[E p i l o g u e]

Jin woo, Donghae, Seohyun and the rest all sat waiting in the van as Seohyun’s father filled the vehicle up with petrol, gazing tiredly out their respective windows. None of them had gotten much sleep the night before, going over the sudden events as if it had all been a horrible nightmare. But when they realised they were sleeping in a hut in the mountains, they realised that it was in fact reality. It didn’t help ease their uneasiness either that the two who knew the most about the situation at hand had disappeared and left them with few instructions and little information. Donghae in particular wondered how they would fare when they actually reached the port, and a part of him even doubted that both Amber and Henry would Donghae up.

Turning to peer at the others, he asked, “Can one of you go get today’s paper? The first edition should be out by now.”

It was Chanyeol who raised his hand, deciding that he’d had enough of the depressing atmosphere in the van. “I’ll get it for you, Donghae Hyung. I need to stretch my legs out a bit. Anyone else want anything?” he asked the others.

After getting several orders of some snacks and drinks for the remainder of their road trip, Chanyeol stepped out of the van, indicating with a jerk of his thumb at the shop at the questioning look Seohyun dad  gave him that that was where he was heading. Stepping inside the shop, Chanyeol quickly went around picking up the supplies they needed, before picking up the day’s paper. Piling it all on the cashier counter, he waited as the woman behind the counter tallied up the total. Whilst waiting, his eyes travelled over the goods with little interest until the massive headline plastered over the newspaper caught his eyes. Quickly, he unfolded the paper and read the front page, his heart racing with panic as he realised what the news was about.

Quickly pulling out a sum of money, he slammed it down on the table as he rushed out of the shop, much to the cashier’s surprise. Chanyeol sprinted all the way back to the car, a wild look of shock and fear on his face.

“Guys… tell me this isn’t true…” he whispered, shoving the paper towards the others.

Donghae promptly grabbed the paper from Chanyeol and began reading out loud to everyone in the car:

“Large Massacre in Riverside Warehouse
Lee Soo Man, Owner of Sm Corp. Killed
Along with twenty-three others and one police officer”

He slowly peered up from the paper, gazing at the others as they slowly realised what had happened. Seohyun suddenly started to break down and Donghae quickly threw his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. Seeing that Donghae would be unable to continue reading, Baeckhyun took the paper from Donghae and began to read the actual article:

“At 3AM this morning, the bodies of well renowned businessman, Lee Soo Man, and his secretary, Amber Liu, were found dead at Lee Soo man’s own warehouse down in the Seoul, out in northern. Also found dead were several of Lee Soo Man’s men and a globally hunted criminal, as well as Detective Henry lau , who until recently had been in charge of the notorious case of the assassin, Dawn. It is believed that some sort of large scale conflict had occurred, most possibly linked to the Five gangs of Korea. At this point in time, no more information has come from Chief Detective and Superintendent Park jiseok. However, he has assured the public that his team will pursue this matter until the end for they too have lost a talented member of their team.”

Baekhyun stopped reading the article as he scanned over the next few lines and found them all to be saying nothing but some background information about the victims, mostly Lee Soo Man. He closed the paper and stared at the ground, his heart twisting painfully as he realised that Henry had indeed, truly died.

Seohyun continued to sob into Donghae’s shoulder, as her mother reached out a hand to pat her daughter on the head while she softly cried tears of her own. The twin’s eyes grew red and they wiped away the tears that formed in their eyes as soon as they dropped, not wanting to Donghae the others that they were crying. Seohyun leant against the side of the van as the tank became full, motionless as the fact that his foster son was now dead sunk in. The twin’s foster parents sat together in silence, feeling the urge to cry but finding it difficult as they did not really know those who had died. And as for Jin woo, he sat silently to himself at the back of the car, his fist clenched tightly as he bit his lower lip till he began tasting the metallic tang of his own blood. He was now truly alone in this world. Amber, Kris, Seo Woo… they had all left him. Life wasn’t fair, taking away the only people he had become to associate as his true family.

