Chapter 10: Redeeming Silver – September 14, 2022
She’d been recovering for a month at her parents’ home. A glorious autumn’s day waited outside to greet her presence in the garden. The bright sunlight was bouncing off the colorful leaves of the trees that shaded their home. Her favorite hues were all there. Burgundy. Burnt orange. Gold. Forest green. How she wished Eunho could witness their splendor with her. But those beautiful eyes had closed forever to this world.
Still, she headed outside to revel in the sunshine. Because that was what Eunho would have wanted her to do. He was the only one who had afforded her an hour in the sun. And now he had supplied her with a luxurious gift. A lifetime under the rays of that bright star. The freedom to enter the garden and bask in the sunlight whenever she wished. The thing she had most craved her whole life long. Until she had known Eunho’s love. So she did what she knew would have made him happy.
She stood in the garden and lifted her face towards the sun. And she remembered. The featherlight touch of his lips against her own. The tenderness in his fingertips as they slid over her skin. The sweetness in his eyes every time they captured hers. She had found the beautiful boy again. The one that Eunho had buried deep down inside of himself after his eomma had died. Haewon had unearthed the treasure.
And the words of their song came back to her again. She realized now that that song had been written for them. Clearly. It was truly their song. She sang it to him now. Her words borne on a sweet, autumn wind.
“Dance in the garden.
Bask in the sunlight.
Soak in its embrace.
Echo the daylight.
“My darling, just be.
My lovely, just breathe.
My heartbeat, just know
I am with you
Wherever you go.”
Her voice broke on the word “heartbeat.” Eunho truly was her heartbeat now. Had he known? The first time he’d sung those words back to her, had he known that someday he would make them come true?
“I wish I could give it to you, Haewon.”
He had done it. He had given her his heart. He had fulfilled his dream. And with it, life had become the opposite of what she’d imagined. She had pictured him moving on without her. Living the good life his eomma would have chosen for him. Yet here Haewon was. Living his life in his stead. He had traded his life for hers. What on earth was she going to do with all the time she had suddenly and unexpectedly been handed?
First, she would raise her voice in song again.
“Come with me;
Come with me.
We will see
What we were meant to be.
“Follow me;
Follow me.
Come and see
What you were meant to be.”
She sobbed. “Eunho, you were meant to be my heartbeat.” She reached up to cover her heart with her hand. “And now you are.”
She began to hum again before she finished the song. Smiling as she remembered the love of her life. A boy who had been – to her anyway – only ever gentle.
“Hold me in your arms.
Bask in my smile.
Soak in my embrace.
Linger awhile.
“My darling, just see.
Who you’re meant to be.
My heartbeat, just know
You were always,
Always meant to glow.”
And he would. In her heart, Eunho would always shine. She would never forget those beautiful eyes that had wooed her even as a child. She would often recall those strong arms that had rescued her and sheltered her, drawing her close to his beating heart. She would always remember that precious voice that had wrapped around her in song. And cheered her with its laughter. And showered her with his affection.
“I love you, Haewon. I always have.”
Yes, Eunho’s memory would forever glow inside her.
“Come with me;
Come with me.
We will see
What we were meant to be.
“Follow me;
Follow me.
Come and see
What you were meant to be.”
She glanced down at his ring still glistening in the sunlight dancing upon her finger. The facets of the great ruby returned their affection to the luminous ball shining above them. The silver band beneath that crimson stone suddenly shimmered in the rays of September’s sumptuous sun. That circlet glowed like a flowing sterling river.
Eunho’s love ran brightly as shining silver through her veins now. For every beat of her heart was a beat of his.
