Jongin looked at himself from head to toe and chuckled as he said, “Well, I’m good to go… so where are we going?”

Sehun sighed and smiled, “It’s been so long since I last saw abeoji.”

“I understand,” Jongin nodded and gave a small smile.

Sehun drove while Jongin gave the directions but words other than that were not spoken. The ride remained quiet as the two tried to comprehend the presence of each other. It had been too long since the two of them spent their time alone. They had to fix the gap that six years had created and they both knew that this day was the first step.

“Follow me,” Jongin mumbled as he got out of the car and stepped into the cemetery where thousands of tomb lie and Sehun did as told.

All tombs looked the same- rectangular and white in color but both stopped when a tomb had displayed a name which was both close to their hearts. Sehun bit his lower lip as he laid the flowers he bought on top of it while Jongin lit some candles.

Putting their palms together and bowing their heads, both paid respect to Mr. Kim. However, when Sehun opened his eyes, he felt like they were burning.

“You’re a part of our family, always remember that,”

Sehun remembered the words that Mr. Kim always used to say to him. He looked up and bit his lip lower lip as he tried to control his tears but the old man’s voice replayed in his mind once more,

“Go on, Sehun… It’s okay not to be okay.”

Sehun sniffed once, twice and at the third time, it was already accompanied by his tears. He kneeled in front of Mr. Kim’s tomb and allowed himself to be vulnerable as tears kept flowing out of his control.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t know. I’m sorry I was not there,” Sehun managed to say in between his sobs.

Sehun kept crying loudly and sobbing madly in front of Mr. Kim. Sehun hated seeing people go because he does not know how long could he handle the pain of losing someone he loves and he fears that his heart might just stop working from all the damage it has receiving from being left behind.

“Does it hurt real bad?”

“Yes,” Sehun answered the question that Mr. Kim asked him when he was an eight-year old kid.

“It hurts terribly bad,” Sehun added as he clenched his chest and sobbed.

Jongin shoved his hands on his pocket as he took deep breaths, afraid that he will suffer from an emotional breakdown. Watching his long lost best friend kneel and cry in front of his father made tears roll down his cheeks. He was chewing his bottom lip to prevent his sobs from being heard. He didn’t want his sadness to add up to Sehun’s broken heart.

“I… I never even got to thank you for everything you did for me,” Sehun said while crying. “I’ve never really told you how much I love you, abeoji. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

When Sehun had finally came down from the emotional high he had experience, he felt a cold object pressed on his shoulder which turned out to be a drink. He looked up to one who offered it and found Jongin whose eyes must have been as swollen as his.

“Drink up,” Jongin said. “Maybe you’ve lost too much liquid from all those tears.”

“Thanks,” Sehun smiled and gladly accepted the can. “Beer?”

“Of course. That’s what friends drink when they meet up,” Jongin replied and clanked his can with Sehun’s. He raised it up after and said, “Cheers.”

Sehun just shook his head and chuckled as he sipped from the can. Jongin then sat beside him, and still in front of Mr. Kim’s tomb. Another silence occupied them as they let their body rest from the tiring session of crying.

“It was cancer- a disease called Lymphoma.”

Sehun looked at him and saw Jongin sigh as he continued, “Old man’s old. The disease had made him weaker too that the doctors said that even an operation wouldn’t save him. The meds only prolonged his life.”

“Then why? Did the meds not suffice?” Sehun asked.

“Ani,” Jongin answered. “It was true that the meds prolonged his life but day by day, he still grew weaker. The meds were working fine but it was him who gave up. He refused to take the medicines and even told us that he has lived long enough.”

Jongin let out a scoff as he asked, “I don’t understand it. How do you learn that you've lived long enough?”

“Molla,” Sehun answered. “A sense of fulfillment, maybe?”

“Perhaps,” Jongin replied. “He said that he was very happy seeing me survive twenty and very proud of me graduating from Juilliard. He said that I could take any path I want, he wouldn’t care- as long as I meet you again and fix everything.”

Sehun listened intently to Jongin’s words but both of them just looked straight ahead, practically staring into nothingness.

“Well here we are now,” Jongin broke the silence. “That means I’m in the right track, right?”

“I want to believe that you are,” Sehun replied. “Could we really fix everything we left?”

“Borrowing from the words of a woman close to both of us,” Jongin answered. “We would not know if we would not try.”

Jongin looked at him as he finished his words and Sehun met his gaze making both of them engage in a soft, short yet sincere laughter.

“Let’s start over from here,” Jongin said with a bright smile. “Shall we?”

“Hmmm,” Sehun simply hummed and replied with a nod.

Jongin then stood up and dusted off his jeans as he offered a hand for Sehun to take.

“Come on. There’s a family waiting for you now.”

Sehun smiled and took his hand as Jongin helped him to get up. He sighed in