Lay gazed over at the others as he held onto Sehun’s arm for support, his eyes glistening from unshed tears as he imagined the pain they would be feeling at Henry’s death. He turned his eyes back down at the twin caskets that lay before them on the golden metal frames that would be used to lower them into the two pits dug into the hard mountain earth. Lay had wondered why Donghae, Seohyun and the others had chosen such a peculiar place to bury the two lovers, and it wasn’t until she had spoken with the Twins that she had found out the significance of the abandoned mountain hut.

A priest muttered out the words of prayer for the dead as they watched solemnly. It was a quiet ceremony, with only a few important and close guests. They had had trouble trying to find anyone on Amber’s side of the family to come, and in the end the only person there to truly mourn for her was Jin woo. Seohyun dad placed a comforting hand on Jin woo’s shoulder as he peered down at the boy, having decided to take the boy in under his wing on the day they had found out about Henry and Amber’s death. Jin woo had been grateful to the Seohyun family for taking him in, but he had found himself unable to speak from the sudden loss of those he cared for. The day before he had just attended Kris’s funeral, and again there were only very few people who had turned up for the cremation.

The priest finally finished the rites and the caskets were now lowered into the graves, a new round of sobs wept by those attending the service. Seohyun had her face buried in Donghae’s shoulder, still finding it hard to accept that her beloved brother was now being buried. Donghae held onto her tightly as he fought his own tears, attempting to stay strong for Seohyun’s sake. Dirt was now shovelled onto the caskets as they finally hit the bottom, and the golden frames were removed. Soon, the graves were filled and a temporary wooden cross for the pair was erected, tombstones to be placed at a later date once the dirt had settled.

A loud squawk sounded from behind the crowd on the hut’s porch and they all turned to see Dino in his cage, watching the scene before him intently. It had been Jin woo’s idea to bring the bird, remembering the picture he had once drawn for Amber as a gift. He walked over to the bird now and removed him from the cage, carrying him over to the graves. The bird hopped off his arm when Jin woo reached the side of Amber’s grave, and he gave off a soft, mournful caw, as if understanding that his mistress was now dead. Then after several minutes, he flapped and flew off, flying away into the trees without a second glance.

Everyone slowly began disbanding, the last to linger at the edge of the graves being Donghae, Seohyun, the Twins and Lay. They all continued to stare at the graves with a large gap in their hearts, feeling sorry for what fate had conspired against the two. After some time, Lay decided to leave the other four first and went to join Sehun by the side.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” choked out Lay after some time. Sehun placed an arm around his shoulders carefully, comforting him. “He’s always been the top of our class at the academy and he’s always made it out from the closest of scrapes we ever had.”

Sehun held onto Lay tightly, comforting him as best he could while he watched Donghae do the same for Seohyun. “At least now he is with the one he loves.”

Lay turned to peer up at Shun as a tear slid down his face and Sehun wiped it away with a smile. At the same time, Seohyun turned to peer up at Donghae.

“Let’s go, Donghae. Oppa has finally received his wish to be with Josephine for all eternity. At least it is better this way than to see him alive with no spirit once again,” whispered Seohyun in a cracked voice as she was overcome by tears once more.

Donghae her hair as he rested her head on his shoulder and began leading her away, back down to the others. “They’ll always be together now, for ever and all eternity. They won’t suffer anymore, Seohyun, and I’m sure they would both want us to be happy from this day onwards.”

A small smile curved Seohyun’s lips as she held onto Donghae even tighter than before. “I love you Donghae, as much as I ever loved Oppa.”

Donghae pressed a soft kiss at Seohyun’s temple as he smiled down at her. “I love you too, Seohyun.”

“Josephine… Why do you like to help injured birds?”

“Because like them, I am injured. They yearn to be able to fly freely in the sky once more without any feelings of regret or sadness, and that is what I yearn for the most…”

Josephine lay lying against the wall of the hut, her face a serene look of peacefulness. Henry slowly crept over to her side, careful not to wake her. He gazed at her quietly sleeping face with a tender look in his eyes.

“I love you, Josephine…” he whispered so quietly, it sounded like the passing breeze. He then retreated back over to the other side of the hut and lay down, slowly letting his eyes close as he peered at Josephine with a smile.

The end.

i've actually finish up this story last months but don't have the time & chances to edit and post so here it is. the final touch teehee

do tell whether it good or bad ?. till then . ciao