Fulfilled

                                    

                                          
-Where are you going? Minho patted the empty space besides him before opening his eyes. 
In the darkness of night stood the shadow of his lover. On the edge of the bed, slowly bent forward.
 Minho's raspy voice lingered softly on Jisung's mind before he answered. 
-I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back in no time.
 -Okay, Minho smiled and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep again.
 Jisung dragged his feet outside the room and closed the door behind him. He looked in the mirror and saw the wreck he became withing a few minutes of silently crying in the dark.
 He dropped on the cold tiles and curled up in a ball. 
He had five days left. Five days to say goodbye to the people he helplessly grew to love. After 400 years... he was finally going to die.

"My child, you are very ill and I fear no doctor can help you. We burdened you with our secret and now our love is slowly taking your vital energy away. We're sorry, my son! Please don't cry! We're doing this for you!" 
Jisung remembered his father's last words and sobbed into his palms.
 That was his 8th birthday and the day he found out about his curse. The day his parents told him about it and decided to to kill themselves in order to offer him more years.
 "Jisung-ah... You deserve to have a happy life! You cannot die until you have truly lived. Until you became fulfilled. Do you promise to be happy?" his mother said as she caressed his face with her gentle hands. 
-How do I know when I'm fulfilled, mom? Jisung voiced the question he never got to ask out loud. 
The happy days were fading before the years of misery he had gone through. 
How could he say he was fulfilled when he was about to hurt so many people? How could he ease the pain for them? How could he go knowing he would never get to hold his Minho ever again? How could he do to him the same thing Areum did when she died? 
"Promise me! Promise me that you'll take care of my daughter and her child and that child's child. Promise me, Jisung! I need them to be watched over by someone. And there's no one I trust more than you." Areum said on her death bed as she squeezed Jisung's hand. 
She made him promise to be that family's guardian angel. And he did exactly that by watching from far away and making sure to protect them without any direct interventions. Beside that one time...
 He was out for a late walk when he spotted a kid crying on a bench. He knew he should had ignored him, but he also knew he would had hated himself if he did so. Therefore he bought a chocolate bar and gave it to the kid to cheer him up. 
-Are you lost, child?
 -Yeah... I followed a kitty and I lost my grandma. Did you see her? Jisung shook his head.
 -Do you know your address? I can walk you home.
 -Really? It's so dark and scary... and my grandma told me to never walk alone at night.
 -She's a wise woman. Let's go! he held his hand in the air for the little boy to grab it. 
-Are you dangerous, mister? Strangers are scary. 
-Are you scared of me? Jisung asked blatantly. 
-No. 
-Then I must not be a stranger.