Lee Seung Gi - Return

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScxuZYyb9pM

Chanyeol stopped abruptly in front of a two-storey house which was brightly lit. He recognized the house for he knew it well. It was the house that Young Mi bought for her parents in Busan so that they could move out of their run down apartment home in Seoul. She worked hard to earn the money and gave it to her parents.

*Young Mi-ah, I'm here but I don't know what to do or say. What should I do?* He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth before ringing the doorbell. Cheerful shouts of "They're here" echoed through the house. A woman came out of the house and ran out to the gate. "Chanyeol-ah!" She called.

He bowed and greeted her, "Annyeonghaseyo, eomonim." She unlocked the gate and let him in. She looked around. "Where's Young Mi?" She asked.

"I have some news for you but I think it would be better if I tell both you and abeoji at the same time," he said. Mrs. Jung looked at him curiously but nodded and lead him into the house.

"Yeobo! Chanyeol's here!" She yelled. Young Mi's father came bounding out of his study with his arms wide open, "Young Mi-ah!"

When no one came running into his arms, he looked around for his daughter, "Where's my little girl?"

Chanyeol gulped. *This is going to be harder than I thought.*

Mrs. Jung clucked her tongue. "She's not here. That's why I only said 'Chanyeol's here'!"

"Eh? Then where is Young Mi?" He asked.

"Sir, good evening," Chanyeol bowed.

"Oh! Chanyeol-ah!" He hugged his daughter's boyfriend as if he was his own son. He patted his back and pulled away. "What's popping?"

"I came here to tell you something," he told them.

"Well, if we're going to talk, let's get in the study," Mr. Jung invited Chanyeol into the wide spacious office. Mrs. Jung scuttled off to the kitchen to get some refreshments. When all three of them were seated inside the room, Chanyeol spoke up. "Abeoji, eomoni, today we had a performance here in Busan."

"We know. We couldn't go watch because we were preparing for your visit tonight." Mrs. Jung said, looking sorry. "It is regretful."

"Tonight something happened during StAr's performance," he confessed. The two adults looked at him, half-curious, half-worried. He looked at both of their faces before saying, "Young Mi... She was attacked."

Mrs. Jung gasped and placed her hand over her lips, tears forming in her eyes. Mr. Jung asked, "What happened? Is Young Mi okay?"

Chanyeol steeled his nerves and began to recount all that had happened. Every single word about Young Mi's last moments seemed to cut open a wound in his heart, no, into his very being. It made tears flow down his face and his voice waver yet he continued to speak to her parent about their daughter's death, as he had promised her he would.

After he started, he found it hard to stop. He recalled everything perfectly and he knew that for the rest of his life, those moments would be engraved in his mind. When he got to the part where Young Mi asked him to tell her parents that she was sorry and that she loves them "more than the stars in the sky", Mrs. Jung let out a wail. Her husband wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. His own tears were free falling down his cheeks but he didn't bother to wipe them off.

"What were her last words?" Mrs. Jung hiccuped.

Chanyeol hesistated. "Her last words were..." He looked down at his hands as tears fell. "I love you, Chanyeol oppa." He whispered the last part as his heart broke remembering her.

"Chanyeol-ah," Mrs. Jung called out sadly, hugging Chanyeol. "It's okay, child."

Chanyeol cried all the more and his girlfriend's mother held him close to his bosom. Mr. Jung stood up and wrapped his arms around both of them and together, the three of them lamented their loss. After they had let out all of their tears, Mr. Jung announced, "I want to see my daughter."

With Mr. Jung driving, the three of them headed to the hospital where Young Mi's body was kept. They found Exo-K sitting in the reception with red eyes and sorrrowful expressions. When Sehun looked up, he saw his best friend's parents and stood up. "Ahjumma..."

Kai's head snapped up and he stood up. "Annyeonghaseyo."

"Where is Young Mi?" Chanyeol asked. Tears welled up in their eyes as they gestured for them to follow. They led them to the morgue and requested to see Young Mi's body. A man wheeled out Young Mi's pale and cold body. Her stage clothes had been replaced by a long white gown.

At the sight of her daughter's lifeless body, Mrs. Jung nearly fainted but she managed to remain upright. She staggered towards her child's body, unable to believe that she was not going to be smiling at them and saying, "Everyday is a challenge. It's a challenge we have to take while smiling and living well."

She took Young Mi's cold and limp hand, crying silently. A hand gripped her shoulder and she heard her husband's soft sobs. She wanted to howl and wail about her daughter's fate but she knew that that was not what Young Mi would have wanted. Instead, she gazed at her daughter's face, which she knew better than the back of her hand.

She Young Mi's cheeks and whispered, "I love you, my little girl." She placed Young Mi's hand over her stomach and stepped back to let her husband touch his daughter.

It broke Mr. Jung that his little princess was no longer going to be hugging him and won't be there to nag him about drinking his medicine. His heart broke, seeing his daughter unmoving and dead. He didn't want to let go of his daughter, yet he knew that he would have to sooner or later. He kissed her forehead, muttering, "Goodbye, my bright star. Daddy loves you."

He stepped back and the man started to wheel the body back into the room but Mr. Jung stopped him. Everyone looked at him curiously. "Sehun-ah, Kai."

