{THIRTY-NINE}

"We're here..."

Minjae stared at the decrepit-looking semi-detached house in front of them, surrounded by many other lookalikes in the neighbourhood. What had once been sparkling white paint on the walls started to stain with age. Mold lingered at the corner of the doorway and the windows looked like they hadn't been washed in ages from how they appeared so foggy from the outside. 

The atmosphere was silent around them; she was almost convinced that no one was home. She looked up for Chanyeol's opinion, but the giant was too focused on observing the outside structure of the building to be paying attention to what their next action would be. Holding Kyungsoo's graduation certificate close to her chest, she ascended up the concrete steps of the building before her index finger motioned up to the doorbell. 

Do I... ring it? What if it's the wrong house? Chanyeol could've brought us to the wrong house being the forgetful person he is. Minjae turned around to look at her friend and gestured to the doorbell with widened eyes. She just wanted to confirm if they were really at the right place. And she also had to embarrassingly admit that she didn't have enough courage to face Kyungsoo's mother by herself once the woman opened the door. 

"What are you waiting for? Ring it!" Chanyeol mouthed, adding exaggerated actions to emphasise what she was supposed to do. If he thought she would understand better if he added those actions, he was definitely out of his mind. 

Just, press it, Go Minjae! Finally after seconds of hesitating, her index finger landed softly on the plastic button. An unfamiliar musical tone greeted them; the landlord must've customised her own doorbell or something, because this was the first time Minjae had ever heard such a strange sounding doorbell. It must've been a song from the eighties. 

There was a long pause after the doorbell. Everything around them resumed to remain silent, and the both of them could hear no signs of activity coming from the inside. Maybe no one was home, or maybe Kyungsoo's mother had moved somewhere else after hearing the news of her son. The possibilities of where the woman could've been were endless. 

Minjae gestured frantically for Chanyeol to come over to where she was standing. She didn't want to standing in front of the place alone. The said boy was sitting on his bicycle from a distance as he watched the girl. At her gesture, he instantly sprang up from his bicycle seat and clumsily stumbled on the steps. At the same moment, the door to the building opened with a soft creak. 

It was her.

At the first sight of the woman's face, Minjae felt her heart start to churn as it was starting to flood with a feeling of agony. It was the first time she'd seen her after the Kyungsoo's incident. The features on his mother's face seemed worse than usual   she had thick eyebags under her eyes, showing that the woman hadn't gotten enough sleep. From how her eyes were swollen, it was ovious she had been crying too, while thinking about her son. 

"Eomeoni," Chanyeol gave her a ninety degree bow, and Minjae followed him soon after, "we have something we want to give you."

A wide smile couldn't help but spread across Kyungsoo's mother's features. "Chanyeol-ah! And, who do we have here too? Minjae? Let's not talk outside here, since you two must be tired from standing. Come in, come in!"

The two of them were hurriedly pushed in the worn-down building. Minjae had to say, although Kyungsoo's mother looked like she could barely punch somebody, she did have the strength to push her and Chanyeol up the stairs leading to her unit. When she guided them to the entrance, they were already at the living room. The room she was living in was cramped, no doubt. One step inside, and you would already reach the living room. Another large step to the left would take you to the kitchen.

"What brings the two of you here, and what did you say you wanted to give me?" The woman hollered at them from one of the small rooms as they stood awkwardly in the living room. 

She emerged from the same room, carrying a small wooden table. Chanyeol immediately helped her carry it before setting it down on the ground. Then, her small figure hurried to the kitchen to possibly prepare them some tea. Minjae nudged the giant next to her to take a seat since he was only standing at the same spot like some type of statue. He was also too tall for the building, so he had to bend a bit since the ceiling was too low. 

"Park Chanyeol, just take a seat   Ah, that must be hot eomeoni, I'll help you with that!" Minjae scurried over to handle the tray carrying three cups of hot green tea. 

"Thank you, my dear. Come, take a seat, and tell me what you have to give me." Kyungsoo's mother sat on the opposite side of the table.

"K-Kyungsoo..." Minjae found the words getting clogged up in again as she stared at the graduation certificate she was holding under the table. She didn't want to see how she would react once she received her son's certificate. Minjae knew she would start bawling her eyes out once his mother did. So, she could only keep silent.

Chanyeol noticed this, and being the gentleman he was, he gently took the certificate out of her possession. He placed the piece of paper on the table carefully, pushing it closer to Kyungsoo's mother. "This is... Kyungsoo's certificate. He graduated, from one of the top high schools. Yonsei."

"T-T-This..." The woman's shaky hands slowly reached up to hold both ends of the paper, and before she knew it, a lone tear trickled down her cheek. "This is really Kyungsoo's, isn't it? H-His graduation paper..." She covered with her palm to hide her frown that was forming on her face, but all her attempts to stop her crying proved to be void. Soon, the woman's soft sobs filled the silent air in the house as she cried for her son to be brought back to her. "If Kyungsoo were here right now, he would've been so, so, so happy... Thank you, you two. I thought he would never get a certificate since he didn't complete the whole school year, but seeing this, it adds some