"Hey, this is uhh... I know this is sudden but... I just wanted to call to ask how you were doing. It's been a while since then and... I know we were fighting and all and just... I just wanted to hear your voice again. Anyway, I thought about it, and I've decided to go for the audition. I thought about what you said, about what you wanted me to do and I realised, maybe you're right. So I'm going for that audition. I just wanted to tell you that. So... Well, I hope to hear from you again soon. Call me back. I'll wait for you, but don't be too late. I miss you."

I stood in the middle of the corridor, watching Sakura as she stared at Chaeyeon once again. She had her arms crossed as she clutched her chest. Her face betrayed nothing, just a smile as she stares into her partner's eyes, listening to her voice. She was putting up a front, as though suppressing herself for the nth time. I hesitated, standing there for another minute or two I didn't think I should disturb her, unsure what to do.

 
"Did you get to see who you needed to?"

She didn't even look away from Chaeyeon, but her ques-tion was directed at me. Guess I wasn't discreet enough. I approached her, my hands in my pocket. 

"No uhh, I..." 

My thoughts strayed to a couple of minutes ago, unsure whether to divulge her. It wasn't something I needed, or wanted, to talk about. 

"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it."

I stood next to her, my head hung low. I felt relieved I sup-pose. I'm not one to talk about myself in the first place.

"It's always hard to talk about it. I understand. I just hope you had some kind of closure."

"Thanks... for understanding."

It was sincere. I was sincere. We stood there, not saying anything. A few seconds of silence passed before Chaeyeon's voice whispered again. I listened to it, hearing it again for the second time. It was beautiful. Her voice. It was everything you'd expect from such a warm-looking person. Bubbly, happy... Heavy. My eyes wandered towards Chaeyeon's face, smiling as it always was, finally getting a voice to match to that face.

"This was her last message for me. I listen to it every day. She has a nice voice, doesn't she?" 

Sakura stopped the recording, rewinding it back to the beginning. 

'When I moved back to Japan, she made me promise to record all our calls, so that we can listen to each other's voices whenever we feel lonely, or when we feel like it."

Sakura explained to me as Chaeyeon's voice played once again in the empty isle, her voice steady and strong as she was. And yet, I could hear the sorrow, the pain. She was trying her damndest to be strong, to act strong. 

"It's nice. Her voice. She sounds kind." 

"Kind would be an understatement. Her kindness was borderline self-afflicting honestly. And yet, that's what makes her, her. That was the person I fell for."

My hand wavered, ready to approach her. She was putting up such a front, that I didn't know whether she needed the consoling. Thinking twice, I drew my hand back, stuff-ing them into my pockets. Instead, I turned away, facing the other direction. I stood with my back facing them, giving them a small bit of privacy. 

"You want to talk about it?" 

She kept her silence for a while. I can't blame her. I wasn't willing to talk about mine, so why would she. This wasn't exactly such a good place or time either. But then I heard her inhale sharply, taking a deep breath. 

"It was... an accident. A drunk driving case." 

Silence. 

"She was... on the way back from the audition when..."

She couldn't continue her sentence, not willing to say the words. Instead, Chaeyeon's voiced filled the void again, as she replayed the recording once more. 

"Did the driver... Did he get caught?" 

"No... No one survived." 

The air felt heavy, suffocating. My chest was hurting, my throat tightening up. I was trying all I could, to suppress whatever emotion I was feeling. Sadness? Anger? Empathy? That was probably it. Empathy.

"You know... I didn't even get to see her. Her wake... I wasn't there for it." 

A small laugh escaped her, as though laughing at the ridiculousness. 

"I thought that if I didn't see it, it wasn't real. I don't know. I was just in denial I didn't want to admit it when I first heard the news. I mean, she was just talking to me a cou-ple of hours before. And now you're telling me she wasn't around anymore?"

Her voice was getting heavier and heavier as she talked, her emotions piling up. She was still trying to be repressive, trying to keep things under her control but I could hear it. The cracks in her armour. 

