Episode 2: Left
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I was just jealous…
How could his brother call him babe? No. No way. He was lying to me.
"I don't want lies, Taeyang," I said, barely a whisper, like the wind might carry it away before he could answer.
My chest… God, it still hurts.
After I lost my memories, they didn't just give me back a name—I got a damn diagnosis too. A heart condition. One bad emotional trigger and boom, I'm back in the hospital with an IV drip and a white ceiling as my view.
I closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the ache.
"What did you see in him?" I asked, voice cracking. "What did you see in him that made you toss me aside?"
I sat up and grabbed his face in my hands. I kissed him—desperate, angry, broken.
He didn't stop me.
He just let me.
And that pissed me off even more.
I bit his lip until I tasted blood, then licked it without thinking. He still said nothing. My chest throbbed, but not as much as the ache in my heart.
"Answer me, Taeyang Jinsik!" I sobbed, voice shaking. "Why?! I just need a fucking explanation!"
"Baby," he whispered.
No. Not again.
"Don't call me that," I snapped.
He exhaled, trembling. "Kim... he's my brother. My biological brother. He was raised by my uncle after we were separated. Yes, he's gay, but he's just… family. Nothing more."
I already knew. I'd already forgiven him before he finished the sentence. But I needed something—some truth I could touch and feel. Something real.
So I took his hand and placed it on my chest.
It was beating like mad. Fast. Scared.
"Tae… what did the doctor say?"
He didn't speak.
He hugged me, and I felt the wet drop of his tear fall onto my neck.
"Tell me," I whispered, even though I already knew the answer.
He wiped his face quickly and forced a small smile. "You'll be okay. I promise."
I pulled away.
"I know what's wrong with me. I just want to hear it."
Still, I pressed his hand to my chest. Feel that? That panic? That fear?
"You… you have…" His voice broke. "Baby, I'm sorry."
Yeah. I'm dying. Three years, tops. Ain't life funny?
I don't want to hurt him.
So I'll do the hurting now.
"Let's break up."
His eyes widened. "W… what?"
"I don't love you anymore."
Lie.
But I had to say it. I had to make him believe it.
"Please… babe, don't do this," he pleaded, already crying. "Don't push me away. I'll die."
"Then die," I spat. "I hate you. I can't keep playing with you."
"You don't mean that," he said, crawling toward me, trying to hold me. "I know you love me."
"I used you," I snapped. "For sex. That's all you were. A toy. My little slut. But now? You bore me."
My heart…
I felt it.
Everything dimmed.
My knees gave out—but before I hit the floor, I felt his arms around me.
"Please… Kim, don't do this," he whispered, voice soaked in tears. "Please. I know you love me… I can't bear it if you leave me."
The doctor rushed in.
Everything blurred.
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A week later…
I woke up.
Still alive. Barely.
Still in this white hell they call a hospital.
I turned to the side instinctively, expecting to see him.
But the bed was cold.
He was gone.
He wouldn't leave me. No. He couldn't.
I waited.
And waited.
The door creaked open.
My heart skipped—hope bloomed in my chest like a stubborn weed.
"Ba—" I stopped.
It wasn't him.
It was Yoonah.
"Ah, finally awake," she said, taking the seat beside my bed.
I looked away.
"Yeah," I replied, short. I felt uneasy.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"You told him to leave," she said flatly.
"Yoonah, where is he?" My voice trembled. My pulse thumped in my ears.
This was wrong. So wrong.
"Kim, calm—"
I stood up before she could finish.
"Where did he go?!"
I was pale. Dizzy. Fragile.
But I didn't care.
I needed him.
I bolted out of the room, clutching my chest.
It hurt. But I refused to stop.
"Doctor!" a nurse yelled behind me.
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Taeyang's POV
When he said those things to me… it destroyed me.
But I knew him.
I knew why he did it.
He just didn't want me to suffer in three years.
Because that's all he has left—three fucking years.
"What triggered his collapse?" the doctor asked.
I swallowed, hard. My voice broke as I spoke.
"He told me we should break up. I begged him not to. I… I knew he didn't mean it. I know he still loves me. But he knows what's happening to him. He wants to protect me before it's too late."
The doctor looked from me to the floor.
"Then you should leave," he said. "If you stay, he'll keep blaming himself. And if he has more breakdowns like this one… he might not last a year."
That was it.
That was the moment I realized… I had to let him go.
Even if it killed me.
So I left.
I moved to Bangkok.
I told myself it was the right thing—the only thing.
But before I left, I gave my brother one job:
Watch over him.
No matter what, Kim must never know I'm still watching.
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