Kevin pulled out a rusty key from his wallet and let himself into his parents’ house.  It feels so empty without them, he thought as he ascended the stairs.

He couldn’t help thinking about the man he had met at the cemetery earlier that day.  To him, that man was like an angel sent from heaven to comfort him and give him hope.

Yes, I promise to make Eomma and Appa proud, he decided.  He reached his room and pushed the door open, flicking the switch on.  Light flooded the room and Kevin had to blink a few times before he adjusted to the brightness.  Nothing in there had changed. 

It was as though he was back during the holidays again, and any moment now his mother would be calling him down for dinner.  If only, he thought wistfully, wandering over to the old desktop left to collect dust in a corner – something he had insisted he needed, only to be abandoned later for newer technology.

His fingers automatically found the ‘on’ button, and within moments, the computer had booted up.

“It still works,” he commented aloud, startling himself with how loud his voice sounded.

As though someone was guiding his hand, he clicked open a browser and typed ‘Lee Howon’ into the search engine.  For some unknown reason, he felt curious about that man, and couldn’t help wondering if he could find him on the Internet.

The first few results were Facebook and Twitter accounts which he scrolled past without bothering to look.  He knew instinctively that someone as mysterious as his stranger wouldn’t be so… mainstream.

A link to a news article caught his eye.  “Boy kills ex-best friend,” he read aloud, moving his mouse over the link and accidentally clicking it.  The webpage loaded and before he could press the ‘back’ button, the first line made his blood freeze.

“18 years old Lee Howon was proven to be the killer of Jang Dongwoo, his ex-best friend, due to fingerprints he left on the metal bar. 

According to classmates and mutual friends, the two had been close, especially since Howon’s parents had been found guilty of several crimes including manslaughter, when the Jang family took Howon in.  However, something changed their relationship, and Dongwoo became part of the ‘cool crowd’ in high school while Howon was bullied by Dongwoo’s gang of friends.  Apparently, Dongwoo also had a part to play in the bullying.

Dongwoo’s parents died a week before Parents’ Day, and witnesses at the funeral said Howon seemed more devastated than their biological son.

It seems their fight started because Dongwoo refused to visit his parents’ grave on Parents’ Day, angering Howon who felt the former ought to.

Although bystanders tried to separate them, things soon went out of control when Howon picked up a metal bar.  Some say he was trying to defend himself while others say he was trying to attack Dongwoo with the weapon.  Regardless of the reason, Jang Dongwoo was fatally stabbed in the chest and died two hours later in the hospital despite doctors’ best efforts to save him.

The police released a statement that Howon is still on the loose.”  It felt like the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.

Kevin stared blankly at his computer screen, unable to process the information.  Was that man a killer?  Or was he innocent?  Who was in the wrong?  Was he referring to Jang Dongwoo’s parents as the ones he grieved over?  He felt the need to go back to the cemetery to search for answers.

Standing at the top of the slope, Kevin felt like it was yesterday again.  Except that the stranger was no longer here.

Last night, he had felt so sure he would be able to comprehend everything if he was here, but now, all he could see was a sea of grey dotted with purple.

That’s when he realised with a start that the purple blotches of color came from tiny bunches of purple flowers stuck to each and every gravestone.  The flowers looked really familiar… he pulled out his wallet frantically and rifled through a mess of receipts and notes to find the flower his stranger had left in his hands yesterday.

His was a little wilted and pressed, but still resembled those on the gravestones.

Just like that, all the jigsaw pieces fell into place and he understood.

The tiny purple flowers, named Hoya, what they symbolized.  The simple yet complicated message his stranger wanted to leave behind.  The truth.  Everything.

Carefully, made his way, first to the largest bouquet of flowers.  The headstone read ‘Jang Jaeha & Jang Eunbyul: thank you for being the best parents ever’.  Kevin smiled.  He bent down and stuck his flower among the rest, where it belonged.

Then, he made his way towards his parents’ graves, picking his own bunch of Hoya flowers on the way.  Imitating his stranger’s method of tying them together, he chose the one with the longest stem and twisted it into a knot.   

His first bunch.

He placed it respectfully in front of his parents’ headstone before sitting down next to it.  “Eomma, Appa… it’s a little late but… Happy Parents’ Day.”

e i don't even know what the fark i'm writing already T.T hopefully this makes sense :P