Jan-di's limbs felt stiff as she descended beneath the waters surface, the cold was suffocating and her skin felt as if it were being pricked by a million needles. There was however, a sense of weightlessness that overcame her as she sank her back to the ocean floor so she could watch the moons light grow faint as darkness slowly surrounded her. She wondered how much longer she would be able hold her breath and contemplated just getting it over with and giving up. The pain in her shoulder was beginning to fade from her earlier desperate attempt to resurface after being thrown over the railing, her injuries preventing her from being successful. Thankfully the throbbing was steadily easing away but the burning of her eyes was beginning to get to her, making her lids feel heavy.
Still she welcomed her end with a calmness she did not expect to have when her time came. The steady pounding of her heartbeat drummed through her ears drowning out all other noise. It felt as if time itself had come to a halt. She had probably only been in the water for mere seconds but it seemed like a lifetime. Her mind played back memories of her and her friends, of Jun-pyo. Maybe he had forgotten her because she wasn't meant to be in his future. Perhaps fate was working to save him from further heartache by taking his memories. As dedicated as he was to continuing their relationship after his accident the loss he would feel for her now compared to before would be null. Maybe she was meant to have perished with her family in that storm, the sea took them and it would have her too. How ironic she thought, would people possibly think that she jumped on purpose? The stress from the love of her life forgetting her and the two year anniversary of her families death approaching would be enough of an argument to convince anyone. News of her death would dominate the headlines as everyone picked apart this simple tragedy.
Surely life has a sense of humor, here she was closing in on a full year reunited with Gu Jun-pyo. They must not have been meant to be, density must be trying to repair some universal timeline they disrupted when he appeared in her room back stage that one night. What other explication could there be for these recent events? From the beginning they were fighting to be together, they had just assumed that Jun-pyo's mother was their biggest threat. It seems she was merely a pawn in the universes plan for them. How funny she thought bitterly as she felt herself drifting farther away. If she had stayed away from Jun-pyo he most likely would have forgotten her and gone on with life not knowing who she was, and she... she would probably be studying in the library right now instead of drowning.
Trying to rid herself of her current thoughts Jan-di tried to focus on anything she could but everything was dark now, the last bit of light she had been focusing on blocked. Closing her eyes Jan-di counted to ten before letting out the breath she had been holding. Letting go was easy, peaceful even as she accepted her fate. If she could go back and do it all again knowing that she'd end up here every time she wouldn't change a thing. She'd choose him again and again, and when this day came and she leaned back on that railing she'd keep her eyes on him just to get to look at him one last time before she fell. A warmth spread over her and she smiled Jun-pyo filling her last thoughts before she slipped into unconsciousness.
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With a deep grunt Jun-pyo pushed Jan-di's limp body up so that Mark could grab hold of her and pull her back onto the boat. Grabbing hold of the ladder he hurled himself up landing with a thud on the wooden deck floor. His head felt like it was splitting in two and he wanted to curl into a ball and hide due to the pain but he couldn't. He had to make sure she was okay. "She's not responding!" Jan-di's manager cried frantic as she shook her lifeless form. Crawling over to Jan-di Jun-pyo pushed her manager out of the way, putting his ear to her chest. He didn't hear anything, panic starting to consume him he started chest compression's. "Come on Jan-di, come on." he muttered as he continued, "Please, please please," he begged.
The universe had mercy as Jan-di shot up suddenly coughing up all the water in her lungs. Flipping her onto her side Jun-pyo pulled her hair out of her face whispering words of encouragement as she took deep shaky breaths. She was breathing again. Relieved he pulled her shivering form to him, holding her tightly as he sat up right. His arms were shaking as he ran his hand over her head, running his numb fingers through her hair, down to her face as he stoked her cheek. Despite the fact that she was shivering in his arms he could feel the warmth return in her and it deepened the relief he felt. Closing his eyes he rested his forehead against hers.
