CALL ME • MYUNG JAEHYUN - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

FLASHBACK
Eunhye sat by the hospital window, sunlight painting thin golden stripes across her face through the blinds. It was one of those rare days when everything didn’t feel like a burden—when she could see the world outside without tears in her eyes. The cherry blossom tree in the courtyard was blooming early. She watched the petals dance in the wind, delicate and brief, and somehow, they made her smile.
She was holding a pen between her fingers, an old habit she hadn’t outgrown. The paper in front of her was pristine, untouched, and somehow… terrifying. Writing a letter always meant something final. And she wasn’t ready to say goodbye—not to Hyejin, not to Jaehyun. Not yet.
But something deep inside whispered that it was time to prepare. Just in case.
She began slowly, each stroke careful.
Jaehyun,
If you're reading this, I guess the worst has already happened.
There were so many things I wanted to say to you… but you always made it hard to be serious. You kept making me smile even when I didn’t want to.
I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I was scared. I didn’t want you to see me like this—breaking, falling apart.
But you came anyway.
Thank you.
You were the last warmth I remembered when the world started to turn cold.
You were the last light when everything else turned dark.
If there’s an afterlife, I hope we find each other again. And if we do… let’s start over without all the pain.
Just you and me.
I’ll wait for you, okay?
- Eunhye
She folded the letter with trembling hands and sealed it in an envelope. Her name wasn’t on the front—only his. She held it to her chest, staring at it for a moment, before calling softly, “Hyejin.”
Her friend came over, eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“Can you do me a favor?” Eunhye asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “If something happens… I don’t want Jaehyun to see. Please… make him leave. Just… keep him from that moment.”
“Eunhye—” Hyejin’s voice cracked.
“Please,” she begged. “I don’t want the last thing he sees to be my body. I want him to remember me... Awake.”
Hyejin nodded, wiping at her eyes quickly. “Okay. I promise.”
BACK TO THE PRESENT
The sky outside had turned gray. The light filtered in pale and cold, barely touching the corners of the room. The beeping of the monitors was softer now, as if even the machines knew what was coming.
Eunhye stirred faintly in the hospital bed, her lips parted with shallow, fragile breaths. Her face was pale—too pale—and her eyelids fluttered as if caught between this world and the next.
Jaehyun was by her side, holding her hand in both of his, his thumb gently stroking her knuckles. He hadn't moved all night.
“Eunhye…” he whispered, voice hoarse. “I’m here.”
Her lips moved slowly, and her voice came out like silk unraveling—soft, delicate, fading. “Jaehyun…”
“I’m here. You’re not alone.”
Her head turned slightly in his direction, eyes barely open, the color in them like smoke. “Don’t be sad, okay?”
“I can’t help it,” he choked out.
A slow smile crept onto her lips. “You were the last good thing I saw,” she said, voice a breath of warmth in a cold room.
He gripped her hand tighter. “Stay. Please.”
She blinked slowly, her breathing slowing. “I want to. I really do.”
Jaehyun leaned closer, their foreheads almost touching. “You don’t have to say anything. Just stay. I’ll be here. Always.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, though she didn’t flinch. “If there’s an afterlife…” Her voice faltered. “Let’s start over. Without all the pain.”
“Yeah,” he whispered, eyes stinging. “We will.”
Her eyes closed then, lashes fluttering against her skin like the last breath of a dying star. Her chest rose—once. Then fell.
And didn’t rise again.
The monitor let out a soft, continuous tone. Flatline.
Jaehyun sat frozen, still holding her hand like he could will her back.
“Eunhye?” he called softly.
Silence.
“Eunhye,” he tried again, more desperate now, but her face had gone still. Peaceful. Empty.
The nurse stepped in, quietly pressing a button. Hyejin was crying in the hallway, her hands over her mouth, the letter still in her coat pocket—still unopened.
Inside the room, Jaehyun sat quietly beside the girl who once filled his world with the most bittersweet light.
And just like that—
She was gone.
J
AEHYUN
I didn’t move for hours.
The room was still, the air thick with something I couldn’t name. Maybe grief. Maybe silence. Maybe the weight of everything I had left unsaid.
Her hand had grown cold in mine, but I couldn’t let go. I didn’t want to.
Letting go meant accepting it.
Letting go meant she wasn’t going to open her eyes again.
The nurses had come in, gentle, quiet, with looks that begged me to stand up, to move, to let them do their job. But I couldn’t.
And then Hyejin came in. Red-eyed. Hands trembling. Holding something against her chest like it would shatter if she loosened her grip.
“I didn’t want to—” she began, voice shaking. “But she wrote this for you… in case…”
She didn’t have to finish the sentence.
I reached for the envelope, hands numb. My name was written on the front in her handwriting, the way she used to write my name in the corners of her notebooks when she thought no one was looking.
I stared at it for a long time.
I didn’t want to open it.
Because if I read it, it would be real.
But then again, everything already was.
So I opened it.
—
Jaehyun,
If you’re reading this, then I guess the worst already happened.
There were a lot of moments I imagined saying goodbye to you. None of them felt right. None of them felt enough.
I didn’t want to be a burden. I didn’t want you to see me fall apart.
But you saw me anyway. You stayed.
Thank you for that.
You were the last warmth in my life when everything else went cold.
The last color when everything else faded.
I was so scared to reach out. Scared that maybe you’d already moved on… that maybe I’d be nothing more than a sad memory. But then you came. And for a moment, it felt like I could breathe again.
I know I won’t be there for all your moments ahead. I won’t be able to cheer you on or hold your hand when you’re scared. But I hope you know you made my last days feel like something close to beautiful.
If there’s an afterlife…
Let’s meet there.
Let’s start over. No pain. No grief. Just you and me.
I’ll wait for you, okay?
- Eunhye
—
I didn’t even notice the tears at first.
One fell. Then another. Then I was choking on them. The kind that felt like they’d been hiding in the corners of my soul for too long.
I brought the letter to my chest and folded over, curling into myself like I could make the pain smaller that way. But it only grew.
I thought back to all the times I told her, "Call me."
Thinking it would be enough. Thinking that saying it once would protect her.
But when she finally did…
I wasn’t there to answer.
Not in the way she needed. Not when it mattered most.
And now she was gone.
I had already lost someone before—my best friend. And now… I was close to losing again. Only this time, I did.
This time, I didn’t get a second chance.
And all that’s left of her is the echo in my chest,
the silence in her hospital room,
and a letter I’ll keep with me until the day I can answer her the way I couldn’t before.
By finding her.
And starting over.
Without all the pain.