— If It Weren't for Second Chances, We'd All Be Alone —

“Mom really does make the weirdest requests, doesn’t she?”

He laughs despite himself, rubbing the sole of one his shoes into the dirt as he swings lightly to and fro. It’s a beautiful day out at the park where it all began. The sun is out and high in the sky; its rays just warm enough to energize and not scald like it has in the past weeks before today. It should be a little odd for a midsummer day to be so perfectly temperate but he’s always known that good things always happen here when one needs it to be and he isn’t wrong now as he hadn’t been when he was eight.

Changmin watches as his son drops a trowel into one of the baskets they’d brought and heaves another basket closer. Jongmin, now in college, picks up one of the ready daisies (“It’s a Leucanthemum vulgare, also known as a Ox-eye daisy. A perennial flowering plant common in Europe and temperate regions in Asia. See, I know these things, Mom.”) he’d bought and bagged an hour ago. He brushes the petals softly after tearing the bag off; placing the flower into one of many holes he’s dug into the dirt. He sprinkles a helping of ashes into the same hole, then a sprinkling of dirt before continuing on with the others in the basket.

Jongmin is smiling as he fills every hole the patch of land is filled with full-bloomed daisies, patting the dirt and ashes down before standing up and reaching for the water spray Changmin holds for him to douse the flowers the way his mother taught him.

“Flowers need baths too, you know,” Changmin recites affectionately, mimicking Yoona’s inflection to a saying of hers to a T.

Jongmin snorts a laugh as he finishes with the water spray, adding to statement with an impression of his own, “Just like Mama and Papa who stinks. Just like Little Jongmin with his quirky little winks.”

He shakes the can a bit to make sure every drop of water is out before dropping back to sit next to Changmin by the swings. Father and son watch as the wind picks up and flutters the flowers into life.

“It’s a really weird request, Dad.” Jongmin says a beat later, turning his head to face his father and watches as Changmin discreetly rubs at his eyes. “Cremation is one thing. But to be buried into the dirt along with daisies at a children’s park is another.”

“We fell in love here.” Changmin reminds him simply, earning a scoff and weak but affectionate roll of his son’s eyes. “It’s appropriate.”

“Still weird.” Jongmin mutters and he doesn’t feel at all inclined to disagree.

Yoona’s passing was a surprise at best, swift