Yoongi’s hand d the wall in search of the switch when he came inside. The light flickered a few times before turning on completely, and already, he felt a coldness that had never been there when she was still alive.   Even at the casual thought of her, his heart squeezed, and he quickly busied himself with taking off his shoes as a distraction. The house had become dusty with no one to occupy it for the last few days.   Actually, the only reason why he was here was to get the bankbook for the emergency bank account he’d made a little more than a year ago when he’d gotten the job at the woodworking store. He needed money to pay off the funeral and cremation fees, and there was no way he was going to use his grandmother’s wages for that.   Opening the bottom drawer of his wardrobe, he quickly found the bankbook he’d stuffed under his clothes and took out the crinkled, white envelope in his pocket. The blank ink was still prominent.   Taking a deep breath, he decided to put it away for now and walked to the only room in the house. His grandmother’s room.   His eyes started to sting, and he bit the inside of his cheek to prevent from crying. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t.   Inhaling deeply once again, he turned the doorknob and purposely walked in at a fast pace, immediately coming to her small makeup table. His hands reached for a random drawer, and when he opened it, a bankbook greeted him.   Confused, Yoongi took it out, setting down the envelope on top of the table. His grandmother had always entrusted the financial stuff to him, saying it was too complicated for an old person like her.   Flipping open the booklet, he was surprised to see the first few pages were filled with deposits, leading up to a pretty big sum. But what surprised him the most was the description for each one.   For my Yoongi Yoongi’s education Yoongi’s wedding For my grandson’s future For my grandson . . .   Phrases similar to these took up the first few pages, and when he got to the last entries, a lump came up in his throat.   My precious grandson This isn’t much But please use this For your happiness Never forget That I love you   Yoongi’s hand that clenched the passbook went up to cover his eyes, and his other hand beat on his chest in an attempt to do something about how much his heart was hurting.   For the first time since her death, Yoongi cried aloud, his tears causing the passbook to get wet. The pain that he’d been trying to ignore tortured him, and his fingers grasped the part of his shirt above his heart.   ~~   …There’s been a tragedy in…   Jungkook’s eyes popped open when he heard his area mentioned on the news.   …a building on… caught on fire and collapsed…   That building is where Nari… The back of his neck turned cold. Throwing off his blanket, he rushed out of his room and into the living room, startling his parents. He didn’t hear their questions of why he was awake at this time of night as his eyes focused on the TV where a video of the disaster was playing. His breath hitched when he recognized it as what he’d been wishing it wouldn’t turn out to be.   …Currently, there are 10 people injured and two people missing. One of them is a bookstore worker who apparently went back into the building to search for a child. They are both assumed as dead…   Jungkook spun around and raced out of the house, not hearing his parent’s calls behind him. It couldn’t be…   Both of Nari’s part-time jobs were close to her home, which meant it was close to his as well. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the scene of the incident. And when he did, his knees almost gave way.   One wouldn’t be able to imagine there was even a building there in the first place if they’d never seen it before. Everything was in ruins. A few people lingered around the scene, but yellow tapes prevented anyone from getting too close.   Stumbling forward, Jungkook let out a gasp as he got a better look. And his heart dropped. There was no way someone could survive under all that rubble.   “Jungkook?”   Someone calling his name distracted him for a second, and he turned around, already knowing who it was by their voice.   “Namjoon…” Jungkook looked up into the disbelieving eyes of his friend.   “Do you know where… Nari is?” Namjoon asked, his gaze pleading Jungkook to tell him something other than what both of them wanted to avoid.   Jungkook gulped. “Sh-she’s probably home by now. Right? Her shift e-ended hours ago…” His voice cracked near the end, and he swallowed again.   Namjoon frantically nodded in agreement, and the two boys stood in silence, avoiding each other’s eyes. They were afraid if they looked at each other, their lie would be acknowledged as what it was ㅡa lieㅡ and they weren’t ready to face the truth.   ~~   Jimin couldn’t believe it.   Why was he here, barely a week since he’d been here last? What was he doing, dressed up in a black suit and bowing to Nari’s mother?   What was her picture doing on top of a coffin?   The shock of when he first heard the news was too great; he couldn’t process it until he saw it with his own two eyes.   And now, the proof was in front of him. Nari stared calmly at him through the glass of the picture frame, the smile on her face slightly smaller than her usual one.   Standing in front of it, an indescribable pain seized him as his mind finally realized it. Nari was dead. She would never be by his side again.   An animalistic cry escaped from Jimin’s lips, and he dropped to his knees as tears spilled out. Both hands reached out to touch her coffin, and he hung his head, sobbing uncontrollably.   He hadn’t even apologized for ignoring her all this time.   “Nari… Nari…” he repeated her name between his sobs, his voice sounding strange to his ears as if he was listening to someone else.   Nari… don’t leave me… stay by my side…   He cried harder, his fingers gripping the edges of her coffin.   ~~