"Do... Do you regret it?"

I didn't know why I asked that question. Was I curious? No. I wasn't. I was just imprinting my own guilt on her. knew what she was feeling. I understood. And the sense of guilt was peeking its head after years of burying it deep. So I wanted to feel validated. Instead... 

"No... Maybe I don't. At least my last memory of her was still that smile of hers." 

I bit my tongue, feeling a stab in the back of my heart. Guess I still am the only one who understand myself.

"But I do regret one thing. I regret not saying I love you to her, as a farewell. She never heard those words from me. I guess that's my regret."

Chaeyeon's voice started playing again, making me turn around. I faced the two once again, as Sakura stared into Chaeyeon's eyes, her voice whispering into her ears. All those times listening to the recording was taking a toll on her. The cracks were showing. She finally turned off the recording, placing the recorder into the niche, next to the flowers and Chaeyeon's pic-ture. Her hand lingered there, unwilling to let go of the recorder. It was obvious she didn't want to do it, and yet...

"You don't have to leave it you know."

Her fingers tightened around it, fighting with herself on what to do. 

"You don't have to forget her."

At that, her hand relaxed. She let go of the recorder, finally ready to let go.

"It's okay. I won't ever forget anyway."

That was the first time I heard her voice crack. That strong fagade she's been trying to keep the entire night, was fi-nally ready to break down. She took a step back, pulling out the ring box from out of her pocket. She opened it up, looking at the diamond ring within.

"This was her grandmother's ring. She wanted to use it, to propose to me. She planned it all out, and told me the entire plan. Can you believe it? Who tells someone how and when you were going to propose. And yet... I was ready to just say yes."

Her fingers stiffened again, as she remembers. I could see the memories flashing in her eyes, the pain, and the joy. I knew. I understood. My hand moved instinctively. I rested my hand on her shoulder, putting a bit of weight on it. And the moment she felt it, it broke down.

Everything.

Her sobs filled the place, as her walls gave way to the pain. My hand tightened its grip on her, making sure she knows I was there. 

"Mourn." 

I told her, firmly. She never went for the funeral. She never got over her. She never had closure. That was the only thing I could say. The moment she heard that, her legs gave way. She cries grew louder as she clutched the diamond ring close to her chest, her heart. 

"I can't forget about her... You know? I shed tears everytime I just think about her!" 

She was on her knees, practically bowing to the floor as she screamed out the words she was holding back into the empty columbarium. 

"YOU SAID YOU'D STAY BY MY SIDE! YOU SAID YOU'D WAIT FOR ME! Why... WHY DID YOU GO?! COME BACK!" 

Her whole body was shaking, her voice going coarse from the screaming. 

"I'M BEGGING YOU TO COME BACK! PLEASE! THIS IN HEART HURTS SO MUCH WITH YOU GONE SO PLEASE! IM BEGGING YOU! Please..." 

Her screams died down to a whisper, as she cried out for her lost love. I could feel the pain, my eyes burning from the tears. I didn't need to say anything else. I shouldn't have to. This was something she needed to do, to let go, to move on. We stayed there for god knows how long, her on the floor mourning, as I kneeled next to her, offering the best I could to support. At some point, I had to get her to get up.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulder, helping her up to her feet. I didn't say anything, merely rubbing her shoulders and arms, hugging her in my embrace. Sakura kept her head down, her tears spilling out like a dam. She took a deep breath, trying to recompose herself. She knew what she needed to do. She knew since the beginning. She placed the ring in the niche, right in front of the urn. Her fingers hovered over it, caressing the last remnants of Chaeyeon through the air. She mouthed a few words in Japanese, something I couldn't understand, but that wasall it took for her to regain herself. She wiped her eyes, a smile back on her face. She took a step back and closed the niche, before bowing deeply in front of it. She tried to whisper something under her breath, but this time it was in Korean, and I heard it fine.

"l understand... Eventually"