They moved forward, looking confused. "Say goodbye to your 'little ball of annoying energy'." Both of them smiled sadly at the mention of Young Mi's old nickname. Sehun slowly walked towards Young Mi. Tears welled up in his eyes and he couldn't stop them from flowing anymore. "Hey, bestie, I'll miss you. Watch over me, okay?" He mumbled through his tears.

He pulled Kai forward and added, "Jongin doesn't really think you're annoying. When you don't bug him, he feels as if his day is incomplete."

Kai's eyes widened. "Hey!" Sehun stuck out his tongue, which didn't seem as offensive since his face was wet with tears. Kai said, "I'm sorry for giving you noogies all the time. I just love you like that. I'll miss you. Watch over me too, not just Sehun."

They both looked at Chanyeol who had been crying for hours already. Tears had abandoned him but his heart was being crushed into pieces. Another goodbye would be like stepping all over his broken heart. Mr. Jung knew this and nodded at the man who started to push Young Mi's body away. Everyone started to walk away but Chanyeol stood there, watching until he couldn't see the man and Young Mi's body anymore.

He started to walk with heavy footsteps. *Young Mi-ah, they didn't yell at me or hate me. That makes it worse for me. It would've been better if they did that. It would've been easier for me to hate myself and atone for my sins. But they didn't. Instead they comforted me when I should've been the one doing that.* He sighed and placed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

*This is all my fault. Young Mi-ah, why did it have to be you? Why couldn't I have gotten hurt instead? I wish you were still here. You've been gone for only hours but I feel like I've been living without you for years. I miss you so much. If only I hadn't been so thick-headed...* He shook his head.

"Hyung, let's go home," D.O. said softly, placing a hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. Chanyeol looked at him and said, "What about Young Mi?"

Kai answered quietly, "Her parents are going to take care of her funeral. Since Young Mi isn't really from Busan, she's going to be buried in Seoul, beside her grandparents."

Chanyeol blinked and sighed. "Home sounds good. Let's go." Everyone headed for the exit after saying goodbye to Young Mi's parents. They piled into the van and they began their journey back to Seoul. As they drove away, Chanyeol promised Young Mi that he'll see her for the last time in her funeral. *I'll be there. I promise.*

~~~~~

-Min Seo's P.O.V-

We arrived at the hospital, feeling sad and haggard. Everyone was tired and we were still trying to recover from the shock that came from earlier events. There was a pit in the bottom of my stomach, dreading the moment I had to see our maknae lifeless and dead. As the manager led us to the morgue, I walked in a daze. My eyes couldn't focus on anything. The only thing in my mind was the moment I watched a member get killed while performing.

The scene kept on replaying in my head and it was driving me nuts. I wanted to bang my head on a wall until I could forget about everything I saw tonight. I knew that all of us would be traumatized by what we witnessed right before our eyes: the murder of our friend.

Young Mi was my roommate and I was the closest to her since I was born only one year older than her. The ages of our members spanned from 1989 until 1995. We didn't have anyone of our age since only one member was born in a specific year from our group's age range. We were best friends although that didn't mean we weren't close to the other unnies.

We were like sisters; every single one of us were a part of a family. We've trained with each other since we were in elementary, or in the unnies' cases, middle school. We've lived under one roof for 3 years already. I remembered the way Young Mi would take care of us and we would take care of her. We knew all that happened to each of our members, except if it was something seriously personal.

I knew something bad was going to happen. Ever since those hate mail arrived, everyone had been on edge, especially Chanyeol. Everyone except Young Mi had been so careful and vigilant. After a few days, she was back to her old self but all of us suspected that she was keeping up a façade.

We were almost back to normal and then this happened. I was shocked to the core when I heard Young Mi's voice crack. I had never heard her voice crack in our years of training and I was bewildered when I heard her voice break off in the middle of her high note. I only caught a glimpse of the girl before it flashed before my eyes. I took a couple of steps towards Young Mi, not taking notice of the crazy girl's screeches. But then, everything else happened so fast. A loud bang. Screams. Then I saw it. Young Mi had a look of surprise on her face before she collapsed. When I finally saw her up close, she lay in a pool of her own blood.

A loud wail brought me back to the present. I shook my head to get the images out of my head. I blinked a couple of times and saw Jae Yeon unnie sobbing over Young Mi's covered corpse. Hae In unnie ran over and with shaking hands, pulled off the white sheet that lay over Young Mi's face. When she saw her closed eyes and pale face, her knees gave out and she fell on the floor, tears running down her face.

The other unnies started crying and I stepped closer to my best friend. "Young Mi-ah," I said numbly. I took her cold hand in my hands before I finally let my tears flow down my cheeks. Sobs racked my shoulders and my mascara was blotched but I couldn't care less. I called her name again and again, as if I could call her back to life.

Someone pulled me back after a few moments. I thrashed for some time, trying to reach out to Young Mi. I fell limp afterwards and I looked behind me to see So Young unnie holding me back. She was crying just like everyone else but I met eyes with her and I understood. We had to let her go. We couldn't stay here and mourn even if we wanted to.

The six of us and our manager stood their for a few more minutes until we wiped the last of our tears away. Jae Yeon unnie squared her shoulders and told the man that he could take Young Mi away. With a last glance at the room where Young Mi's body was kept, I turned around and followed the unnies out.

The moment we stepped out of the hospital, we were blinded by flashes of lights. Reporters had found us and were demanding a statement. Although our manager oppa shook his head, Jae Yeon unnie opened to speak. "We lost a member, a sister and a good friend today. Please let us mourn in peace."