He didn't know how he found her. The swim lessons he took really paid off, that and he was desperately praying that he'd find her. He refused to accept any other alternative as he searched for her. She had sank so far in such a short amount of time it shocked him and he almost thought he wouldn't be able to reach her. He just knew that he had to, he wasn't going back without her. "We're almost back to the docks, there's an ambulance there waiting to take her to the hospital." Nodding in understanding Jun-pyo leaned back his headache worsening. He had accomplished what he needed to do. Jan-di was back on the boat and she was breathing. He could rest now. Taking one last glance at her Jun-pyo loosened his hold on her and let his world go dark giving into unconsciousness, his head hitting the wooden floor with a loud crack.
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Squinting, Jun-pyo groaned as he opened his eyes. It was bright, too bright and he didn't welcome it at all. "Glad to see you're awake sleeping beauty." Startled Jun-pyo looked around taking in his surroundings, he was in a hospital room. "Why are you here?" he moaned sitting up slightly his head pounding. Ji-hoo was beginning to become a thorn in his side. "I'm here to watch over you, instructions from Jan-di." Ears perking up at the mention of her name Jun-pyo willed his eyes open in search for her. "She's not here right now." Frowning Jun-pyo cradled his head in his palm, waking up to Ji-hoo and a killer headache was not his idea of a good start to any day. "Take this, it will help with the headache." Thankful, Jun-pyo took the two white pills Ji-hoo offered and swallowed them dry.
"Where is Jan-di? Is she well enough to be leaving the hospital already?" Sighing Ji-hoo pulled up a chair to sit next to his bedside. "Jun-pyo, it's been two and a half weeks. Jan-di was discharged days ago. She's recovered well, she hadn't left your side until this morning actually." Ji-hoo stated simply watching his friends reaction. Thankful for the news Jun-pyo let out a sigh of relief. "Her manager had booked her an interview on Stars with Ji-woo, it's going to be a year from her first interview and they thought it was a good way to launch her new music video. Jan-di wanted to reschedule but she needed to get out of this room some so I helped her manager convince her to go." Chuckling Jun-pyo tried to imagine the fight Jan-di gave them over that, but as disappointed as he was to not see her, he was glad that she was well enough to work.
"Jun-pyo," Ji-hoo said in a more serious tone, "What is your last memory?"
"I guess being on the boat with Jan-di," Jun-pyo mused after thinking for a moment. He just remembered holding her in his arms and then everything went black. His head was killing him then as well. "I'm just curious as to why you were out for so long. It doesn't really make sense." With a shrug Jun-pyo sighed quietly. "Maybe it was the stress of having to remember those swimming lessons I took so suddenly, you know how I am with water. Even though I was determined to learn it always took it's toll on me."
"What did you say?" Ji-hoo asked shocked. "You remember the swimming lessons?" Personally Ji-hoo was the only one aware that Jun-pyo had learned to swim. After the incident with Jan-di in the water that one time Jun-pyo was vowed that he wouldn't watch another man save her. Hearing that he remembered this was of great surprise to him. "Oh yea," Jun-pyo laughed rubbing the back of his head, "I remember everything."
"What! Why didn't you lead with that instead of asking about Jan-di?" Ji-hoo scolded "regaining your memories is probably why your head was hurting like it was, but I still don't understand why you were out for so long."
"I'm not sure," Jun-pyo mumbled as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, "but I had an interview to crash. Care to help me?"
Smirking, Ji-hoo shook his head in disbelief. Not even medical mysteries could stop Jun-pyo once he's set his mind to something. "Sure, sure, I'll let you. What do you need?" Something about the mischievous smile Jun-pyo wore unsettled Ji-hoo.
"You still got that ring for me, right?"
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This chapter is a bit shorter than I wanted but the next one or maybe two... will wrap things up. I've already got a second story in the works. I wasn't planning on doing two back to back but it looks like it's going to turn out that way. Hopefully I can get the new story going by the time I get back from vacation.