It was a new refreshing start as Saehyun hopped off her old comfy bed in the morning. Since her home was located at the countryside of Busan, the morning was more welcoming for her, the cold draughts and the smell of bare Earth greeted her in the most pleasant way.

Saehyun sat at the windowpane, and relaxing herself with the sounds of birds chirping and the view of the other villagers doing their own jobs; gardening, doing yogas and some of them were just chatting with their respective neighbours. The situation was rather rare in the urban cities, and Saehyun was glad that she decided to return here again after seven years of missing all that.

The calendar marked Saturday, two young girls were playing around with each other across Saehyun’s house and could be clearly seen from her window. The girls were giggling and chasing each other happily within their house’s small area and the scene sparked the memories of Saerom and Saehyun when they were in their age.

They used to share this room too, and Saehyun’s chest ached with a numb pain. She didn’t realise the tears fell, streaming down her cheeks until her mother entered her room out of the blue to call for breakfast.

“Owh, honey..” Mrs Kim stood next to Saehyun and slowly hugged her by encircling her arms around her head softly. “I know, we all miss her too.” Saehyun rested her head on her mother’s arms before standing up, “I’m just sad, that all this happen in a very, very short time. I just miss spending time with her, Mom.” Saehyun curled a tiny smile and hugged her mother once again.

∆

“No Yuhan, don’t chew the ticket toll!”

Chaotic was what described the actual state in Baekhyun’s Suzuki MPV. Hyemi who was seated at the back kept jumping forward and backward, making noises and screaming. Baekhyun didn’t give a damn at the looks from the people on the same road as theirs, as their car was being bumpy and jumpy while moving. Yuhan on the other side wouldn’t let go of the ticket toll from his grasp and mouth, and the thing was practically wet and tore apart.

“Hyemi, shut up! I’m trying to drive here!” Baekhyun’s patience was majorly thinning and when he shouted at Hyemi to shut up, he scared Yuhan as well, making the infant wailed. “No, Daddy! I won’t shut up because you didn’t buy the ice cream when we stopped to eat breakfast earlier!” Hyemi yelled, and she began to shriek in high pitch voice, cutting each wire in Baekhyun’s brain gradually.

 The  hours counted felt like years. 

After the horrendous ride, Baekhyun had never felt this relief upon seeing his parents-in-law’s resident in his sight.

“Finally…” Baekhyun pressed his forehead towards the steering once the car halted exactly in front of the half-rusty familiar metal gates. Hyemi jumped insanely on her seat and screamed, once again, before rushing out of the car. Yuhan didn’t stop weeping just yet.

With Baekhyun’s right limb entirely supported Yuhan (who was, gratefully, quiet down) while his left hand carefully holding their medium-sized luggage, Baekhyun shut down the car’s boot with his foot. The figures of his parents-in-law were visible now, hugging Hyemi after they had unlocked the gates.

“Let me hold Yuhan for you, dear,” Mrs Kim beamed brightly upon taking Yuhan from Baekhyun’s embrace. She looked great in her green dress and summer hat. “We’ll be staying over the weekend, Mom,” Baekhyun said as they entered the house. Lavender scent welcomed them in the living room and Baekhyun felt like he could drop down to unconsciousness once he landed on somewhere comfort. The fatigue was unbearable.

“That’s great then.” Mr Kim smiled. “Well, Baekhyun-ah. We’re actually about to go to the town just now. I think you should get some rest. We’ll bring these kids along with us, if that’s okay?”

“Yes, of course, Mom. And thank you.” Baekhyun watched his parents-in-law along with his children walked out of the house. He was all alone now and he was free to get as much rest as he needed to. The sofa appeared to be just fine for his liking, but Baekhyun insisted to at least find a bed to land on. He strode towards the guest room but the room was empty except for a small old cupboard and window, with no curtain on.

I guess the room is still under construction or something? The last time they were here, they weren’t staying in the guest room either. So, Baekhyun got back to the living room to take his luggage and dragged it on upstairs in search for Saerom’s bedroom; the one they would always stay whenever they came here.

The hallway on upstairs was the same. Dark and hollow, and the frames of photos lined up along it, were no different. The pictures of Saerom weren’t tagged out neither. Baekhyun’s eyes wandered around the memories in shape of photos attached there. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen them before, but he just wanted to. There were pictures of Saehyun too, most of them were with Saerom and he sometimes wished that Saehyun was the one who died, not Saerom. At least she didn’t have a family like Saerom did, she didn’t have anybody who would be majorly affected without her. She was like missing in action too, though somewhere in Germany. Saehyun wasn’t even attended the funeral of her own twin sister. How bad could she be?

Hell, what was I thinking? Baekhyun breathed out in despair and buried his face in his palms. His thoughts roamed a bit too much, sounding like it wasn’t him, who did the talking. Nobody should replace someone to die. The man shook his head gently and walked straight towards Saerom’s room leaving all the pictures and his irrelevant thoughts on halt.

However, when he clutched the door’s knob to open it, someone else had done the job a tad earlier from the inside. The door opened wide, revealing a very familiar face and it tugged on Baekhyun’s heart, choking him in his breathing.

“Sae…Saerom?”

“Baekhyun oppa?”