Chapter Text
Kim Junkyu never thought what it would be like to die.
Perhaps no one had truly stopped to contemplate their own demise unless there was a pretty natural reason for doing so, as pondering such an event wasn't considered ‘normal’.
At least that's how he thought before everything.
He didn't think how he would die, maybe because most people preferred to avoid thinking about their own death. Moreover, the older ones already had a vague idea of their brief existence in the universe since they turned fifteen, and perhaps that was the reason behind the lack of interest in death — the future was too clear for those who had glimpsed their existence.
But still, he never thought it would be something quick.
Cold.
Kim Junkyu never thought his body would grow as cold as an ice block, numbed by a slight tingling that filled his mouth and took over every inch of his skin because he believed, even in the worst way possible, that he would live much longer than those few years.
That's why he hadn't imagined what it would be like to be pierced by a sword as if he were a sheet of paper being cut by a sharp blade, but — after all those years of running — he thought it was a quick death.
Much quicker than he could have wished for.
And even though he didn't know how to articulate the words amid his stupor, he thought that was a good way to savour all the years he had managed to escape from his demons and couldn't leave behind anything fairer than his smile as he staggered.
So Junkyu smiled.
He smiled with a sword through his stomach, tasting blood at the back of his throat as his feet moved until they slipped on the wet ground, and suddenly, he fell backwards into the cold waters of the river that covered his body like an icy blanket.
Kim Junkyu could never, under any circumstances, have imagined that his death would be so swift and gentle despite being cold.
He never imagined that, in his last minutes, he would smile at those sad eyes looking his way as his final whisper left his body:
“I'm sorry... and thank you”.