Chapter 9: Till Eternity

MAL stomped on the brakes in a hurry as soon as she spotted the familiar sight of the gigantic, glass-covered building on her side of the tinted window. She sighed, trying to gulp away the lump that was stuck in her throat.

Unclipping her seatbelt, she unlocked the BMW car handle and made her way out of the vehicle, shutting the door with a loud thud behind her. Her high wedge heels, to her dismay, continued to ruffle against the hard, dusty ground as she hurried toward the building's entrance. Her hands turned into fists as stress filled her insides. Her vision focused on the entrance before her while her legs took steps closer to the building.

And as soon as she realized it, her eyes caught a figure sitting with their legs close to their chest, causing her pupils to widen. Her shoes ruffled once against the dry ground. A small groan escaped the figure's mouth before they raised their head up.

The soft, dark hair. The familiar, glistening deep brown eyes. The pale skin almost sparkled under the moonlight, with small beads of sweat pouring down his forehead.

Junwon.

"Baby?" Her voice trembled as she ran towards her lover. "I'm here, sweetheart."

His vision darted upwards to take a blurry glance at her face. His lips curved into a small smile as soon as he realized it was his girlfriend.

"Noona..." He whispered, then set his two hands on the floor he was sitting on to help him get up. As soon as he was standing up straight, he took a few steps forward to wrap his arms around his lover's torso.

"What's wrong, baby?"

He allowed his mouth to break into another small, sad smile while he continued to embrace her, his muscles relaxing too much for his liking in the process.

"I don't feel well, noona..." He whispered. "I want to go home with you."

"What about your practice, baby?"

He shook his head at that. "I already asked for permission to leave. I don't want to stay here anymore."

She nodded her head while patting his back slightly to calm him down.

"Okay, sweetheart. Let's get you to the car."

. . .

His exhausted, overworked body hit the king-sized mattress with a soft whoosh. His eyes immediately closed themselves and his muscles relaxed.

"Baby," she called out, interrupting his racing thoughts, her voice soft with sympathy. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

He nodded his head lightly, his eyes barely open. "No, noona, I just want to sleep. I'm really, really tired."

She sighed and made her way toward the other side of the bed, climbing into the empty space beside him. As soon as she laid down beside him, she sent him a soft smile and stretched her arm in the air, inviting him to her warm embrace in the process. He didn't hesitate to wrap an arm around her torso and inch himself closer to her body.

"Thank you, noona." His voice came out shaky yet soft and slow, just like always.

"For what, sweetheart?"

"For coming to pick me up like I asked. I know you're busy, and you making time for me means the entire world to me." He spoke in a sincere tone. Mal softly smiled at his words. "Thank you for caring about me, and loving me like you do. You mean the entire universe to me, noona. I love you so, so much."

"I love you too, baby." She replied, rubbing circles on his waist with her slender fingers. "I'll care about you, and love you till eternity. I promise."

His eyes shimmered with tears. Tears of happiness, contentment, and satisfaction.

"You're going to be alright," she assured, her lips pressing against his forehead, against his soft hair. "You're with me."

Oh, how wrong she was.

Junwon sent her a soft, tearful grin as he nodded.

He was. He really, really was. Or rather, would be.

"Noona, I love you." He whispered again, this time more desperate. His insides burned and filled up with butterflies. His eyes slowly filled up with tears once again.

This time, however, were tears of pain and desperation.

"I love you too, sweetheart.'' She assured, pulling him closer to her embrace. "I love you too."

Her familiar, reassuring scent filled his nostrils. That of vanilla and roses. He sighed heavily, his muscles relaxing once again.

"You're doing good, baby." She reassured him one last time before running a hand through his soft hair, the movement immediately making him drift off to a deep, peaceful slumber.

Was he?

Mal closed her eyes and inhaled as well, allowing herself to give in to the darkness as well.

. . .

They both had no idea how many hours had it been since they fell asleep.

But when Mal opened her eyes, she noticed how dark the room was. Each object in the gigantic room was almost invisible. Her vision was blurry. Her body was sticky and she ignored the urge to get up from bed despite how uncomfortable it actually was.

She took a blurry, sleepy glance at Junwon, who laid still between her arms.

And to her surprise, she could now notice the state he was in.

Sweat poured down his forehead. Small, soft groans escaped his slightly parted mouth. His arm unconsciously clutched his stomach to ease some of the pain. His knees were close to his stomach, and to her terror, nothing seemed to relieve his pain. His hair was now matted with sweat.

Another slightly louder groan escaped his mouth, causing her to turn her attention to him, her eyes wide open with shock.

"Baby?" She called out, her voice raspy and soft. "Junwon, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

He opened his eyes after a few seconds, and despite how dark the room was, Mal could see how exhausted and sick he was. His eyes were filled with tears of desperation as a small hiccuped sob escaped his mouth.

"N-Noona," he called out, his body, along with his voice, shaking against his will. "I-I feel s-sick. I want to—"

He closed his mouth with his hand in terror, shaking his head at her as he sat up straight and made his way towards the bathroom that was connected to their room in a desperate hurry. Mal got up from her side of the bed and immediately followed his figure.

To her shock, her lover stopped in front of the toilet, which was located at the far end of the luxurious bathroom and fell to his knees. It didn't take long for him to give in to the urge to vomit.

Mal took quick, shaky steps towards him and inched herself closer, then wrapped her arms around his waist from behind to reassure him.

"Baby, are you okay?" She asked, stretched out her hand to run her fingers through his hair, pulling it back slightly. "What's going on? Is your stomach hurting?"

He nodded his head, tears streaming down his face in the process. As soon as his body relaxed, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and threw his head back against his lover's shoulder. Heavy, uneven breaths escaped his mouth and nose.

She pulled him closer to her by his waist and placed a kiss on his sweat-covered forehead, her other hand wrapped itself around his chest to pull him against her once again.

Another soft groan escaped his throat, along with hot tears of pain.

"Shh," she shushed him in a gentle tone. "Don't cry, sweetheart. It will be okay."

She tightened her embrace around his weak frame and continued to whisper sweet nothings into his ear, hoping it would send him the slightest bit of reassurance.

"N-Noona," he spoke, his tone broken with pain. "Stay with me. P-Please."

"Of course, sweetheart. I promise."

And despite her attempts to calm him down and reassure him, her mind continued to swim with thoughts, most of them being questions of confusion and worry.

What was going on?