10.

The imminent weekend was spent with a lingering cloud of gloom over the house.

It was the anniversary of my younger brother’s death; the week consisting of sombre memories and dwellings we all kept to ourselves. I, however, had much more on my mind than my brother's passing.

The troubling matters from yesterday after having met with the man who found me following the accident grew more and more vicious in nature since returning. Apart from the obvious secrecy surrounding my discovery on the morning, what weighed heavily on my mind was the fact that the spot in which Jaehyun claimed I was found made little to no sense.

The barn was significantly farther from the area the attack had taken place. I couldn't have gotten that far myself. It made no sense that someone had taken me there either, thereafter fleeing from the scene. There was simply no logical explanation for how my body had come to be where they claimed it was.

That afternoon, I was determined to find answers to these questions. To pose them to my mother, to demand a right to know, before realising it was not the best of times to do so. The creeping memories of my brother and the time he was alive cast an exhaustive spell on us both; the sombre occasion showing in the form of my mother secluding herself to her bedroom. The door locked for indefinite hours of the day, and when she did emerge, the wariness on her face was more than evident.

Perhaps I should have shared her sorrows. Took the time to console her, share her grievances, remind her that his loss was now an event of the past we ought to move on from... but I couldn't do it. I could do nothing but watch the process. Watch, as my own thoughts took a steady decline into dark, troubling matters of my own. The fact that the nightmares ensued – albeit leaving more terrifying impressions on me than when they first began, last night's episode so real that I woke up shaking and in tears – did not help, but I could not bring myself to share them.

Gayoon had been more than understanding of the current circumstances; our study sessions put on hold for the following few days, ordering me to get as much rest as I could. But with the combined tension of the sobriety hovering the home and my own heavy thoughts, I could do little to fulfil her request.

It was Saturday, midday, when the doorbell sounded, pulling me out of my deep reverie as I stood stirring tomato soup over the gas stove for dinner. There were still a couple more hours to go for nightfall, but to keep myself from falling into a similar depression to my mother's, I opted to keep busy with menial household chores. Or rather, to keep myself from recalling the terrifying events of last night's nightmare and the sleep it had stolen from me since awakening in fear, I refused to entertain my own thoughts.

The doorbell sounded again; this time twice in succession, and I frowned, feeling the first signs of irritation.

'Coming!' I called, however it did little to appease the visitor.

The doorbell sounded again. Still clad in Mum's denim apron, I put the heat on low and stalked for the front door, yanking it open without bothering to check the peephole. What I was met with was unexpected.

'Saerin,' Jongin smiled, stepping back suddenly.

I stared at both he and Sehun; my irritation from moments earlier morphing into a sort of discomfort at the sight of the stranger.

'I hope this isn't a bad time to pay my respects,' he said; his smile falling only a fraction sympathetically. 'And I hope you don't mind Sehun. When he heard about the anniversary, he felt obliged to come.'

'Oh,' I mustered a smile, glancing between the two. 'Come in.'

'If you're busy...'

'Not at all.'

Jongin entered first, floating towards the living room with Sehun awkwardly in tow. I watched as his eyes roamed around the home; settling on the family picture frames and then the staircase; his features impassive, but the clumsy shuffling of his feet a clear indication he was uncomfortable. I couldn't tell whether I should have felt touched by the gesture. After all, we knew each other only in passing.

Nonetheless, the fact that Jongin stopped by was a pleasant surprise. What with the moments we had ever since the accident, he was making a clear effort at showing his support. And that was something I undoubtedly appreciated.

'How are you doing?'

Jongin asked upon settling himself