the small kiss he placed on the back of your hand. You took a further look at the small flower and smiled. Junho watched fondly as you got excited after recieving flower from him, even though he had made it a habit to bring you flowers quite often.
“Thank you Junho.” You said turning to look at him quickly, before returning your gaze to the children now on the swings. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips quickly before responding, “Of course my love.”
“Daddy kissed mommy! Ew!!” Sunghoon and Miyoung said in unison, Eunju unaware of what to do added onto it with a small unsure ‘Ew.’
You giggled softly before you stood up and said, “Hurry up! The ice cream man is over there! Whoever makes it there last has to clean up the mess you guys make at home!” You began to run in that direction, closely followed by Sunghoon and Miyoung. Junho stood up quickly and picked up Eunju and began to run after you three.
He smiled to himself, before laughing. “I can’t believe you guys left me!”
“Daddy now you have to clean up at home!” Miyoung said giggling.
𖧷
Summer 1992
“Sunghoon will you shut up? It’s just a date.” Miyoung said frustratedly as she put her shoes on.
“It’s not just a date! It’s your first date. You have to be careful.” Sunghoon said in return, Eunju sat on the bed in the bedroom she shared with her older sister and watched.
“Oh my god, Sunghoon you don’t have to protect me anymore. I can protect myself. I promise I’ll be careful, and be back by 8.”
“7:30.” Sunghoon said firmly ignoring his sister.” She sighed in annoyance before once again stating, “8.”
Before Sunghoon could reply Eunju had said, “7:45?” Miyoung and Sunghoon looked at her and smiled fondly. The put their stubbornness aside and looked at eachother, “7:45.” The said in unison.
Eunju smiled happily her braces on display as she stood up and began to look for a book to read. “Unnie, promise you’ll be careful?” Miyoung smiled lovingly at the sister just two years younger than her, “I promise.”
“Hurry up Miyoung remember I’m the one driving you over there.” She cursed under her breath before saying bye to Eunju. She ran down the stairs saying quick goodbyes to her parents and ran out the door into her brothers car.
“It’s her first date already.” Y/N said sadly. Junho sulked silently, “My little girl is growing up so quickly and I don’t like it.” You giggled silently before you smiled to yourself after hearing the car start, “She really is growing up.”
𖧷
Fall 2002
Y/N and Junho walked down the hall excitedly, Junho held a ballon and flowers and Y/N held another ballon with a teddy bear.
“Junho I’m so excited.” He looked at you and smiled, “Me too love.” You continued to smile, your hand getting slightly sweaty.
“Junho it’s our first grandchild!” His eyes crinkled and he laughed at your excitement, “I know, I know! I just can’t believe we’re going to have our first grandchild already.” You arrived at the door and Junho instinctively opened the door and let you walk in before him, he always did that.
You walked in and came into view if your daughter Miyoung and her husband at her bedside, he must’ve arrived earlier this morning. Eunju sat in the recliner sleeping, she had been with her all night. Sunghoon was rushing home from a business trip eargerly wanting to meet his niece.
“Mom, dad, meet Yunseo.” You looked down at the small baby girl in her arms. You almost comepletly dropped the bear and let go of the balloon. Junho quickly grabbed the balloon before you let it go. Miyoung laughed softly. “Would you like to hold her Mom?”
“Of course I do!” You said smiling as you sat by her bedside after her husband had moved. You took Yunseo into your arms and smiled. You leaned down and pressed a small kiss to Yunseo’s forehead.
“I love you.”
𖧷𖧷𖧷
“Wow.” Yunseo said taking in the whole story. “I had no idea mom and dad were high school sweethearts!” Junho laughed at her state of shock. Yunseo tucked her hair behind her ears and just sat there. She tried her hardest to process the whole story.
“You and Grandpa met because of Eunsang.” She said quietly, not really present. I nodded softly. “When was the last time you visited him?”
I thought about it for a while not really sure, “I’m not exactly sure, but’s it’s been a very long time.” Junho sat in thought before answering, “Maybe 20 years?” I looked at him trying to do the math before agreeing, “20 years sounds about right.”
“Do you ever want to visit him again?” Both Junho and I nodded, “Of course we’d like to visit him.” Junho smiled and began to stroke the back of Cocoa’s head.
“It’s really been 50 years without Eunsang huh?” I smiled sadly, “It has been 50 years without him. It’s so unfortunate he only got to live for 16 years.” Junho nodded in agreement. “He never got to have his 17th birthday.”
Yunseo watched as both Junho and I reminisced, she smiled quietly. “I have to leave soon but this weekend will you both take me to visit him?” I smiled, “Of course we will.”
Yunseo gave us both a quick hug before she said her goodbyes and walked off to her house just a few blocks down. I walked towards the table with Junho now sat with food about to begin to eat.
“Eunsang deserved so much better.” Junho stated looking down at the bracelet that matched the one Eunsang used to wear. You looked down at the bracelet he had his sister give you the day of the funeral. They matched. “He really did.”
The fall the followed would change your life for the better, but as you looked down at your bracelet that matched with Junho’s you can’t help but think maybe, just maybe Eunsang had hoped you two would end up together. Junho remembered the promise he made with his best friend a month before his death. He promised him no matter what he’d make sure Y/N was happy.
Eunsang rested at ease knowing you were both happy. As summer ended, the fall that followed changed everything you knew. Maybe it was for the best
